11 retro scenes of dramatic train crashes on the lines to Blackpool from the deadly Weeton Rail Disaster to a train derailing at Blackpool North in 1990
By Claire Lark
Published 17th Apr 2023, 11:05 BST
Updated 17th Apr 2023, 11:06 BST
On July 16 1961, a deadly train crash near Weeton claimed the lives of seven people, and left more than a hundred others injured.
The train had 350 people on board and crashed into the rear of an engineer’s ballast engine which had been working at the Singleton Bank signal box. It was by far one of the Fylde Coast’s darkest days. Another tragedy happened in 1924 when the Liverpool Express careered out of control in Lytham. Twelve passengers and the driver of the train were killed instantly, and a further two people later died of their injuries. Reports mentioned bodies trapped inside the wreckage of the train, which had caught fire during the crash, and a ‘midnight search for the dead’. In more recent years a train derailed at Blackpool North and another incident in the 1980s saw an engine crash into the buffers.
The caption on the back of this photo says the image was the day after the disaster - but which one? Judging by the steam engine and the clothing worn by the people in the photograph, this could be the Lytham rail disaster of 1924. A train travelling from Liverpool to Blackpool careered out of control and came off the tracks, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake Photo: submit
The caption on the back of this picture reads, crash between a diesel boat train travelling from Colne to Fleetwood and a stationary ballast train near Weeton , July 16 1961 Photo: staff
This picture shows one of the carriages when a train crashed in Lytham in 1924. Twelve passengers and the driver of the train were killed instantly, and a further two people later died of their injuries Photo: National World
'Coaches of the boat train rear into the air high above wagons of a ballast train , after the rail crash at Weeton' - published July 17 1961 Photo: staff
This is an undated picture of a train crash at Preston station. There is no information with it - can anyone shed any light on what happened? Photo: National World