The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-10-29 00:00:00

FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE MIDLAND

RAILWAY.

A most lamentable railway accident occurred on
Saturday to the Burton and Leicester express at
Desford Junction, on the Midland Railway, by which
three lady passengers were killed outright and some
seven or eight were very seriously injured. So badly
were they hurt, that it will be some .time before
they can be pronounced out of danger, though thus
far they are progressing as favourably as can be ex-
pected. It seems that a goods train had been shunted
at Debford, and by some oversight the points were left
open. In consequence of damage done to the signal-
ling apparatus by the recent gale, the signals were
worked by hand. The result of leaving the points
thus open was that the express from Burt,n to
Leicester, running at forty-five miles an hour, dashed
into the shunted goods train, smashing goods trucks,
passenger carriages. and rolling stock generally. For-
tunately the number of passengers was small. The
accident is thus described :

"There was a sudden jerk caused by the engine
taking the turn into the siding at such a great speed,
and in a moment, there was a terrible crash, which
filled the signalman and the few others who beheld it
with dismay. The engine with its enormous momentum,
leaped from the rails, crashed through the guard's van
of the mineral train, and cleared its way in
terrible fashion through six heavily-laden coal
waggons, shattering them to splinters, and finally
with a frightful roaring of steam, rolled over on
its side across the main lines. The crashing of the
timbers of the carriages struck terror into the pas-
sengers, and the groans of the dying and the injured
which followed told how disastrous the collision had
been. The engine tender dashed one way and the
engine the other; the front guard's van was reduced
to atoms, only the wheels being left. Fortunately,
the two strongly-built bogey carriages were in the
front part of the train, or the results must have been
even more disastrous. As it was, they were torn from
their bogeys, and rearing up on their ends, telescoped
one into another. After the first excitement subsided,
help to the injured was given, the doors of the carriages
being broken open with hatchets and hammers. The
guard of the mineral train had a wonderful escape.
Hearing the express approaching, he put his head out
of the window "just to see her pass." In an instant
he saw the fatal mistake, leaped from his van, and
just escaped. He was one of the first to render help,
and found the driver and the fireman lying on the
ground with the boiling water flowing over their legs
from the engine. The uninjured passengers and the
officials worked hard in extricating the injured, and
very soon four passengers, fearfully mangled, were got
out of the wreak and laid on boards and cushions till
the arrival of medical aid. In one first-class com-
partment. when an entrance was effected, two ladies,
Mrs. Whetstone, in the prime of life, and a young
lady named Miss Wainwright, who was on a visit from
Yorkshire, were found dead, and the sad spectacle
moved all present. Their bodies were removed with
care to a house near, and thence to the railway station
at Desford. Shortly afterwards another feniale pas-
senger, Mrs. Orton, wife of Mr. Orton, fishmonger,
Coalville, was found dying, and she expired as she
was got out of the debris. This passenger intended
travelling to Leicester by an earlier train, but being a
little late she missed it and came to an untimely end
in the illfated train. On the arrival of the doctors it
was found that two or three of the injured were in a
very critical condition. Tli!vwere removed as speedily
as possible in & special train to Leicester Station, and
thence to the Infirmary.
The following is a list of the killed and injured :
Killed.—Mrs. Whetstone, De Montford.square,
Leicester; Miss Wainwright (from Yorkshire) guest of
the above; Mrs. Orton, Coalville.
Injured.—Charlotte Williamson, aged 59, Whit-
wick, both legs broken; John Whitfield, 34, Burton-
on-Trent, engine driver, seriously scalded on both legs
Frederick Astill, 47, foreman coppersmith, Burton-on
Trent, compound fracture of the left leg, which was
afterwards amputated; Allen Ford, 84, colliery en-
gine-driver, Berry-hill, Packington, fracture (com-
poond) cf the left leg ; George Thirlby, 45, cattle
dealer, Whitwick, compound fracture of left leg and
injury to the head; Mr. Kirby, Coalville, contusion
on the head; J. Jones, Coalville, injury to the head;
William Barratt, guard, badly bruised and shaken;
William Cholerton, 27, stoker, Burton, scalded on legs
and thighs; serious case.
In addition to the above many of the passengers
received a very severe shaking and were bruised and
cut, but they were able to proceed to their homes for
medical treatment. On examination it was found
that the three who were killed had their necks broken,
in all probability by being dashed forward with great
violence.

-sion

Inquiry at the Leicester Infirmary on Monday
evening resulted in showing that Whitfield, of Burton,
the engine-driver, who was scalded in the railway acci-
dent on Saturday, was in a most precarious condition,
and not expected to recover. After the accident
the poor fellow was dragged out from amidst the
boiling water from the locomotive, frightfully
scalded. Indeed, he and his mate Chorleton, the
stoker, were so terribly burnt that their trousers had to
be cut off, and the skin then peeled off in a shocking
manner. Chorleton, however, was progressing favour-
ably. The other passengers—some of whom have
had their legs amputated—were also doing fairly. At
the same time all of them can hardly be considered out
of danger, the injuries in one or two instances being
of a most serious character. Several narrow escapes
are recorded among passengers who happened to be
thrown to the floors of the carriages, and who thus
escaped a death which they would infallibly have
suffered had they been either standing or seated. The
scene presented by the injured as they were jammed
amid the dobris of the carriages was indescribable,
their limbs being broken, pierced, and lacerated in a
most shocking manner.

The guard, William Barrett, has made the following
statement respecting the accident :

"I was guard of the Burton and Leicester express
train on Saturday morning. We kept good time
up to Coalarille. The train was composed of an
engine, a van, two bogey carriages, two ordinary
carriages, and my van in the rear. We came
down to Bagworth embankment, which is very steep,
at about the ordinary rate of speed, somewhere about
40 miles an hour. We were due to pass Desford
station at 2.4, and I had no idea whatever that anything
wrong was going to happen until we had run about a
quarter of a mile beyond the stati9n. I was standing
up in the middle of my van, and in the front portion
of the van were a number of milk cans full of milk.
All of a sudden there was a terrible jerk, and then I
found myself dashed to the back of the van, with the
milk cans flying about in all directions. I thought I
was going to be killed. The cans came rolling over
rue, falling upon me and bruising me very badly. The
milk came out of the cans, and I was quickly satu-
rated with wet. My hands were out and bruised, and
I was very much shaken. I scarcely knew what
had happened, as there was no time to realise our

position. When I came to myself I found that a
number of milk cans were on the top of me, and I
first got one off and then another until I was quite
clear. Then I began to feel where I was, and
although very much bruised and shaken. I was very
glad to find myself with all my limbs whole. It is a
marvel how I escaped. When I got out of tile train
I found there was a great quantity of steam about,
and many of the passengers had got out of the train.
They were rendering help to the injured. I myself at
once began to help thoat who were injured. The
scene was beyond description, and those who were
wounded were crying out, "Come and help me : " I
found that we had run dead into a coal train which
was standing on the weighing siding, and that the
engine of the expreAs had completely Wrecked the rear
portion of the luggage train. The txpress engine had
bounded over the waggons, and lay on its side. This
is all I can say, except that I am very thankful that
am not worse injured."

The coroner's inquest on the bodies of the three pas-
sengers killed in the collision on the Midland Railway at
Desford was opened on Monday afternoon at Desford. lany
of the officials of the company were present, including Mr.
Zioble, general manager of the company. '
The Coroner, opened the' proceedings by briefly addressing
the jury.. The juryA.then.viewed the bodice and afterwards
visited the scene of the disaster.

Mr. Whetst ,ne's body was identified by her brother-in-
law. She mas 36 years of age. He also identified Miss
Wainwright's body. She was 25 years of age, and lived at
the Abnals, Mount Pleasant, Leeds. Mrs. Orton's body
was identified by her husband. She was 27 years of age.
James Knowles, goods guard, Burton-on-Trent, said
he was guard of the mineral train which came into will-
lion wit/1111e express- on Saturday morning. They arrived
at Desford, and were drawn into the siding at the
West Junction at 8.49 a.m. The train had been in the
siding about twenty minutes before the accident. He saw
the express coming into the siding, and seeing that a colli-
sion was inevitable he jumped from his van just in time
to escape. The engine of the express struck his van,
and five of the coal waggons and his van were smashed.
Several of the carriages of the passenger train were broken
up. The points of the siding were facing points, and there
were no other facing points on the line between Leicester
and Burton which run into a siding. Ile knew of no other
facing points, except at junctlens.
By the Coroner : I could not say hose fast the express
train was travelling. The engine was reversed when I saw
it. The speed would be about thirty miles an hour.

William Henry French, locomotive foreman for Leicester
district, saict he found the express train wrecked, and also
the rear portion of the mineral train.
By the Foreman: I do not know of any facing points run-
ning into sidings. Trains run at great speed down this line.
The speed from Bagworth to Desford is sometimes as much as
50 miles an hour with passenger traine.

Do you think it safe to run over facing points into a siding
at such a speed as that ?—Well, this is die first disaster that
has occurred, but I think it would have been better had
there not been these express trains run over these points. I
think it would have been better had the facing points not
been there.

Do you think the passenger trains' course faster from Bag-
worth to Desford than is safe 4—Well, they travel at a high
speed.
Mr. Beale : We can give you the exact speed by those
who have computed it.
By the Foreman: Do the trains ever exceed 50 miles an
hour ?—Well, when I have been in the trains the speed has
never been so great as to cause me any uneasiness. The
semaphore which was blown down, which governed the
aiding, did not appear to have been properly fixed in the
ground. It was not deep enough.

William Carlisle, district traffic inspector, said: I know
the siding where the collision took place, and am fully ac-
quainted with the working of the signals. I examined the
siding and the points, and there is no doubt the collision
occurred through the points being improperly placed, which
threw the passenger train from the main line into the
siding The men employed at the signal-box in question
were on duty for twelve hours continuously at a shift.
By the Foreman: As these points were fitted it was per
featly safe to travel over facing points at forty miles an
hour. If the points had been right the train running at
fifty miles an hour would have been perfectly safe. If a
stone got in between the points the signalman would know
by the lever that somethins was wrong, , and he would
protect the line by danger signals. On Friday, the 14th of
October. I heard that the semaphore had been blown down,
and, as traffic inspecter, it was my duty to see that proper
measures were taken for temporary signalling pending
the ei ection of the semaphore. I came to Leicester on the
same night, and found that the station-master had made
temporary arrangements for hand-signalling. He put a
flagman on the line to repeat the instructions of the signal-
man at the box. If the semaphore had remained standing
this accident could not have happened, as the points to the
siding could not be onened unless the signal was against the
main line train. The semaphore had stood, from five to six
years, and was erected satisfactorily. It was supported by
guy wire ropes, fastened to pieces of wood. They had been
In the ground six years. They were not and ought not to
have been rotten.

Bi a Juror: Do you think that the semaphore ought to
have been replaced much sooner at a very dangerous part of
the line like this 7—Well, there was so much to do. There
were 70 or 80 such semaphores blown down.

James Grimes, a platelayer, said,—l was
.placed to give
the hand-signal at the points where the semaphore was
blown down and acted under the instructions of Butler,
the signalman in the box. I was on duty at the place on
Saturday last, and saw the collision. Just as the express
approached, I had a white flag signal from Butler, the
signalman. A white flag, meant "all rigLt," and that the
train waa to pass along the main line. I showed the white
flag to the driver of the express train as it approached, and
he came on at full speed I was watching for the approach-
ing train, and did not see that the points were opened.
By the Foreman: Semaphores were usually fixed deep
in the ground, but the one in question was only a foot in
the ground.
The inquiry was then adjourned for a fortnight.

A fourth death has occurred from the accident.
George Astill, aged forty-seven, a coppersmith, re-
siding at Burton-on-Trent, was admitted to the infir-
mary with a compound fracture of the left leg; it was
amputated the same day, and the sufferer became
extremely ill on Monday ; he rallied, but he has since
succumbed.