Today in History: A Disaster on the Rails

On this day (October Eight) in 1952 the Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash killed 112 people. The crash occurred in Middlesex, which is now part of London. The crash occurred during rush hour when an express train hit a local train and then the two were hit in turn by a second express train. It remains the worst peacetime crash in English history and inspired the creation of the Automatic Warning System to prevent future disasters of this kind.