Tragic Turning Point: The Armagh Rail Disaster

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  • Опубліковано 21 вер 2024
  • The Armagh Rail Disaster, Ireland - June 12 1889 was a nightmare of locked exit doors, poor decision making and a lack of standardization in the UK's Privatized Rail System. Railways would undergo sweeping changes to safety policies, procedures and systems as a result.
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 356

  • @BrickImmortar
    @BrickImmortar  2 роки тому +99

    Hope you're having a good weekend!
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    Previous Tragic Tales Episode: ua-cam.com/video/TySA8ViKjCo/v-deo.html
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    • @genericalfishtycoon3853
      @genericalfishtycoon3853 2 роки тому +2

      I'm pretty broke these days so I'll just let the ads play, thanks though for the vids Sam! This channel deserves to be over 250k subs immediately. You hear that algorithm? You're sleeping on a gem!

    • @whyjnot420
      @whyjnot420 2 роки тому

      Is the depiction of the height of the railroad over the surrounding terrain at 5:24 accurate?
      I know railroads do a lot to make everything as flat as they can, or at least they eventually did after Burnel showed them why. But that depiction in the video seems rather extreme especially for an earthen embankment.
      edit: nevermind, If I was patient, I would have seen the photos. Damn that is a tall, steep embankment.

    • @archenema6792
      @archenema6792 2 роки тому +1

      @@whyjnot420 It's a legitimate question. Trains can't climb a grade of higher than 4%, roughly 110 feet per mile, unless they use a rack rail toothed kickback prevention system or a pulley system.

    • @coreyburton6170
      @coreyburton6170 Рік тому

      Hey Brick Immortar, just out of curiosity, what route did you use for the disaster simulation?
      Love your videos though! Keep it up! -Spitfirelad05 (Corey)

  • @TracyA123
    @TracyA123 2 роки тому +731

    Imagine being in the driver's position. Objecting to the use of such a weak engine for the trip and being told to shut up if you want to keep your job and then being given part of the blame. SMH
    Very well done video! Also, like always, I'm impressed by the respect shown to the victims by having no commentary while their names are on screen. Class act!

    • @thomasoates3003
      @thomasoates3003 2 роки тому +80

      That was, sadly, quite common. Companies often threw their employees under the bus to avoid taking blame.

    • @TracyA123
      @TracyA123 2 роки тому +68

      @@thomasoates3003 Id love to think we were past that but, unfortunately, we certainly aren't. Ex.... That guy at Boeing. They didn't waste a second scapegoating him.

    • @thomasoates3003
      @thomasoates3003 2 роки тому +78

      @@TracyA123 It's surprisingly common. In the British NHS, 66% of whistleblowers (people who call attention to unsafe practice or mismanagement) are fired by the NHS or harassed into dropping their charges.

    • @TracyA123
      @TracyA123 2 роки тому +8

      @@thomasoates3003 Omg. That's crazy

    • @abloogywoogywoo
      @abloogywoogywoo 2 роки тому +8

      Stationmaster was an asshole who only cared about ticket sales.

  • @tractorjunkco9431
    @tractorjunkco9431 2 роки тому +488

    While not blameless I feel really bad for the train driver here. He knew something would happen, despite he himself being new to the line. Now if only management would have listened to him about needing a bigger 6 drive wheel instead of the 4.

    • @froey198033
      @froey198033 2 роки тому +85

      That's always the issue. Management never listens to the employees cause they think they know everything. Whoever was in charge and didn't listen to the driver should've gone to prison for a long time.

    • @GBOAC
      @GBOAC 2 роки тому +6

      @@froey198033 the reason why we don’t have daily rail disasters is partly because management does usually listen… the few incidents where management didn’t listen doesn’t suddenly equate the usual day to day situation

    • @pendlera2959
      @pendlera2959 2 роки тому +42

      @@GBOAC Pretty sure the lack of disasters is more due to modern safety features and government oversight. Managers still often ignore their employees, and would be even worse about it if not for the threat of a report to the authorities. I'm sorry I can't find the link, but I read an article last year about how train workers in the US are being pressured by their managers to inspect cars in less and less time, to the point where it is impossible for them to actually check many important areas and parts.

    • @Demiglitch
      @Demiglitch Рік тому

      @@pendlera2959 and did some sort of train accident occur between seven months ago and now that may have been caused by that, perchance?

    • @ryan_danger
      @ryan_danger Рік тому +17

      ​@@pendlera2959 this is a practice on the Union Pacific. I work for a different railroad. Management and dispatch will sometimes get mad and ask what's taking so long when you're conducting a Class 1 air brake test before you go on the road, but I am allowed to tell them to kick rocks and wait. It depends on who it is

  • @JDsVarietyChannel
    @JDsVarietyChannel 2 роки тому +467

    This episode was especially engaging, and I was glued to the story. It was horrifying to hear that the train cars literally became tombs that passengers were locked in. If you ever do videos on dam breaches, consider the history of Johnstown, PA (where I grew up) It's a dying, rustbelt town that was destroyed by water THREE time times, in 1889, 1936 and 1977. We call it flood city.

    • @AlexWolfLikesPie
      @AlexWolfLikesPie 2 роки тому +16

      PA native here also. Johnstown would be a very good one for him to cover, thanks for this suggestion. Would love to see it. I remember learning about it in class as a kid, i guess it stuck with me and i went home and made a “model” of the disaster which was just a piece of tupperware full of water and legos. I feel like his video would be far superior to my “creative” interpretation of events

    • @whyjnot420
      @whyjnot420 2 роки тому +13

      Not to denigrate those floods but at least people talk about those and make videos on them. Up here in southern New England there were a pair of floods in 1955 that caused major damage across no less than 3 states (including New York) caused by 2 hurricanes both hitting a week apart in August of that year. The damage was by no means limited to NY, Ct. & Mass. either.
      Over _200_ dams in New England suffered full or partial failure due to these 2 floods. There were places in NY that had not been repaired over a decade after the floods, as in bridges that had been washed away which had just stayed like that for years and years.
      Yet barely anyone talks about them. Mainly it gets attention from local historical societies and history nerds like myself. The general public is somewhat aware that the floods of 1955 were a thing, but not much more than that. Barely anyone ever talks about the massive effort that the Army Corp of Engineers made in building around a hundred million dollars (in 1960s money) worth of dams and other flood protection in the aftermath either.
      edit: Just to point out some things, a lot of people around here don't even know that it was 2 floods in 1955 even if they know that flooding happened in 1955. And given that it was 66 years ago, the number of people who were old enough to actually remember them has dwindled quite a lot. With so little attention paid to them and the slow removal from living memory, this area is being slowly primed for a reprise once the flood protection built by the army decays enough.

    • @thomaszinser8714
      @thomaszinser8714 2 роки тому +1

      Okay, I misread your calling it engaging as enraging, which honestly, also fits fairly well imo.

    • @harryjohnson9215
      @harryjohnson9215 2 роки тому

      I have been in similar coach to those used on that train and I can tell you that it is easy and simple to open the doors, all you need to do is
      1. Open the window ( each compartment must have a openable window)
      2. Reach out and turn the handle to open the door

    • @FRLN500
      @FRLN500 2 роки тому +4

      @@harryjohnson9215 Yep, it's easy...except when the doors are locked....on the inside AND the outside.

  • @davidjones332
    @davidjones332 2 роки тому +41

    Something not mentioned is that, in the course of the accident investigation, a rake of identical vehicles ballasted to the same weight was set rolling down the gradient, and the brake van was able to bring them to a stand, so Henry's failure to achieve that was inexplicable. The inspector could only surmise that the brake was not in proper working order, or it had somehow been tampered with by passengers in the van.

  • @BoredInAHotel
    @BoredInAHotel 2 роки тому +159

    I’m from Armagh and grew up not far from the old track bed and currently I live in Hamilton’s Bawn (Hamiltonsbawn).
    Although the line is long closed and the tracks lifted, the events of that day is not forgotten in Armagh and is still taught at local primary schools.
    Very well made and factually correct video.

    • @cf1925
      @cf1925 2 роки тому +1

      @@MonTube2006 Mmh, troll

    • @cf1925
      @cf1925 2 роки тому +1

      @@MonTube2006 I have no clue what you are going on about, but ok

    • @cf1925
      @cf1925 2 роки тому +1

      @@MonTube2006 My assumption is that you're trying to portray a train crash in which dozens of children got crushed in wooden train cars and thrown down a steep embankment as a **fucking optical illusion???** ***_From 1889???_***

    • @mjc11a
      @mjc11a 2 роки тому

      @@MonTube2006...P**s off.

    • @rpenney76
      @rpenney76 2 роки тому

      @MonTube STFU.. Showing your true ignorance!

  • @cypher50
    @cypher50 2 роки тому +67

    It doesn't really hit you until you see the names at 19:59 just how disastrous this was. Sad that it took this amount of loss of life to initiate permanent safety change when the only thing that prevented it previously was money.

  • @myfavoritemartian1
    @myfavoritemartian1 2 роки тому +62

    Twenty years before in 1869, George Westinghouse invented the Fail-safe brake system for trains. The brakes are engaged always and needed pressure from the engine to release. That way when a hose was uncoupled anywhere, the brakes would engage. Every car has brakes also. This system is still used today and a similar system is used on big trucks. Pity this train didn't have them.

    • @Graham-ce2yk
      @Graham-ce2yk 2 роки тому +11

      This was the accident that led to 'automatic brakes' being mandated. But I'm also aware of a crash in Algiers in the 1980s where a similar set of circumstances occurred resulting in runaway passenger cars slamming into stationary freight cars whose brakes were sadly fully operational.

    • @Pacific_Storm
      @Pacific_Storm Місяць тому

      I thought the system sounded familiar to those used on trucks

    • @myfavoritemartian1
      @myfavoritemartian1 Місяць тому

      @@Pacific_Storm Very similar.

  • @stephenphillip5656
    @stephenphillip5656 2 роки тому +171

    "Red For Danger" by L T C Rolt is a defining publication in the history of railway accidents in Britain. What *really* comes across is the casual dismissal of any safely thinking in the early days of railways and how many innocents died in the companies' pursuit of profits at the expense of safety.

    • @mce_AU
      @mce_AU 2 роки тому +9

      RFD was the first safety film we watched as brand new apprentices back in 1980 when I started working for the Victorian Railways, Melb. Aus. as a signaling technician. Some things you never forget.

    • @capnskiddies
      @capnskiddies 2 роки тому +4

      Still recommended reading for signallers being "passed out" in Irish Rail.

    • @peebee143
      @peebee143 2 роки тому +3

      Excellent book! I have several copies.

    • @mulgerbill
      @mulgerbill 2 роки тому +2

      @@mce_AU Same here when I joined as a JSA in 83, and again in 87 when I got my Signalman certificates.

    • @Aikisbest
      @Aikisbest 2 роки тому +10

      This is a common theme to this day with the lack of safety to increase profits, and a lot of the problem lies in the fact that the ones with the power and the funds are never the ones who get directly affected by the consequences.

  • @thomasoates3003
    @thomasoates3003 2 роки тому +151

    An interesting change in direction. Thanks for drawing attention to this largely forgotten disaster.

    • @Faded-Tales-PreviouslyHarley
      @Faded-Tales-PreviouslyHarley 2 роки тому +10

      I definitely enjoy the new direction. Hearing about all these buildings and structures that collapsed were interesting but there's only just a handful you can speak about. Yet things like this, that involve human error or simple accidents, sometimes feel like they're a dime a dozen.
      But I do love that this is a story I've never heard of. I follow a lot of channels that are somewhat similar and sometimes I'll see the same disaster on 3 channels, all repeating the same basic information. Learning completely new material is great.

    • @chatteyj
      @chatteyj 2 роки тому +2

      Oh I see I thought he was making a dark joke about the train story, lol.

    • @thomasoates3003
      @thomasoates3003 2 роки тому +1

      @@florjanbrudar692 It's largely unknown outside of railway enthusiast circles.

    • @TimothyWorel-xj9he
      @TimothyWorel-xj9he 3 місяці тому +1

      Abermule was another disaster.

    • @thomasoates3003
      @thomasoates3003 3 місяці тому +2

      @@TimothyWorel-xj9he And another incident worthy of coverage.

  • @braselc1914
    @braselc1914 2 роки тому +153

    Interesting facts - even as late as the 1950's many British freight cars still had no vacuum brakes at all, and the UK was still using primitive hook and loop couplers. Also somewhat surprisingly the US, dispute the number of wrecks, never really got into the ultra high fatality count range. In the US automatic air brakes (loss of elevated air pressure applies brakes) were made mandatory in 1903, along with modern knuckle couplers, for both freight and passenger cars. Of course, the British-style hook and loop couplers were at least safe for the one doing the coupling, while the link and pin couplers the US used prior to 1903 were very much not, and killed and maimed countless brakemen, and far more lost fingers.
    The US also adopted all-steel passenger cars a few decades before everybody else. They were very heavy (80 tons each), but by that point American locomotives were big enough to pull trains of them at high speed, and in a wreck would stay intact practically no matter what. You could argue they were sturdier than many modern cars used in much of the world.
    Also, if you want to do a Collapse/this series combination, might I recommend Ashtabula bridge collapse?
    PS: What are use using to make the train graphics? Microsoft Train Simulator or Trainz? The latter is far more likely to have exactly what you're looking for already made. If you're making your train rendering from scratch, than you could really save a lot of time and effort using it.

    • @hrunchtayt1587
      @hrunchtayt1587 2 роки тому +23

      He’s using Dovetail Games Train Simulator 2022

    • @BrickImmortar
      @BrickImmortar  2 роки тому +39

      Ashtabula is a great suggestion, Brasel! Been curious how much interest there'd be in that one... thanks for that.

    • @eaglescout1984
      @eaglescout1984 2 роки тому +10

      Also worth mentioning many US railcars had hand brakes, so they could all be applied manually in an emergency. In fact many freight cars still do, although it's more for storing them in a yard rather than trying to apply them by climbing form car to car on a 100 car train.

    • @braselc1914
      @braselc1914 2 роки тому +21

      @@eaglescout1984 Actually, -all- of them did, and still do .Before air brakes the means of braking consisted of whistle signals telling brakemen to run along the roofs of cars applying the handbrakes. They had roofwalks for that purpose, but they stopped building cars with them in the 1960's, long after any need had ended. It goes without saying that it wasn't very safe for the brakemen. Today it's just for parking cars as you said; putting the air brakes in emergency would apply the brakes just as hard as the handbrakes could. US grades were steep, and American cars weighed several times that of British cars; brakes on every car were essential. Even by the 1870's brakes on just the locomotive and two axles on a guard's van as in Britain would have been completely inadequate in the US, if not long before than.

    • @thomasoates3003
      @thomasoates3003 2 роки тому +2

      If you want the full DLC list, the simulator sequences use Train Sim Academy, West Somerset Railway, and the GNR/NER non-corridor stock pack.

  • @kokosan09
    @kokosan09 2 роки тому +22

    I didn't think this could possibly get worse, but then you mentioned that all the passengers were locked in...

    • @TracyA123
      @TracyA123 2 роки тому +3

      Yeah that got me too

  • @Danger_N00dle
    @Danger_N00dle 2 роки тому +65

    You might want to look up the Lac Megantic train crash.
    It was quite an unfortunate even back a few years ago in Canada
    It's a similar story
    IIRC it was due to negligence which caused a train to go down a hill unsupervised and derail in the middle of a small town.
    Unfortunately, the train was carrying a lot of flammable products which quickly caught fire and exploded.

    • @froey198033
      @froey198033 2 роки тому

      Wow I never heard of that crash. I'm definitely gonna check that out.

    • @GiordanDiodato
      @GiordanDiodato 2 роки тому +1

      @@MonTube2006 *2013

    • @dellahicks7231
      @dellahicks7231 2 роки тому

      Was a sad day across Canada, watching the horrific events of those few days unfolding on our screens.
      So much heartache.

  • @reddev5420
    @reddev5420 2 роки тому +78

    I'm from Northern Ireland. Kinda surreal seeing a video on your channel about the wee green island, and not too far away from where I am. Good job!

    • @telhadaway3833
      @telhadaway3833 2 роки тому +2

      It is kinda blessing to all the victims of this terrible accident that it is being told now I'm from CO.Armgh Craigavon about 12 miles from this terrible accident, god bless all the victims

    • @backyardblacksmith3090
      @backyardblacksmith3090 2 роки тому

      Ireland 🇮🇪 is big deal over here across the pond, lots of Irish ancestry in the states 🇺🇸 and Canada 🇨🇦

    • @gillianrainey8599
      @gillianrainey8599 2 роки тому

      @@telhadaway3833 I'm from Portadown,utterly tragic indeed

    • @TerMau01
      @TerMau01 2 роки тому

      I'm from Armagh and yeah it's surreal

  • @madeljacky
    @madeljacky 2 роки тому +16

    After reading the book 'The runaway train, Armagh 1889' I have stood on the Killuney road looking at that embankment and often wondered what it would have been like to have been there in 1889, your video really shows what happened on that day.

  • @erikaitsumi3852
    @erikaitsumi3852 2 роки тому +18

    I watched a channel 4 documentary on this accident and your editing and animations were 1000 times better. I didn't know what happened to the train that got hit. That was very interesting to find out.

  • @theoriginalcraig
    @theoriginalcraig 2 роки тому +11

    Aside from the narration, the graphics quality on this video alone, are the kind you would normally only see on a channel with close to a million subscribers. WELL DONE!

    • @kristofburek264
      @kristofburek264 2 роки тому +1

      Deserves to, and I hope will, reach 1m subscribers and many, many more!

  • @szymoncbortion69
    @szymoncbortion69 2 роки тому +5

    the hardest thing for me is seeing how many victims share last names. while they died together its just so much more tragic to me. may their souls never be forgotten.

  • @Sigil_Firebrand
    @Sigil_Firebrand 2 роки тому +14

    This story to me is one of the most fascinating tales of tragedy, I've been obsessed with it since I learned about it as a kid. Fantastic video and included some facts I'd never heard before too. Thank you for helping more people learn of this tale.

  • @geerd1
    @geerd1 2 роки тому +26

    Nice combination of historical footage and modern animation 👌

  • @iainmalcolm9583
    @iainmalcolm9583 2 роки тому +10

    Good mix of the old photos & modern animation to tell this story.

  • @tigerslashii7097
    @tigerslashii7097 2 роки тому +12

    As grim as the tragedies are, so many of these have instances of ordinary people becoming selfless heroes without seconds hesitation

  • @stevenc123
    @stevenc123 2 роки тому +5

    My great grandmother was on that trip as a baby, but luckily in the front carriages that were still attached to the train.

  • @derekstocker6661
    @derekstocker6661 2 роки тому +5

    What a tragic incident, awful in detail and these dear Folks who lost their lives.
    This video is brilliantly narrated and illustrated, thank you for this, I wonder if the second train upon seeing the approaching runaway had stopped and reversed slowly to let the runaway catch up and then gradually come to a stop, may have made a difference, we will never know.
    Thank you for this, RIP dear Folks.

  • @kscorp5176
    @kscorp5176 2 роки тому +15

    Another excellent video - well researched and presented. Really appreciated the diversity of the visuals, especially the animation of looking out the train windows from within, and the colourised picture of the accident site at the end.

  • @CarolineBearoline
    @CarolineBearoline 2 роки тому +49

    Great story telling, as usual! I'd never heard of this tragedy before

    • @telhadaway3833
      @telhadaway3833 2 роки тому +1

      Ya it was a very sad accident so many young people died that day it happened about 12 miles from where I live, it happened just outside Armagh city northern Ireland

  • @maj0072
    @maj0072 2 роки тому +5

    I've seen videos on this before. This is by far the best in detail, telling & graphics.

  • @Jen-rose76
    @Jen-rose76 2 роки тому +2

    I have to tell you I only recently found your channel and I have not been able to stop watching. Thank you so much for always dumbing everything down for those of us that don’t understand the more technical things. I still get a little lost but I love listening and learning. The videos I’ve watched so far I have never heard of until now. Thank you and please continue.

  • @bjbrown
    @bjbrown 2 роки тому +6

    You tell us the stories that may otherwise be lost to time. By remembering these tragedies I hope that in the future we may not have history repeat

  • @alastairpreston3237
    @alastairpreston3237 2 роки тому +8

    As a side note, the Staplehurst wreck at 19:08 is the one in which Charles Dickens was a passenger - I think he was in the carriage that's at an angle in the picture. He got himself, his mistress and her mother out, then helped with injured passengers.

  • @FMJIRISH
    @FMJIRISH Місяць тому

    Two years later and I'm still appreciative that you were able to say Armagh correctly

    • @UKMDI
      @UKMDI 16 днів тому

      how else could you say it

  • @MrMarauder96
    @MrMarauder96 Рік тому +3

    Thanks! I am obsessed with your content. The amount of research you do to make these such minute details is amazing. The conclusions are sadly similar but I think it gives knowledge to the everyday person.

  • @andrewkelley9405
    @andrewkelley9405 2 роки тому +9

    This is wild; I have NEVER heard of this until now. Good job sir.

  • @ramblingman8992
    @ramblingman8992 2 роки тому +2

    It took this tragedy to force the UK Government to bring about safety legislation on the railways rather than trusting the individual companies to maintain a safe transport system.
    Despite the Legislation, 26 years later, the UK suffered it's worst rail crash to date at Quintinshill, with 226 dead and 246 injured.

  • @marilynmurray3519
    @marilynmurray3519 2 роки тому +4

    I appreciate the detailed explanations you give in your videos. When learning about these tragedies your voice is somehow soothing.

  • @Squareheed
    @Squareheed 2 роки тому +3

    Stumbled upon this video whilst researching the history of my country's railway infrastructure. Truly a tragic loss of life for the people of Armagh and Northern Ireland.

  • @ntvonline9480
    @ntvonline9480 2 роки тому +8

    My heart is still pounding. Great video!

  • @terryansell6641
    @terryansell6641 2 роки тому +8

    This was a very interesting but sad video about the Irish railway accident thank you from NZ

  • @MsKassandraKotaku
    @MsKassandraKotaku 2 роки тому +6

    Oh yes! Trains and you! This is the type of content that is right up my alley!

  • @hellosweden8786
    @hellosweden8786 2 роки тому +34

    I have seen two others recommending the Lac Megantic crash in Canada. That is a whirlwind of neglect and stupidity. would be nice to hear your thoughts!
    Another semi disaster is the Swedish building project Hallandsåsen. We intended to build a tunnel through soft ground to save a few kms of rail travel - turns out the insulation material was poisonous and the deep water reserves were drained. Many farmers were livid. Please share your thoughts on that one too - I still don't know what happened really and I'm from Sweden!! lol

    • @HadridarMatramen
      @HadridarMatramen Рік тому

      Jeg er din nabo fra Norge, og jeg hadde aldri engang hørt om Hallandsåsen!

  • @ArcadiaJunctionHobbies
    @ArcadiaJunctionHobbies 2 роки тому +8

    This is a superb film. Really impressive. Although Ireland was part of the UK back then, I am almost certain that Ireland had its own railway operational laws. These were drafted by the rail companies themselves and the Great Northern was a very powerful entity in Ireland at the time. The GNR remained for decades after railways in Ireland were nationalized and only joined the state rail operators in Northern Ireland and the Republic in 1960.

    • @thomasburke2683
      @thomasburke2683 2 роки тому

      Model Trains Forever
      The GNR (I) was first nationalised in 1953, jointly by the two governments until 1958, when it was split, the part in Northern Ireland coming under the Ulster Transport authority while the sections south of the border was absorbed by CIE.
      CIE had only been nationalised 1950 and the UTA was only created 1948, so the GNR wasn't significantly late in being nationalised. The joint body of 1953-58 didn't work because you can't serve two masters.

  • @peterohagan3961
    @peterohagan3961 2 роки тому +3

    What an amazing video I live right beside the old railway just outside of Jerrettspass Newry and have been told this story many times. But to see it again animated and with so much detail is amazing. Great job.

  • @BillyAlabama
    @BillyAlabama 2 роки тому +2

    Your narrative voice is so pleasant to hear. Thank you!

  • @cuddlepaws4423
    @cuddlepaws4423 4 місяці тому

    We live in England and had never heard of this one. Thank you for such a detailed and sensitive recounting of the event. Sadly, it is about normal for management to not take notice of the workers as they know everything, and threaten employees with disciplinary action or the sack. And it is just as common for companies as a whole to put the blinkers on with safety issues to save money. Only legislation can make changes, but it always comes about after there has been bloodshed and the legislation has to be buttoned up tight, so the companies have no wriggle room or loopholes to exploit.

  • @NathanTagalong
    @NathanTagalong 2 роки тому +2

    Wow this story has so many pieces. Very interesting. Thanks for the detailed explanation about the breaks. It's amazing to see the innovations that came about after this accident.

  • @stefansoder6903
    @stefansoder6903 2 роки тому +7

    Very well made. And thank you for the metrics!

  • @theflowerwhosavedtheuniver5658
    @theflowerwhosavedtheuniver5658 2 роки тому +2

    It's sad to think that I was born and bred in Belfast & have never heard of this. Nor have I ever seen our local TV stations cover it. RIP to all of those who lost their lives so unnecessarily 🙏💔

  • @AdurianJ
    @AdurianJ 2 роки тому +2

    Sweden had a slightly similar accident in 1956 where an iron ore train lost it's carriages and the automatic breaks didn't work because they where not connected properly.
    The carriges ran for several miles until impacting with a rail bus full of Confirmee's (Young people usually 15 years old that are confirming their Lutheran baptism by studying and learning their faith and affirming it in a church ceremony).
    The locomotive of the iron ore train Ma 405 (and electric goods engine) was in service until 2014

  • @Zif-the-Old-Herring
    @Zif-the-Old-Herring 2 місяці тому

    Thank you, again, for listing the names of the Souls Lost. They will never be lost souls.

  • @aztec0112
    @aztec0112 2 роки тому +6

    Sam, during the scrolling tribute to the souls lost, there was an entrancing, thoughtful, mournful piece of background music playing. If possible, could you provide a link to that music? I would love to hear it in it's entirety. Again, I've commented before, the strength of your presentation, the gravitas of your narration, and the clear respect you have for the subject material sets this channel apart from so many of your contemporaries.

    • @rocketGimbal
      @rocketGimbal Рік тому +1

      This is way late but shazam says it is Forest at Dawn by Teen Daze. They seem to be the same song but there might be some additional effects added to the credits to make it sound exactly as they needed. A beautiful song indeed.

    • @aztec0112
      @aztec0112 9 місяців тому

      @@rocketGimbal Thank you very much. It was worth the wait.

  • @Xaxares
    @Xaxares Рік тому +1

    About ten years ago, here in Quebec we also had a runaway train incident. It destroyed the downtown area of a small town.
    The Lac Megantic disaster.

  • @youngestoutof4
    @youngestoutof4 2 роки тому +2

    not sure how I found your videos, but WOW are these fascinating and disturbing at the same time. please please please make more! I love you. bye bye.

  • @The8224sm
    @The8224sm 2 роки тому +3

    One aspect of the steam locomotive operation that is not mentioned, is that the boiler of the engine has to be cleaned every couple of weeks or so. The build-up of scale on the inner surface of the firebox has to be flushed out to remove a build-up of mineral and salt scale. The boiler firebox tubes, also have to be cleaned out due to a build-up of carbon inside the tubes. If these actions aren't done regularly, the ability to generate enough steam is drastically reduced, resulting in a loss of power for the locomotive to ascend the hill. It seems that these aspects were not brought up at the inquiry.

  • @silber724
    @silber724 2 роки тому +3

    You and your editing crew create fantastic content.

  • @interestedErvini
    @interestedErvini 2 роки тому +3

    This is an interesting story, very very close to home I may add which I wasn't expecting. Great to learn about stuff that happened a good wee while back. Cheers from the Orchard County, (county Armagh).

  • @theimaginationstation1899
    @theimaginationstation1899 2 роки тому +4

    Nice work!
    Some thoughts:
    The brake vans were probably split to make running around the train easier at the destination, in preparation for the return leg.
    I don’t think vacuum brakes remain braked indefinitely. Like the Westinghouse system, I expect that they’ll eventually leak away their braking effort to nil.
    Even with automatic brakes, a more modern procedure would require roughly a quarter of the carriages to have had their hand brakes screwed down to keep a parked train safe on the gradient. The fact that scotching was attempted suggests that the carriages did not have individual hand actuated brakes.
    Hand actuated brakes are effective. Their difficulty is their manual actuation - rather than effectiveness.
    I don’t think it can be said that the hand actuated brake was improperly screwed down. The fact that once the train was rolling it could not be more tightly screwed down suggests it was properly actuated. And in any event an overly screwed down brake is less effective than a judiciously screwed down brake.
    An inexperienced driver in a Victorian context is simply not going to speak out against his superior.
    The point about introduction of the block system is interesting in the context of there being an option to wait for the succeeding train - something only possible because they were running by book.

    • @krpajda
      @krpajda 2 роки тому +2

      Westinghouse brakes are air applied, which can let the air holding them shut leak eventually. Old British vacuum brakes are spring applied and at a loss of vacuum the springs simply keep the brakes applied forever.
      It's really the only disadvantage of Westinghouse brakes, which otherwise apply faster along the train, and can be replenished much faster, because pulling a vacuum sucks (lol)

    • @fetchstixRHD
      @fetchstixRHD 2 роки тому

      @@krpajda: Hmm, from the description of the Automatic Vacuum Brake I've seen, it seems to imply that there aren't really any springs involved? There's also mention that the (auto vacuum) brakes can "leak off" and so require the handbrakes to hold the vehicles?

  • @vincentcastor5978
    @vincentcastor5978 2 роки тому +2

    Well done documentary. Great visuals.

  • @railwayjade
    @railwayjade Рік тому +1

    Great video!
    Side notes: The exhauster (or ejector) exhausts the air at the cab not the smoke stack. Vacuum braked trains did not have valves between carriages but rather the pipe would fit over a dummy (dummy coupling) when not connected to another pipe.
    As opposed to air brakes (which are more efficient) it takes roughly 1 second per vehicle for the brakes to apply whereas air is instantaneous. Also, after a short time, the brakes release which without sufficient handbrakes applied can cause a runaway.

  • @fishfingersndcustard
    @fishfingersndcustard 2 роки тому

    It's so strange to hear an American/Canadian (sorry, I'm not familiar with your channel!) speak about this disaster, and the amount of effort that has gone into this video (not just with the detail, but even the pronunciation of the cities and town names, and the animation as well) is astonishing. I've lived in Co. Armagh for my entire life and I only heard about the disaster when I was in college in the city of Armagh (age 16-18), and even then nothing to this extent. Absolutely bravo, mate. This was a brilliant video. Ashamed that it isn't taught in this detail in the country it happened in.

  • @bertmeinders6758
    @bertmeinders6758 2 роки тому +11

    I read "Red for Danger" many yearsago, and I'm still left with a question about the brakes. Even with the simple non-automatic vacuum system, surely the crew would have closed the stopcocks on the carriages befor disconnecting the hoses. And if the driver had made a full brake application before this, the brakes should have held. I am a steam-qualified driver and shunter, and this aspect has left me with another question: Were the crew sober?

    • @SCHMALLZZZ
      @SCHMALLZZZ 2 роки тому +6

      Sober? Have you ever met an Irishman?

    • @MrDibbsey
      @MrDibbsey 2 роки тому

      I'm not familiar with the system in use at the time, but I've never seen stopcocks on an automatic vacuum brake system before and suspect they didn't have them at armagh either. The hoses are normally placed on a dummy fitting which keeps them secure and closes the end of the pipe. Once the vacuum has been blown up it sucks the two firmly together, holding the seal.

    • @kristofburek264
      @kristofburek264 2 роки тому +1

      @@MrDibbsey Mr Meinders referred to simple (non-automatic) vacuum brakes, and I can see how these might have stop-cocks so that the vacuum could be maintained after decoupling. Have no specific knowledge, though, so only guessing that that is what Mr Meinders meant.

    • @bertmeinders6758
      @bertmeinders6758 9 місяців тому

      @@kristofburek264
      Bert Meinders
      Being in New Zealand, I'm only experienced in air brakes. But I can't imagine any system of continuous brakes without stopcocks on each end of each vehicle.. But the dummy fitting would explain the immediate loss of braking. Makeshift cost-cutting engineering.

  • @FirestormMk3
    @FirestormMk3 2 роки тому +5

    When industries push for deregulation always remember, most of those regulations were written in blood.

  • @jimrossi7708
    @jimrossi7708 2 роки тому +3

    As in the trucking business they are called chocks, using stones to hold a train 🚂 is insane, might as well use a penny !! Criminal !!

    • @michaeld5888
      @michaeld5888 2 роки тому +1

      I do not know if anyone has mentioned this but I am sure have read that if bars which were lying at the trackside were pushed in to the wheel spokes they would have braked the carriages effectively.

  • @KRAZEEIZATION
    @KRAZEEIZATION 2 роки тому +2

    Just started watching this channel last week when I typed in Ocean Ranger. Excellent videos.

  • @mijiyoon5575
    @mijiyoon5575 2 роки тому +4

    Interesting graphics & as usual love the photographs & I luv train/s & train travel👍👍🚆🚆though this was a horrific disaster

  • @mauricedavis8261
    @mauricedavis8261 2 роки тому +3

    Another excellent, although tragic episode!!!🙏😪

  • @empacotador
    @empacotador 2 роки тому

    I found this channel at 3 a.m. here on Brazil. Now i'm happy that i cant sleep.

  • @stevengalloway8052
    @stevengalloway8052 2 роки тому +1

    The way you describe things in your videos is, and please don't take this the wrong way, is...calm, scary and matter-of-factly informative. 😨 This, I think, is your greatest strength 💪 in doing your videos. Wow... 😳😏

  • @froey198033
    @froey198033 2 роки тому +1

    Great job using the train simulator was a great idea. It let's us see what happened. Keep up the awesome work man. You just earned another subscriber. I will be paying attention to new videos you upload.

  • @cwavt8849
    @cwavt8849 2 роки тому +2

    Very well told. Thank you, Sir.

  • @frankhardy123
    @frankhardy123 2 роки тому +1

    The only issue I have with this wonderful video is with the maps used. In 1889 there was no border on the Island of Ireland. The border came in 1921. Seeing maps with borders on them gives the impression that it was an international rail service and that it involved two different national jurisdictions. It was all one country back then.

  • @livescript4462
    @livescript4462 2 роки тому +2

    So sad it has taken events like this to make change. Thank you for your videos, I love your channel so much.

  • @usmale49
    @usmale49 2 роки тому +1

    Great video...thank you for uploading and sharing!!

  • @Studio23Media
    @Studio23Media 2 роки тому +2

    Mr. Murphy is a legend.

  • @huntlife
    @huntlife 10 місяців тому

    I'm binging on your channel. Fascinating. I'm surprised you haven't covered Amtraks derailment over the bayou in La.

  • @kevinbyrne4538
    @kevinbyrne4538 2 роки тому +1

    Reminds me of the disaster of Lac Megantic, Quebec on 2013 July 6, when a "parked" train that was loaded with crude oil rolled into the town of Lac Megantic, killing 47 people and burning much of the town.

  • @kimchipig
    @kimchipig 2 роки тому +17

    The Westinghouse airbrake system had been invented in 1872 and was already in wide use in North America in 1889. It would have prevented this disserter.

    • @railtrolley
      @railtrolley 2 роки тому +4

      It required legislation to force the private railway companies to adopt automatic brakes. Armagh was the catalyst for this and also absolute block working.

    • @jozg44
      @jozg44 2 роки тому +5

      George Westinghouse set up a British subsidiary firm to make and market his air brake in the UK in 1872, just three years after he set up his original business in the US. Some railway companies did adopt automatic brakes (both Westinghouse air brakes and systems working on vacuum) before the 1889 Act compelled them - notably the Great Eastern, the London Brighton & South Coast, the London, Chatham & Dover, the North Eastern and the big Scottish companies (Caledonian and North British) used Westinghouse air brakes. The GER, LBSCR and LCDR all ran intensive suburban services in and out of London and the air brake's stronger application and quicker release times were necessary to maintain competitive schedules. Interestingly the GER and LCDR were also perennially short of money but still opted to pay for the Westinghouse system - being smaller companies they did not build their brake equipment in-house so would have to buy it in from a supplier. If you're paying for it, you might as well get the more effective system. The attraction of the vacuum system was that it was simpler and cheaper to make and did not involve paying royalties to the inventor, so the big railway companies preferred to make their own vacuum brake equipment in their own workshops.

    • @imadrifter
      @imadrifter 2 роки тому

      Sorry, but *disaster

    • @imadrifter
      @imadrifter 2 роки тому

      @@MonTube2006 cope

    • @imadrifter
      @imadrifter 2 роки тому

      @@MonTube2006 go back to 1871 and really invent it then

  • @ryankenyon5010
    @ryankenyon5010 2 роки тому +3

    That had to be terrifying.

  • @difdaf436
    @difdaf436 2 роки тому

    Love the level of research you put into your videos.
    Truely a pleasure to watch your content

  • @chrisvickers7928
    @chrisvickers7928 2 роки тому +4

    The Lac Megantic train disaster in Quebec, Canada is far more recent and definitely involves incompetence and negligence.

  • @suedavenport7793
    @suedavenport7793 2 роки тому +1

    Wonderful episode. More train safety please. Excellent channel!

  • @thomasburke2683
    @thomasburke2683 2 роки тому +3

    In the first minute you refer to the Great Northern Railway of Ireland, but show a GNR (of England) locomotive on a British heritage line.
    There are plenty of preserved GNR (I) locos in GNR livery, so no need to put up the wrong image.
    Otherwise good and informative.

    • @bianchikat
      @bianchikat 2 роки тому

      I was wondering if anyone wold mention that.

  • @billsmith5166
    @billsmith5166 8 місяців тому

    That's the most beautiful memorial that I've ever seen. My god, what horror.

  • @stephensmith4480
    @stephensmith4480 2 роки тому +1

    Avery sobering thought, especially when you read the list of names at the end. I saw five people from the same family. To say it was tragic does not even come close.

  • @adamc1272
    @adamc1272 2 роки тому

    I really enjoyed this video, as I have all the videos I've seen so far, so thank you. I read about this dreadful disaster in the writings of the noted signalling engineer and railway historian, O.S. Nock - really nice to see it presented in this format. Subscribed.

  • @fredhayes6162
    @fredhayes6162 2 роки тому

    Excellent in your research and format.

  • @Straswa
    @Straswa 2 роки тому +1

    Great vid Brick Immortar, please do more rail accidents.

  • @johnkladis4266
    @johnkladis4266 2 роки тому

    A really well done presentation! Great job! I'm subscribing!

  • @pink1433
    @pink1433 2 роки тому +3

    Implemented in just 2 months - that's amazing. Can you imagine anything at that scale implemented nowadays in 2 months?

    • @chatteyj
      @chatteyj 2 роки тому +2

      Seems to me that the new safety laws where implemented quick because the writing was on the wall and it was something that a lot in the industry wanted and saw the need for given the amount of previous accidents so it was a no brainer.

  • @tnt-hv6qw
    @tnt-hv6qw 2 роки тому +1

    just to let u know you have the best video voice on youtube. excellent.

  • @riverlady982
    @riverlady982 2 роки тому +1

    I know very little about trains but surprisingly even I knew enough to wonder why no one was being sent down the track in case of other trains before he got to what a Signal Man is.

  • @dennis2376
    @dennis2376 Рік тому

    Thank you and have a great week.

  • @TOPDadAlpha
    @TOPDadAlpha Місяць тому

    As usual.... An excellent documentary.

  • @wilmajansenvvuuren841
    @wilmajansenvvuuren841 Рік тому +1

    Thanks Sam!Happy Friday!I always feel sad for lost Lives!🚂🚃🚆

  • @anna_in_aotearoa3166
    @anna_in_aotearoa3166 9 місяців тому

    So impressed with how quickly the UK managed to push through new safety regs after this tragedy, esp. given how politically powerful (& often greedy) the money-holders in charge of the railroad companies were at the time, & how strenuously they would have protested this. Even more surprised that the largest consequences fell on the companies whose systemic failures caused the accident, & not the (seemingly rather under-trained) personnel involved in the crash! I feel like eve now, we can still learn something from that sweeping and effective governmental response to the inquest results? 😮

  • @DucatiQueen
    @DucatiQueen 2 роки тому +1

    Damn, that was intense !
    LOVE the animations 💪

  • @tahustvedt
    @tahustvedt 2 роки тому +2

    Beautiful visuals.

  • @davidrayner9832
    @davidrayner9832 Рік тому

    Driver of 40 years here. A couple of things puzzle me. A grade of 1 in 75 is not overly steep and two miles is not that far. From a standing start and with one handbrake applied as hard as it could be, I find it incredible that the train got to a speed that did so much damage. Yes, I know the cars were made of wood but even so. Also, why chase the runaway portion down the hill? Without austomatic couplers, how were they meant to couple on the run like the loco that chased 8888 in the US (as in the film Unstopable) did? Something I do understand is locking the doors because as they open outwards, they could bang into stations, tunnels, etc. as the train goes along. What I don't understand is why trains ever had outward opening doors. BHP in Australia had a similar occurance and although the stopage wasn't caused by lack of engine power, not enough handbrakes caused the 40,000-ton train to roll away and have what must be the biggest crash in all of railway history. Luckily, it was carrying only dirt and no one was injured or killed. Unfortunately, no one saw it so it goes visually unrecorded.

  • @PeterShieldsukcatstripey
    @PeterShieldsukcatstripey 2 роки тому +1

    Those poor people and dear children. Rest in peace.

  • @andrewtaylor940
    @andrewtaylor940 2 роки тому +1

    If it helps for the American's in the audience, the "Guards Van" is what American and Canadian Railroads would call a Caboose. Different shape, but same basic purpose.

  • @DeInevitable
    @DeInevitable 2 роки тому +6

    Happy Halloween BI!