RAMSGATE TOWN STATION 11, MARCH. 1913

The most serious mishap which occurred on the railway at Ramsgate for over twenty years took place at the Ramsgate Town Station on a Tuesday afternoon, when an approaching train dashed into a stationary brake van standing at the end of one of the platforms precipitating the van across the platform and through the main entrance to the station premises.

As a direct result of the accident a portion of the station premises was wrecked, and ten persons complained of having received injuries. The Ramsgate Town Station (as was also the case at the Harbour Station) is a terminus, and the pull-up of trains had to be gauged within a few yards by the drivers of trains.The train which caused the trouble was the London train, which left Margate at 1.55 and was due at Ramsgate at 2.09. It was stated that the driver became acquainted with the fact that there was something wrong with the brake before the train arrived at the station, but he was quite unable to bring up, and the consequences were serious. When the engine drawing the train arrived at Ramsgate there was an empty brake van standing at the end of the platform and just inside the station doors. Buffers of a very heavy type were at the end of the line. The engine plunged into the van with a terrible crash, sending the van forward against the buffers, which were carried away like matchwood, and the van itself was hurled through the doorway of the station buildings. Brickwork and woodwork were sent flying, and the force of the impact caused a cloud of dust to rise from the debris for a few moments obscuring the whole of the surroundings. It was not known for a few moments how many people were under the broken woodwork and ironwork. A railway employee residing a mile away from the scene heard the noise of the crash and thought it came from vessels firing near Margate.

I am working on a book by David Richards about the Ramsgate Railways at the moment and I thought I would share a bit of it with you click here to read more.