The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-05-19 00:00:00

DISASTROUS RAILWAY COLLISION IN

SCOTLAND.
one c the M9st_ dipsittrouts railway accidents that
ever happenia on the Caledonian Railway occurred
at 14001,11% Jatction a few minutes before midnight
'AgaPiti _ due at Euston Station at ten
minutes before eight o'clock on Tuesday morning.
Part of the train leaves Glasgow at 9.15 p.m., 14id the
other_ Part lene*Ndinburgh at 9.25 p.m. The two
parts are joined at Carstairs, which was left about
10.25, ten minutes late. The train consisted of 14
vehicles, drawn by two powerful engines. Everisthing
went right until Lockerbie was reached. Just,before
the mail was due a goods train for the norti) was
shunting on the down line. At the north-west corner
of the platform the Stritnraer and Dumfries branch
tailway eonnelcts With the down line. While the goods
train was shunting the fast train from Stranraer, due at
Lockerbie at 11,25 p.m, came through the cutting
inwards the Station, and by some mischanoe ran into the
goods train, the waggons of which were thereby driven
back, and the whole, with the exception of two, which
•had; with the engine, passed the connecting points,
Were violently driven southwards. The brakes being
on, most of the waggons were by the concussion thrown
off the metals. Some were propelled across the six-
foot , way, and close to the up line. This occurred in
a moment, and just as the accident happened down
came the mail at a speed of 50 miles an hour. The
front engine went crash into the northernmost waggon,
the collision pitching , thepowerful engine on to the
ivobdeli extension of the platform, the greater part of
which it tore up for a distance of 30 yards. It came
next into contact with the stone-work. The engine
had broken off from the tender, and toppled over once
or twice, wrecking the atone platform and making the
sfones fly in Eilf directions. At last, greatly flattened,
it laid right across the platform within a few feet of
the passengers.

The scene presented at daybreak on Tuesday morn-
ing, after the passengers had all been removed from
the train, was of a most extraordinary character. The
express had been drawn by two engines. The first
of these left the line about the middle of the station.
On becoming detached from the train it dashed into
the platform on the east side of the station, first of
all crashing through a wooden platform for about
twenty yards, then plunging for forty yards farther
into the solid masonry of which the remainder of the
platform is built. It then fell upon its aide, emitting
smoke and steam and fire in an alarming manner.
The driver and fireman of this engine were killed. The
other engine, with the express attached, rushed on
for about eighty yards further through the station,
maintaining its position upon the metals, but as it
careered along the west side of the station, nearly the
whole of the carriages were stripped by coming in con-
tact with overturned wagons on the other line. Two
or three carriages at the tail end of the train—the
Liverpool and Manchester portions—escaped with
comparatively little injury, but eight or ten others
were terribly damaged. Windows, panels, and doors
were broken out almost entirely ; .eats were smashed ;
broken glass and pieces of carriage furniture were
strewn about in great disorder, and debrur such as this
mingled with the broken wheels of the goods train on
the adjoining line of rails.

The Times of Tuesday published a later account of
the acciaent, from which we extract the following
additional particulars
The scene presented at Lockerbie Station at four
o'clock on Tuesday morning, when all the passengers
had been removed and the break-down gang had
commenced the work of removing the derris and
relaying the line, was of a most chaotic character.
The express train still stood in the poeition along
the west platform of the station that it occupied
when it was brought to a standstill. The trucks
of the goods train were very much disordered, with
here and there a pair of wheels lying between
two broken-down wagons, and the line was strewn
with splinters of carriages, pieces of broken glass, oil-
cloth, flooring, blinds of carriage windows, and other
portions of the ill-fated express. Midway down the
station on the east platform lay the overturned and
dilapidated first engine, or pilot engine as it is
technically called, although it is really attached to
the train, still emitting steam from its battered
safety-valve, with its steam dome all dismantled, and
what had been before a valuable locomotive re-
sembllng nothing so much as a heap of dis-
carded old iron. Further north along the plat-
form the broken flagging and ruined masonry,
extending for a distance of 42 yards in length and
five in breadth, afforded subject for much speculation
among spectators as to how such a terrible transforma-
tion could have been effected by a single engine in a
few seconds. Further north upon the line, behind the
express, gangs of workmen were hard at work vigor-
°wily endeavouring to repair the damage that had
been done to the line, while at the southern end of the
station other workmen were dragging out of the road
the broken and over-turned wagons of the goods
train, employing three or four locomotives coupled
together to help them.

The condition of the carriages of the express was
extraordinary, and surpassed in ruin all previous local
experience of railway accidents. First was the engine,
with its front springs broken and its wheels embedded
in the permanent way. The tender had toppled over.
A meat van, which was the next vehicle in the
train, had its sides and doors battered and splintered.
Then came a guard's van, with its panels dented in;
next a third-class carriage of four compartments, with
a luggage compartment in the centre, and from this
vehicle the west side had been completely stripped off,
exposing to view broken-down seats and torn cashions
and padding, and many other indications of the shock
that had wrecked the train. The next carriage was a
composite, containing apartments of first, second, and
third class, with a coupe at the front end; half of the
coupe was completely smashed in, and in the other com-
partments broken windows, splintered doors, and tern
panels marked the progress of the train past the pro-
jecting impediments which the overturned goods
wagons had presented as it dashed through the sta-
tion. Two sleeping saloons came next in order. In one
of these the windows and doors were all askew and
broken and knocked off. From the other the west
side had been torn bodily, leaving exposed to view
the inner partitions of the carriage. Next came a
London first-class carriage, with lavatories. The
whole west side of this was gone. But the climax
of destruction was reached in the next vehicle,
which had been a third•class carriage of several
compartments (No. 40), but which now presented to
view only the shell of three aides with its roof
twisted off in an extraordinary manner. Tilted
up on end against it was a hue goods wagon,
one end of which rested against the station platform
and the other pressed against the roof of the passenger
train. It was evident that as the express was dash-
ing through the station the truck in question had
been caught by this third-class carriage, No. 40,
swung feund, and hurled to the position in which
it now stood by the momentum of the express. The
effect was to force the passerger carriage off its
wheels, and probably this impediment had something
t 9 do with hastening the stoppage of the express.
Behind this point the carriages were not so much in-
jured, comparatively speaking, though none of them
eAcaped without splinters and bulges. A guard's van, a
Liverpool carriage, a Manchester carriage, and two
Liverpool carriages followed by a guard's van at the
tail end of the train made up the list. As soon as the
workmen had collected some of the debris, fires were
lighted in the station•yard, and many of the traces of
the disaster which had attracted the view of early
visitors disappeared. The goods train, although along
one, was not heavily freighted, and the destruction of
goods was very trifling.

The Rev. A. A. Saville, Baptist minister, of Car-
lisle, who was one of the passengers in the ill-fated
train, states that the shock was terrible (says The
Times). He was travelling in the front compartment
or carriage No, 40, and saw the ponderous buffers
and end of the luegage van come crashing into the
comp krtment in which he was seated, ripping off the
lde of the carriage and smashing massive planks
and beams like laths. He has a distinct recollec-
tion of seeing the carriage breaking up before his
eyes, and people tumbling in among the debris, he
holding himself well back at the corner of the com-
paltment and escaping with a slight cut. As
quickly. as possible he extricated himself and at
once joined in dragging from the wreck the dead
andinjured. One young man who had been
travelling in the same carriage was killed almost
instantaneously, and Mr. Saville carried out the
body on his back. The reverend gentleman worked
with all his strength in rescuing the injured. The
scene witnessed by the fitful light of the gas-lamps he
describes as heartrending. Everything was confusion
for a time, but gradually, as the persons who had
received no injury collected their thoughts, vigorous
efforts were made to relieve the injured and carry
away the bodies of those who were beyond human aid,

Two young gentlemen travelling south from Glas-
gow stated that when they presented themselves at
the station at Glasgow they found that the train was
very full and that they were unable to find seats in
a third-clws carriage. The guard asked them,
under the circumstances, to go into a sleeping saloon
until they reached Caratairs, where probably some
vacancies would occur in the thi;d-class compart-
ments. They did so, and when they arrived at
Carstairs they got out of the saloon and took
places in a third-class compartment. After they
entered, these were six paspengers in all in the
compartment. This was carriage No. 40, which
'came to such terrible grief in the centre of the
train, and which had its side knocked out by the
gorAs truck that was peojectul against it in the
manner already described. On arriving at
Lockerhie, they felt the express oscillating. It
was travelling at a very high speed, and presently
they heard a crash. At the time they were all
, sitting with their legs resting upon opposite seats.
One of them called out, "Jump upon the seats."
This they dial in order to prevent the crash of seats
upon their legs in the event of a collision. In a

moment they saw the van projected upon their
carriage, and thundering through its roof; but
almost immediately the train came to a standstill,
and all the six occupants of the compartment were
able to got safely through the window on to the
platform, and, strange to say, none of them suffered
any evil consequences from the perilous position in
which they had been placed.

The following is a list of the killed :—William
Menzies, Carlisle, driver of the first engine of the
express.

John Sowerby, Carlisle, fireman of the same engine.
Henry Mackenzie, son of Mrs. Mackenzie, Carlisle,
who was travelling with a young woman to whom
he was about to be married, and who is among the
passengers injured.
Mr. Forster, a clerk in the Cumberland Union
Bank, Carlisle, who was returning home from a
holiday, ,
Mr. Edward Allen, of Glasgow.
Mr. Wynn, Glasgow, who was travelling to London
to attend the funeral of his mother. Mr. Wynn lived
till seven o'clock on Tuesday morning, when he died
in an hotel at Lockerbie.

A child of Mr, Blackmore, an attendant at the
Royal Scottish Academy, who had been travelling
with his wife and child. The child was crushed in a
most shocking manner, and Mrs Blackmore was badly
hurt, but Mr. Blackmore escaped uninjured.
Not less than twenty passengers sustained serious
inj cry.