The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-29 00:00:00

CALAMITOUS RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
As we briefly stated yesterday, a terrible accident
occurred on Saturday night to the express train leaving
Euston for the North at five o'clock. The disaster took
place beyond Harrow station, which is some nine miles
from London. The express train was, as is usual on
Saturdays, a very heavy one, being made up of a pilot
engine, one of M`Connell's powerful Bloomer engines,
driven by William Shelvy, a second engine, one of Rams-
botham's patent, driven by Robert Stone, and nineteen
carriages. The night was unusually foggy. At 5.10 the
foreman at Willesden Junction gave the signal " all dear,"
and the express passed by. Twenty minutes previously
the foreman had started from Willesden Junction a train
of empty
.coal waggons, bound for Rugby, with instrue-
dons to shunt at Harrow for . the purpose of allowing
the express to pass. This train, consisting of about
thirty empty waggons, drew up to signal just beyond
Harrow station, but the rear trucks not having overhauled
the siding points the driver again started, which sudden
action uncoupled the Bth waggon from the engine, drawing
out the crossbar from underneath the ninth waggon, and
leaving the remaining twenty waggons adrift. The
danger of this unmanageable obstruction was at once
apparent to the pointsman; and, the whole of the
southern portion of the railway between London and
Rugby being worked upon the block system, he
instantly telegraphed back two miles to the signal-
man in the Wembly cutting, telling him the main
down line was blocked. This man acknowledged the
message, and replied that he had put his signal against
the express, and the efforts of every available man
at Harrow were called into requisition to get the empty
waggons into a siding. The pointsman adopted the ad-
ditional precaution of sending the chief porter, White, up
the line with fog signals. White had placed upon the
rail only one signal, about 100 yards from the station,
and had scarcely run another yard when he heard the
puffing of the engines and the noise of the train
rapidly approaching. In a moment he heard Shelvy
blow his whistle, and saw him turn off the steam from
his engine as the train flew past. Another instant and the
pilot engine struck the last waggons adrift with so
much violence as to shiver them into fragments, leaving
scarcely a square foot of wood or iron unfractured. The
shock had the effect of throwing the wreck of the waggons
on the left or down side of the line, while the pilot engine
itself and its tender fell over to the right and completely
blocked the up main line. The second engine and its
tender, although thrown off the rails, ploughed away
through the ballast, and ran some few yards past the pilot,
both engines together forming an immovable barrier against
which some four or five of the leading carriages in the
train came with such force as to be completely broken up.
The stronger portions which held together mounted upon
each other to a height of nearly 20 feet. The accident
occurred about 200 yards north of the station platforms,
on which there were several persons waiting the arrival of
up and down local trains. Very little noise was occa-
sioned by the collision, but the promptitude of the few
officials speedily assembled a ready body of volunteers,
who rendered admirable service. The Duke of Bucking-
ham, who was going down in a train a few minutes later ;
Sir H. Verney, M.P., who was travelling in the ex-
press ; Mr. Cawkwell, the general manager, and many other
gentlemen connected with the company, were soon on the
spot to assist in clearing the wreck, and giving directions
as to the forwarding of the traffic on the only set of rails
which was left unblocked. The labour of extricating the
dead and wounded from the wreck lasted over more than
four hours. Among the earliest got out was Mr. Balfour
Stewart, Professor of Natural Philosophy at Owen's Col-
lege, Manchester, whose thigh was fractured. The ap-
pliances of the local surgeons not being equal to the emer-
gency, Mr. Warne, a local builder, improvised a pair of
splints, which, with other aids, enabled the sufferer to
remain at rest until Sunday morning, when he was
removed to the residence of Mr. T. H. Lambert, of
Northwick Villa, who also housed several others of the
wounded. The subjoined is a corrected list of the
killed:—William Shelvey, engine driver, aged 40; Mr.
J. W. Jeffreys, of Manchester; Mr. J. H. Jordan, of
Cheadle Hulme, near IVlanchester ; Mr. George Bell, of
Bolton; Miss Bell ; Mr. Smith, of Tib-lane, Manchester;
Mr. Rowley, of Stanhope-street, Hyde Park-gardens.
Mr. Rowley, whose position when found under the
wreck of the carriages was dreadful, he being regularly
locked into the d6bris, was an exceedingly fine-looking
young man. He bore his painful position with great for-
titude for nearly four hours, being kept up by the admini-
stration of- small quantities of brandy, and when extri-
cated was sufficiently conscious to direct that a telegram
should be sent to his wife and mother in Cheshire, con-
veying his best love, and his regret to inform them that
lie had met with a very serious railway accident. After
having been got out ho gradually sank, and the doctors in
attendance were unable to sanction the only chance of
saving him—amputation. After a time lock-jaw ensued,
which was soon followed by death. A Miss Butler remained
in attendance upon the unfortunate gentleman until the
last.

Mr. Bell and Miss Bell were recognised by letters found
in their pocket-books, which enabled the officials to com-
municate with their friends. The affianced lover of Miss
Bell came down to Harrow on Sunday. He had bade her
"goodbye" at Euston on her leaving the station. Mr,
Jordan was identified by the season ticket between Man-
chester and London found upon him. Mr. Smith was
identified by documents found upon him, which shelved
that he was a partner in the house of Fisher, Sons, and
Smith, of Tib-lane, Manchester. The driver, William
Shelby, was a remarkable man, and known upon the line
by the sobriquet of "The Duke," from the prominence of
his nose, which bore a resemblance to that of the Iron
Duke. He was a man of great experience and courage in
his duties, and invariably travelled with a favourite dog—
a half-bred fox. When Shelby's remains were discovered
under the dome of his engine his faithful dog, which had
escaped unhurt, was found watching near the body. Mr.
Jeffreys was recognised by a letter addressed to him at
the Langham Hotel, from Mr. Richards, of Frederick's-
place, Old Jewry. His wife telegraphed to Euston on
Saturday night to know if her husband was in the train,
but his death was not known to the railway authorities
until Sunday.
The escape of the stoker of the pilot engine, John
Cleride, was very miraculous. He was thrown completely
over his engine, and found himself, when conscious, in one
of the empty" coal waggons. His grief at the loss of his
mate was most touching.
The escape of Gemmel, the Manchester guard, is
scarcely less miraculous. His van was broken into a
thousand pieces, but with the exception of a severe shock
he has sustained no injury.
Among the passengers who happily escaped serious hurt
were Mrs. Grimshaw and her daughter, of Aspley, in Bed-
fordshire. They remained for the night at Lord Charles
Russell's, at Pinner Lodge.
The policeman stationed at Wembly cutting alleges
that as far as he could judge as the train passed his box
he does not think the driver of the pilot observed that the
signals were against him. The fog, he adds, was very
dense in his district.
Mr. and Mrs. Allen of Dublin, Sergeant Sturt, 18th
Royal Irish Regiment, and a deserter prisoner, two
soldiers of the 62nd Regiment, the Rev. J. S. Hillocks,
Mr. Taylor of Stoke-upon-Trent, Mrs. Taylor, Mr. King
(Blossom-street, Norton Folgate), Mr. James Hilton,
Mr. Harrison, Mrs. Wood, Mr. James Lamb, Mr. Reed
(of Snow-hill), Mr. and Mrs. Heaton (Manchester), Mr.
Bourgoin, Mr. Clapshaw (of Kilburn), and Mr. Pickering
were among the sufferers. Some of these persons received

serious injuries.
The Dean of Lichfield and Mrs. Champneys were pas-
sengers in the train but fortunately were not injured in
the least. They returned to London.
The following account of the accident is by one of the
passengers :—" The five o'clock express left the Euston
station with its usual punctuality on Saturday evening.
was accompanied by a friend. We were both bound
for home—my friend for Dublin and I for Cork. At start-
ing we did not notice much the length of the train. Being
old travellers, and having acquired a strong prejudice .to
occupying a carriage either too near the head or the tail
of a train, we selected as usual one of the centre
carrages. We got into conversation with two
soldiers—a sergeant and a private of the 62nd Regiment
—both remarkably intelligent men, the sergeant particu-
larly. The war was, of course, the topic of our conversa-
tion. The knowledge displayed by these two soldiers of
the latest news ascertained from the Continent rather sur-
prised my friend and me. I had begun to endeavour
to have a sleep, when all in the carriage were
suddenly forced with much violence against each other.
I remained for a few minutes in the utmost state of sus-
pense. The people in the carriages on each side of me
had now begun to call loudly for the guard and ask
what was the matter. My friend and I got out
of our carriage. Our example was followed by all the pas-
sengers who escaped sufficiently
c, well to enable them to'do
so. The fog was not thick enough to prevent us seeing,
by a number of lights in the distance, that we must havea
just passed a station, and some of the passengers made
out that it must be the Harrow station, and so it was. We
took the lamps out of all the carriages from the middle to