The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-27 00:00:00

DIABOLICAL ACT.

Some person or persons on Wednesday evening
last placed a pair of wheels upon the line of the
Leeds and Thirsk branch of the North-Eastern
Railway, between the Pannal and Harrowgate
stations, and the consequence was that the engine-
driver of a train was killed, the stoker was injured,
and much damage was done to the property of the
company. The particulars of the case, as far as they
are known, are as follows : —The permanent way at
Pannal is now undergoing repairs, and the men
employed are furnished with a lorry or bogie (a
rude kind of waggon, in the body of which grooves
are cut for the reception of the axles of the two
pairs of wheels which supply to it the moving
power) for the conveyance of materials, &c., to those
portions of the line on which they are required.
The men ceased work about 6 o'clock on Wednesday
evening, having previously removed the body of the
waggon from off the wheels, which, as well as the
body, were placed at the side of the line on which
the trains run from the North to Leeds. The last
passenger train from Stockton to Leeds passed the
Pannal station shortly before 10 o'clock, at which
hour there was no obstruction on the up-line. About

11 o'clock, however, a goods train, consisting of
an engine, and tender and 24 waggons, from Thirsk
to Leeds, was approaching the Pannal station, when
it was found that something (which was afterwards
discovered to be a pair of the bogie wheels) was
upon the line. The train was running at the rate of
30 miles an hour, and the engine having come into
collision with the bogie wheels, was thrown off the
line, and ran 45 yards and fell over on one side. The
position of the:tender wasactually reversed by the im-
petus of the waggons, the end being turned towards
Leeds. Four waggons, laden with coke, were heaped
upon the engine, which was consequently very
greatly damaged, and the tender was smashed
almost to pieces. Two waggons, containing wheat,
were forced upon the opposite line, and the iron-
way of both lines was torn up sojne distance. The
terrific force of the concussion threw the driver
(W. Burton) off the engine, and he was subsequently
found among the debris, beneath the fire-box, in a
dying state. He had received very fearful internal
and external injuries, and died before medical aid
could be procured. The stoker was also thrown
from the engine, but he was more fortunate than
his companion, and was able to walk to the station
at Pannal, a distance of some hundreds of yards,
and to inform the officials of the calamity. He was
then conveyed to Leeds, and it was found necessary
to remove him to the infirmary, where he still re-
mains, but is going on favourably, and will probably
be able to leave that institution in the course of a
few days. William Burton, the deceased, was 27
years of age, had for many years been in the service
of the company, was highly respected, and has left
a wife and two children. On Thursday Mr. Black-
burn, the Leeds borough coroner, opened an inquest
into the circumstances of the case, but after the
jury had viewed the body of the deceased, and also
the place of the fatal occurrence, the inquiry was
adjourned till next Wednesday. On the jury ar-
riving at the place they were met by the officers of
the company, who explained the position of the
body of the bogie and the bogie wheels when the
men left work and their position after the accident.
The body and one pair of wheels remained as they
were left, but small fragments of the other wheels
were found distributed on the line, about 20 yards
from the place where the contact had occurred, the
other portion of it being discovered doubled up and
broken under the wreck of the engine. It was
suggested that the axle had been placed across the
left hand rail in an angular direction, one of the
wheels close to the line and the other resting upon
the ground. The accident had evidently occurred
with frightful suddenness, for the engine had not
even been reversed, which would have been the very
first act of the driver if he had had time to observe
that anything was wrong. The railway company,
as is their duty bath to the public and to the share-
holders, are exerting themselves energetically to
obtain, if possible, some clue to the perpetrators of
this wicked crime, and have offered a reward of
£lOO for any information which shall lead to their
_y
detection. There are circumstances of a,
natervovigeec
suspicious character against two or three%
and steps have been taken to have them
appre-
hended.
of having wilfully placed the wheels up_
em the line,

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