A West Anglian Great Northern train left King's Cross at 12.45 bound for King's Lynn. At 12.55 it crossed over a set of points on which the blades moved suddenly without warning. The rear of the train was derailed and the fourth carriage was flipped on to Potters Bar Station platforms, also striking a parapet sending debris on to the road below. Six passengers and a pedestrian were killed and 76 injured. A subsequent investigation put the blame of the accident on the poorly maintained points.
One of the dead was Austen Kirk, husband of the writer Nina Bawden. She herself received life-threatening injuries, but survived.
Potters Bar station has seen a few serious crashes:
1946: a local train travelling to King's Cross hit the buffers and fouled the main lines. Two express trains travelling in opposite directions hit the wreckage. Two passengers were killed and 17 injured.
1899: the Earl of Strafford was hit and killed by an express train. Witnesses say he walked into the path of the train at the end of the platform, but a verdict of misadventure was given.
1898: a train ran through signals and crashed on to the platform. No-one was killed.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
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