Year: 1875

Charles Francis Adams, Jr.,R In his
paper on railroads, in the November
Atlantic, thus describes the Foxborough
accident: Eti Esi $3.50 gsGsi sg5I.


A very apt illustration Of what might
have been the result in these cases was
furnished in an accident, not dissimilar
to that at Shipton on-Cherwell in char
acter, which happened in Massachusetts,
on the Boston & Providence Railroad
upon July Is, 1872 AS an express
train was running up to Boston about
noon that day. and at rate of speed of
some forty miles an hour, it came in
contact with a horse and wagon at a
grade crossing in the town OF Foxbo,
rough The train was made up of thor
oughly we'll built cars, equipped with
both the Miller platform and the Wes-
tinghouse train brake. There was no
time in which to check the speed, and
/ it thus became a simple question OF
strength of construction, to be tested in
an unavoidable collision. The engine
struck the wagon, and instantly destroy
ed it. The horse had already cleared
the rails when the wagon was struck,
but, a portion of his harness being
caught in the locomotive, he wss thrown
down and dragged for a short distance
until his body came in contact with the
platform of a station close to the spot
of the collision. The body was then
forced under the cars, having been al
most instantaneously rolled and pound
ed up into hard unyielding mass. The
results which ensued were certainly very
singular. Next to the locomotive was
an ordinary baggage and mail Car and
it was under this car, and between its
forward and its hind truck, that the
body of the horse was forced; coming
then directly in contact with the truck
of the rear wheels, it tore it from its
fastenings and thus let the rear end of
the car drop upon the track. In falling,
this end snapped the coupling by its
weight, and so disconnected the train,
the locomotive going off towards Bos-
ton, dragging this single ear, with one
end Of it humping along the track -
Meanwhile tue succeeding Car of tile
train had swept over the body Of the
horse and the disconnected truck, which
were thus brought in contact with its
own wheels, which in their turn were al
so torn off: and so great was the impe-
tus that in this way all of the four pass
enger cars which composed that part of
the train were successfully driven clean
off their rolling gear, and not only did
they then slide off the track, but they
crossed railroad siding which happen


ed to be at that poirt, went down an
embankment some three or four feet in
height, demolished fence, passed into
an adjoining field, and then at last, after
glancing from the stump of large oak
tree, they finally came to stand-still
some two hundred feet from the point
at which they had left the track. There
was not in this case even an approach to
telescoping; on the contrary, each cal
rested perfectly firmly in its place as re-


garded all the others, not a person was
injured, and when the wheelless train a


last became stationary the astonished
passengers got up and hurried through
the doors, the very glass in which as
well as that in the windows was unbro


ken. Here was an indispu'able victory
of skill and science over accident, show
ing most wildly to what an infinitesi


mai extreme the danger incident to tel
escoping may be reduced. be-