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quintinshill rail disaster
5
C . R . TRA I N REG I STER
The ferocity of the fire, and consequent difficulty of rescuing those
trapped in the overturned and mangled carriages, was compounded by the
fact that most of the carriages were very old, made of wood and lit by gas
contained in a tank beneath them. Between the crash and the fire a total
of 216 all ranks of 7RS and 12 others
(see Note 1)
,
mostly from the express,
but including the driver and fireman on the troop-train, died in, or as an
immediate result of what was, and remains,Britain’s worst railway disaster
for numbers killed.
Note 1.–
The 12 non-Royal Scots dead, in addition to the two crew of the troop-train were
from the Glasgow-bound express, listed as two RN Officers, three Officers from 9th
Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, two civilians and a sleeping car
attendant,and,from the local train,a mother and her baby.