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Railway Accident At Heeley 1876


SteveHB

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Accident to the Flying Scotchman at Heeley Station in 1876,

'Scotchman' is how it is spelt on the original print.

I've seen this print a few times on the internet, it confuses me

Alright Flying Scotchman read Flying Scotsman.

The Railway Archive list it as Midland Railway, 21/11/1876, location Heeley, and that's all they have along with a copy of the same print.

The Flying Scotsman service was introduced in 1862 by the Great Northern Railway and the North British Railway as a service from Kings Cross to Edinburgh and return, it would have had nothing to do with the Midland Railway or Heeley station.

All information seems to from this one print.

In 1876 Heeley station would only have had 2 platforms/tracks.

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Guest bus man

As some one else as said heeley at this point had two tracks and even when the widening occured it never had that amount of tracks . Also the chimneys behind would have been in the broad field road area that weas developed much later indeed by 1900 it didnt exist the road didnt go through .

Intesting to know where it is really form .

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Again no extra info apart from that from the print, it just does not add up

It gets better .. :)

November 22, 1876, the "Flying Scotsman" was traveling between 30 and 40 mph when "the hind portion dashed into the station" at Heeley, a mile out of Sheffield, according to the December 2, 1876 issue of the "Illustrated London News."

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:FfX1nYvjKZkJ:ecmd.nju.edu.cn/UploadFile/17/8402/cz-bcul002.doc+Flying+Scotchman+at+Heeley+Station+in+1876&cd=31&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

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It gets better .. :)

November 22, 1876, the "Flying Scotsman" was traveling between 30 and 40 mph when "the hind portion dashed into the station" at Heeley, a mile out of Sheffield, according to the December 2, 1876 issue of the "Illustrated London News."

http://webcache.goog...n&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Still not convinced

Why was the Flying Scotsman going through Heeley?

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Sheffield Independent 25/11/1876

You can't argue with that

I think the red herring was the reference to the Flying Scotsman and the print which seems to contain a bit of artistic Licence.

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You can't argue with that

I think the red herring was the reference to the Flying Scotsman and the print which seems to contain a bit of artistic Licence.

Typical mistake by the publishers,

here's what it says on the print.

Excellent work from dunsby !!!

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Typical mistake by the publishers,

here's what it says on the print.

Excellent work from dunsby !!!

Well the Scotch bit was correct

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Still not convinced

Why was the Flying Scotsman going through Heeley?

Maybe He 'the Flying Scotsman' was a passenger on the train .. lol

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Just in case anyone is still interested in the answer, I have got the old Illustrated London News that the picture is from. The Midland railway set up a competing London Scotland route to run from St Pancras. The Flying Scotsman ran from Kings Cross to Scotland and the wags of the railways nicknamed the Midland railway train from St Pancras the Flying Scotchman. Jocularly, no less.

About the inaccuracies on the illustration. It was all too common that an illustrator would do his sketch based on an eye-witness account (ie make it up). It can be good fun comparing differing illustrator views of the same event. Here's the text from the Illustrated London News:

ACCIDENT TO THE "FLYING SCOTCHMAN."

The night express-train on the Midland Railway to Scotland, which has been jocularly called by this nickname, met with an alarming accident on the night of Tuesday week. The train left St. Pancras at 9.15 that night, and was due at Sheffield at one o'clock next morning. The accident took place at the Heeley station, a mile distant from Sheffield, where ordinary trains usually stop for the collection of tickets, while express-trains run through to Sheffield station. At the time of the accident, it is said, the train was going at the rate of thirty or forty miles an hour; and, when at a distance of about a hundred yards south of the Heeley station, the hind portion of the train left the rails. The couplings broke and, while the first part of the train went on in the direction of Sheffield, the hind portion dashed into the station and became a complete wreck. There were two Pullman sleeping-cars in the train, and the couplings broke at the first of these. This carriage, leaving the hind portion of the train, came crashing along over the sleepers, and, at the entrance to the station, came into collision with the semaphore outside the signalman's box, which was thrown down to the platform. Mounting the platform, the car and the remainder of the carriages ran along for a distance of about fifty yards, in their course smashing up the platform as if it were a structure of cardboard. The Pullman car was then brought to a stop by being thrown upon its side, falling away from the platform and blocking the up rails. The front bogie-wheels remained on the platform, but those behind were driven into the carriage immediately in the rear. A distance of fifty yards separated this carriage from the second Pullman car, the couplings of which had broken immediately after the separation from the main body of the train. This car was off the rails, but remained upright. The other carriages that followed were smashed. Fortunately there were but few passengers in the train, and it seems marvellous that any of them escaped. Only five were injured, and, except in one case, none of the injuries are of a serious character. There were six passengers in the first of the Pullman cars, and only one passenger in the second. At the time of the accident there was no one at the station, but two policemen happened to be not far distant. They at once called up the station-master, and rendered what assistance they could. By that time most of the passengers had managed to scramble out of the carriages. The first part of the train was brought back to the station, and the passengers taken on to Sheffield, where they received the attention of medical men. With but one exception, they resumed their journey in a special train. Our Illustration, showing the position of the overturned carriages, is from a sketch by Mr. W. Topham.

Saturday 2 December 1876

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