The hot July sun beat down upon the old Bracks Common brickworks. These buildings were now deserted and abandoned, as were the neighbouring station and sidings through which the railway ran before Dr Beeching closed the line. When the single railway line had been lifted the track bed became overgrown until it was eventually converted into a cycle path which wound its way towards the Bracks Hill Tunnel and westwards through the rolling countryside. The project had taken three years to complete and had included the provision of overhead lighting inside the tunnel. Although the tunnel was reasonably long at 3487 yards, its main feature was that it had a 1:100 gradient which had made it unpopular with all but the most experienced steam engine crews.
Three local lads, Andy, Toby and Jake decided to spend a day cycling along the whole eighteen mile route, and had taken ample provisions with them for the journey. They hadn’t been through Bracks Hill Tunnel before but Jake remembered reading somewhere that inside the tunnel there was a secret junction and spur tunnel which led away from the main line and was rumoured to house a special storage facility owned by the Ministry of Defence. Although none of the locals at the Brickmakers Arms knew anything about what really had gone on inside the spur tunnel, this topic of conversation had kept them busy for years.
It wasn’t long until the three boys neared the entrance to the tunnel, whereupon they stopped to examine the boarded up signal box and the old semaphore signal. “Why would they have a signal box so close to the tunnel?” Jake enquired, “Could be for that mysterious junction and spur tunnel you told us about!” exclaimed Andy with more than a hint of facetiousness. Jake then shrugged his shoulders and decided to keep a dignified silence. After each of them had a drink from their water bottles, they hopped onto their cycles and peddled under the imposing south portal and into the tunnel. The air was noticeably cooler as they escaped from the blazing sun, and began the cycling up the 1:100 gradient. Even the overhead lighting failed to alleviate the sense of gloom which was present in the tunnel, whose high walls and roof were blackened by one hundred years of soot and grime.
The boys were beginning to feel increasingly nervous as the entrance through which they had come faded far into the distance and their exit was nowhere in sight. Although the cycle route was well constructed by a band of enthusiastic volunteers under expert guidance, no attempt had been made to clear the track bed near the wall edges of the tunnel. This still retained evidence of the old days of steam, old blackened stonework and several pieces of rusty metallic relics which were part of our railway heritage. After dismounting from their cycles they walked closely together mostly in silence until Jake nearly freaked out his two pals when he shouted, “There it is! That’s the entrance to the secret spur!” All three of them looked towards a large section of newly bricked wall, whose shape was obviously that of a spur tunnel entrance. Nobody said anything as they all had their own thoughts about what may lie behind that wall. After a few minutes Toby said in hushed tones, “I wonder if there’s a way to get inside the tunnel.” Andy, who was not known for his bravery, exclaimed, “That’s it, I’m out of here!!” It was then that Jake suddenly yelled, “Nobody’s going anywhere, we’re all staying together!” In view of their circumstances that was probably the best thing to do.
As they stood huddled together looking at the bricked wall, Toby suddenly turned round and saw to his horror that the cycle path was no longer there; in its place was a railway line running through the tunnel from the south portal, right past them towards the far end and their intended exit. As Toby screamed, the other two boys quickly turned around and looked horrified at what they saw. Andy then shouted that not only was the main railway line intact but that there was a set of points nearby which were directing a track leading from those points towards the bricked up wall and the spur line behind. It was then that the lights in the tunnel flickered alarmingly and went out plunging the tunnel into pitch blackness. Jake then screamed out that in the distance from the direction of the south portal was coming the increasingly loud roar of a steam engine; the heavy beat of the pistons and the shrill sound of its whistle as it echoed loudly in the cavernous tunnel. The billowing smoke and steam filled the tunnel and again the whistle screamed as the huge black engine was almost upon the boys who were crouched on the ground beside the wall, well away from the points and the junction. The boys were soon engulfed in smoke and steam as the thundering engine roared past them at full speed; far too fast to negotiate the tight curve at the points. Andy, Jake and Toby all screamed and held each other closer. Then the inevitable happened, with an almighty deafening bang the engine seemed to lift from the rails as it hit the points. Sparks flew from the rails as the first two carriages rolled onto their sides and slid with horrendous force and deafening screeches. As the cacophony of screeches and bangs subsided, flames shot out from the smoke box at the front of the stricken engine. Now anguished screams of terror could be heard from injured and dying passengers in the front two carriages which were lying toppled on their sides at perverse angles; these carriages too were now on fire. The third carriage amazingly remained upright and was just and only just still coupled to the second coach.
The boys remained huddled together, tears streaming down their faces until gradually they lifted their heads and saw the horror before them; flames still roaring out of the engine up ahead, steam and smoke and those gut wrenching screams. Jake suddenly broke free from his friends and ran to the rear of the third carriage which was adjacent to them, shouting up to the guard, shouting for anybody, shouting because he needed to shout. It all happened so quickly; there was no warning, no chance. He didn’t stand any chance; with one last shudder the twisted weakened metal gave way. No almighty bang, just a screech of the wheels as the carriage started to roll backwards over Jake whose horrific dying screams echoed through the tunnel of Hell. The carriage having crushed Jake was now freewheeling backwards down the 1:100 incline, increasing in speed as it rolled towards the south portal. Andy and Toby had only just seen Jake being killed before fire broke out in the remaining carriages decided to try to rescue any of the passengers who were still alive, but it was immediately obvious that there was little they could do to help. It was also evident that neither of their mobile phones would work in the tunnel so the quicker they escaped the better.
As Andy and Toby carefully picked their way through the hot smoke filled air, they became aware of a very distinct, clear voice calling out, “Get out of the tunnel! Get out of the tunnel!” Eventually, Toby reached the engine where the voice was loudest. He shouted to Andy to help him climb up onto the doomed locomotive which was lying on its side, its undercarriage exposed with steam escaping from every pipe and valve. Andy managed to help Toby climb onto the twisted metal while carefully avoiding the jets of super heated steam. Toby with sheer determination and Andy’s help eventually pulled himself over the edge of the footplate and looked down in horror as he saw that the fireman was dead and the driver was barely alive but severely trapped. As Toby looked down upon the driver he saw him so much weaker but just able to whisper the words, “Get out of the tunnel! Get out of...” then he heard nothing more as the driver lay still. Toby carefully clambered down from the engine and both he and Andy while being utterly distraught, carefully made their way through the smoky gloom towards the North portal to escape the hell of Bracks Hill Tunnel.
Leaving the glow of the burning carriages behind them, they were plunged into complete darkness as they struggled on along the track, completely unable to see where they were going. After a period which seemed like eternity, they were able to make out a tiny pinpoint of light which they hoped would be the tunnel entrance. They were consumed with grief thinking of their friend Jake who was killed while trying to fetch assistance. They were grieving too for the dead and the dying, the pain and the suffering of those whose train journey through the countryside had ended in carnage. The pinpoint of light grew larger until they could smell fresh air and see the grassy embankments by the side of the railway line. The warm summer breeze wafted in as the two boys reached the last few yards of the darkened tunnel. Soon daylight was all around them as Toby and Andy dragged themselves onto the fresh green grass.
They both lay there utterly exhausted, their clothes ripped and blackened by smoke and grime; their skin engrained with soot and their hands cut and scalded. Whilst lying on the grass in silence, each of them in deep thought, Toby suddenly sat upright and looked around. He grabbed hold of Andy and shouted, “Look!!” Andy sat bolt upright and stared in front of him. There was no railway line, no rails leading into the tunnel of terror; all there was, right in front of them was a cycle path! They both stared at each other in silence. They couldn’t understand what was happening. They couldn’t understand any of it.
A few minutes later the silence was broken by a loud shout coming from the tunnel, coming from a young boy in clean clothes riding his bike along the cycle path coming out of the pitch blackness of the tunnel. The cyclist reached Andy and Toby and seeing the dirty and exhausted condition they were both in, exclaimed, “Wow! What happened to you two?” For a moment Andy and Toby were speechless. Then Toby slowly uttered the name, his voice quivering with emotion, “Jake! Is that you?” This was answered by, “Of course it’s me, you fool! Who were you expecting?” As Jake sat on the grass next to his two pals, he listened intently as Andy told him of their horrific experience, of seeing the carnage and devastation, as well as what they thought had happened to Jake. The three boys sat in silence for a while as their emotions got the better of them.
During all of this drama, neither Andy nor Toby had until then noticed the large leather bag which Jake had strapped to the rear of his cycle. Andy suddenly broke the silence by enquiring, “What’s with the leather bag?” Jake then released the straps and laid the bag on the grass in front of them while explaining that he had found the bag just ahead of the bricked up section of wall where the three boys had been.
Once the bag was opened, the three boys sat huddled around it as Jake slowly withdrew the only article inside; a buff coloured manila folder, on the front of which had been inscribed in black lettering, “The Brack Hill Tunnel Disaster”. The three boys just looked at each other before Toby insisted, “Open it up then, let’s see what’s inside!” Jake slowly turned over to the first page of the document to reveal the following information:
“42 passengers and crew were killed last night when the 09.46 train from Bracks Common crashed inside Bracks Hill Tunnel. It is thought that the signalman had failed to correct the set of points inside the tunnel. Due to the 1:100 gradient inside the tunnel, the train would have been travelling at high speed, which undoubtedly contributed to the high number of deaths. As well as the driver and fireman who lost their lives, it can be revealed that the guard died while carrying out an act of bravery; he had been attempting to protect other trains by erecting a warning lamp on the rear of the last carriage as the coupling sheared and the carriage had rolled back over him. It was further acknowledged that the accident had caused substantial damage to the vacuum brakes which would otherwise engage immediately the vacuum had been lost in the brake-pipe.”
The date of the document was the 26th March 1963; the day before Dr Beeching was to announce the extensive programme of branch line closures.
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