The Burnt Oak Crash of 1916

Thankfully train crashes are few and far between in Crowborough but one such incident occurred on 5th April 1916.

The 8am service, a D Class tank loco, ‘Domden’, left Tunbridge Wells for Brighton was running on time and had left Crowborough station at 8.21. Just after pulling out of the station the fireman, P Savage, noticed the train starting to roll. This was quite usual for this type of engine when going around a curve on the line. The train passed some gangers busy working on the stretch of track just short of the Burnt Oak bridge on the South side of Crowborough tunnel.

The driver, on sighting the gangers blew his whistle and they moved out of the way. One of the gangers was alarmed at the speed of the train and said to one of his colleagues “She’ll be off the road”.
Passing under the Burnt Oak bridge, John Paige noticed the engine had dropped on his side of the train and felt the train roll again. He was about to turn off the steam when the train appeared to right itself.

The rear wheels then fell of the rails and the driver turned to his mate and said “We’re running on the chairs” meaning they had come off the rails. He immediately shut off the steam and applied the main air brake. The whole of the train, with the exception of the rear carriage then derailed. The engine went on for a few yards before turning sideways and then turned over completely and was found lying upside down by the side of the track. The three front carriages were off the tracks completely, standing on their wheels while the rear 3 carriages were left standing upright. John Paige was thrown headfirst into a nearby hedge.

The fireman – P Savage – and 5 passengers were injured but not seriously. John Paige, the driver suffered serious injuries.

At the enquiry to the accident it was decided that the gangers account of the speed of the train could not be accurate and that the fault lay with some weakness in the line caused by the unfinished work that was being carried out at the time.

The engine was repaired after the Burnt Oak crash and eventually was withdrawn for scrap in July 1936. In fact Dornden appeared to be an accident prone engine. It crashed into a rock fall at High Rocks in 1883, and then in the following year was involved in an incident with a drunken major who climbed along the side of the train and into the cab whilst the train was in motion!