Claim: The Kirtlebridge rail crash took place on October 2, 1872 at Caledonian Railway, Kirtlebridge, Dumfries and Galloway, Southern Scotland, when the shunting took place without the signalman's authority.
Evidence: The Kirtlebridge rail crash took place in 1872 at Kirtlebridge railway station in Dumfriesshire. Kirtlebridge station was nearly 17 miles (27 km) north of Carlisle, on the Caledonian Railway main line to Glasgow and Edinburgh. The cause was a failure to communicate between the station master in charge of the shunting operation, and the signalman. There was not full interlocking of the points, and the block system of signalling was not in use. Kirtlebridge railway station was a station which served the rural area around Kirtlebridge and Eaglesfield, north of Annan in Dumfriesshire, Scotland; the location is now within the area of Dumfries and Galloway unitary council.