Scottish Railway Tragedy Deathroll Now Totals 35

Northern Advocate, 13 December 1937, Page 6

Scottish Railway Tragedy Deathroll Now Totals 35

up HE LATEST FIGURES GIVE A ,DEATHROLL OF 35 AND AN INJURED LIST OF OVER 40. AS A RESULT OF THE SCOTTISH RAILWAY TRAGEDY, WHICH OCCURRED WHE N THE EDINBURGH-GLASGOW EXPRESS, SPEEDING AT 60 MILES AN HOUR THROUGH A RAGING BLIZZARD, CRASHED INTO A STATIONARY DUNDEE-GLASGOW TRAIN AT CASTLECARY, A VILLAGE 18 MILES FROM GLASGOW.

All the bodies have now been recovered

It is stated that the accident was due to a signal error.

Dawn revealed a harrowing spectacle at the scene of the disaster. One hundred men were still working with numbed fingers. The ghastly hush was broken only by the clank of a train tearing away masses of twisted steel. The snow turned to slush and the rescuers worked ankle deep in it. Many had come from the scene of a minor accident at Haddington, 50 miles away, and had not slept since Thursday night.

Cameron Highlanders were going home on Christmas leave aboard the wrecked express. Some were injured and others effected gallant rescues In spite of the cold, they took off their puttees and used them as bandages.

Xmas Toys Beside Bodies,

Miners who were passing' going to work used their safety lamps. Alongside some of the bodies were Christmas toys, which the victims were taking to Glasgow and Edinburgh, where most of the victims live. Several of the bodies were un-

recognisable. An appeal has been

issued for help to identify two men

and three women

it is feared that if any passengers are still alive in the wreckage, they will perish from cold. Three men and one woman were recovered from the coach which was piled on the engine. Amazing - Story. Mr Gordon Dickson, of Edinburgh, told a most amazing story. "1 was dozing in a compartment in which there were lour others, and 1 knew nothing until I woke up lying in the snow several yards from the wrecked carriage. I had been hurled through a window uninjured. My four companions were all killed. ’ 1 helped in the rescue work. “The first person dragged out was an elderly woman who was burled in the wreckage. I was staggered to find it was my mother, v/E;o was travelling unknown to me. She miraculously was uninjured,” The fireman was killed, but the driver had a remarkable escape, being hurled from his cabin. After recovering from the .shock, the driver risking scalds climbed through the wreckage and cut off the steam.