Come Here To Me!

The image above is undoubtedly one of the iconic Dublin snapshots, showing The Wicklow, which was carrying cattle, suspended over Hatch Street having smashed through the buffer stops and even the outer station wall. The train has left from Enniscorthy earlier in the day, filled with cattle bound for the Dublin Metropolitan Market. On board too were driver Walter Hyland, guard Robert Doran and fireman Peter Jackston.

The Irish Times report of the following day gave a great account of the dramatic scenes, noting that:

All went well with the train until it was approaching Harcourt Street Station, at half-past four o’clock, when Hyland, it is believed, found he could not get his brakes to act, owing to the slippery nature of the wheels and rails combined with the fact that the train was very heavy. Speed could not be slackened, and the engine with its heavy load dashed through the station to the great alarm of the people on the platform, who saw that an accident of a serious nature must result, nor were they mistaken.

The train dangled 30 feet above Hatch Street, but thankfully there was no loss of life as a result of the crash. Hyland, the driver from Bray, was sadly to need his trapped arm amputated following the accident. 29 wagons made up the trains load, and passengers looked on as it continued towards the buffers. James Scannell noted in his article The Train Now Standing Over Hatch Street for the Dublin Historical Record journal that fireman Peter Jackson, upon realising the train was not going to stop, jumped off the locomotive footplate prior to the collision and avoided injury.

Scannell’s article concludes by noting that both Hyland, and The Wicklow, would recover from their ordeal.

When he recovered from his ordeal Driver Hyland return to work with the company and served until the 1930’s as a goods checker in Bray. The locomotive ‘Wicklow’ was repaired and returned to traffic, continuing in service until 1925 when it was assigned No 440 by the Great Southern Railways and was withdrawn in 1929.

Today, it’s a different rail network that makes its way up Harcourt Street of course with the Luas running in front of what was Harcort Street Station. The line from Harcourt Street was closed in 1958. The Odeon, a restaurant and bar, occupies the space today.

For years afterwards, it was said Dubliners would jokingly ask ‘does this train go through Hatch Street?’ in reference to the crash. On an interesting aside, one of the regular club nights in the Pod venue on Harcourt Street was titled Trainwreck!

Sold! The end of an era.