1. !train derailed!
Find out what happened on the 28th of May in Cheadle Hulme in 1964, read on for more details on this tragedy.

2. Accident summary Location Cheadle Hulme Train OperatorV
Location
Cheadle Hulme
Train Operator
British Railways (London Midland Region)
Primary Causes
Driver error, excessive speed
Secondary Cause
Inadequate signage
Result
Track damaged by train, derailment, collision with structure, telescoping
3 fatalities, 27 injured
Accident Investigation Status
This accident has been the subject of a published formal accident investigation, which you will find below.

3. Train route

4. "The 7.55 am. special passenger train, consisting of a steam locomotive and nine coaches carrying parties of schoolchildren, from Gnosall to York through Stoke and Macclesfield, ran onto a temporary underlie bridge immediately before Cheadle Hulme station at a speed greatly in excess of the 10 m.p.h. restriction, burst the track, and derailed. The train parted between the fourth and fifth coaches and the engine and the first four coaches travelled forward to stop with the fourth one on its side 130 yards ahead of the rear five &aches, on the junction between the Macclesfield branch and the main h e from Crewe to Manchester. All the rear five coaches were derailed and some were badly damaged by scraping along the wall of the Down platform. The fifth and sixth coaches were slightly telescoped. I regret to state that two children and a railway representative who had organised the school parties were killed. Twenty-seven others, most of them children, were taken to hospital, four with serious injuries. Three have made good recovery, and the remaining one, a young girl, is now improving in health. Rescue and relief services were summoned at once and the first ambulance reached the scene ten minutes after the accident happened. All casualties had left for hospital by am.""The 7.55 am. special passenger train, consisting of a steam locomotive and nine coaches carrying parties of schoolchildren, from Gnosall to York through Stoke and Macclesfield, ran onto a temporary underlie bridge immediately before Cheadle Hulme station at a speed greatly in excess of the 10 m.p.h. restriction, burst the track, and derailed. The train parted between the fourth and fifth coaches and the engine and the first four coaches travelled forward to stop with the fourth one on its side 130 yards ahead of the rear five &aches, on the junction between the Macclesfield branch and the main h e from Crewe to Manchester. All the rear five coaches were derailed and some were badly damaged by scraping along the wall of the Down platform. The fifth and sixth coaches were slightly telescoped. I regret to state that two children and a railway representative who had organised the school parties were killed. Twenty-seven others, most of them children, were taken to hospital, four with serious injuries. Three have made good recovery, and the remaining one, a young girl, is now improving in health. Rescue and relief services were summoned at once and the first ambulance reached the scene ten minutes after the accident happened. All casualties had left for hospital by am.""The 7.55 am. special passenger train, consisting of a steam locomotive and nine coaches carrying parties of schoolchildren, from Gnosall to York through Stoke and Macclesfield, ran onto a temporary underlie bridge immediately before Cheadle Hulme station at a speed greatly in excess of the 10 m.p.h. restriction, burst the track, and derailed. The train parted between the fourth and fifth coaches and the engine and the first four coaches travelled forward to stop with the fourth one on its side 130 yards ahead of the rear five &aches, on the junction between the Macclesfield branch and the main h e from Crewe to Manchester. All the rear five coaches were derailed and some were badly damaged by scraping along the wall of the Down platform. The fifth and sixth coaches were slightly telescoped. I regret to state that two children and a railway representative who had organised the school parties were killed. Twenty-seven others, most of them children, were taken to hospital, four with serious injuries. Three have made good recovery, and the remaining one, a young girl, is now improving in health. Rescue and relief services were summoned at once and the first ambulance reached the scene ten minutes after the accident happened. All casualties had left for hospital by am.""The 7.55 am. special passenger train, consisting of a steam locomotive and nine coaches carrying parties of schoolchildren, from Gnosall to York through Stoke and Macclesfield, ran onto a temporary underlie bridge immediately before Cheadle Hulme station at a speed greatly in excess of the 10 m.p.h. restriction, burst the track, and derailed. The train parted between the fourth and fifth coaches and the engine and the first four coaches travelled forward to stop with the fourth one on its side 130 yards ahead of the rear five &aches, on the junction between the Macclesfield branch and the main h e from Crewe to Manchester. All the rear five coaches were derailed and some were badly damaged by scraping along the wall of the Down platform. The fifth and sixth coaches were slightly telescoped. I regret to state that two children and a railway representative who had organised the school parties were killed. Twenty-seven others, most of them children, were taken to hospital, four with serious injuries. Three have made good recovery, and the remaining one, a young girl, is now improving in health. Rescue and relief services were summoned at once and the first ambulance reached the scene ten minutes after the accident happened. All casualties had left for hospital by am.""The 7.55 am. special passenger train, consisting of a steam locomotive and nine coaches carrying parties of schoolchildren, from Gnosall to York through Stoke and Macclesfield, ran onto a temporary underlie bridge immediately before Cheadle Hulme station at a speed greatly in excess of the 10 m.p.h. restriction, burst the track, and derailed. The train parted between the fourth and fifth coaches and the engine and the first four coaches travelled forward to stop with the fourth one on its side 130 yards ahead of the rear five &aches, on the junction between the Macclesfield branch and the main h e from Crewe to Manchester. All the rear five coaches were derailed and some were badly damaged by scraping along the wall of the Down platform. The fifth and sixth coaches were slightly telescoped. I regret to state that two children and a railway representative who had organised the school parties were killed. Twenty-seven others, most of them children, were taken to hospital, four with serious injuries. Three have made good recovery, and the remaining one, a young girl, is now improving in health. Rescue and relief services were summoned at once and the first ambulance reached the scene ten minutes after the accident happened. All casualties had left for hospital by am.“ Information courtesy of Railway Archive (

5. Report on the Derailment that occurred on 28th May 1964 at Cheadle Hulme Station in the London Midland Region British Railways
Unfortunately this was an awful tragedy which was caused by the train driver going too fast.
As a result of this accident, safety restrictions were put in place and no other accidents of this kind have occurred since.