SERIOUS RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1708, 24 January 1874, Page 2

SERIOUS RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

« — — — • ■" "- ' •: ' ." ' • ' > r - I. ■•'••»'," , ■', „ .•/ -.:;. ; : :., (FnokrTHß'Hoa?Eiraws;) ' A collision, arising jfrom shunting in r front of an- express train,- occurred on the 11th November on the ;No.rth>iEastern Railway at Headingly, near Leeds, by which' 20 passetigers %ere more or less injured, considerable dainage'done to the i rolling-stock, and the line blocked up fop ■jjomfe 1 hours';-' About 12 o'clock a goods train from Middlesborpughrto"ljßeds stopped at the ' station' in'order to put down two trucks of .cattle, , and for that the 'train vas pulled up directly under the/; signal-box. • W^hilsij the 'engine was * shunting the trucks the 11.35 express I frotti'Harrpgate.came^p, and dashed into I tJh.e..lunder part of .the luggage-train at I a speed of 10 miles 'an hour. ■By the con. cussiSir the guard's : tan and -two? waggons laden 'with pig:iron .w.ere.demolished, and the r fragments were jpUedj in. a : third waggon being- partialjy' destroyed. The shock to' the passenger'traih Was considerable, and was" Severely 1 felt by the passengers. The most sprious^case was that of Captain Holdforth, wljo sustained concussion of .the; spine, and brain, and whose symptoms are very alarming. On the same day, ; at Broadfield, on the Lancashire and Yorkshire 1 Railway 1 , an engine, with a carriage., attached, ran into it.. A 'fireman ancTgUkrd were seriously I injured,' much damage 1 was done to the I rollipg : stock, and the line was blocked up I for" some time, j Oh- the" 10th' a collision, I by wMch.seYfiral^i^ng^S (1 were slightly I injured, took place on the"^Vest Hartle^J pool Sectiou of the North-Eastern R&il-^l way. Just after the passenger .train leay- I ing West 1 Hartlepbbl'abb'utfß for Stockton J had drawn up at Billingham station, the •',■ passenger train ; 6ri^th^Middlesboroiigh "■ branch, which ought to arrive just before I

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. AH the injured are progressing favorably^ and the medical men are of opinion that no fatal results need be apprehended. Mr Forrest, the Midland surveyor of the General Post-office, is the most seriously injured. He is suffering from a contused wound on the ankle and injuries in the spine, and now lies at the Scarsdale Hotel, Mr Mildard, of Birmingham, cashier to, the Boythorpe Colliery Company, is seriously injured, and now lies at the Angel Hotel. Several others of the injured have been able to return home. The train to which the accident occurred is timed to stop only at Belper, but it ran to Ambergate station, at which station it ought not have stopped. It was sent back to Belper, after having over-travel-led 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 Borne 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. .

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