Grantham rail accident
Only the rearmost three carriages remained on the track
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| Date | 19 September 1906 |
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| Time | 23:04 |
| Location | Grantham, Lincolnshire |
| Coordinates | 52°54′35″N 0°38′48″W / 52.9097°N 0.6467°WCoordinates: 52°54′35″N 0°38′48″W / 52.9097°N 0.6467°W |
| Country | England |
| Rail line | East Coast Main Line |
| Cause | Runaway/Overspeed on curve/SPAD |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Deaths | 14 |
| Injuries | 17 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
The Grantham rail accident occurred on 19 September 1906. An evening Sleeping-Car and Mail train from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley hauled by Ivatt 'Atlantic' No 276 derailed, killing 14. The accident occurred in mysterious circumstances; the train ran right through Grantham station, where it was scheduled to stop, and derailed on a sharp junction curve at the end of the platform, which at the time had been set for the passing of a freight train; no definite cause was ever established as to why the train did not stop as scheduled or obey the signals at Caution and Danger. Rolt (1956) described it as "the railway equivalent of the mystery of the Marie [sic] Celeste".
Late in the night of 19 September, the Semi-Fast Mail train was due to stop at Grantham. The signalman at Grantham south had his Down Distant signal at Caution and the signalman at Grantham North had all of his down signals at Danger to protect the passing of a goods train from the up Nottingham line to the up main line - crossing the down main line (the line on which the Mail was running). It was a clear night, with patchy rain, but the red eyes of the signal lamps burned bright in the darkness. The Mail roared towards the station, apparently missing the distant signal at Caution. When the headlights appeared at the end of the platform, it appeared to be going much too fast to stop, and some mistook it for a run through, not realising that the train had to stop because of the junction points. Much to the alarm of the postal sorters and the station staff who realised it was the Mail train, it sped towards Grantham North box where the points were set against it. A loud explosion was heard and fire lit up the entire North yard. The locomotive rode the curve but on the reverse curve following it the long tender derailed and swept away the parapet of an underbridge for 65 yards, before falling off the edge of it. In doing so, it derailed the locomotive which was slung broadside across both tracks. The carriages ran down the embankment after the bridge, and only the last three remained undamaged.
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