Long Lane, Craven Arms Railway Crash

Thanks to Bishops Castle Railway Society The lorry has Great Western Railway on the side and a wagon has LMS so it can’t be much later than 1948. The demolished building must have been a signal box as telegraph equipment has been salvaged and stacked. In one shot you can see the huge carriage shed in the background. This could be at the Long Lane level crossing to the north of Craven Arms. The house looks like the one still there with a bay window facing the tracks and opposite where the signal box is today. You can see a gate post for the level crossing but there’s no gate. Following a post on Memories of Craven Arms Facebook page, someone with a relative who lived in Long Lane, thinks the accident happened in 1947. Carriages on a train travelling south became uncoupled at Warren's Lane and somersaulted towards the signal box. The signalman Mr Tonks of Newton Street was in the box, which was reduced to rubble, and crawled out with just a few scratches on him!! The year 1947 looks a good bet with the lorry being GWR, a wagon LMS, workers wearing berets and the clothing of the onlookers. The comments about carriages ie wagons somersaulting into the signal box after becoming uncoupled begs the question why? There’s a site with official reports of railway accidents but there’s no mention of the incident. There’s nothing in the British Newspaper Archive either. You’d have thought that the accident and the signalman’s lucky escape would have been picked up by the national newspapers. During WW2, news was censored so, perhaps, that’s why there seems to be no record of this accident. Post Script….. “Found it in the Kington Times no less! The accident happened in the early hours of 8 May 1947. The train was a fast freight service from Birkenhead to Cardiff. About a quarter of a mile north of the Long Lane level crossing, four wagons derailed at the Watling Street level crossing (since removed). Two of the wagons crashed through the crossing gates and stopped a foot from the keeper’s house (now demolished). At the Long Lane level crossing, fifteen wagons derailed, one crashing into the signal box and razing it to the ground. The signalman crawled from the wreckage with only cuts, bruises and shock. Both up and down lines were completely blocked. What caused the derailments is unknown.”