The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-21 00:00:00

RAILWAY COLLIBION.

Another fearful railway accident has occurred
near Huddersfield, attended with injury to upwards
of 20 persons, but happily with no loss of life. It
cannot be said, however, that all the sufferers are
yet out of danger. The particulars of the unfortu-
nate affair are as follow:--The place where the col-
lision occurred is the Longwood station, on the
London and North-Western Railway, about two
miles from Huddersfield. The collision, which oc-
curred on Monday afternoon, was between a pas-
senger train from Leeds and Huddersfield (on its
way to Manchester) and a coal train. The passenger
train arrived at Huddersfield from Leeds at 1.38
p.m., being eight minutes past its time, and was
duly despatched for Manchester. A coal train had
previow-ly been sent on the same line. While some
loaded waggons were being shunted at the Lang-
wood station the distance signal was put on by the
porter at the station in order to warn the passen-
ger train of the obstruction. Some of the coal wag-
gons had been shunted on the siding next the down
line, and George Aspinall, the pointsman and gate-
keeper of the crossing, which is about 150 yards
from the Longwocd station, had just crossed the
line and turned the points for the engine of the
coal train, which had shunted the waggons, to re-
cross and take the remaining waggons towards
Manchester. The engine bad passed the points and
gone up the line a short distance, when the passen-
ger train from Huddersfield came up at such a speed
that it was evident the signal had been disregarded.
It ran into the van of the coal train, smashing the
van and one of the coal waggons to
.pieces, in-
juring another, and doing great injury to the
engine of the passenger train, the chimney being
broken off and the buffers splintered. The passen-
ger train consisted of the following carriages :—•
The engine and van, a second-class carriage, first
ditto, and three third ditto. The first and second
class carriages were comparatively uninjured, but
the three thirds were considerably damaged by the
collision, nearly the whole of the divisions forming
the compartments being forced out. The force of
the collision was such that the passengers were
thrown against each other and the sides and ends
of the carriages with such force as to inflict upon
them many severe contusions and wounds. The
scene presented was one of a very fearful character,
and it is little less than miraculous that no person
was killed. The passengers—men, women, and
children—were crushed together, being thrown
from their seats and the seats forced out of their
places. As soon as possible after the acciden
medical and other . assistance was rendeted
zo the sufferers. All but three of the passengers,
after being duly attended to by the medical men,
left in the course of the afternoon for their respec-
tive homes, or proceethd on their journey. The
three who were not able to go home were the fol-
lowing :—Mrs. Mary Dransfisld, aged 29, the wife
of William Dranstiel(l, a ca: t.r in the employ
of AT, s,r . Ogden, of adhere. She bad been
visiting her parents at Kirkheaton, near Hud-
dersfield, and was returning home with her
child to Lees, near Oldham. The child was
fortunately uninjured. Mrs. Dransfield suffers
from bruises ou the shoulder and knee, and
a cut on the cheek ; she is also much shaken.
She was removed to the Huddersfield Infirmary.
Mr. G. V. Ryder, resident manager at Man-
chester of the Royal Insurance Company—general
shook to the system, internal laceration of the
muscles of the neck and side, internal injury of the
head feared. Thomas Porter, about 30 years of age,
at Ball's, conftctioner, New-street, Huddersfield,
very serious internal injuries. This is a precarious
case. The latter two persons are at the Railway
Hotel, Longwood. The guard states that although
he was in the van next the engine he did not
no.ice that the distance signal was up at Longwood
Station. So far as can be ascertained the blame of
the accident rests with the driver of the passenger
train, John Luty, who ought to have noticed, on
emerging from the deep cutting at Paddock, that
the distance signal of the Longwood Station was
up. If he bad dons this he would have had suffi-
cient time to stop the train, and to have prevented
the collision. He states, as his reason for not
noticing that the signal was on, that he and the
stoker were looking at the buffer boxes of his engine
which were making an unusual noise at the time.
Although he has been in the company's service
many years he has only been engine-driver about 9
months, and is reputed to be a very steady and
cautious man. The line was cleared for traffic and
new rails were laid iu about an hour and a half,