NARROW ESCAPE OF A TRAIN.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 98, 14 August 1876, Page 3

NARROW ESCAPE OF A TRAIN.

An itmdent of an altogether exceptional u'.'iutcr occurred on 7th June inaraHJ' tunui.l on the London and Southern Railway, and. a train passing ""gh the tunnel at the moment had as ')'i>w and marvellous an escape as it is wil>li!to conceive. As the three- o'clock ivowt t'voiu Portsmouth to London hy •HiT.r.t Portsmouth route was running i ""t;h the Catherine-lull tunnel, between liiluiiug and Guildford, the passengers* *' ftlui'iiied by finding that, heavy brake j w was lining applied to the whole ! n.jiiul by hearing the engine whistle j "."1'11.!,' loudly. T!v> train was pulled up | %. and tiio passi■ tigers, after a short I Mix'mus suspense, discovered that a j of the tun tut had suddenly j '>"• way at the London end at the moment j |,ff *'Vt' approaching. The train, wl *;n ; "^ lt to a standstill, was within 'V "C forty yards of the month of and but for the fact ttiat the , ' l '' u'Kou in the middle of the tunnet. !I ' Vl '<l what looked like a great mist ;| l| ily olsouring the light, and. sus- '"" that something was wrong, applied !i;1111 ". the train would in all prohabi""o! heeu buried in the debris of V l! like twenty yards of the tunnel. "]U! was promptly blocked in the rear. utt >'v a time the train was baeked out lu funnel towards Godatming. and the •"'igurs weve transferred, through huge ■ '"jide in the roadside hedges, front ■ tf ''iin to various vehicles, by which I to Guildford by the ■ viiotl. paasetigws were greatly mm when they realised 1 the narrs>irneßß ■*U' escape, for the ruins of the fallen ■<>n of the tunnel eovereei both up an«l • lines,, and lay ia great masaes of

earth ami heavy nuuionry. In cxplnfia- j tt»>t> of the accident it is said that during i the day there had been some blasting for j chalk in cloae proximity to the tunnel, and • it t» conjectured that the shocks loosened i the tunnel work to such a <k-jsr»-»-that only the vibration of a passenger train v«* iv- . quired to bring it down. Gangs oi workmen w«,;re at once set to work to clear the | line. I