An inferno that claimed 33 lives: the story of a deadly Victorian disaster

While Thompson and Homes prepared for departure, the platform was busy with passengers boarding the train. Amongst them was the Duchess of Abercorn, wife of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, along with five of her children, including her oldest son, the Marquess of Hamilton.

Just after 7:30 am, the Irish Mail steamed out of Euston.

The risks of early rail travel

The railway age rocketed to a start in the mid-1820s after George Stephenson demonstrated his locomotive, and revolutionised travel, trade and industry. Yet the early systems weren’t the safe modes of transport that they are today. Trains with few safety features were run by private companies, each with their own timetables and regulations, and competing for custom meant that accidents were frighteningly common.

The completion of the Chester and Holyhead Railway in 1848 had created a direct rail link, via ferry at Holyhead, between London and Dublin.

• Read more | Your history guide to RMS Titanic, plus 12 fascinating facts about the disaster

At a time when Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom, the route proved popular with members of the aristocracy travelling between their London homes and country estates. The line also enabled Royal Mail to improve their service; operated by the London and North Western Railway, the Irish Mail express train carried letters and parcels as well as passengers to and from Ireland.

Almost four hours after its departure from Euston on the August morning, the Irish Mail arrived in Chester. Here there was a break in the journey as four more passenger carriages were added between the front guards car and the first post office van. This moved those passengers already onboard, including the Abercorns, further down the train.

Many of the passengers boarding in Chester had spent the night at the nearby Queen’s Railway Hotel, arriving on the platform through a special connecting tunnel. Upon entering the platform, some turned right, joining friends and family already seated in the original carriages. Many turned left, boarding the new, empty carriages.

Whether they turned left or right was a decision that would change their lives

Among those who turned left were The Right Hon. Henry Maxwell, 7th Baron Farnham, his wife, Lady Anna Farnham and their servants. As the Farnhams settled into the comfort of a first class compartment, their servants headed to the adjoining second class carriage.

Also boarding in Chester were a retired judge, Walter Berwick, his sister Elizabeth, a maid Jane Ingram and 9-year-old Louisa Symes. The Berwick’s were chaperoning Louisa, who was the daughter of a family friend, on her journey home to County Wicklow.

Whether they turned left or right when they boarded the train was a decision that would change their lives.

“Wooden barrels filled paraffin”

Meanwhile, down the line, other rail workers turned to their regular tasks. Every day at 12:15, 20 minutes before the Irish Mail was due, a goods train was taken from the market town of Abergele to Llanddulas sidings, around three miles away. This cleared the line, enabling the express service to pass through.

The goods train arrived in Llanddulas to find wagons already in both sets of sidings. This prompted stationmaster Samuel Eaton to begin a series of complex shunting operations.

• Read more | The Great Kantō earthquake: a 1923 disaster that left Tokyo in ruins

Aware that the Irish Mail was approaching, brakesmen Richard Williams and Robert Jones left a small train of wagons, held in place by an unsecured brake, on the main down line and went to help with shunting in one of the sidings.

When a set of loaded wagons were shunted into the stationary wagons, the force of the collision was enough to release the brake. The wagons started to roll down the main line incline towards Abergele, picking up speed as they disappeared around a curve in the line.

In a devastating turn of events, two of the wagons also held wooden barrels filled with around 1,800 gallons of paraffin.

A fiery collision

Unaware of events ahead in Llanddulas, the Irish Mail passed through Abergele.

Rounding a bend in the line, the train driver Thompson looked out of the cab to see the loose wagons heading straight for the train. Acting on instinct, Thompson shut off the steam. Holmes applied the brake.

Thompson later told a reporter: “I saw that some of the trucks had barrels of oil or something of that sort in them and I know the danger. Thompson jumped from the cab, shouting for Holmes to do the same.

The force of the collision derailed the engine, tender and leading guards van, blocking the up line on which another passenger train was due to pass.

Within seconds the paraffin exploded, killing Holmes and sending clouds of dark smoke into the sky. The ensuing inferno engulfed the front four passenger carriages, trapping those inside.

Forming a human chain, the men passed buckets of water from the sea

Alerted by the flames, quarrymen working nearby ran to help. Forming a human chain, the men passed buckets of water from the sea in a hopeless attempt to extinguish the fire. Despite their efforts, the blaze continued to spread down the train.

As the fire progressed, the badly injured Thompson assisted passengers who had escaped the train in uncoupling the rear carriages, pushing them clear of the flames. Others, including the Marquess of Hamilton, ran back to the town of Abergele to alert station staff and stop the oncoming train.

By the time the fire was extinguished, everyone at the front of the train had been killed; their bodies burned beyond all recognition. Remarkably, everyone seated in the rear half of the train, behind the Post Office wagons, survived.

What happened after the train disaster?

The intensity of the fire made identifying the victims virtually impossible. Instead, the inquest used the testimony of porters at Chester station, who had helped passengers to board the train, along with items recovered from the disaster scene, to establish who was in the destroyed carriages.

In the confusion, Walter Berwick was initially believed to have survived. However, the discovery of his pocketknife in the wreckage confirmed otherwise. He had perished alongside his sister, maid and Louisa Symes. Louisa would be the disaster's youngest victim.

Despite the best efforts of the local coroner, only three death certificates were issued; two of which were for Charles Cripps and Edward Outen, servants of Lord Farnham. The Farnhams themselves were never identified.

On 25 August, just five days after the disaster, a mass funeral took place at St Michael's Church in Abergele. The disaster had, at that moment, claimed 33 lives. At a time when class was a still visible distinction in society, the victims were rendered classless, buried side-by-side in unmarked coffins.

A few weeks later, the train’s driver Arthur Thompson would succumb to his injuries, becoming the 34th victim.

An inquest was launched into the cause of the disaster. Despite Llanddulas stationmaster Samuel Eaton testifying that he was shunting safely and in accordance with LNWR (London and North Western Railway) rules, the inquest heard evidence that runaway wagons were a common sight on the line.

The inquest concluded by heavily censoring Samuel Eaton for breaking the railway’s rules. Brakesmen Richard Williams and Robert Jones, who had left the wagons unattended, were charged with manslaughter. Remanded in custody, they were eventually acquitted following a trial at Ruthin Assizes the following year.

The Board of Trade report into the crash criticised the LNWR for failing to ensure the safety of their passengers. It also made several recommendations designed to improve rail safety, all of which were eventually implemented across the rail network.

The Irish Mail rail service continued to run along the Holyhead line until 2002.