The Express.
London, England, 1867-09-10 00:00:00

TEARFUL ACCIDENT ON THE MIDLAND

-IA--iiTii.r.

SIX PERSONS KILLED.

A fatal accident of au extraordinary character
occurred yesterday evening, on the Midland line from
I Manchester to Derby. About 5 o'clock a rather heavy
cattle train passed through New Mills station, drawn by
!two engines. It had reached the Peak Forest tunnel,
near Chapel-ea-le-Frith, in safety, when it came into coi-
-1 Haien with a ballast train that was unloading there.
Several of the ballast workers were injur.A, and
a little girl belonging to one of them, who bad
been bringing him a pair of clogs, was killed as she stood
with him on one of the waggons. By the shock of the
collision the coupling iron which attached the formed
cattle-truck to the second of the two engines was broken,
sad the whole of the trucks, twenty-three in num.
her, were impelled backwards down the incline. It
is oonjectured that the engines must have been dis-
abled, and the line blocked up in the tunnel, or an
attempt would have been made to pursue the runaway
trucks. Unfortunately also the telegraph wires were out
of order, and it is said that the accident at the tunnel was
neither known at the nearest station until more than an
I hour after it occurred, nor was there any intimation of it
received at New Mills, until the detached train of
trucks, after rolling down the incline at a high speed,
arrived again in sight of that station at 6 o'clock. The
pointsman, as soon as he perceived them, is believed
to have put up the danger signal to warn an express train
coming on the same line from Manchester, and of course
going in the opposite direction. The driver of the express,
which was going at a slow speed, applied the breaks as aeon
as he emerged from the tunnel near the New Mills station,
and had succeeded in reversing his train, when its
position on the curve at that point enabled him to see
the danger impending. The driver, stoker, and guard
then jumped off, and their train had already moved some
40 yards back when the trucks overtook it, and a collision
even more fatal than the first was the result. The weight
of the disaster, however, fell entirely upon the cattle
train, on which five drovers were clinging at the time.
Whilst the passenger train, deprived of all control, and
yielding to the shock from the trucks, was impelled
down the incline at a great speed, no portion of it
leaving the rails, and sustaining no damage beyond the
knocking in of the end of the engine boiler, the cattle
'trucks were scattered sod broken in all directions, and it
is believed four of the drovers were killed. Three of them,
just before this collision were seen at the sides of the
trucks. Two of these tried to jump off, but were after-
wards found each with a foot cut off. One of these also had
a fatal wound in the head, and was found lying in a pool
of blood. The second of them, it is hoped. may recover.
Their companion sustained, it is supposed, internal in-
juries by the shaking, for be died soon after his removal
from the station. Two other men were in the guards'
van of the cattle train. For more than two hours after
the collision they remained buried in the wreck. The
body of one of them was then extricated, and be appeared
to have been simply crushed to death. The body of
the fifth man, who is also dead, was doubled up in a re-
markable posture, his feet on • level with his mouth, and his
clothing stripped from his back. Jammed in this position,
be still remained at the time when our informant left. It
is hoped no other persons were injured at New Mills. The
line was completely blocked up by the wreck of the cattle
train. Of the ZS trucks all except nine were smashed.
Several of the cattle were killed, and there were 50 or 60
sheep scattered about the bank, dead or dying. Five or
six of the trucks were rednoed to mere chips.—dfaseheder
Examiner.