7 ms·

The Tottenham Station Railway Disaster of 1860

25 points by Avawelles 9y ago

carl_dr 9y ago
And the Railway Department report into the incident, with obviously many more details : http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BoT_TottenhamFeb1860.pdf http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BoT_TottenhamFeb1...
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  TL;DR There was a defect in a tire that when subject to wear failed catastrophically causing the front axle to derail when braking prior to entering the station. The train was braking later than the textbook safe distance and was not configured for ideal braking performance. The derailed axle hit some of the track infrastructure causing the locomotive to jump the tracks and hit the platform while the rest of the trail piled on the back. Just like every other "disaster" it's a bunch of otherwise inconsequential actions, bad luck, an operating procedure that doesn't account for day to day reality and a little bit of corner cutting coming together at the same time.
laumars 9y ago
> “Great injury was done after the engine ran up the platform. The brickwork was swept away, and a large portion of a wall was thrown down; in fact, one carriage was thrown completely through the platform wall by the violence with which it was hurled over the line.” > The Era, 26 February 1860. It is amusing to read the writing styles of then with the now. The use of language in the Victorian era was a lot more poetic. While in many ways I do welcome the directness that modern articles have, I do also feel we've lost something in artistic merit.
- Boothroid 9y ago
  I agree. The obvious culprit is trendy educational methods - these days it's seen as more important to let children express their supposed individuality rather than inculcate a decent standard of literacy. Some would characterise this as a Daily Mail-esque viewpoint, but university professors complain about standards worsening in their annual intake of students, and I'm inclined to listen to those at the chalkface.
  - zimpenfish 9y ago
    > university professors complain about standards worsening in their annual intake of students They've been doing that since the 11th Century[1] - if this were even vaguely true, your current average student intake would be somewhere around the level of planaria or possibly tardigrades. It's demonstrable rubbish. [1] http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/the-long-history-of-teachers-complaining-about-students/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/the-long-history-of-teac...
    - Boothroid 9y ago
      Ah yes, the well-worn 'people have always been complaining about things getting worse' rebuttal.. But your argument is flawed - just because it might not always have been true does not mean it is not true now. As I said, I'm inclined to believe those at the chalkface. Here's one reference I was able to find easily: https://www.bjupress.com/resources/articles/t2t/declining-literacy.php https://www.bjupress.com/resources/articles/t2t/declining-li...
      - zimpenfish 9y ago
        > bjupress.com Would you consider them an unbiased source given their stated goal is to "support Christian educators by producing textbooks and materials that shape a biblical worldview"?
        Boothroid 9y ago
        That's another logical fallacy. There are stacks of references available on this.
        ivanbakel 9y ago
        Could you then find another one?
      - icebraining 9y ago
        I find that article to be in need of review by someone with good literacy. It presents single datapoints and talks about "this decline", despite not actually presenting past data to compare with the current numbers. The largest timespan it shows is the literacy from '92 to '03, and they explicitly quote the report saying that "average prose and document literacy did not differ significantly". They also fail to mention that the 2003 report showed no decline except for Hispanics. Maybe, just maybe, immigration by people with non-English backgrounds was the cause, not textbooks? It'd be nice to at least see that discussed.
- brudgers 9y ago
  Use of the passive voice gives it a different rhythm. Contemporary "best practice" is to avoid writing in passive voice. What I find interesting is that using active voice for inanimate objects like brickwork and walls and carriages, seems a bit anthropomorphic or perhaps animistic. Sure, "the wall fell" but not by its own volition. Yet, for me the passive voice in this passage bogs down a bit in the final phrasing as subordinate clauses convolute as multiple inanimates suffer external effects. But in the end, the use of passive voice allows "great injury" to be the subject of the first sentence and empowers the paragraph in a way that "The engine" as subject simply cannot.
  - gwbas1c 9y ago
    We have access to many more news stories now, writing for easy reading is a must. When news travels at a slower pace artistic writing is a must.
mirimir 9y ago
tl;dr The railway firm used an off-brand wheel on the engine. It had a flaw in a weld, and failed. The engine derailed.
- exodust 9y ago
  you forgot the part where the author is trying to flog their new romance novel, available now on Amazon for the low price of $2.48
  - mirimir 9y ago
    Right, thanks :) Also, the train was moving at just 30-40 mph. Those are typical speeds for current vehicle crash tests.
foobarbecue 9y ago
Trains had tyres??
- damnfine 9y ago
  Forged steel, vs the cast steel/iron of the wheels themselves. They are heated and press fit on the wheels, and the cooling shrinks them onto the wheel. This is usually semi-permanant, with replacements only from wear against the rails. The cast iron would be too brittle and crack. In this case I would assume there was a casting defect in the wheel, which broke within the 'tyre'. Wagon wheel tyres are made in a similar way, but use wood spoked centers.
- westbywest 9y ago
  Still do. The ICE derailment at Eschede, for example, started with a tyre peeling off a wheel at speed.

25 points by Avawelles 9y ago

And the Railway Department report into the incident, with obviously many more details : http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BoT_TottenhamFeb1860.pdf http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BoT_TottenhamFeb1...

dsfyu404ed 9y ago
TL;DR There was a defect in a tire that when subject to wear failed catastrophically causing the front axle to derail when braking prior to entering the station. The train was braking later than the textbook safe distance and was not configured for ideal braking performance. The derailed axle hit some of the track infrastructure causing the locomotive to jump the tracks and hit the platform while the rest of the trail piled on the back. Just like every other "disaster" it's a bunch of otherwise inconsequential actions, bad luck, an operating procedure that doesn't account for day to day reality and a little bit of corner cutting coming together at the same time.

laumars 9y ago

> “Great injury was done after the engine ran up the platform. The brickwork was swept away, and a large portion of a wall was thrown down; in fact, one carriage was thrown completely through the platform wall by the violence with which it was hurled over the line.” > The Era, 26 February 1860. It is amusing to read the writing styles of then with the now. The use of language in the Victorian era was a lot more poetic. While in many ways I do welcome the directness that modern articles have, I do also feel we've lost something in artistic merit.

Boothroid 9y ago
I agree. The obvious culprit is trendy educational methods - these days it's seen as more important to let children express their supposed individuality rather than inculcate a decent standard of literacy. Some would characterise this as a Daily Mail-esque viewpoint, but university professors complain about standards worsening in their annual intake of students, and I'm inclined to listen to those at the chalkface.
- zimpenfish 9y ago
  > university professors complain about standards worsening in their annual intake of students They've been doing that since the 11th Century[1] - if this were even vaguely true, your current average student intake would be somewhere around the level of planaria or possibly tardigrades. It's demonstrable rubbish. [1] http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/the-long-history-of-teachers-complaining-about-students/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/the-long-history-of-teac...
  - Boothroid 9y ago
    Ah yes, the well-worn 'people have always been complaining about things getting worse' rebuttal.. But your argument is flawed - just because it might not always have been true does not mean it is not true now. As I said, I'm inclined to believe those at the chalkface. Here's one reference I was able to find easily: https://www.bjupress.com/resources/articles/t2t/declining-literacy.php https://www.bjupress.com/resources/articles/t2t/declining-li...
    - zimpenfish 9y ago
      > bjupress.com Would you consider them an unbiased source given their stated goal is to "support Christian educators by producing textbooks and materials that shape a biblical worldview"?
      - Boothroid 9y ago
        That's another logical fallacy. There are stacks of references available on this.
        ivanbakel 9y ago
        Could you then find another one?
    - icebraining 9y ago
      I find that article to be in need of review by someone with good literacy. It presents single datapoints and talks about "this decline", despite not actually presenting past data to compare with the current numbers. The largest timespan it shows is the literacy from '92 to '03, and they explicitly quote the report saying that "average prose and document literacy did not differ significantly". They also fail to mention that the 2003 report showed no decline except for Hispanics. Maybe, just maybe, immigration by people with non-English backgrounds was the cause, not textbooks? It'd be nice to at least see that discussed.
brudgers 9y ago
Use of the passive voice gives it a different rhythm. Contemporary "best practice" is to avoid writing in passive voice. What I find interesting is that using active voice for inanimate objects like brickwork and walls and carriages, seems a bit anthropomorphic or perhaps animistic. Sure, "the wall fell" but not by its own volition. Yet, for me the passive voice in this passage bogs down a bit in the final phrasing as subordinate clauses convolute as multiple inanimates suffer external effects. But in the end, the use of passive voice allows "great injury" to be the subject of the first sentence and empowers the paragraph in a way that "The engine" as subject simply cannot.
- gwbas1c 9y ago
  We have access to many more news stories now, writing for easy reading is a must. When news travels at a slower pace artistic writing is a must.

mirimir 9y ago

tl;dr The railway firm used an off-brand wheel on the engine. It had a flaw in a weld, and failed. The engine derailed.

exodust 9y ago
you forgot the part where the author is trying to flog their new romance novel, available now on Amazon for the low price of $2.48
- mirimir 9y ago
  Right, thanks :) Also, the train was moving at just 30-40 mph. Those are typical speeds for current vehicle crash tests.

foobarbecue 9y ago

Trains had tyres??

damnfine 9y ago
Forged steel, vs the cast steel/iron of the wheels themselves. They are heated and press fit on the wheels, and the cooling shrinks them onto the wheel. This is usually semi-permanant, with replacements only from wear against the rails. The cast iron would be too brittle and crack. In this case I would assume there was a casting defect in the wheel, which broke within the 'tyre'. Wagon wheel tyres are made in a similar way, but use wood spoked centers.
westbywest 9y ago
Still do. The ICE derailment at Eschede, for example, started with a tyre peeling off a wheel at speed.