
The Tottenham Station Railway Disaster of 1860 - Avawelles
https://www.mimimatthews.com/2017/08/14/the-tottenham-station-railway-disaster-of-1860/
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laumars
> _“Great injury was done after the engine ran up the platform. The brickwork
> was swept away, and a large portion of a wall was thrown down; in fact, one
> carriage was thrown completely through the platform wall by the violence
> with which it was hurled over the line.”_

> The Era, 26 February 1860.

It is amusing to read the writing styles of then with the now. The use of
language in the Victorian era was a lot more poetic. While in many ways I do
welcome the directness that modern articles have, I do also feel we've lost
something in artistic merit.

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brudgers
Use of the passive voice gives it a different rhythm. Contemporary "best
practice" is to avoid writing in passive voice. What I find interesting is
that using active voice for inanimate objects like brickwork and walls and
carriages, seems a bit anthropomorphic or perhaps animistic. Sure, "the wall
fell" but not by its own volition.

Yet, for me the passive voice in this passage bogs down a bit in the final
phrasing as subordinate clauses convolute as multiple inanimates suffer
external effects. But in the end, the use of passive voice allows "great
injury" to be the subject of the first sentence and empowers the paragraph in
a way that "The engine" as subject simply cannot.

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gwbas1c
We have access to many more news stories now, writing for easy reading is a
must. When news travels at a slower pace artistic writing is a must.

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carl_dr
And the Railway Department report into the incident, with obviously many more
details :
[http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BoT_TottenhamFeb1...](http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BoT_TottenhamFeb1860.pdf)

~~~
dsfyu404ed
TL;DR

There was a defect in a tire that when subject to wear failed catastrophically
causing the front axle to derail when braking prior to entering the station.
The train was braking later than the textbook safe distance and was not
configured for ideal braking performance. The derailed axle hit some of the
track infrastructure causing the locomotive to jump the tracks and hit the
platform while the rest of the trail piled on the back.

Just like every other "disaster" it's a bunch of otherwise inconsequential
actions, bad luck, an operating procedure that doesn't account for day to day
reality and a little bit of corner cutting coming together at the same time.

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foobarbecue
Trains had tyres??

~~~
damnfine
Forged steel, vs the cast steel/iron of the wheels themselves. They are heated
and press fit on the wheels, and the cooling shrinks them onto the wheel. This
is usually semi-permanant, with replacements only from wear against the rails.
The cast iron would be too brittle and crack. In this case I would assume
there was a casting defect in the wheel, which broke within the 'tyre'. Wagon
wheel tyres are made in a similar way, but use wood spoked centers.

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mirimir
tl;dr

The railway firm used an off-brand wheel on the engine. It had a flaw in a
weld, and failed. The engine derailed.

~~~
exodust
you forgot the part where the author is trying to flog their new romance
novel, available now on Amazon for the low price of $2.48

~~~
mirimir
Right, thanks :)

Also, the train was moving at just 30-40 mph. Those are typical speeds for
current vehicle crash tests.

