Thorpe Rail Diaster

Send us Fan Mail One rushed decision. One contradictory telegraph message. One single-track stretch of rail where only one train can be allowed to exist at a time. On a cold, rainy night in September 1874, that fragile setup collapses and Britain’s worst railway accident of the century detonates outside Norwich. We tell the story of the Thorpe Railway Disaster with a hard look at how Victorian railways actually worked: booming passenger demand, higher speeds, competing private companie...