Trains at Hatfield, ECML | 14/01/18

A busy and cloudy visit to Hatfield after boarding a train at Foxton which took us down to here, we spent around 3 hours here on Sunday 14th January 2018. The camera may not be looking at the train sometimes it's because i'm holding the Canon camera (with the long lens on) on my right hand while filming with my left.

Hatfield info:

Hatfield railway station serves the town of Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England. The station is managed by Great Northern. It is located approximately 18 miles (29 km) north of London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line.

History:

Hatfield was formerly the junction of two branch lines, both of which have now closed. The Hatfield and St Albans Railway closed to passenger traffic in 1951 as part of postwar economies brought in by the British Transport Commission.[1] The route of the line is now a public footpath, the Alban Way. Another railway ran to Dunstable North, and closed in 1965 under the Beeching Axe. The closure of the Dunstable North line has left Dunstable as one of the largest towns in England without a direct rail connection.

Hatfield rail crashes:

December 1870:

On a frosty Boxing day in 1870 the driver of the 16:25 from London King's Cross to Peterborough noticed an 'uneasy oscillation' as he passed over Marshmoor level crossing, 2 miles south of Hatfield station. He peered back and discovered he had lost his train and pulled up. He reversed back, preceded by his fireman on foot showing a red light. They were met by the white-faced guard who told them there had been a disaster. The driver reversed direction again and sped to Hatfield to warn oncoming traffic and summon help.

It transpired that as the train approached the crossing the left hand leading wheel of the van at the front of the train had disintegrated and the coupling between the van and the locomotive had parted and the van and two following coaches had run off the rails onto the roadway demolishing a wall, and the crossing gates and posts and killing the mother and sister of a signalman who were waiting at the crossing. In addition six passengers in the two coaches were killed.

The accident inspector criticized the method of tyre fixing and recommended, not for the first time, the use of Mansell composite wheels on passenger rolling stock.

October 2000:

A Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) InterCity 225 train bound for Leeds had left London King's Cross at 12:10, and was travelling along the East Coast Main Line at approximately 115 miles per hour (185 km/h) when it derailed south of Hatfield station at 12:23.[2] The train was being driven by an experienced driver, accompanied by a trainee who was expected to take over at Leeds.[3] The primary cause of the accident was later determined to be the left-hand rail fracturing as the train passed over it.[2]

The train travelled a further 1,000 yards (910 m) after derailment. The leading locomotive and the first two coaches remained upright and on the rails. All of the following coaches, and the trailing Driving Van Trailer were derailed, and the train set separated into three sections.[2] The restaurant coach, the eighth vehicle in the set, overturned onto its side and struck an overhead line gantry after derailing, resulting in severe damage to the vehicle.[4] The whole incident occurred in 17 seconds.[5]

Four passengers died in the accident and a further 33 were initially reported as injured, three seriously.[2] The number of injured was later revised to over 70.[1][6] Those who died were all in the restaurant coach:

Robert James Alcorn, 37, of Auckland, New Zealand[7] [8][9]
Steve Arthur, 46, from Pease Pottage, West Sussex[10]
Leslie Gray, 43, of Tuxford, Nottinghamshire[10]
Peter Monkhouse, 50, of Headingley, Leeds[10]
Two of those seriously injured were GNER staff working in the restaurant coach at the time of the accident.[11] Emmerdale actress Anna Brecon was travelling on the train, and suffered minor cuts and bruises.[2]

Crash investigators found the British Rail-designed Mark 4 coaches, aside from the restaurant coach, had good structural integrity and remained intact after the accident.[12] Coincidentally, the locomotive in the crash was also involved in the Great Heck rail crash (where the leading Driving Van Trailer hit a road vehicle on the track) a few months later.

See more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfiel...