WINSFORD residents have been taking a trip down memory lane to track the history of a train crash in Winsford more than 50 years ago.

Following a story in last week's Guardian, when Julian Philpot, of Dart Walk, asked the people of Winsford if they had any recollections of the tragic accident, several people came forward.

One Whitegate man, Peter Madoc, of Mill Lane, even managed to find a report of an investigation into the accident which killed 24 people and injured countless others

Peter explained how he found the report.

He said: "I have always been interested in trains and over the years I have built up a collection of magazines about various railway disasters and accidents.

"Details of the Winsford accident are given in one of these magazines alongside a publication of part of the inquiry into how and why it happened."

The inquiry into the accident said that the collision occurred because the Winsford signalman had given the train out of section bell code to Winsford junction and had cleared the block indicator without actually seeing the 5.40pm train pass his signal box.

Winsford historian Brian Curzon, of Cherry Crescent, has published details of the accident in one of his books about Winsford.

He said: "The man who pulled the communication cord to stop the train was a soldier who was returning to Winsford and he realised he was on a train that was not going to stop there.

"I believe he saw Wharton church tower, pulled the cord and dashed across the fields.

"The City of Nottingham was the train that was following behind on the same line.

"People heard the crash and came out of their homes to see what had happened.

"My grandmother lived in Princess Street and my father went up the next day to help.

"Everyone was on rations at that time. It was after the war and people gave up their precious milk and sugar to make cups of tea. They were later compensated by the Government."

Brian described how the accident could have been prevented.

"The guard on the train was from Glasgow. He got off when it stopped and put detonators down on the track to slow other trains down and warn any coming up behind. But he did not put the warning detonators down far enough up the line.

"He got to the signal box at Winsford and went in there instead of going a further mile or two down the line with the detonators. He was puffing and panting and shouting.

"The man in the signal box did not understand this broad Glaswegian and so there was a delay there.

"Before they got round to doing anything, the accident happened. It was too late. They actually got criticised at the inquiry afterwards.

"So the blame was not solely on the man that pulled the communication cord."

Dave Roberts, chairman of Middlewich branch of Mid-Cheshire Rail Users Association, also recalled another train crash near Winsford which happened in the 1960s in Minshull Vernon.

He said: "It was on Boxing Day and I was sitting watching the TV at home in Middlewich with my family when suddenly we saw a very bright blue flash and shortly afterwards there was a news flash on the television.

"What we saw were the wires coming down. It lit up the whole sky. We could not imagine what it was. I would have been about 10 then," he added.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.