The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-14 00:00:00

LATE FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
The coroner's inquest concerning the frightful acci-
dent on the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire
Railway, terminated late on Saturday night, at which
time the cause of the calamity remained as great a mys-
tery as at the commencement of the inquiry. The lead-
ing facts may be briefly recapitulated. Last Wednesday
evening the Great Northern passenger train which leaves
Sheffield at 9.10 P.N. ran off the line, at a place which is
three-quarters of a mile short of Woodhouse junction,
and better than four miles from Sheffield. The line
curves at that point, and is upon a steep embankment
upwards of thirty feet high. When running at about
thirty miles an hour the train suddenly ran off the rails,
and the engine, rushing across the down rails, sped vio-
lently down the embankment on the opposite side. The
rest of the train (two passenger carriages, two goods vans,
and a break) fell down the other embankment with a
fearful crash. The passengers escaped unhurt, but the
guard (Charles Tuckwood) was killed on the spot, and
the engine-driver (Samuel Wright) died on the following
day, after suffering the most frightful torture, his legs
having been almost roasted off by the engine fire, the
engine having fallen upon him.
The coroner's inquest was opened on Friday, and was
of more than ordinary interest, inasmuch as the cause
of the accident was altogether unaccounted for. It was
reported that the line was out of guage, but the evi-
dence given below sets that question at rest. The most
important witness was William Leah, the stoker, who
said that all went on right till he observed some sparks
from the hindermost wheel on the right-hand side of
the engine. The next moment the train was off the
line. The road, he said, was very bad to travel over
between Sheffield and Retford, so bad that it made the
engine shake about terribly. The other evidence taken
on Friday did not bear upon the cause of the accident.
Oa Saturday the accident was resumed.
Thomas Spriggs, a man who assisted after the acci-
dent, proved that the deceased engineedriver told him
he was quite unable to account for the accident.
Alfred Wheeler and Mark Briggs, two miners who
live on the margin of the line, concurred in stating that
the train in question travelled on the night of the acci-
dent much faster than they bad ever seen it.
The next point of the inquiry was as to the state of
the line and the engine before the accident.
Edward Kemp, a Great Northern guard, accustomed
to travel on this portion of the line, said he did not
consider the line between Sheffield and Retford (a por-
tion of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire
line) in good order : at all events nut so good as the
Great Northern line. The trains were accustomed to
shake. A few hours before the accident, when accom-
panying the up-express train, his van shook, and on
looking out of the window he saw that the inner rail
was crooked. On being asked by the coroner why he
did not report the circumstance, he said it did not strike
him as sufficiently important.
Mr. G. Tuckwood, brother of the deceased, repeated
the statement which be made on Friday, to the effect
that he had heard Kemp ascribe the accident to the line
being out of geuge.
Richard liPskeib, an engine-driver, in the employ
of the Manchester, Shafiold. and Lincolnshire Railway,
stated that he drove over the line two hours before the
accident, and did not notice anything amiss with the
rails or anything else.
John Lyne, a plate-layer, said he examined that part
of the line in question twice on Wednesday (the day of
the accident), as usual, and found it in good running
order.

Mr. G. %nick, superintendent of the permanent way,
saw on Tuesday that at that particular place the line was
all right. After the accident he found that eighty yards
of the up-rails bad been torn up, and thirty yards of the
down line.

Mr. Richard Peacock, locomotive superintendent on
the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway,
after stating that he made an inspection in order to find
out the cause of the accident, said—There is nothing in
the evidence I have heard and the examination I have
made, to induce me to suppose that the accident was
caused by an) improper condition of the line. If the
rails had been beet, as stated by Kemp, it would not have
caused the engine to run off the line; but I have no
reason to suppose that the engine d►d run off from any
defect in the read. From the appearance of the engine-
wheels, I think the hind pair of wheels got off the line
first, but I don't know the cause. I think the axle of the
trading-wheels of the engine (the hindermost wheels) was
strained slightly, and that that caused the accident. The
sparks spoken of by Leah might have been caused by
the springing of the frame of the engine in passing
round the curve, and thus bringing the wheels in con-
tact with a bolt bead, which ho perceived projecting
from the side of the tank of the engine. It is not dan-
gerous to travel along that curve at thirty or forty miles
an hour.

Mr. Sturrock, locomotive engineer of the Great Nor-
thern, said--I cannot satisfy myself as to the cause of
the accident; but I very much agree with Mr. Peacock,
as far as I can form an opinion.
After some unimportant evidence,
The CORONER summed up, and the jury consulted
with closed doors about twenty minutes.
The Foreman then delivered the following verdict:—
" We are unanimously of opinion that the deceased, Sa-
muel Wright and Charles Tuckwood, have come by
their deaths in consequeneo. of No. 12 Great Northern
train, with engine No. 29, running off the rails near
Woodhouse Junction, on the night of the Bth inst.; but
as to what caused the train to run off the rails uo satis-
factory evidence has been given to the jury."
The inquest ended about eight o'clock P.M.