RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1703, 19 January 1874, Page 4

RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

(FBOM THE HOME NEWS.) • A collision, arising from shunting in front of an express train, occurred on the 11th November on the North-Eastern Railway at Headingly, near Leeds, by which 20 passengers were more or less injured, considerable damage done to the rolling-stock, and the line blocked up for some hours. 3About 12 o'clock a goods train from Middlesborough to Leeds BtopP^d J*..tM Jllation M. order to put down t^ro trucks, gfcattle, and for .that purpose' me traift'Vas prilled up directly under the signal-box. Whilst tbe engine was shunning yihe. trucks,- the 11.35 express from flarrbgate 1 came up, aifd dashed into the hinder part of the luggage-train at a speed of 10 miles an hour. By the concussion the guard's van and two waggons laden with pig iron were demolished, and the fragments were piled Jn a heap, a third waggon being partially destroyed. The shock to the passenger train was con*

sWerable, and was severely felt by the passengers. The most serious case was that of Captain Holdforth, who sustained concussion; of [tbe spine and brain, and whose symptoms .are very alarming. On the same day, at Broadfield, on the Lancashire'and Yorkshire Railway, an engine, with a carriage ' attatched, ran into it. A fireman and guard were seriously injured, much damage was done to the rolling-stock, and the line was blocked up for some time. On the 10th a collision, by which several passengers were slightly injured, took place on the West Hartlepool sectiou of the North-Eastern Railway. Just after the passfenger train leaving West Hartlepool about 6 for Stockton , bad drawn up at Billingham station, the passenger train on the Middlesborough branch, which ought to arrive just before it, came up at a speed of about 7 miles an hour, dashed into the end carriage of the third-class, which, like the two in front of it, was unusually full of passengers. The night being dark, the utmost confusion prevailed amongst the passengers. Most of the occupants of the end carriages, and those who were in the Middlesborough train, were more or less bruised and shaken, but not seriouslyhurt Both trains being little injured, they were able to resume their journey after a slight delay. The precise cause of the accident, doubtless, was some mistake about the junction signals, but whether arising from the neglect of the driver or the signalman cannot at present be ascertained. ; A serious collision has occurred on the Midland Railway near Chesterfield Station. An express train from Derby ran into a goods and mineral train at the point named, close to a bridge which passes over a river just within the boundary of the borough of Chesterfield. The express, which consisted of several composite carriages and two vans, was emerging from the. Whitebanks cutting, about 50 yards off the scene of the accident, when the driver and stoker saw the luggage train crossing the line. The driver of the express at once reversed the breaks, but they were going at such a speed that a collision was inevitable. The express ran into the goods train, smashing three parts of the whole length of three carriages containing passengers into strips of wood. Several coal trucks were also broken to pieces, and the left hand front wheel of the express engine was knocked off. Assistance was at once on the spot, and about twenty passengers were found injured, some more seriously than others. Two or three had their legs or arms broken, and others sustained severe contusions. The cause of the accident cannot yet be stated, but the engine-driver, stoker, and guard assert that the signals indicated that the line was clear. The injured have been sent to the different hotels and the hospitals in the town. Gangs of workmen are engaged in clearing the line, which was strewn with the broken passenger carriages and the goods train . trucks. Considering the extraordinary circumstances of this collision, it is a marvel that the injuries to the passengers, with one exception, are so trivial. All the injured are progressing favorably, and the medical men are of opinion that 'no fatal results need be apprehended. Mr :Forrest, llic Midland surveyor of the jGeneral Post-office, is the most seriously injured. He is suffering from a contused jwound on the ankle and injuries in the jspine, : and now lies at the Scarsdale 'Hotel, Mr Mildard, of Birmingham, jcashier to the Boythorpe Colliery Comjpany, is seriously injured, and now lies at jthe Angel Hotel. Several others of the injured have been able to return home. jThe train to which the accident occurred jis timed to stop only at Belper, but it ran jto Ambergate station, at which station it Sought not to have stopped. It was sent ■back to Belper, after having over-travel-iled a distance of four miles, and this caused a delay of about half an hour. An 'extra line of rails, up and down, is being connected for goods and mineral traffic, and it is reported that the accident is attributable to some defective working of the points ; bnt the whole matter is to be carefully inquired into by the Midland officials. Mr Needham, superintendent of the line, happened to be travelling to Chesterfield, and was soon on the scene of the accident. He gave every necessary instruction to clear the line, and to see that the injured received every possible attention.