Penistone rail accidents
| Date | 16 July 1884 |
|---|---|
| Location | Bullhouse Bridge |
| Coordinates | 53°31′13″N 1°40′31″W / 53.5203°N 1.6752°W |
| Country | England |
| Rail line | Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway |
| Cause | axle failure |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Deaths | 24 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
Over the latter years of the 19th and early years of the 20th centuries, Penistone in Yorkshire gained a name as an accident black-spot on Britain's railway network; indeed, it could be said to hold the title of the worst accident black-spot in the country. The main line through the town was the Woodhead route of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway between Sheffield Victoria and Manchester, London Road. The line was heavily graded with a summit some 400 yards inside the eastern portal of the Woodhead tunnel.
During a parliamentary committee meeting to debate the building of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, George Stephenson was asked if it would not be awkward should a train hit a cow. His now classic reply, given in his broad Northumbrian dialect, was to state "Oo, ay, very awkward for the COO!".
On the evening of 6 October 1845 this assumption was dramatically put to the test. Shortly after leaving Dunford Bridge the Sheffield bound train struck a cow, which a drover from Penistone market had been unable to remove from the line. The impact caused the locomotive and carriages to derail and the cow was killed instantly. Such was the force of the accident that the cow was almost entirely cut in half.
None of the passengers suffered any injuries other than some minor bruising, although the guard was more severely injured. A replacement train was dispatched from Sheffield and the passengers all completed their journey by two o'clock the following morning.
The first major accident occurred on 16 July 1884, a few miles to the west of the town, near Bullhouse Colliery. The accident is often referred to as being at "Bullhouse Bridge", where the road to Huddersfield passes below the line. An express passenger train, the 12:30 pm from Manchester London Road to London King's Cross, with through carriages for Grimsby Docks in connection with the evening steamer sailing, had left Woodhead Tunnel and was gathering speed on the downhill gradient towards Penistone. The locomotive was 4-4-0 No. 434, built at Gorton Locomotive Works.
...
Wikipedia