The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-08-14 00:00:00

ACCIDENT TO THE "FLYING

SCOTCHMAN."

One of the most disastrous accidents which ever . took
place in the neighbourhood of Berwick•on-Tweed occurred
on Tuesday morning to the train known as the "Flying
Scotchmau."—We take the following account of it from The
Times :

The train, wElch runs the distance between Edin-
burgh and London in nine hours, left Edinburgh-on
Tuesday morning eight minutes late. It consisted of
an engine, two guards' vans, and nine first and second-
class carriages, containing a large number of pas-
sengers. The journey was performed in safety
until the train reached the curve at Mar-
shall-meadows cutting, 400 yards north of the
Marshall-meadows bridge, midway between Ber-
wick and Burnmouth stations, and about three
miles from the North British station at Berwick. At
this point the engine appears to have left the line,
from what cause will perhaps never be certainly
known, as the only persons who could have seen what
happened have been killed. The passengers felt only
an oscillation of the train, and then a sudden
divergence of the carriages from the line. The
engine had parted from the tender and had been
thrown across the lines, the front wheels being
imbedded in the bank next to the line on which
the train was running. The tender was thrown up
the bank on the opposite side, with the wheels and
under framework of the guard's van on the top of
it, the remainder of the van being fully twenty yards
up the bank, and almost smashed to pieces. The first
carriage was lying alongside the guard's van, and the
second, third, and fourth were twisted across the line,
forming as nearly as possible the letter S. Another
carriage was lying on the bank parallel with the
engine, and the remaining carriages were partly stand-
ing on the line and partly leaning on the bank, all
more or less destroyed. The rails were torn up and
bent into all sorts of shapes, and the ground and the
banks on each side were ploughed up to a great
extent.

From the appearance of the train, it is marvellous
that any one could have escaped withoutiat least being
more or less injured. The engine-driver, Thompson,
of Newcastle, must have been killed instantaneously.
His remains presented a terrible appearance. The
fireman, whose name is Norman, and who belongs to
Gateshead, was picked up alive. His arm was broken,
there was a large wound on the leg, and ftis sup-
posed that he was internally injured. He was con-
veyed to Berwick Infirmary, where he died soon after
reaching the place. One of the killed was a guard
named Pearce, belonging to Newcastle. He had gone
to Edinburgh by the morning express from Newcastle,
and was returning home as a passenger in the carriage
next to the guard's van. His remains, as well as those
of the engine-driver, were conveyed to Berwick
Infirmary.
One of the injured was Turnbull, the guard of the
train, who was in the van next to the engine. He
belonged to Newcastle, and is well known by all who
travel on the line. His head was much cut, and his
mouth was also injured. Otherwise he seems to have
escaped. How he did so, he himself cannot tell; all he
could say was, "I know lam safe." His van, as has
been already explained, was in two pieces, the wheels
and flooring lying on the top of the tender, while the
upper part of the van was a few yards further up the
bank. He was attended to at the station at Berwick
by Drs. Grace and Child, and was able to proceed
home in the afternoon.

Only two or three of the passengers were injured.
Mr. Sharp, a young gentleman whose mother is re-
siding at Burnmouth, had his arm and leg slightly
injured. He was conveyed to the "King's Arms"
Hotel at Berwick, and was placed under the care of
Dr. M'Lagan. Despite his injuries, he was able to
walk about in the afternoon. One of the injured is
Captain Linter' who was coming to join his ship,
which is now at Berwick. He was taken to Berwick
Infirmary, but was not considered to be dangerously
hurt.

Among the passengers was Mr. Samuel Knight, dis-
trict agent to the London, Brighton, and South Coast
Railway, and living at Portsmouth. He was consider-
ably shaken, but not injured. He says the train left
Edinburgh a few minutes late, and was going at full
speed when the accident happened. All at once he
felt a slight oscillation of the carriage, the engine,
tender, and guard's van left the line, and there was a
sudden break up of the train. He has been upwards
of 20 years in railway employment, but he never saw
any smash like this, and accompanied by such a pro-
vidential escape of life. Another passenger was
Mr. M'Geechan, one of the inspectors on the North
British Railway. He was in the second carriage
from the van. The carriage was twisted and
broken, but he escaped with a shaking. Both he and
Mr. Knight could give no explanation as to how they
escaped or what could be the cause of the accident.
_ _

When the accident happened some of the North
British workmen were engaged south of the place re-
pairing the line. They were waiting for the express,
and, considering her late, one of them proceeded up
the bank. In going up he heard a slight puff of
steam and a rumbling noise, and on getting to the top
saw the wreck of the train. Thereupon he at once
gave the alarm. Fortunately, in the vicinity of the
accident are several farm labourers' houses belonging
to the farm of Marshall Meadows. Every one of the
inmates of these houses was immediately on the spot,
and headed by the young ladies from the Mansion-house,
they did all they could to render assistance. Messages
were sent to Berwick, and in a short time Dr. Grace,
of the Northumberland Artillery Militia, and Drs.
Fluker, M'Lagan, Brown, and Haggarty were on the
spot. Otherywilling helpers also appeared. Mr. Carr,
of Carr and Sons, chemists, Berwick, arrived with a
plentiful supply of whatever he imagined could be re-
quired. Assistance was also obtained from the hos-
• • tics, and Privates Bruton and Duffy,
',who happened to be at the place,
rendered valuable aid in removing the passengers from
the wrecked train. A detachment of the Fusiliers,
under the command of two officers, was despatched to
Berwick Station, there to await any orders that might
be given to assist; but, fortunately, their services were
not required.
Not long after the accident the second express, leav-
ing Edinburgh at 10.15 came near the place, but every
precaution was taken to stop it before it came into the
vicinity of the accident. It came to a standstill
about 100 yards or so from the snot. In this train
were Drs. Chiene and Bramwell, of Edinburgh, who
at once hastened to the scene of the disaster, and
rendered all the assistance they could. Special trains
were sent from Berwick, and passengers were brought
into the station, and thence sent south. The rail-
way officials, superintended by the station-masters
of Berwick and Tweedmouth, were assiduous in their
attentions to all the passengers, and every means that
human foresight could devise was taken for their
comfort. All the passengers were dispatched from
Berwick by two o'clock. The line was completely
blocked, but in the afternoon a strong force of men
were sent from Berwick with the appliances necessary
or a speedy removal of the obstruction.

p-ital, at the barracks,
I of the sth Fusiliers,
_

Duffy, I
3 place, I

Another account gives the following particulars :7

"After the accident the engine was a great mass of bent
and broken iron; the front portion of the train, in which
there were, fortunately, few passengers, was converted
almost into splinters, and with the exception of the last two
carriages, which were merely thrown off the rails, the
whole train became a confused mass of ruins, the tom-up
railway sleepers adding to the dismal appearance of the
wreckage. The place at which the accident happened was
a cutting which had an embankment of about 20ft. in height
on each side. A great portion of this was carried away by
the sliding of the engine along it, and the permanent way
was torn up for many yards. Old inhabitants of the dis-
trict describe a similar accident which occurred at nearly
the same spot about twenty years ago, when by even greater
fortune no lives were lost. It is marvellous that BO few
fatalities occurred through the accident.
"As soon as the news of the accident was received in Ber-
wick the town was thrown into a state of the utmost con-
sternation. Measures were, however, taken by the railway
authorities, as well as by private individuals, to afford all
the relief possible to the injured. Almost all the convey-
ances in the town were engaged by persons who hurried to
the scene with such restoratives as they had been hastily
able to gather together. A relief train was at once de-
spatched to the scene of the accident from Berwick. It con-
tained Drs. Maclaghan, Gracey, Fluker, and Heagerty, and
Mr. W. P. Carr, chemist.
"Mr. R. H. Whitfield, of Newcastle, who was staying at
Berwick, and was one of the first persons who arrived on the
scene of the disaster, says that on his arrival the scene was
terrible, and the train looked a mere mass of wreckage. The
passengers were then being disposed of in the relief train,
the injured being carried by stretchers and placed in the
most comfortable of the carriages. Few persons had then
gathered round the spot, and the railway officials carried on
their work without being impeded by too profuse offers
of help. Only three persons were killed, and none of
these were passengers. The driver of the train, John
Thomson, appears to have been killed on the instant. The
fireman was also dead when the relief train arrived. Pearce,
a wdll-known guard, died as he was being carried into the
infirmary. Thomson was a driver on the North-Eastern
Railway at least thirty years ago. Pearce had been engaged
on the same railway about seven years. Captain Suites', the
managing partner of the barque Mersey, which arrived at
Berwick on Monday night, lies very seriously injured at the
infirmary. The other passengers escaped marvellously, few
of them receiving injuries of great moment.
"The escape of one passenger was almost miraculous. He
sat in the last compartment of a first-class carriage; the
front of the carriage was completely knocked away, and the
greater portion of the remainder was broken into pieces, but
the single compartment which contained a passenger was
left almost intact. By good fortune there were few pas-
sengers in the front part of the train, the first two or three
carriages, according to one witness, being quite empty. This
may account for the few calamities which have occurred in
an accident which, judging from the appearance of the line
and the amount of wreckage, might have been one of the
greatest on record.
"When the news of the accident reached Newcastle a
breakdown gang was at once despatched by special train.
Singularly enough, it was delayed at Belford, • about 16
miles from Berwick, in consequence of a train running off the
line at that place. After putting matters right there the
gang at once proceeded to the scene of the accident.
When it arrived the engine was lying across the line,
and the tender, which had been completely severed from
it, was lying on the slope of the bank; the remains of the
guard's van were lying between the two. Behind these
the front carriages lay heaped in a confused mass in such
fragments as no words could describe. The carriages in the
middle of the train received little injury, but those in the
latter portion received very considerable injury. The
break-down gang set to work at once, but the task was too
formidable for rapid progress. The Edinburgh train had to
proceed by way of Kelso, and passengers to Berwick were
carried over the border bridge by special train.
"The 10.15 express from Edinburgh was travelling close
behind the unfortunate Flying Scotchman, but the signals
were at once laid on, and a further disaster was averted.
The baggage from this train was taken to the Berwick side,
and the passengers were despatched by another train. Only
two of the passengers by the ill-fated train were so much
injured as to have to remain in Berwick. One of 'these
is Captain Suiter, who remains in the infirmary; and Lieu-
tenant Sharpe, of the Lanarkshire Militia, who was return-
ing to his home at Richmond, Surrey. -
"The greatest sympathy was shown by-the people of Ber-
wick on the occasion, a considerable number of persons
immediately driving to the spot with water, milk, spirits,
and other necessaries. The conduct of the railway officials
was admirable. A gentleman who was on the scene imme-
diately after the accident says that the engine of the ruined
train lay across the rails, with its front wheels buried in the
ground. The tender lay on the embankment, with part of
the guard's van above it, the other portion lying further up
the embankment with other wrecked carriages near it. The
broken train made two lines across the rails, and turning
back again, left three carriages and the last guard's van
standing close to the line, but off the rails."

One of the passengers in the train was Dr. F. W.
Sutton, of Reading. He says
He left Edinburgh a few minutes after ten o'clock. All
went well until about half-past eleven, when he suddenly
felt the train begin to bump over the sleepers. Before
he could recover from his surprise his carriage was turned