Northumbrian Gunner: Quintinshill

On the 22nd May 1915 the worst rail disaster in the UK occurred at Quintinshill near Gretna Green, Scotland. The collision that occurred and the subsequent fire resulted in over 220 killed and 240 injured. The majority of casualties were from 1/7th Battalion Royal Scots, Territorials from Edinburgh, heading to Gallipoli.

Quintinshill near Gretna Green

Quintinshill is on the main West Coast railway line from London Euston to Glasgow. At the location are two passing loops where slower trains can be held in order that express trains can pass. In 1915a signal box was located at Quintinshill overlooking the passing loops.

Quintinshill - Track layout

Quintinshill - Signal Box

On the morning of the 22nd May a troop train containing half of the 1st / 7th (Leigh) Battalion Royal Scots, 498 men, left Larbert Station, Stirlingshire en route to Liverpool to board a troop train. The Battalion were Territorials, mobilised in 1914, and were on their way to join the fighting in Gallipoli.

Caledonian Railway McIntosh 4-4-0 no 121
Locomotive headed the troop train to Liverpool.

The troop train was a high priority and any slower train on it's route would need to let it pass. Despite the additional traffic on the main line generated by the war effort, the London-Glasgow expresses continued to be given priority. On the morning of 22nd May, two priority trains, the troop train from the north, and an express from the south were approaching Quintinshill.

To ensure they were not delayed, a goods train had been routed into the up line passing loop (northbound) whilst an empty coal wagon special has been routed into the down line passing loop (southbound), thus both passing loops were occupied.

At 06:17 a local train proceeding north from Carlisle arrived in Quintinshill which needed to be held there in order to allow the passage of a north bound express train. With both passing loops occupied, the signal man had no choice other than to shunt the train onto the southbound line, hold it there and allow the express to pass. It would however block the passage of the south bound troop train.

Quintinshill - North bound local train

Quintinshill - Local Train on Southbound mainline

The situation 06:37 22nd May was the northbound mainline was clear to allow the London-Glasgow to pass, the southbound line was blocked, and the troop train would need to be held till the local train could be shunted back onto the line north.

Quintinshill - 22nd May 1915

The signalmen at Quintinshill should have changed over at 06:30. However, a practice had been adopted whereby the incoming signalman, to save a mile and half walk, would catch the local train from Gretna. When it was held at Quintinshill, he would dismount and proceed to the signal box to take over the shift. To cover the practice, the train register was not filled in, any movements were recorded on a scrap of paper, and the register would be updated with the details by the incoming signal men in his hand writing.

On the morning in question, George Meakin, who had worked the night shift, was relived by James Tinsley who had just arrived on the local train which had been shunted onto the southbound line. As well as the breach of regulations on the handover, the firemen from the trains held were in the signal box which could have been distracting to Tinsley. A further breach of rules had taken place as the firemen from the local train should have checked that a collar had been placed over the signal lever which controlled the entry into the Quintinshill sector, physically stopping the signal at the beginning of the sector being set to clear, thus protecting the train on the southbound line.

Although having just arrived on the local train, possibly distracted by updating the train register and the firemen in the signal box, Tinsley accepted a signal to receive the troop train into the Quintinshill sector on the south bound line blocked by the stationary local train.

Four minutes later, he accepted a northbound express onto the clear north bound line.

Quintinshill - situation 06:49 22nd May 1915

At 06:49 22nd May 1915 the troop train containing the 1/7th Royal Scots collided head on with the stationary local train.

Quintinshill Rail Disaster
Sequence of events 22n May 1915
By Emoscopes, Tevildo [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The troop train overturned, mostly onto the neighbouring north-bound mainline track and, a minute later, the Glasgow-bound express ploughed into the wreckage causing it to burst into flame. The troop train carriages were old obsolete wooden stock with gas tanks underneath and this led to a ferocious fire.

Quintinshill Rail Disaster 22nd May 1915

It was estimated that 226 people were killed and 246 injured in the accident. The 1/7th (Leigh) Battalion Royal Scots lost 216 all ranks in the disaster. Out of the half battalion of 498 men, only 64 paraded after the disaster.