The Eltham Well Hall rail crash was an accident on the British railway system that occurred on 11 June 1972 at approximately 21:35. An excursion train from Margate to Kentish Town derailed on a sharp curve at Eltham Well Hall station, Eltham, London. The curve had a maximum permitted speed to be taken at but the train was estimated to have been travelling at resulting in the locomotive and all but one of the ten carriages derailing.
The driver Robert Wilsdon and five passengers were killed, and 126 people were injured. At the subsequent public inquiry it was revealed that Wilsdon was drunk.
Robert Wilsdon
The driver of the Excursion train was Robert Wilsdon, a Driver for British Rail's Southern Region based at Hither Green TMD since December 1961.
He had been working on the railways since 1958 and was experienced to drive the British Rail Class 47 locomotive, which would occasionally come down from trains in other regions.
Despite his experience and long time working on the railways, Wilsdon had been reprimanded five times throughout his career.
Of these penalties, three were fairly minor isolated offences (unauthorised absence in October 1960, persistent lateness in February 1961 and a "relatively minor driving offence" in February 1963) but two were serious offences, one of which resulted in a temporary suspension.
The first occurred on 7 November 1961, when Wilsdon had been fined £150 for being drunk and disorderly, causing damage to a shop window and assaulting a police constable whilst off-duty. Although Wilsdon paid the fine, British Rail was not notified of this occurrence until a colleague of Wilsdon's was similarly charged five days later. Both men were subsequently suspended shortly afterwards, against which Wilsdon immediately appealed, claiming that the event was an isolated incident.
He stated that he was thoroughly ashamed and that he had been celebrating a promotion to the position of Passed Fireman with his colleague who greatly assisted him. He later claimed to a representative from the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) that he would not drink again. ASLEF and its General Secretary William Evans sided with Wilsdon.
Both Wilsdon and his colleague were reinstated on 18 December 1961, with Wilsdon being promoted to driver less than a week later on 25 December with his transfer to Hither Green. His colleague was similarly promoted but resigned in early 1963 after a series of reprimands and suspensions.
The public inquiry into the accident eleven years later agreed that this incident was a seemingly isolated occurrence and all had reason to believe Wilsdon; the line manager who reinstated the two was not criticised for this approach, although some criticism was given to the management in 1961 for promoting Wilsdon so quickly after being reinstated.
The second incident occurred on 28 March 1969, when Wilsdon was fined £1 for being drunk in Lewisham. Again, he was off-duty at the time and British Rail was not informed of this occurrence until April. He was not suspended for this incident since his superior at Hither Green was busy then went on leave, and as such was not able to speak with Wilsdon until June.
He subsequently gave Wilsdon a stern reprimand and advised him that such behaviour was not acceptable. The actions of his superior regarding this incident were criticised as "unwise" but were not considered a serious failing. It was concluded that his eventual response to Wilsdon's behaviour was appropriate.
Since 1969, Wilsdon had had a clean record with no reprimands. By 1972 he was married with young children and living in Rainham, Kent - which meant he would usually have to make an almost two hour rail commute to his depot at Hither Green. This travel time and distance between Rainham and Hither Green played a key role in the accident that occurred.
Events
Margate excursions
On Sunday 11 June 1972, a day-trip to Margate had been arranged for the employees (and their families) of British Rail's Midland Region based at the North London depot at Kentish Town. Owing to the large number of day-trippers booked for this customary annual works-outing, a pair of excursion trains were laid on to transport them to Margate and back.
These trains would be driven by Southern Region drivers for some of the journey (particularly to ensure that experienced drivers took the trains through the complex arrangements around Clapham Junction) and would, on reaching Margate and being cleared of passengers, take them onward to Ramsgate Depot where they would be stored until the return trip.
The outbound journeys left Kentish Town around 0830, were completed uneventfully and the trains stabled at Ramsgate as planned.
The second excursion train, scheduled to leave Margate at 20:05 was to be crewed by Driver Wilsdon, Secondman P.E. Stokes and Guard H. Atterbury.
Stokes was 18 years old and had been working on the railways for almost two years at the time of the accident, having been based at Hither Green this entire time. He had worked with Wilsdon occasionally before and had driven with him a few times prior.
Guard Atterbury was 57, had been a guard since 1948 and was based at London Bridge; although he had worked the Bexleyheath line before, he had never done so on a fast train. He had worked with Wilsdon a few times before and considered him an experienced driver.
Wilsdon and Stokes were to sign on duty at Hither Green in person by 15:42 to catch a train as passengers to Ramsgate, transferring at Dartford.
The 20:05 return excursion train crewed by Wilsdon, Stokes and Atterbury consisted of a British Rail Class 47 locomotive, No.1630 from the Midland Region, and ten coaches; a Brake Second Corridor, a Second Corridor, a Composite Corridor, three more Second Corridors, another Composite, a Tourist Standard Open, another Second Corridor and another Brake Second Corridor at the rear. All of the coaches were Mark 1 rolling stock with the oldest coach dating back to 1954 and the newest coach dating to 1962.
Events prior to Wilsdon arriving at Ramsgate
As he did not need to be on duty until the afternoon, Wilsdon joined his two brothers for lunch at around 12:55, the three travelling to a local pub where they stayed until closing time just after 14:00. Here, Wilsdon drank two pints of light and bitter and a half pint of light ale which was confirmed by his brothers who'd drunk similarly.
According to them, the three returned home and spent the afternoon indoors with the children until Robert was driven by one of his brothers to Rainham station at around 17:15. Both brothers confirmed that he had not drunk after leaving the pub and were adamant on this point at the later public inquiry.
However, this evidence was contradicted by a later statement made by Secondman Stokes that when they met at Ramsgate, Wilsdon told Stokes that he had "ended up going somewhere and drinking some sherry".
At 15:22 Wilsdon signed on duty with Hither Green by telephone. He claimed that he was going to head directly to Ramsgate from Rainham and said that he had to catch an earlier train from Rainham (the 15:32 instead of the 15:42, which was not running on Sundays) and therefore asked Hither Green if he could be considered on-duty from 15:12. This was agreed as there was no evidence to the contrary and it was believed that Wilsdon was travelling to Ramsgate at this time.
In reality, Wilsdon did not leave for Rainham station until 17:15 and as such his move was solely to gain pay for an extra two hours for which he had not actually been on duty. It also meant that his Supervisors at Hither Green would not see him in person.
By contrast to this, secondman Stokes arrived at Hither Green, signed on duty in person at around 15:12 and was instructed by the Supervisor to travel on the 15:32 train and try to meet Wilsdon on the train.
This did not occur, and the two met up at Ramsgate Depot by the locomotive at around 18:25. Stokes had arrived first, having spoken with the supervisor at Ramsgate to ascertain the details of the train.
Wilsdon did not meet with the supervisor at Ramsgate, probably because his was the only Class 47 engine at the depot and would have been easy to find.
Leaving for Margate
When Stokes boarded the engine, he waited alone in the cab until around 18:25 when Wilsdon arrived and spoke about the preparations for the journey back to London.
Stokes recalled that when Wilsdon turned to speak with him, he "smelt something pretty strong" on the driver's breath and when asked, Wilsdon explained that he had been drinking at lunchtime and later had some sherry prior to arriving in Ramsgate. This evidence contradicts that of Wilsdon's brothers who claimed that he had not drunk between 14:02 and 17:15.
Despite this, Wilsdon suggested the pair go to the nearby Railway Staff Association Club at about 19:00 and get a drink to which Stokes agreed, with the pair arriving just in time for the club to open at 19:05. The pair had three pints of light and bitter each with Wilsdon possibly drinking another half pint of light ale, according to the evidence of club staff who served him. Stokes was uncertain on this point but agreed that "Bob could have got one in". Running slightly late and at Wilsdon's urging, the pair returned to Ramsgate Depot at around 19:40.
Guard Atterbury, who arrived at Ramsgate some hours earlier and had been relaxing in the staff break room of the station, had gone to prepare the train for its departure at around 19:30 and initially noted that the engine crew were absent. Before he could go ask superiors as to where they were, he saw Stokes and Wilsdon return. He briefed the pair on the train's particulars with Wilsdon appearing sober and routine.
The empty train left Ramsgate and made an uneventful journey to Margate, arriving at around 19:59.
Margate
The train arrived at Margate and the boarding of passengers was routine, with boarding complete by 20:04. Stationmaster Arundell signalled the train clear to depart for London, but both he and Atterbury found that there was no response in the cab.
When Arundell went to examine the cab, he found it empty but after returning shortly afterwards, saw a pair of beer bottles in the cab. Arundell believed that they were a gift left by the organisers of the excursion to the engine crew - such being a normal 'tip' for excursion drivers to enjoy off-duty - and he did not question their appearance.
Shortly thereafter, Wilsdon and Stokes returned and entered the cab preparing for departure, with neither seeming unusual: when Arundell told them to hurry up, Wilsdon calmly noted they could regain lost time on the journey. A member of staff on the platform at this time noted that he had seen both Stokes and Wilsdon depart the locomotive and leave the station via Platform No.1 three minutes after having arrived at Margate and this was later compared with the timings made by Guard Atterbury, who recorded a 20:13 departure from Margate (eight minutes late) noting that both Stokes and Wilsdon were absent.
Exactly where the pair went in this period is unknown owing to Wilsdon's death and Stokes having little recollection of the events after leaving Ramsgate and although another pub was close to the station, it was considered that neither had time to reach it.
The journey
Having left Margate eight minutes late and scheduled to run non-stop (aside from a later stop to change crew), Wilsdon was able to run the train at high speed and according to Atterbury's timings, was only a minute late after passing Faversham ( from Margate).