By Tony Miles
News
In a moving ceremony on 19 August, CrossCountry Voyager No 220009 was named Hixon, January 6th 1968 in memory of a tragic level crossing accident in the small Staffordshire village of Hixon. The event recognised not only the loss of 11 lives, three in the cab of the train and eight passengers, but the effect the accident had on railway safety in its wake.
The incident involved the 11.30 Manchester to Euston express, hauled by loco E3009, which collided with a road transporter carrying a 120-tonne transformer over the automatic crossing. As well as the deaths, 45 people were injured, and villagers from Hixon were commended for the way they cared for passengers emerging from the wreckage and especially those who were injured.
