A RAILWAY SMASH.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 30, 4 February 1905, Page 13

A RAILWAY SMASH.

NEWSPAPER TRAIN DETS-AILSTD. LONTrON", Dscarrber CO. It is seldom, indeed, that w» in Eaglrinii ?ex the Christmas period wtthout hairlas oc? nerves jam?d by seriocs rail-way accident happening within tilt? limits of the four kingdams. This year the prevalence of fog well B-Hrh all over tie country prepared us Lα a measure for a i;ataatrt>pbe of some ?ort. acd aafortaaately we were not disappointed. On Friday last the early moraing newepaper train which leaves Xlaryle&cse atauion on Graat Cewral railway at 2.46 aja.. ran off tire metals a.t Ayleffbury station, and was utterly wieefced. Happily th*ra -were cnly a few passengers, mainly rafiw-ay officials, in the train, and with the exception of the driver and fireman of tae train, and two other Great Central ernpl-oyeea who were killed, tho rest Trero unfcjjired save for scratches and bi-uiscs. Their escape was tTc'l7 xoiracTiloti?. for tile train, urairii ~as going at a very Wgh speed at the time it left the rails, tore aio-ng the permanent way nxttil ii tise end of rhp platform, a.ad, havtns adTaae<;d several yards, it c3-me to a standsta, ami then fell ■.-onrptete'.y over on its riyfar. side. The four coaches which were immediately behind the eagine also left the rails, and vrben the loconrrrtivp stopped these iroaebes w»tp telescoped and cruslied into matchwood. At thia moment Keedl-e, the signal man. who had witnessed :he aci'irieat, re ceived Tvarnias of Ac near approach of the ilanchester esprpss. indeed Lho thooder ot its uprpcach was already Iα his cars. The wrecked train lay right across tie metals upon which the express was running. Fortonateiy Keedle's nerve held jrood. aad he promptly set the signals against the onrnsMosf trsin. Happily aJso the dTiver of tlie express kept his nerre. He had Iward the crash cf the traias wrecking, and he caught sight of the sigaa.l3 jnst a3 they were jerfeed ba.ck to "'lianseE." He imraediately crammed on every ounce of brake power at hie conunand, and, though the raSls were sitppery with a heavy white frost, he succeeded in reducing his speed to sodi an extent that when the express strnefc the wreckage it was only with sufficient force to send the and tender off the metals, and to give the a severe shaiiug. Snt for the promptitude of the signiinuin and the express driver It Is hardly conceivable that a soul in eitiier train wouid have escaped -cv'th life. WiiPD daylight came uhe scene at Ayiesbury station was one of desolation and destruction. Ttee newspaper train engine— one of the most powerful type of locomotives in use—lay on the top of the platform, exovrning a heap of wreckage formed of broken iron acd bricJcwoek- The whoie of the paint on tt had ben scorched off; the boiler had been wrenched from the carriage, the fennel to-ra oil, and the steam dome saeasiied. The vroiks beneath the toiler were a. mere mass of twisted and bent ironwork- The tender also lay oa it 3 side, all its massive iron plates being ripoed and bent. Oa all sides there was a medley , af twisted iron and splintered ■woodTrcwk, and for a hundred yards outside the station the metals were strewn with bricks and.pieces of wood, many of whkrh were small spliuteis. The wrecked tram carried many parcels and packages, *nd oa the platform lay great heaps of aewspapeis, -which had been gathered from the line. M*ny -of the parcels bad been torn ap and tae contests scattered above.