and West around away; West was killed. On the wall of the main station building there is a brass plaque, commemorating the event. On 12 September 1855, a light engine was dispatched on the wrong line. It was in a head-in collision with a passenger train. Four people were killed and many were injured. An accident occurred at Reading on 17 June 1914, and was witnessed by the railway historian O. S. Nock, then a schoolboy. The driver of a train to moved off even though the signal was at 'danger', and into the path of an oncoming train bound for ; the only fatality was the driver of the Paddington train. T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) lost the 250,000-word first draft of his Seven Pillars of Wisdom at the station when he left his briefcase while changing trains in 1919. Working from memory, as he had destroyed his notes after completion of the first draft, he then completed a 400,000-word second draft in three months. German aircraft tried to bomb the lines into the station during the beginning of World War II. On 1 August 1990, Class 119 diesel multiple unit L576 collided with a passenger train comprising 4VEP electric multiple units 3508 & 3504, and 4CIG unit 1304 due to overrunning signals. Forty people were injured. On 23 October 1993, an IRA bomb exploded at a signal post near the station, some hours after 5 lb (2 kg) of Semtex was found in the toilets of the station. The resulting closure of the railway line and evacuation of the station caused travel chaos for several hours, but no-one was injured. Location The station is on the northern side of central Reading, off the Inner Distribution Road. Its postcode is RG1 1LZ. In the chainage notation traditionally used on the railway, its location on the Great Western main line is from Paddington. Station layout From 2013 The station has fifteen platforms. The nine through-platforms are numbered 7–15, each split into "a" (eastern end) and "b" (western end) sections. Platforms 7–11 are on the main (fast) lines, whereas 12–15 are on the relief (slow) lines. Relief line platforms 13–15 have access to the underpass for services to London Waterloo and Gatwick Airport. In 2011 Until 2013, Reading station had four through-platforms and eight terminal platforms. On 27 December 2011, the new platform 4 was opened, with all higher numbered