The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-08 00:00:00

MISHAPS TO THE ROYAL TRAIN.

The train which conveyed the Queen and Royal family
from London to Edinburgh on Thursday last met with a
series of mishaps, which not only resulted in her Ma-
jesty having to change carriages before she reached her
destination, but unhappily, also, in the loss of life. Not-
withstanding the extraordinary precautions taken to pre-
vent even the slightest casualty, it would seem that
shortly after the Royal train left the metropolis it was
found that some of the axles of the carriages, especially
one of the last break van, were not in a satisfactory
state. When the train arrived at Peterborough, one or
two of the axle-boxes were washed out. At Grantham
matters were found to be worse, and a man was then
stationed on the footboards of the train in order to grease
the axles as it was running. At Retford a telegraphic
message was sent to Doncaster to have a fresh break got
in readiness. At Bawtry the train was delayed five
minutes to allow the axles—all of which were over-
heated more or less—time to cool. On reaching Don-
caster the last break of the train was exchanged for a
fresh one, and this operation was not unattended with
inconvenience, for the people assembled at that sta-
tion, nut having anticipated this stoppage, besieged the
State carriage as soon as the train pulled up, and climb-
ing upon engines and tenders which happened to be
standing on the sidings on each flank of the train, and
within a foot or two of the windows of the Royal Saloon,
indulged their eager curiosity without stint or scruple.
After leaving Doncaster and getting rid of the all-but
ignited break, the state of the axles of some of the other
carriages was sufficient to excite the liveliest anxiety of
the officials in charge of the train and to require the
most constant vigilance. On approaching Darlington
one of the greasers stationed en the font-boards of the
train unfortunately came in contact with the girder
railing of a small culvert bridge ; the collision knocked
him off the train, and he was so crushed and mutilated in
his fall that he died soon afterwards. At Darlington her
Majesty, Prince Albert, and the Princess Royal, who oc-
cupied the principal state carriage, were under the ne-
cessity of abandoning it, and proceeding for the remainder
of their journey in one of the blue saloon carriages occu-
pied by some of the younger branches of the family.
It was found that the heat of the axles was
so great as to endanger the safety of the carriage. The
real cause of these untoward incidents is involved iu
some mystery. The State carriages, which have not
been used since last September, appeared to be quite
safe, in every respect, on their trial journey from Lon-
don to the Great Northern Company's repairing depot
at Doncaster, and back again. It is a very unusual
circumstance for an axletree to overheat itself in so short
a distance as that in which the occurrence was first observ-
ed in this case ; and it is a still more rare circumstance
for several axles of one trai❑ to overheat in the course of
one journey. The grease used was of the best quality,
and, we believe, the same as that, used during the Royal
journey to Scotland last year. The end of the axle of
the break cast off at Doncaster was nearly worn away;
the apertures of the brasses through which the grease
should descend were stopped. up by the fusion of the
metal, after which, of course, none of the grease could
get into the axle. No doubt a rigid investigation will
be made into all the circumstances of the case at the in-
quest on the body of the unfortunate man whose life
has beea sacrificed. He was a resident of Doncaster,
and has left a wife and three children.