Details of the Accident
| Place | Chapel-en-le-Frith |
| Date | 9th February 1957, 11.21 a.m. |
| Railway Company | British Railways (London Midland Region) |
| No. of Fatalities | 2 |
| Cause of Accident | Brake failure leading to collision |
| Description | 11.05 a.m. Buxton to Arpley (Warrington) freight train was due to stop at Bibbington summit so that the handbrakes could be applied to a number of wagons to aid the descent (only a few of the wagons had vacuum brakes). The driver was unable to stop because of a fractured steam pipe on the footplate made it impossible for the crew to reach the brake. The fireman jumped down to try and apply some of the handbrakes without success. The driver remained to try and stop the train. The train then collided with the rear of another freight train (08.45 a.m. Rowsley to Edgeley, Stockport) which was stood at Chapel-en-le-Frith station. |
Sources/Further Reading
- Brave Railwaymen, Alan Stanistreet (1988)
- High Peak Reporter (date unknown)
- London Gazette, 7th May 1957
- Steam World magazine, February 1997
List of Fatalities
The 2 fatalities are listed in the table below together with brief notes of any other information found so far.
The last column shows the General Register Office (England and Wales) or Statutory Register (Scotland) reference where this has been identified.
| Surname | First Names | Age | Occupation | Residence | Notes | GRO/SR Reference | |||||||
| CREAMER | John Francis | 47 | Railway guard | , | 1957/Mar Chapel en le Frith 10a 825 | ||||||||
| AXON | John | 56 | Railway driver | Stockport, STS | Awarded posthumous George Cross and immortalised in the song 'The Ballad of John Axon'. Husband of Gladys, brother of Gertie. | 1957/Mar Chapel en le Frith 10a 825 |