Sleeping car fire 1986?

[Busaholic]

Was there a sleeping car fire that caused any deaths in December 1986? I only ask because I've been reading an obituary for Piers Dixon, who was Conservative MP for Truro from 1970 to 1974 and then was deposed by David Penhaligon of the Liberal Party. Penhaligon then held the seat until his death in December 1986 when, according to this obituary, he died in a sleeping car fire. He did not, he died in his car on an icy morning when a van skidded and hit his car, so I am wondering where the 'sleeping car fire' bit came from. Does anyone know if there was such a fire which caused any deaths around that time, or how this myth got perpetuated?

 

[Zoidberg]

Was there a sleeping car fire that caused any deaths in December 1986? I only ask because I've been reading an obituary for Piers Dixon, who was Conservative MP for Truro from 1970 to 1974 and then was deposed by David Penhaligon of the Liberal Party. Penhaligon then held the seat until his death in December 1986 when, according to this obituary, he died in a sleeping car fire. He did not, he died in his car on an icy morning when a van skidded and hit his car, so I am wondering where the 'sleeping car fire' bit came from. Does anyone know if there was such a fire which caused any deaths around that time, or how this myth got perpetuated?

Might this be the event? Twelve passengers lost their lives and it's the only one the Interweb seems to know about.

http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=396

Report on the Fire that occurred in a Sleeping-Car Train on 6th July 1978 at Taunton in the Western Region British Railways.

"The fire was caused by the overheating of bags of linen placed in the leading vestibule of sleeping car W2437 against a convector heater. They ignited and flames spread to the materials of which the coach was constructed, consuming a major proportion of the linings and furnishings. The carriage of the linen in the vestibule had been authorised by local management although before the introduction of ETH on the service, at a time when the vestibule heaters were not operational.

The majority of sleeping-car exit doors were locked irregularly and while there is no evidence that this led directly to loss of life it hampered the evacuation and fire fighting. Other instructions had been disregarded and I think that the training given to sleeping-car attendants in the Western Region was insufficient under the circumstances; their supervision and control was inadequate. I have concluded that the attendant responsible for the Plymouth portion of the train was not as alert as he should have been and might quite possibly have been asleep. By the time he became aware of the fire it would have taken a major effort by a number of persons to extinguish it using the equipment carried on the train.

There were no arrangements made for fire detection in sleeping-cars, except perhaps the instruction requiring attendants to remain alert, nor was there any means of raising the alarm and rousing passengers, and there were no fire instructions to passengers or clearly marked fire exits."

 

[edwin_m]

Searching for fires on Railways Archive brings up nothing in 1986 and the only Western Region one within three years before or after was at West Ealing in 1989. The only detail on this is a photo stated to be 50025 and also showing NSE Mk2 stock, so probably not serious enough to have warranted HMRI attention and therefore unlikely to have been fatal.

Wikipedia for Penhaligon also has the road accident story - I wonder if some over-hasty obituary writer saw the word car and the mention of early morning and combined it with a dim recollection of the Taunton fire?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It's a blunder in the obituary, pure and simple.

I remember the headlines when the MP was killed and it was certainly a car crash.




You were reading this in the Daily Telegraph weren't you? I noticed it the day it was printed and I'd be surprised if more than one paper made the same blunder - unless they're all pooling obituaries now?

 

[Busaholic]

Searching for fires on Railways Archive brings up nothing in 1986 and the only Western Region one within three years before or after was at West Ealing in 1989. The only detail on this is a photo stated to be 50025 and also showing NSE Mk2 stock, so probably not serious enough to have warranted HMRI attention and therefore unlikely to have been fatal.

Wikipedia for Penhaligon also has the road accident story - I wonder if some over-hasty obituary writer saw the word car and the mention of early morning and combined it with a dim recollection of the Taunton fire?

It was definitely a road accident: although I had no Cornish connections then, I followed Penhaligon's career with interest and was driving along the A20 when the news came through on the 'Today' programme. I had to find a lay-by to stop and take in the news. Three years later I'd become a bookseller in Cornwall and was invited to County Hall in Truro to attend a book launch for David's biography written by his widow Annette, a very shy person whom I warmed to immediately and spent some time chatting to. I still have my signed copy of the biography, which sold well in Truro and surrounding areas.

 

[Busaholic]

It's a blunder in the obituary, pure and simple.

I remember the headlines when the MP was killed and it was certainly a car crash.




You were reading this in the Daily Telegraph weren't you? I noticed it the day it was printed and I'd be surprised if more than one paper made the same blunder - unless they're all pooling obituaries now?

It was the Telegraph, and I only saw an obituary there. There's definitely no pooling of obituaries - sometimes it seems like you're reading about two different people from two obituaries of the same person.

The Times allows you to provide some supplementary information, amusing personal anecdote or important correction which they'll print a little later if apposite. I've done this about three times in ten years and, to my amazement, they've printed each one. Actually, I'm about to do it again with Chuck Berry, so we'll see. They won't print my letters in the Letters Page though!

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Wikipedia for Penhaligon also has the road accident story

Penhaligon spoke in the HoC debate following the fire. Several of his constituents had been involved and he had been a regular on the sleeper train.

 

[Busaholic]

Penhaligon spoke in the HoC debate following the fire. Several of his constituents had been involved and he had been a regular on the sleeper train.

Thank you, I think you may have got to the bottom of it. Looking at that date, that makes absolute sense. Someone in the Telegraph has done a quick skim of Penhaligon's obit on file and made an error.

 

[John Webb]

I can confirm that the Taunton Sleeper fire in 1978 was the only recent sleeper fire causing loss of life. The Fire Research Station at Borehamwood was involved in helping with the investigation - I was working there but my area of work meant I didn't get to participate in this incident, to my regret.