The Abergele Train Disaster in 1868 was the first major railway disaster in Britain.

On August 20 1868 7.30 AM the train Irish Mail left the Euston Station in London for Holyhead. It pulled four passenger carriages, a mail van and a traveling post office. At 11.30AM in Chester it collected four additional passenger carriages that were attached to the front of the locomotive. After an hour the train was approaching Abergele in Wales.

At the same time at Llandulas , railway workers shunted cargo trucks from the main line to the sidings. During the shuffling, they had to leave six trucks with a brake van on the main line. Two of the trucks carried barrels of paraffin. When some of the trucks were shunted against them, brake in a brake van slipped and the trucks begun to slide down the incline toward the Irish Mail.

Engine driver Arthur Thompson saw the trucks speed towards the train from behind the curve of the sea wall. He turned off steam and threw the engine into reverse but it was too late.

The cargo trucks collided with the passenger carriages at the front. The paraffin exploded and the fire engulfed the carriages. 33 passengers perished in a couple of minutes. The engine driver was seriously injured.

A number of laborers ran to the scene from a nearby quarry and formed a human chain, trying to quench the flames by seawater. They failed to save anyone from the flames. The bodies were so scarred that only three of them could be later identified. They were buried in a huge trench.The London & North Western Railway Company paid all the funeral expenses.

During the inquest, the coroner received an anonymous letter that put the blame on the Fenians; the Irish rebels had supposedly tried to assassinate wife and servants of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Inquest did not find any kind of evidence to support this and the letter was declared a hoax.

Injured Arthur Thompson was suspected of speeding but there was much sympathy for him; he died of his injuries in October. Llandulas brakemen assured that they were very careful although some witnesses claimed that they had seen runaway trucks before; they were eventually cleared of responsibility.

Newspapers blamed the railway company for not ensuring the safety of the passengers. The Board of Trade demanded a number of safety measures, including telegraph system to connect all the stations and that inflammable material should be transported on special trains.

Books

• Robert Hume - Death by Chance: The Abergele Train Disaster, 1868 (2004)