Red for Danger: The Classic History of British Railway Disasters

by L.T.C. Rolt

First published in 1955, this book was the first to record the history of railway disasters and it remains the classic account. Every major accident on British railways between 1840 and 1957 is covered with the evolution of safety developments.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Railways, Trains, Transport

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Lionel Thomas Caswall Rolt (usually abbreviated to Tom Rolt or L.T.C. Rolt) was a prolific English writer and the biographer of major civil engineering figures including Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thomas Telford. He is also regarded as one of the pioneers of the leisure cruising industry on Britain's inland waterways, and as an enthusiast for both vintage cars and heritage railways.

Reviews

[Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book after losing myself down one too many late-night wiki-holes on train disasters. There was something about these disasters that kept drawing me in, which I hoped a book could perhaps explain for me.

Well Rolt’s book, despite being written in 1955, certainly did the job. Aside from being superbly researched (always all the more admirable when the author didn’t have the internet), it’s also insightful on the subject of the fascination we have with disasters of all kinds.

“The accident caused by fate alone is rare on the railway,” Rolt writes. “Almost invariably human fallibility is responsible. The cause is found to be trivial - a single mistake on the part of a driver, guard, or signalman - or some fatal lack of cooperation between them. It is in this contrast between trivial error and terrible consequence that the drama of the railway accident lies.”

The fact that this human fallibility is often the result of Victorian working conditions often makes the disasters only sadder, as, for example, in the case of one signalman who worked a 24-hour shift in order to have one full day off per week, or another forced to work immediately after the death of his child. The author highlights that public opinion of the time was often highly sympathetic in these cases, and even in other cases without such obvious justification for distraction, Rolt never harshly judges the main protagonists of each disaster, writing: “have we not all been equally careless and forgetful on occasion, but with no such fearful result?” In this vein, the author also uses each accident to narrate the gradual development of increasingly more sophisticated technological attempts to remove the element of human fallibility from railway operations.

In any case, it certainly left me glad not to be a Victorian signalman.

[tara bomp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the third edition from 1976 with additions by Kichenside - the two chapters that are apparently entirely him were slightly worse, although not significantly so.

I picked this up second hand because I know it's regarded as a classic and it's easy to see why it would have been at the time. At the time, accident reports were very hard to access so just having summaries of the major accidents and the themes was a big deal. It's still an interesting book but it's often a bit frustrating to read because it *isn't* much more than summaries of accidents. His authorial voice is a little irritating and patrician so doesn't add much. Worse than that, the accidents are often quite confusing to mentally picture from his descriptions. This is inevitably going to be an issue with reporting complicated situations and there's no diagrams or similar to assist. Still, it doesn't feel like the best presentation - technical terms are used without explanation constantly but also synonyms for those terms that make it more confusing, wrong details are focused on, each train is referred to in multiple ways, occasionally something is mentioned as if it had already been described but it hasn't, etc etc. A lot of accidents are basically just given a paragraph. Some of the stuff on the causes is very brief. Now that the inspectorate reports into the accidents are so easy to access it just makes me want to read those instead. I dunno, it's not bad but it just feels difficult to recommend nowadays maybe?

One curious aside: on the Hexthorpe rail accident it mentions that supposedly employees of MS&LR offered to forego a day's wages to defray the costs and he cites it approvingly as an example of the "espirit de corps" of the time. I don't know the source of this story but it seems strange to highlight this. The company was excoriated by the judge at the trial in the attempted prosecution of the driver and fireman (found not guilty) for adopting an inferior non automatic train brake.

[Boneist · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written in the 1950's and is somewhat of a mess. The chapters could do with being shorter and a greater differentiation between each accident would make things clearer.

Having said that, I thought this book was extremely interesting, as it takes you on a journey through the accidents in the early days of the railway, allowing you to see all the various rules and regs that have been implemented as a direct reaction to each incident.

I am more than grateful that if I'm having to commute on a train, at least I'm doing it with the benefit of over 170 years of safety improvements! Some of the accidents mentioned were horrifyingly predictable - whoever thought that wooden carriages and gas lighting would be a good combination?! Especially in the days where there weren't through corridors in the carriages, and the doors to each compartment were locked. And coated in a flammable lacquer!

[Gwyn Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic for those interested in railways

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a book for everyone but it is essential reading for anybody interested in the history of British railways since the 18th Century. Although it concentrates on accidents, these events build a history of how rules and laws were enacted to make British Railways one of the safest ways to travel in the world. As I write this review, our television is showing details of the Greek train disaster in February 2023 on a single line travelling towards Thessaloniki, which was the cause of very serious accidents in Britain during the 19th Century. These were virtually eradicated in Britain in this time.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sobering and thought provoking book featuring accounts of various railway accidents from the 1840s to the 1950s (at least in my edition).

These are grouped by cause and include both famous incidents such as the Tay Bridge collapse and Quintinshill, as well as more obscure incidents.

Due to the content it can be quite a grim read but there are more light hearted tales too.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in railway history or incidents on the railway.

[Scott (not a big reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. I work in health and safety so find the subject matter enthralling . But don’t let that put you off! If you have even the slightest passing (loop) interest in trains, safety, social history or engineering then read this. Yes it was written in the 50s but this is still a relevant and comprehensive book on the subject.

[Catherine Buchan · Rating 5 out of 5]

In depth research coupled with the author's vast experience of the workings of British Railways makes this the definitive account of British railway disasters. L.T.C. Rolt also knows how to tell the stories in a gripping but compassionate way. Have read this many times and probably will do so again.

[Kevin Shand · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic

A factual account of disasters that happened on
Britain's railway network written in a way that is interesting and instructive. Easily understood by the layman and essential reading for young railway staff

[Monty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for railway enthusiasts but can be a bit wordy and confusing

[Ipswichblade · Rating 3 out of 5]

The classic book about railway accidents originally written in 1955

[James Denny · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the all time railway non-fiction classics and an acknowledged must-read for anyone in the industry

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read for me as it covers a lot of the reasoning behind systems that we still use on the railway today.

[Stephen Bull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reminder of what can go wrong on the railway... and a reminder of how we learn from accidents.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.

[Ben Waterford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptional book of UK railway accidents. Re-read many times over the years!