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The exhilarating joy of another 'Cop' at the north end of Grantham Station!

The photograph we show here might be a bit hazy, but we are sure you will agree that our fond memories of those bygone days seem to get even sharper as we advance in years and it's often the case that we soon forget more recent times. Keeping that thought (hopefully) in mind and maybe having stirred up some of your own memories, we would like to invite you to tell us about your days spent 'spotting' at Grantham Station.

We are currently gathering information and anecdotes for a series of future articles about trainspotting at Grantham, especially during the late 1950s and early 1960s. We are also putting together a separate article that will look at typical passenger, freight and parcels workings through Grantham, specifically focussing on the 1961 Summer Timetable. If you have spotting notes, amusing tales, personal recollections or even photographs from the above era, please do get in touch. Your memories, notes and surviving jottings will help us to record and once again bring alive those halcyon days.

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Last December a News item, copied below, appeared on Tracks through Grantham.  Yesterday the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) published its report on an incident at Edinburgh last August which makes very interesting reading when considered in the context of the high speed derailment at Grantham in September 1906.

In the conclusions of his report on the 1906 Grantham disaster the Board of Trade Inspector discounted a problem with brake control or effectiveness as the likely, or even as a possible, cause of the accident.  In fact the report was inconclusive as to the cause of the disaster.  Nevertheless, it has since become generally accepted that - as some suspected at the time - the accident resulted from failure to properly connect and test the automatic brake at Peterborough immediately prior to the train’s departure.  It also seems certain that a running brake test, which should have been conducted once the train got under way, either was not implemented or had been insufficiently rigorous to identify a serious lack of brake effectiveness.

It’s remarkable how comparable the circumstances were in Scotland last August.  By good fortune, and through the availability of modern communication systems, a tragic outcome was avoided that morning.  During the enquiry the evidence of the driver and the other members of the train crew, along with comprehensive data logging, enabled the sequence of events which led to the incident to be identified with certainty.

Conversely, following the 1906 Grantham disaster, in which the footplate crew were killed (along with 12 others) and most of the train was severely damaged by impact and fire, there was little hard evidence to prove or dispute the several theories put forward.  If only GNR Atlantic No. 276 could have been equipped with an On Train Data Recorder!

The recently published report can be found on the RAIB website here.

Thanks to Phil Mason of the Grantham Railway Society for making us aware of the report.


(December 2019)

In his column in the current (December 2019) issue of The Railway Magazine Consultant Editor Nick Pigott has picked up on a striking similarity between the most likely cause of the disaster at Grantham on the night of 19th September 1906, when 14 lives were lost, and the lead-up to an alarming incident which took place at Edinburgh Waverley station on 1st August this year.

In both cases the locomotive had been attached at an intermediate stop on the train's journey.  Each train then seriously overran its next stopping point, apparently because the train's braking system was not properly connected to the locomotive.

In the Grantham 1906 accident the overrunning train derailed at high speed on a junction which began 135 yards beyond the platform.  Fortunately, at Edinburgh in 2019 the train involved was brought to a stand using a manually activated emergency system without collision or derailment, having travelled 650 metres beyond its intended stopping point.


Further reading:

Our latest article has just been published on the TTG website.  Steve Philpott takes us back to 15th December 2019 with his personal account of the final day of booked L.N.E.R. HST operation on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) through Grantham.

You can read more of this article here.

Bob Balchin's been in touch about a fascinating collection of stories which might help to entertain us when we run out of - or get fed up with - DIY and gardening tasks etc.  Called Real Railway Tales, it's a compilation of about 60 short accounts of railway people, places and incidents contributed from across the country and edited by two men who can each draw upon extensive careers on the railway.

Here's a description:

Running a railway is a complex business, constantly throwing up drama, misadventure and the unexpected.  Geoff Body and Bill Parker have collated a rich selection of railwaymen's memories and anecdotes to create an enjoyable book of escapades and mishaps, illustrating the daily obstacles faced on the railways, from handling the new Eurostar to train catering, nights on the Tay Bridge to rail 'traffic cops', and from mystery derailments to track subsidence.  However interesting the infrastructure of the large and varied railway business may be, the real heart of this great industry lies in its people, the complex jobs they occupy and the dedicated way in which they carry them out.

For us on Tracks through Grantham there's a story called Highdyke, describing the operation of the ironstone branch from Stainby and Sproxton, and another titled The Denton Branch.

About half the book, including the Highdyke chapter, can be accessed on the internet here.  To see the rest you would need to either purchase or borrow a copy.  Options include a buying Kindle version.  The original paperback edition is currently available from several online second-hand booksellers.

John Clayson

 

 

 

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Something to hopefully brighten up our days in lockdown! We've just discovered a most interesting and wonderful O Gauge model railway owned by John Ryan who is President of the LNER Society. This fascinating layout is located near 'Over Peover' in Cheshire. Although it's not Grantham based we feel you will still enjoy watching it. There's something for everyone.  Turn up the sound to get the full experience!