The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-14 00:00:00

Alarming Occurrence on the North London

Railway.

On Saturday morning, shortly before 11 o'clock, an acci-.
dent of a very alarming character occurred to a North Lo -
dc n Railway train within a few yards of the Fenchurch-
street station,and which, it is almost miraculous to relate, did
not involve the destruction of a large amount of human life.
The train in question was the 10.20 from Camden-road,.
and consisted of some ten or eleven carriages, three of
which were first-class, and the remainder second-class car-
riages of the North London line. It was due at Fenchurch-
street shortly before eleven o'clock, and the pace of the
train had been slackened to run into the North London
compartment. Suddenly a very severe shock was felt
by the passengers, and many in the foremost carriages were
thrown from their seats. Great consternation was manifested,
and it was at once discovered that the engine No. 2, of the
composite class, that is, with the boiler and tender, &c.,
attached, and ordinarily in use on the North London line,
bad left the metals and had dashed against the wall of the
viaduct, carrying a great portion of it away, and precipitat-
ing it on to some now buildings, which a large number o f
workmen were at the time engaged in erecting in Cooper's •
row, Cruiched-friars, beneath. The escape of both train
and passengers was most miraculous, for, had the engine
proceeded but a foot or two further, it must have been pre-
cipated over the viaduct, and in all probability have dragged
one or two carriages over with it. The writer of this was a
passenger in one of the first-class carriages, the third or
fourth from the engine, and although the train had slackened
its speed to run into the station, the shock was so great as
to throw the passengers in that carriage from one side to the
other. The moment the driver of the engine found, from
the peculiar grating noise he heard, that his wheels had left
the metals, he shut off the steam, and after grazing the sides
of tho outer wall for a distance of some 3 or 10ft, the engine
turned completely round, and rushed through the wall of the
viaduct over Cooper's-row, as before described, and became
embedded in the soil. a providential circumstance, to which
may be attributed the stoppage of the train without going
over. As it was, the first carriage, a second-class, in which
there happened to be fortunately but seven or eight passen-
gers, was thrown up completely over the rear or tender
portion of the engine, and then fell upon its side inward
towards the rails. The third carriage, also a second-class,
must have jumped up, as the whole of the top part of the
first was completely smashed in, but it had returned after
the collision, and stood partly upon the rails. The passen-
gers were necessarily much alarmed, but although our re-
porter made every inquiry upon the spot, he could not
ascertain that any one was injured beyond being slightly
shaken by the concussion. As soon as the passengers were
able to leave the carriages they had to walk to the platform,
which was not more than some 20 or 30 feet from the spot
where the engine was to be seen in its perilous position,
partially suspended over the outside of the viaduct. Another
providential circumstance was, that although a large num-
ber of workmen were employed on the building in course
of erection where the engine struck the wall, none of them
were in the identical spot where the brickwork was broken.
or the falling wreck would, without doubt, have proved
fatal to them.

As soon as the alarm had somewhat subsided, Mr. Wight-
man, the superintendent of the B lackwall and Eastern Coun-
ties lines at the station, and other officials, at mace tele-
graphed to North London works at Bow, and to stop the up
Blackwell trains, as from the position in which the engine
stood, and the second-class carriage hung, not only the
North London but the Blackwell termixus metals were
completely blocked, and the passengers on both these lines
were compelled to leave the carriages at the junction, for
some distance down the line, during a great portion of the
morning, whilst the outgoing trains were despt.tehed from
the platform of the Eastern Counties and the London, Til-
bury, and Thames Haven line, on the Northern side of the
station. In a short time large number of engineers and
labourers belonging to the North London Company were on,
the spot, and efforts were made to remove the carriage and
engine, which overhung tho parapet, and caused large
crowds of persons to assemble in Cooper's-row during tho
operations. It was not until late in the afternoon that this
was effected.

As to the causes which led to the occurrence, there is Litt
little doubt that it resulted from some negligence on the part
of some of the workmen employed in repairing the metals
at the spot where the engine went off. Just at this place tha
earth had been dug out, and the sleepers upon which the
metals rested were completely bare, and it is believed that
some of these not having been properly secured, the pre-
vious train from Camden Town, which arrived about 20
minutes after ten, and had shortly after gone out over tho
same ground, must in doing so have displaced ono of the
metals or chairs, and that the line wan not examined by
the plate-layers between that and the arrival of the 10.20
train. The matter, however, is under investigation. The
conduct of the driver and stoker of No. 2 engine is most
praiseworthy, for it was ascertained that when they found
the engine was off the line, instead of jumping off,thoy shut
off the steam and stuck to their posts at the risk of their
lives, which would in all probability have been sacrificed
had the engine progressed a foot or two further over the,
edge of the viaduct, where it had broken through. The oc-
currence created considerable excitement amongst the malty
thousands of passengers who daily thr.mg the Fenchurch-
street station and its vicinity, and many exaggerated ru-
mours were throughout tho day in circulation.