Settle - Carlisle Line
The Settle and Carlisle line is the most recent of the North-South routes
to be built in the UK. It traverses some of the most remote, but also
picturesque territory in the country. It has a romanticism born as much of the
rugged nature of the terrain as of the heroic engineering artifacts needed to
carrying the railway through the mountains of the north east. Place names along
the way such as Ribblehead, Dent and Shap have a fame that belies their true
significance.
The line has had more perhaps than its fair share of mishaps. The crash of
the overnight sleeping car express between London and Glasgow at Hawes Junction
on Christmas Eve 1910 (
http://danger-ahead.railfan.net/accidents/hawes.htm
) is just one. The most recent incident occurred on 15 January when a passenger
train was struck by a freight train. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries
in the crash, although the passenger train which had been derailed after hitting
debris from a landslip was forced backwards into a tunnel, such was the force of
the impact. This obviously frightening experience of the passengers is testament
to the very difficult operating conditions that prevail on the line. Vigilence
on the part of those responsible for train operations here is paramount and it
is heartening to hear Railtrack's announcement that the safety procedures
folowed by the drivers of both trains helped to lessen what might have been a
far more serious incident.
Branch Line
The Signal Box is a railway related site devoted to
British signalling practice
Trains is the on-line presence of the American magazine of the same name.
Book
Shop
This new feature at Danger Ahead! aims to bring to the
attention of visitors a range of books related to the topic of the site. In
association with large on-line booksellers these will be made available for
purchase at substantial discounts.
Red for Danger : Classic History of British Railway Disasters by LTC Rolt
LTC Rolt's classic book describing British railway accidents
was first published in 1955. There have been several new editions and reprints
since then. It has been out of print for a number of years , but now a new
edition has been published by Sutton Publishing. It uses the text from the 1965
edition and contains many new photographs. Danger Ahead has made it available
for purchase on-line from the site's new Book Shop at a discount of
20%.
Site
Notes
Previous issues of Stop Signal are available in an archive at the
Danger Ahead! web site. If you have missed earlier issues you will be
able to find them here...
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