LMS Route: Birmingham New Street to Nuneaton
LMS Route: Birmingham New Street to Tamworth
LMS Route: Hampton in Arden to Whitacre

Whitacre Station: mrwj1158

General view of the accident between a passenger train and derailed wagons which occurred on 18th August 1903. On the right is the goods locomotive involved, MR 0-6-0 No 2344 which was hauling nineteen fully loaded wagons, four empty wagons and a ten-ton brake van. The driver did not realise that his train had been routed on to the parallel down goods loop and failed to stop resulting in the demolition of the loop line's stop block. The locomotive ran off the end of the line with the first nine wagons coupled behind the tender being derailed and severely damaged. These fouled the passenger line and they in turn derailed MR 4-4-0 No 2585 which was at the head of a special Bristol to Hellifield passenger train which was passing at the time. Nine passengers complained of injuries. Forty yards beyond the north end of the up platform the up goods line commences by a pair of facing points in the up Derby passenger line, and it runs parallel to this line to Whitacre North Signal Box, where the goods line joins the passenger line again, and there is a short over-run of forty yards ending in a stop block. The accident occurred when the goods train over ran this stop block. The locomotive was being driven by Arthur John Collis who was ultimately blamed for the accident after a report dated 14th September 1903 by Major E Druitt, Royal Engineers, noted the cause of the accident was the failure of the driver of the goods locomotive paying sufficient attention. In the Appendix to the report, Major Druitt records, 'The goods locomotive, No 2344 was a wreck, and its tender suffered badly. The passenger locomotive, No 2585 received mainly superficial damage, and its tender escaped with just a slight bent tool box lid. The vehicles of the passenger train were badly spoiled on their left hand side, but it was the goods wagons that took the main brunt of the devastation. Eight were completely broken up, with five more sustaining serious damage'.

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