Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash

High school (ages 12+)
Transportation

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/harrow-and-wealdstone-rail-crash

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the date of the cataclysmic event?October 8, 1952
2. What is the location of the collision?Harrow and Wealdstone station, Middlesex, England
3. What happened at Harrow and Wealdstone on October 8, 1952?A train from Perth missed several signals and crashed into a stopped train on platform 3. The wreckage then hit another train coming the opposite way, causing a huge disaster.
4. Why were so many people hurt and killed?The first crash smashed the trains, and then a second train hit the broken wreckage at high speed. The two crashes together caused 112 deaths and 340 injuries.

Double-headed express train: An express train pulled by two locomotives, typically used for heavy loads or steep gradients.
Caution Signal: A railway signal indicating that the driver should prepare to stop at the next signal.
Danger Signal: A railway signal indicating that the driver must stop the train immediately.
Ministry of Transport Report: An official document detailing the findings and recommendations following a transportation accident.