In the early morning of 22nd May 1915 a troop train carrying the 7th Battalion of The Royal Scots left Larbet for Liverpool. At Quintinshill, just north of Gretna, a local passenger train had been left on the mainline to allow a following express train to overtake it. It would normally have been held in a loop. The troop train barrelled into it and derailed onto the northbound line. Where a minute later the Glasgow bound express also collided into the crash scene.
216 people were killed including 12 Royal Scots. One of those Royal Scots was Private James McSherry, John’s Great Grandad
The Quintinshill Rail Disaster remains the worst rail disaster on the UK rail network.