The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-06 00:00:00

Appalling Accident to an Express Train.

STAMFORD, April 5.
An express train on the Great Northern Rail-
way, travelling at the ordinary speed of 40 miles an
hour, was literally dashed to pieces on Saturday
evening, and yet, wonderful to relate, no lives were
lost, although, of course, most of the passengers
were severely hurt. The accident happened close
to the Little By tham station, about seven miles from
Stamford. For some distance north of Little By-

ham the line runs along a high embankmen

which on passing the village itself is elevated above
the tops of the adjacent houses. Some 50 yards
from the station are a series of what are technically

called "coal drops," by means of which coal trains
are unloaded of their contents ; the coals passing
through openings between the rails to the ground
below, whence they are carted away. At this point
the line appears to be elevated somewhere about
20ft. above the road below. On a siding over the

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coal drops stood a number of goods vans and cattle
trucks on Saturday evening at the time of the ac-
cident, and to this circumstance must in a great
measure be attributed the escape of any of the pas•

sengers with their lives.
An express train leaves Manchester for London a
3 p.m., and on Saturday it consisted of four comp'
site carriages, separated from the tender by a break
van, the rear being brought up by a second break
van, in which was the guard. The number of pas-
sengers is understood to have been between 20 and 30.
At 6 o'clock the train had just passed Little Bytham
village, and was within about 150 yards of the sta-
tion, the speed being, as already mentioned, at least
40 miles an hour, when the tire of the leading wheel
of the engine suddenly snapped and flew off. The
whole train immediately left the main line, ploughed
up the ballast, and rushed through the metals of
several sidings. The engine struck the first of the
vans standing over the coal drops before mentioned.
The noise of the shock is described as resembling
the simultaneous discharge of a park of artillery,
while the dust which was raised temporarily hid
what had taken place from the view of those who were
looking out from the station hard by. No descrip-
tion can convey any adequate idea of the wreck
thus momentarily accomplished. Most of the cattle
trucks and goods vans on the siding were completely
shivered to fragments, the woodwork being detached
from the wheels and strewn all round—strong tele •
graph poles were snapped like slender reeds, and to
add to the confusion the wires rendered temporarily
useless for communication ; the engine and tender
were " doubled up" in a way which plainly indi-
cates the terrible force of the collision, while the
carriages of the train were shattered and piled
about the embankment in a state of ruin which
rendered it apparently hopeless to expect that any
of the passengers could be found alive. One of the
carriages, containing several persons, occupied a
most extraordinary position ; the wheels at one
end were resting across the metals on the verge of
the embankment, while the other end was sup-
ported by the telegraph wires, and thus prevented
from falling a considerable depth.
The accident occurring so near a station, assist-
ance was promptly rendered, and the terrified pas-
sengers were extricated from the fragments. Some
were drawn through the windows of the dis-
mantled carriages. It was then found that happily
no lives had been sacrificed, though many were
stunned and bleeding. The chief sufferers among
the passengers appeared to be Mr. and Mrs. Flet-
cher, of Holland-house, Clapham-common, who were
on their way home from Newark. Mr. Fletcher
was severely cut about the head and face, besi:
idress.
having sustained various other injuries;ir hd were
Fletcher was still more severely hurt.
where their
conveyed to an inn near the station,die
wGunds were dressed. Comas among
late of Har-
the other suf-
rowby, near Grantham, was a
a cut on the knee.
ferers, his chief injury being,, thrown withgreat
Chas. Clarke, the driver,
violence from his place on
being feared
to the ground,g
feared that some of
and is very badly hurt, it
his limbs are fractured. The stoker was thrown
from the tender on to the top of one of the goods
vans, and was very little the worse for the disaster.
The guard also escaped almost unhurt. Several of
the slightly wounded passengers returned to their
homes by a north train, and others proceeded on
their journey by the Leeds express, which came up
some time after the occurrence.
Meanwhile, information of the accident was for-
warded to Peterborough and Grantham, and the
medical officers of the district, including Messrs.
Walker, Collingwood, Magor, Ferneley, and James,
were conveyed to Little Bytham, with the least
possible delay. They bestowed the attention which
was necessary upon the wounded, and were enabled
to leave in the course of the night. The " break-
down-gangs" from Peterborough and Grantham,
with their powerful machinery and appliances, were
soon engaged in clearing the main lines. They
worked by the light of fires, made of the broken car-
riages ; and, as the greater part of the wreck was on
the sidings, the general traffic was not long impeded.
But for the obstruction offered by the trucks and
vans standing on the siding the whole train must
have gone over the embankment.