The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-24 00:00:00

ANOTHER DISASTER ON THE
EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW RAILWAY.
On Saturday night the passenger train which left
Edinburgh for Glasgow at five o'clock was suddenly
stopped a few hundred yards before arrival at the
Castlecary station, in consequence, as it appeared, of
the complete blocking up of the rails by the ruins of a
previous train of luggage-waggons and cattle-trucks. A
gentleman who was a passenger by the train has com-
municated a few of the particulars to us. He states that
he never beheld such a scene of devastation and horror.
Numbers of oxen—some alive or half alive, and some
quite dead—were seen lying amongst the wreck of
several of the trucks, and crowds of people were busily
employed in endeavouring to extricate them. The
ruins of the engine, or, at all events, a fire of
some kind was on the bank, smoking and burn-
ing, and several of the trucks lay directly across
the rails, perceptible only in the glare of the
fire, or by the faint light of the lanterns that were car-
ried hither and thither amid the crowd. It was not at
first known to the passengers whether any human lives
were lost in this calamity, and while this uncertainty
existed, nothing could exceed the horrt r and confusion
of the scene—people running about here and there giv-
ing contradictory orders, and masters and servants seem-
ingly quite ignorant of what ought to be done. It after-
wards turned out that no passengers by the train had
been injured, and no lives lost, except those of the cattle.
How the accident occurred is not known. Railway ser-
vants are never very fond of giving information in such
cases as these, and no intelligence whatever could be
procured from them as to the cause of this calamity.
The greatest mystery was made of it ; but amid the
many rumours that were afloat, the one that obtained
the most credence was, that it had been caused by an
improper signal at the Castlecary station, by which
means an engine had been driven into the
cattle .trucks. If legislative interference be not neces-
sary in railways generally for the preservation of the
lives of the public—a point on which we shall say no-
thing just now—it seems to us that some special enact-
ment should be made with regard to this line, which has
of late become quite notorious through the whole coun-
try for mismanagement of every description. In conse-
quence of the discontinuance of the Sunday trains, we
believe that this train was more than usually heavy ;
and we need scarcely point out the awful results that
would have ensued had this accident occurred to the pas-
sengers' train instead of to the cattle trucks. Our inform-
ant, who luckily succeeded in procuring a carriage for
himself and some ladies, where the only passengers that
had arrived in Glasgow up to 10 o'clock on Saturday
night ; and the mass of broken trucks and engines, and
mangled bullocks that were left on the rails at his de •
parture was so great, as evidently to require the labour of
all the available hands to be procured for six or seven
hours, before the line could be cleared. Under these
circumstances, we suppose that even the four directors
have admitted the propriety of setting men to work on
the Sabbath. The necessity and mercy were too obvious
even for them to cavil at; though to expect that they
will learn a lesson of charity from it, and suppose it
possible that other people may have works of necessity
and mercy to perform between Glasgow and Edinburgh
on the Sabbath, is, perhaps, expecting too much from
people who presume to be both law-givers and theolo-
gians.
As we go to press early this morning, we have been
unable to obtain further particulars. We understand
that a large deputation of the citizens of Glasgow, ac-
companied by the Lord Provost, went into Edinburgh
on Saturday to wait upon the Lord Advocate, intend-
ing to return by the last train in the evening. Whether
they have yet arrived we cannot tell; but it is very
doubtful whether they could arrive in time for church
yesterday morning without hiring post. chaises for the
purpose.—Glasgow Argus.