The ''Aberdonian'' was a named passenger train operating in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

History

On 1 January 1927 the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...

decided to officially adopt the name ''Aberdonian'' for its sleeping car express between King's Cross and

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. It was timed to depart King's Cross at 7:40pm with a journey time to Aberdeen of a little over 11 hours, originally being hauled by Class C11 locomotives. By 1939 the train was departing King's Cross at 7:30pm. A restaurant car was provided as far as York. At Edinburgh, sections of train were disconnected to form services to Fort William and Mallaig, and Perth and Inverness. The Aberdeen section of the train called at Dundee, Arbroath, Montrose and Stonehaven, arriving in Aberdeen at 7:30am, a journey time of exactly 12 hours. The return journey left Aberdeen at 7:35pm, and arrived in King's Cross 11 hours 50 minutes later, with journey times shortened by streamlined P2 and A4 engines. The ''Aberdonian'' continued during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with extended journey times and afterwards Peppercorn A1 locomotives, but noticeable improvements were only achieved with the introduction of Deltic locomotives, which reduced the journey time to 11 hours 10 minutes. On 7 January 1957 the ''Aberdonian'' ran into the back of a local train one mile south of

Welwyn Garden City railway station Welwyn Garden City railway station serves the town of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. It is from on the East Coast Main Line. Train services are currently provided by Thameslink and Great Northern. History A station named ''Welw ...

. The accident killed 3 people and injured 26. On 7 May 1969, six people died and 46 were injured in one of the accidents at Morpeth when the ''Aberdonian'' hauled by Deltic locomotive No. 9011 ''The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers'' entered a speed restriction at . All eleven coaches were derailed. In 1971,

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

withdrew the name ''Aberdonian'' from the early evening departure from King's Cross, then timed at 7:55pm. The name ''Night Aberdonian'' was then used on the 10.15 King's Cross to Aberdeen sleeper service. This also crashed at Morpeth, in 1984.

Similarly-Named Locomotive

Peterborough railway geograph-2261350-by-Ben-Brooksbank

One of the Peppercorn A1-class 4-6-2 locomotives often assigned to ''The Aberdonian'' was No. 60158, which was itself named "Aberdonian" in 1951. The locomotive was built in November of 1949, and spent much of its service life working trains out of " Top Shed," the

engine house __NOTOC__ An engine house is a building or other structure that holds one or more engines. It is often practical to bring engines together for common maintenance, as when train locomotives are brought together. Types of engine houses include: * ...

at King's Cross, or working out of

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

. Despite sharing its name with the train, however, the 60158 was assigned to a wide variety of trains, including

goods trains A freight train, also called a goods train or cargo train, is a railway train that is used to carry cargo, as opposed to passengers. Freight trains are made up of one or more locomotives which provide propulsion, along with one or more railroad ...

, troop trains, and other named trains like the Morning Talisman and the Flying Scotsman. The 60158 was withdrawn from service in 1964 after 15 years of service.

External links

Link to details of the 1957 Aberdonian accident at The Railways ArchiveOfficial report into the 1969 Aberdonian accident at The Railways Archive

References

{{reflist Named passenger trains of the London and North Eastern Railway Named passenger trains of British Rail Rail transport in Scotland Railway services introduced in 1927 1927 establishments in England