Based on The Board of Trade Report
North British Railway: Rothbury Station Accident: Saturday 13^th Feb 1897

On the morning of Saturday 13^th February passengers gather at Rothbury station to take the train into Newcastle to attend a 2pm matinee performance of a pantomime. There were a number of pantomimes they could have been going to; Robinson Crusoe, Sleeping Beauty or Blue Beard. (See newspaper cutting). The excursion train left Rothbury via Scots Gap and Morpeth for Newcastle at 8:12am.The journey to Newcastle is uneventful, arriving about 9:45am. Time for some shopping and lunch before the pantomime.

After a day in town, they returned to Newcastle Station for the return journey to Rothbury via a change at Scots Gap. The return train left Newcastle at 6:48pm, three minutes late. It reached Morpeth at 7:28pm, six minutes late and left at 7:45pm. The weather that evening was cold with local fog and ice.

The Newcastle train, consisting of 15 coaches, took 1hour 20 minutes to run the eleven miles from Morpeth to Scots Gap. The delay was due to the train being unable to start on the rising gradient at Middleton station and then sticking fast on another rising gradient outside Scots Gap station. The engine which had brought the empty branch train from Rothbury had to go and help the Newcastle train at Scots Gap and later to assist it again on its departure from Bellingham. So, it was 9:50pm, 1 hour 35 minutes late, that the Rothbury passengers could resume their journey home.

To makeup time some of the speed limits on the run were exceeded but as it descended into Rothbury it slowed down. At about 10:20pm the train was approaching the station possibly travelling a little faster than normal. On crossing the ‘Ball’ points leading to the platform the carriages derail and despite the emergency brakes being applied, they grind along the track bed for some 75 yards eventually smashing into the Signal Box. An enjoyable day out ended in tragedy with three deaths and 21 injured.

The station at Rothbury has a passenger platform and a loading bank for freight and cattle. Scheduled trains were short enough to run along the passenger line and use just the passenger platform. Excursion trains were usually longer and were brought along the loading bank side line to allow passengers to disembark on the loading bank. (This excursion train had nine carriages and could have used just the passenger platform!). However, it was designated an excursion train and crossed from the passenger line to the loading bank siding. The first, Main points, were operated from the signal cabin. The second, ‘ball points’, must be manually changed and held in place. They had been changed but were not held in place.

On entering Rothbury Station, the leading carriage left the rails at 10:20pm and after running for about 75 yards was overturned on its right-hand side and ended up crashing into the signal cabin. The 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th carriages were derailed and leaning over considerable to the right. The 5^th carriage was also derailed. There were nine carriages in all. The body of the leading carriage was almost completely broken up, the other derailed carriages sustained little damage. The permanent way was torn up for about 75 yards.

There were no faults with the rolling stock or the engine. Mr James Bell, chief engineer of the North British Railway, stated that the ‘Ball’ points were suitable for a speed of 5 or 6 mph only and attributed the accident to fast running round the curve. It was concluded that the ‘Ball’ points were unlikely to have caused the accident and that it was due to fast running round the tight curve at this switch over. G. W. Addison, Assistant Secretary, Railway Dept, Board of Trade, stated that the Company must remodel the station and the procedures running the station be improved and adhered to.

Results of this incident were disastrous, one passenger died shortly after being extricated, another after about 15 minutes and a third two or three days later. The three fatalities were
Annie Cowing: nurse in Mr & Mrs Donkin’s home at Haw Hill House (died immediately)
Hugh Proudlock: quarryman from Cartington. In church choir Thropton. (died shortly later after being taken to the waiting room)
John Terry. Died on Monday in Rothbury Hospital
In addition, 21 people were injured some very seriously. All injuries occurred in the first carriage

Click here for The Full Board of Trade Report on the 1897 Rothbury Accident