Strangers on a Train

The main railway line from Kingston Upon Hull to Selby was opened in 1840. It was then, and remains to the present, a vital artery for rail traffic for passengers and freight to and from the major regional city of Hull and connecting at Selby to the rest of the network throughout the country.

As the illustration on the opening announcement depicts the rolling stock in what was still the very early days of the railways was quite basic.

To an ordinary citizen the prospect of taking a journey in connection with their work or for recreation will have been exciting and a bit frightening in equal proportion.

Accidents did occur with some frequency and the following is based on a report from the London Times in February 1847 under the headline "Dreadful Accident on the Hull and Selby Railway"


The evening mail train destined for London had left Hull Central Station at 6pm. The 8 passenger carriages and 5 wagons laden with fish (a major trading commodity of the city trawling industry) were behind two coupled engines, "Kingston" and "York".

At about one and a half miles east of the first station of Hessle (roughly as the land lies now where the Arco Warehouse stands) ,the second engine "York" inexplicably left the rails and smashed into the carriages with seven of these being forced off the line in evidently a most violent action as the wooden coach units were "reduced to atoms". 

Passengers were thrown out forcibly and unfortunately there were two fatalities amongst them.

A James Brown of Hessle, a tin plate worker was killed instantly and a Dewsbury man later died of his injuries at the Coburg Hotel in Hessle as it was nearest occupied premises to the scene and being closer to the station.

Eight other passengers were described as having fearful injuries later transpiring as internal damage as well as the somewhat inevitable broken bones and sprained limbs.

The occupants of the only carriage not to have been damaged will have been exposed to the shock of witnessing the whole event. A train was deployed to bring the lesser injured and lucky escapees back to Hull Station. Of course the mail on the original train still had to reach London and this was duly carried out by special arrangements.

Sometime later at the Coroners Inquest held at the Granby Public House in Hessle the Railway Company Chief Engineer was cross examined along with other witnesses. Although the cause of the accident remained unclear there was no suggestion of blame on any party. The Jury delivered a verdict of accidental death.

Such was the feeling of grief in the local area that funeral costs for the two victims of the accident were waived by the Undertakers.

The London Times goes into a speculative mode with the Reporter taking on the role of a sleuth in trying to discern what happened on that February evening. He states that after making a visit to the crash site it was clear to him that the timber sleepers under the tracks had given way.

The prospect of a major scoop may have influenced his interpretation of seeing a pile of broken wood and other debris left track side following prompt repairs to keep the line up and running.