Clayton Tunnel

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The Clayton Tunnel is located just north of Brighton on the main line to London.

It was the site of an early form of "Automatic" signal invented by CF Whitworth. Far from being fully "automatic" in operation, this was merely a signal that was operated by the signalman on duty but returned to 'danger' once the train had passed, by means of a treadle. There was one of these at each end of Clayton Tunnel, and it was the failure of the signalman to see that the signal had not returned to danger that led to the worst ever accident on that line on 25 August 1861. Because the signal had failed to return to stop, a second train entered the tunnel and collided with the first which had stalled (see Clayton Tunnel rail crash).

The entrance as seen from the north.
The entrance as seen from the north.

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