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The Ladbroke Grove rail crash (also known as the Paddington train crash) was an English rail accident which occurred on 5 October 1999, in which thirty-one people died. The disaster occurred at 08:08 and 58 seconds BST, when a three-car Class 165 diesel multiple unit train operated by Thames Trains collided with a High Speed Train (8 coaches with a diesel power car at each end) of First Great Western at Ladbroke Grove Junction, about two miles (4 km) west of the terminus at London Paddington station. The trains collided almost head-on at the junction with a combined closing speed of approximately 130 mph (205 km/h). The first car of the Thames Train, the 0806 from Paddington to Bedwyn, Wiltshire, driven by Michael Hodder, was totally destroyed on impact, and the diesel fuel carried by this train ignited, causing a series of separate fires in the wreckage, particularly in coach H at the front of the HST, which was completely burnt out. 31 people were killed as a result of the incident, including the drivers of both trains; 227 people were hospitalised and 296 people were treated at the site of the crash for minor injuries.

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Did you know...

...that the opening ceremonies of the Galway to Clifden railway were very sparsely attended because the event date was a strict church holiday and was reserved for attending church services?
...that following heavy damage to the Galveston Island Trolley track and cars from Hurricane Ike in 2008, substitute service with replica buses was operated until service resumed in October 2021?
...that although the former Santa Fe Railway's Galesburg station was demolished after regular passenger service to the station ended in 1996, the site is still used if derailments cause trains to use the Chillicothe Subdivision instead of the Mendota Subdivision?
...that the Fuzhou–Xiamen railway, which opened in 2010, was so heavily used that it reached capacity in 2015, spurring construction on the parallel Fuzhou–Xiamen high-speed railway for CRH passenger train services?

Selected anniversaries

October 8

1789 – John Ruggles (pictured), who was awarded U.S. patent 1 in 1836 for improved driving wheels, is born (d. 1874).
1895 – William Mahone, American civil engineer and Confederate Army Major General who built the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, a predecessor of the Norfolk and Western, dies (b. 1826).
1952 – Five minutes after beginning its journey at Perth, Scotland, the 8:15 AM express passenger train to Euston station, London, rear-ends the 7:31 train from Tring which was stopped at the Harrow and Wealdstone station; a short while later, the 8:00 express from Euston to Liverpool and Manchester runs into the wreckage on the parallel track. 112 passengers died in the Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash, and 340 more were injured.
2005 – Amtrak restores the City of New Orleans passenger service to New Orleans, Louisiana, following damages caused by hurricane Katrina.

Train News

Santa Fe No. 2926 at Albuquerque, New Mexico
July 24, 2021 – Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe No. 2926, a 4-8-4 steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1944, moves under its own power for the first time since Christmas Eve of 1953, after nearly twenty-two years of being rebuilt by volunteers. The locomotive will be put into mainline excursion service. (NMSL&RHS, Trains Magazine on Facebook)
Big Boy No. 4012 at Steamtown National Historic Site
May 5, 2021 – Steamtown National Historic Site completes thorough cosmetic overhaul on Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy No. 4012, which is moved back on static display before National Train Day. (NEPA Scene)
The derailed Taroko Express trainset, as seen from outside the entrance to the tunnel
April 2, 2021 – 2021 Hualien train derailment – A Taroko Express train operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) derails at the north entrance of Qingshui Tunnel in Heren Section, Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan, killing 49 people and injuring at least 200 others. North of Hualien City a construction truck had fallen down a slope onto the tracks. The eight-carriage train derailed after colliding with the truck, and then came to a rest in the tunnel, with severe damage and many casualties. (Bloomberg, CNN, CNA, New York Times, Financial Times)

The preserved C&O 1309 at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in October 2009

December 31, 2020 – Following a complete restoration, Chesapeake and Ohio 1309, a 2-6-6-2 Mallet locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949, the last steam locomotive built by Baldwin for the North American market, is operated under its own power for test runs. When returned to service on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, it will be the largest steam locomotive in regular scheduled service in the United States and take 2-8-0 No. 734’s place as the largest active steam locomotive in the state of Maryland. (Trains.com Newswire)

An Avelia Liberty train on a test run in Delaware in May 2020

September 28, 2020 – Amtrak operates a test run using one of the 28 new Avelia Liberty trains manufactured by Alstom along the full length of the Northeast Corridor to Boston South Station. Previous test runs had occurred from Washington, D.C., only as far north as New Jersey and Delaware. Barring any problems, the trains are expected to enter regular service on the route in 2021. (Universal Hub)

Berryessa/North San José station on the first day of service

June 13, 2020 – The Bay Area Rapid Transit Silicon Valley BART extension opened its stations in Milpitas and North San Jose. (San Jose Spotlight, SF Gate)

General images

The following are images from various train-related articles on Wikipedia.

Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Trains carrying hazardous materials display information identifying their cargo and hazards. This tank car carrying chlorine displays, among other markings, a U.S. DOT placard showing a UN number that identifies the hazardous substance. (from Train)
The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service. (from Train)
Škoda Artic light rail train near the cathedral in Tampere, Finland (from Train)
The 1902 Maudslay Petrol Locomotive (from Locomotive)
China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Bombardier ALP-45DP at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
World's first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel-electric locomotive) for long distances SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
A large Amtrak and Metra coach yard just south of Chicago Union Station. About 25 percent of all rail traffic in the United States travels through the Chicago area. (from Rail yard)
A narrow gauge battery-electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
A preserved armored train (from Train)
Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both pantograph and contact shoes (from Locomotive)
A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
A London Underground battery-electric locomotive at West Ham station used for hauling engineers' trains (from Locomotive)
Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Second-class compartment of a China Railways CRH1A-A train (from Train)
The New Orleans Streetcar System is one of the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
The "hump" of a hump yard. Railcars travel past retarders, which control their speed, and are directed onto tracks to be assembled into new trains. The control tower operates the retarders. (from Rail yard)
Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Pacific National diesel locomotives in Australia showing three body types, cab unit (front), hood unit (middle) and box cab (rear) (from Locomotive)
Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
This cab car includes a horn (top), a bell (top right), headlights (above the door), classification lights (red lights on side), and ditch lights (white lights on side). (from Train)
An early Diesel-mechanical locomotive at the North Alabama Railroad Museum (from Locomotive)
British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Union Pacific 18, a gas turbine-electric locomotive preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum (from Locomotive)
The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
A German DB Class V 200 diesel-hydraulic locomotive at Technikmuseum, Berlin (from Locomotive)
A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Variety of rolling stock in rail yard (from Rolling stock)
A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
This map of Cedar Hill Yard in Connecticut shows a variety of different facilities, including receiving yards, departure yards, classification yards, and a repair yard. (from Rail yard)