Staplehurst rail crash
Railway accident in Kent, England, in 1865 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Staplehurst rail crash was a derailment at Staplehurst, Kent, on 9 June 1865 at 3:13 pm. The South Eastern Railway Folkestone to London boat train derailed while crossing a viaduct where a length of track had been removed during engineering works, killing ten passengers and injuring forty. In the Board of Trade report it was found that a man had been placed with a red flag 554 yards (507 m) away but the regulations required him to be 1,000 yards (910 m) away and the train had insufficient time to stop.
Staplehurst rail crash | |
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Details | |
Date | 9 June 1865 3:13 pm |
Location | Staplehurst, Kent |
Country | England |
Line | South Eastern Main Line |
Operator | South Eastern Railway |
Cause | Engineering possession error |
Statistics | |
Trains | 1 |
Deaths | 10 |
Injured | 40 |
List of UK rail accidents by year |
Charles Dickens, 53 years old at the time, was travelling with Ellen Ternan and her mother on the train; they all survived the derailment.[1] He tended the victims, some of whom died while he was with them. The experience affected Dickens greatly; he lost his voice for two weeks and afterwards was nervous when travelling by train, using alternative means when available. Dickens died five years to the day after the accident; his son said that he had never fully recovered.