Assisting in emergency situations – train collision rescue
This ThrowbackThursday shows a different side to Beck & Pollitzer. Already well-known for a range of shipping, removal and installation services, the company was also called upon to assist in some emergency situations, when the emergency services did not have suitable equipment to do so.
This photo is from a train collision on the 11th of April 1961. An 8-coach electric passenger train was approaching Waterloo Station and failed to stop at a red light. It collided with an engine train which was en route to a Motive Power Depot, as a result of both trains being unable to slow down in time to avoid the accident.
Beck & Pollitzer provided the equipment and team to help in the salvage and rescue operation that followed. There were an estimated 100 passengers on the train at the time of the collision, and 14 of these were taken to the nearby St. Thomas’ Hospital for treatment of related injuries.
