Saturday 6th January 1968
The Hixon rail crash occurred when a low-loader transporter carrying a 120-ton electrical transformer was struck by an express train on a recently installed automatic level crossing at Hixon, Staffordshire in England. At 12:26, the leading tractor had traversed the two railway tracks and the main bulk of the transporter was astride them when the 11:30 express train from Manchester to Euston activated the crossing sequence by operating a treadle 1,000 yards (910 m) away. The warning lights began to flash and the bells began to ring, with the barrier descending onto the forward part of the transformer. At about the same time Groves, who had not heard the bells and could not see the lights, saw the train approaching from his left and, realising that it would not stop, shouted a warning to his crew. He then accelerated and so did the driver of the tractor at the rear, Mr. A. L. Illsley, although this meant that Illsley was deliberately bringing himself into the direct path of the train.
As a result of these actions, the train hit only the rear seven or eight feet of the transformer at approximately 75 mph (121 km/h), sheared through the trailer and threw the transformer forward and to the left of the line. The train consisted of a type AL1 electric locomotive no. E3009 and 12 coaches. The locomotive and the first five coaches of the train were demolished, and the following three coaches were derailed. Both railway lines were destroyed for a length of 120 yards (110 m) and the overhead lines were brought down.
Eleven people (eight passengers and three railwaymen) were killed, with 45 being injured; six of them seriously. This was a remarkably small number and is due entirely to the sturdy steel construction of the coaches and the first class carriages at the front being only lightly occupied. The three railwaymen were all in the cab of the engine but the second class coaches were filled to capacity with standing room only after a large number of sixth form students boarded after a conference at Keele University.
