On 10th December 1937 disaster struck at Castlecary train station on the Edinburgh-Glasgow line.
Today marks the 85th anniversary of the tragedy that cost a total of 35 people their lives and hundreds of others injured when blizzard conditions and signalling problems led to the Edinburgh to Glasgow express ploughing into a stationary train just west of Castlecary in Lanarkshire.
The crash occurred at 4.37pm on a Friday after the Dundee to Glasgow train stopped at signals outside Castlecary station.
An investigation after the incident found a signaller error was to blame, with driver error and challenging weather conditions contributing factors .An error from the signalman meant that the Edinburgh train's driver had been led to believe that the route forward was clear.
At the time, the then Glasgow Herald reported: “The locomotive tore through the rear portion of the stationary train, crumbling the carriages to matchwood and throwing the rear coach into the air. It landed broadside across the track.
“With the impetus of the train the foremost carriages of the Edinburgh train reared high in the air, and rode up over the engine. The two following carriages heaved themselves partially on top of each other.”
It reported scenes of “twisted iron” and “wheels buckled almost beyond recognition”. Among the dead was an eight-year-old girl, who was first counted as missing.
The noise from the impact was heard from a nearby mine and all the miners ran down the hillside to help, to pull the injured and the dead from the train. The only light they had to work with was the lamp on their own helmets, and they built bonfires along the trackside.
The driver of the Edinburgh train was charged with culpable homicide for supposedly driving too fast in the weather conditions, but the charge was later dropped.
However both drivers were found at fault of travelling at high speed in adverse weather conditions at a Department of Transport inquiry as well as the signalman, who was also severely criticised.
On the 80th anniversary of the accident, the North Lanarkshire village of Castlecary carried out a memorial for those who lost their lives.
Initially, the disaster was marked with a plaque in the village, but fifteen years ago Castlecary residents created a memorial in their Garden of Remembrance comprised of a two railway sleepers, two short lengths of track and a two-tonne locomotive wheel.
