On 21st June 1870 a guard’s van caught fire at Trent Junction. Most of the trunks and wicker baskets inside were damaged or destroyed. Some of these contained wigs, music etc belonging to a dramatic company. Although a cello was rescued from the van and placed on the line.
Around 11pm on 25 June 1872 two goods trains were approaching Trent Station, a mineral train from Derby and one from the Leicester direction, carrying general goods. Due to a signalling error, both drivers thought the line was clear and they collided near the south junction, badly damaging both trains and blocking the line for some distance. The damaged engines were taken to a siding and a large gang of labourers was assembled to move the debris. The drivers weren’t badly injured but two men were badly injured whilst a crane was being used to lift rails.
On 21 November 1874 the down train from St Pancras to Sheffield collided with some horse boxes near Trent Junction in dense fog. Several passengers were slightly injured.
On the morning of 4th June 1875, a passenger train from Chesterfield to Nottingham was just leaving Trent Station when it ran into a mineral train which was crossing over the Nottingham line at the North Junction. Both engines were derailed, and traffic was stopped for some time, but no passengers were injured.
On the evening of 11th September 1875 John George Preston (35) was the driver of a Pullman (London to Manchester) train. He’d stopped at Trent Station and was oiling the engine when the stoker, expecting the driver to jump on, made a signal and started the train moving. But Preston didn’t hear the warning due to the noise of the steam and his arm was cut off. The train was stopped, and he was put in a van and taken to Derby infirmary but died from his injuries.
A postal worker on the Tamworth – Lincoln mail train recalled that during the 1875 floods the water was 3ft deep and it took over an hour to get between Trent Junction and Nottingham. The guard was ordered not to stop if he felt anything give way. The area flooded again in January 1877.
In April 1876 a Sheffield corn factor sued the Midland Railway for an incident that happened at Trent station the previous June. He claimed a porter had pushed him into a carriage as the train was about to leave, causing him to fall. He claimed for injuries and loss of earnings. But the jury heard from a witness that the train was moving when he fell and made no complaint at the time. The claim was dismissed.
Early morning on 26th September 1876 a mineral training running south from the Erewash valley line was hit by another mineral train en route from Nottingham to Manchester. heading from Manchester to Nottingham. According to the newspaper report this was at Sheet Stores junction, but it seems more likely to have been Trent station south. The lines into the station and one of the Leicester lines were closed for several hours.
On the morning of 11th January 1877 an express train from Manchester to London was approaching Trent North junction when a spring link broke and caused one of the bogie carriages to derail. The passengers were shaken but uninjured and were moved to another train. The problem was fixed by break-down gangs after two hours.
On 7th May 1877 an express passenger train from Nottingham to Leicester was running into Trent Station when a porter (acting as signaller’s assistant) opened a set of points in error and the train ran onto the wrong line and collided with another train. The express had slowed to 6 or 7mph and was fitted with a patent brake, so the damage was limited to the express engine and a carriage, and no passengers were hurt.
On 14th June 1879 Thomas Daykin from Long Eaton was working on the Sheffield line near Trent Junction when he saw a train approaching and moved to the other line. But less than a minute later a Manchester to Nottingham train hit him, killing him instantly and then running over him.
Before the 2nd bridge and tunnel were built at Red Hill, the two lines split into four at Ratcliffe junction – two for passenger traffic and two for mineral traffic. Early in the morning of 14th November 1879 a mineral train was approaching the junction heading towards the tunnel when one or more of the wagons fell over, blocking both the mineral lines and leaving a pair of waggon wheels on the ‘up’ passenger line. Before there was time to move the wheels or alert drivers the debris was hit by a goods train. The engine was derailed, damaging the tracks, and the wagons tipped onto the down line. The scotch express was heading south towards the site but was stopped just in time. Breakdown gangs were soon on the scene, but with all 4 lines blocked it took more than 3 hours to clear. The scotch express, which was due in Leicester around 5am didn’t arrive until 8.25am. For a while only one line was available as the 30-ton goods engine had dug into the soil and had to be craned out.
The following day a goods train broke in two at the same set of points, spreading waggons over the four tracks and blocking all traffic for 1½ hours.