The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-31 00:00:00

FURTHER PARTICULARS.

The dense fog which prevailed in the metropolis on Wed-
nesday seems to have been very general throughout thecoun7
try. Accounts received yesterday at all the railway termini
in London agree in stating that, on no former occasion
have the oldest guards and officers of the respective lines
experienced anything like so complete an obscuration of
the atmosphere. At Winchester and Southampton the
ordinary avocations of business were necessarily suspended,
and all along the south-western coast the fog was exceed-
ingly heavy, extending to Hastings, Folkestone, and Dover.
From the north similar accounts have been received, and
Rugby and Banbury seem to have been especially affected
by it. A great many accidents have taken place in various
parts of the country, and perhaps none more remarkable
than one which occurred about two miles north of Wolver-
ton, on the London and North-Western Railway, by which
the whole traffic of that great artery of locomotion was alto-
gether stopped for about twelve hours, and the delivery of
the northern mails in London delayed until nearly noon
yesterday.

The accident happened in the following extraordinary
manner :—About half-past three o'clock on Wednesday
afternoon, a goods train, consisting of about 25 trucks and
two damaged engines, propelled by one of the company's
most powerful locomotives, was approaching Wolverton
station, when the engine suddenly became uncoupled, and
ran forward down the Ashton Bank, where there in a gra-
dient of lin 330 for more than a mile. At the time this
happened the driver could not see the length of his own
engine owing to the fog, but the course he adopted on
finding himself break away was to run down the bank at
a good speed, and what he supposed to be a sufficient dis-
tance beyond, to enable the train to come to a stand. Ho
then returned quietly, intending to re-attach his engine.
Unfortunately, however, the train had not stopped, and
the fog preventing the driver from observing its approach,
the coming train and the returning engine came into vio-
lent collision at a point of the road closely adjoining the
village of , Hanslope. The effect was perfectly frightful.
All three engines were driven together in one inextricable
mass, and then fell over, blocking up both lines of rails,
and, with several of the leading trucks, creating a debris
u hich effectually prevented all traffic either up or down
the line for several hours. As soon as the guard of the
train had recovered from the shock of the collision, be
obtained the assistance of some labourers who had been
att

and stoker fromstenoath the wreck, having
fog signals, and despatched messengers both
,ratted to the spot, and set about extricatingfirst
to put h
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injuries
arising from scalds about the chests and arnas ; butthe stoker was seriously injured. Both were conveyed
as speedily as possible to a small farm-house in the
village of Hanslope, where they shortly afterwards re-
ceived medical assistance from Mr. Rogers, surgeon, of
Wolverton, under whose`care they remain.
Before assistance of any kind arrived from Wolverton,
the up and down trains began to accumulate north and
south of the accident, the difficulties of combating with
which was much increased, owing to its having occurred
in, the midst of a deep embankment, where it was impos-
sible to topple over any portion of the wreck, the situation
rendering it imperative to get everything afresh upon its
wheels, and drag it away, or attempt the Herculean task
of raising it up a steep embankment some 35 or 40 feet
high. For some time after the accident and until Mr.
M'Connell and Mr. Parker, the chief officer, had arrived
from Wolverton, absolutely nothing was done. The men
present were zealously anxious to do all• they could, but
the, magnitude of the Wreck paralysed their energies ; and
until a directing head lad laid down a plan, it would have
been useless to attempt to dear the line. The [first up
train following• that to which the accident had. occurred
was the third-class from Liverpool, consisting of a large
number of carriages, as 'usual, fully occupied. They had
left Liverpeel at 7.45 a.m., and were due in. London at
6.30 p.m. This was followed by a 'geode train, and then
came the noonday train from Manchester, and so on train
after train until the up rails, for a distance of several
miles, were entirely occupied by passenger-laden carriages.
A corresponding stop] age of the down trains occurred.
Tho 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and 5 p.m. express from London all
reached the spot before touch progress had been made in
clearing the line. On Mr. M'Connell's arrival he deter-
mined that the down line should be first cleared, and after
a host of workmen had been engaged for several hours, the
down rails were so far restored as to allow trains to pass
over them slowly, and in this manner the traffic of the
afternoon and evening from London was forwarded to
the north. The passengers for the south were not so for-
tunate—the great accumulation of trains one upon an-
other rendering it impossible to carry on both up and
down traffic over a single line at the same time with any
degree of safety, and it was not until an early hour yester-
day morning that the first of the up-trains passed through
Wolverton for London.
It will be readily imagined that among such an enor-
mous congregation of passengers, detained through the
whole of a most inclement night in a situation where it
was utterly impossible to obtain refreshment of any kind,
oppblers were not wanting. There were emus who urged