The Chelford rail accident occurred on 22 December 1894 at Chelford railway station.Marindin 1895, p. 83 The stationmaster was supervising shunting operations, during which a high-sided wagon was fly-shunted (i.e. run-off) into a siding in strong winds and rapidly fading light. As another six wagons were being run onto an adjoining track, the stationmaster saw the high-sided wagon being blown out of its siding by the wind to meet them. A collision occurred derailing the runaway in such a way that it fouled the main line just as the 16:15 Manchester to Crewe express approached, drawn by two

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

LNWR Waterloo Class The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Waterloo Class was a class of steam locomotives that was also known as the Whitworth Class. History The locomotives were introduced by F. W. Webb in 1889 as replacements for the ''Samson'' class, a ...

2-4-0 No 418 ''Zygia'' and Experiment Class No 518 ''Express''. The stationmaster ran towards them waving a red lamp but the drivers thought he was signalling to the shunters and did not reduce speed. ''Zygia'' derailed and fell on her side whilst her tender ran up the platform ramp. ''Express'' remained upright but the first

carriage A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...

demolished the front of a

signal box A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

. In all, 14 passengers were killed and 48 injured. The inquiry had little comment to make as this seemed to be a freak accident but advised that in the future the brakes of all shunted wagons should be immediately pinned down. A contemporary photo supposedly shows the re-railed damaged locomotive ''Zygia'' shortly after the accident.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chelford Rail Accident Railway accidents and incidents in Cheshire Railway accidents in 1894 1894 in England History of Cheshire Accidents and incidents involving London and North Western Railway Runaway train disasters 19th century in Cheshire Derailments in England December 1894 Train collisions in England 1890s disasters in the United Kingdom

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