The crossing

By Christina James

Subjects: Police, Fiction, Liability for railroad accidents, Railroad accidents, Tim Yates (Fictitious character)

Description: It is a foggy day. Ruby Grummett, a railway crossing keeper, opens the gates for a council lorry, thinking that the Skegness train has been cancelled, but it comes looming through the mists and hits the lorry, which is flung into the air. The train is derailed, one man is killed and another seriously injured, and Ruby's house is destroyed. Is Ruby to blame for the accident, or was it caused by the railway company's failure to warn that the train was late?