FRIGHTFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

Globe, Volume V, Issue 559, 3 April 1876, Page 3

FRIGHTFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

{Times.) A fatal collision occurred on Friday evening, January 21st, at the Abbot’s Ripton block signal-box station, about s'x miles north of Huntingdon. The circumstances under which this melancholy event arose are as follows: The weather in the Northern districts between York and the home counties was exceedingly boisterous and stormy during the early part of Friday, and towards evening snow fell in large flakes over the diatricl of country between Peterborough and Hatfield. The snow was peculiarly dense, and is said to have seriously obscured the lookout of the guards, several of whom have since declared they never before witnessed a storm of equal severity. There was, however, nothing in the weather calculated to interfere with the traffic, which proceeded as usual. At a few minutes before six o’clock an up coal train, consisting of thirty-three waggons, drawn by a powerful six-wheel coupled engine, left the New England coal siding, north of the Peterborough station, for Huntingdon cn route for London. It was known that the up (Scotch express, due at King’s cross at 8.10 p.m, would, in the ordinary course of its running, leave Peterborough at 6.28 p.m; but as the Great Northern Railway is worked throughout on an absolute block system, and as it was known there were several sidings between Peterborough and Huntingdon into which the coal train might be shunted to allow the Scotch express to pass, no anxiety was felt on this account. Bray, the driver of the coal train, states that he relied entirely upon the block signalmen to shunt his train if needful atwhatever point of the railway they thought fit. It was 6.5 p.m as the coal train passed the Crescent signals, just outside Peterborough station. The storm was then at its height, and Hunt, the guard of the train, declares that he observed the signals at the block stations they passed with considerable difficulty, and only by continually wiping the snow off the windows of his brake-van. They had tun about 11£ miles, and had reached the summit of a rather high gradient on this part of the railway, known as the Abbot’s Ripon block signal station, when Bray found the signals against his train, and on running a few yards over the points he was desired by Johnson, the pointsman, to shunt in order to allow the Scotch express to pass. There was no hurry or excitement apparent in Johnson’s manner at this time, and Bray, having his train well together and his engine in good order, had no difficulty in shunting back into the siding. Already twenty-seven of his trucks had passed off the main line, and his train was still in motion, when the roar of the up Scotch express was heard, approaching with too dangerous rapidity, While three or four of the coal trucks still remained upon the up main line, the engine of the Scotch train struck into their midst, and, glancing off from the obstruction, actually bounded over the down line of rails, and fell on to its broadside upon the slightly rising embankment which marks this point of the railway. The Scotch engine dragged with it a six wheeled tender, the guard’s brake van, and several of the leading carriages, belonging to the North Eastern Railway Company. The tender fell over on to its broadside across the down line of rails, and, forming a block, the carriages following were thrown over and upon each other and much broken up, the passengers suffering severely. Abbot’s Ripton is a desolate spot, the only cottages in the neighborhood being occupied by platelayers employed in the district. Hunt, guard of the coal train, was the first to bestir himself after the accident. He went immediately to the signal-box and asked Johnson whether he had blocked the u p and down lines to prevent other trains running into the wreck, He found Johnson, whose signal box is scarcely half a dozen paces from the spot where the collision occurred, in a state of great nervous excitement. But the reply Hunt received from Johnson was that he had blocked the line, and that he was at that moment telegraphing to Huntingdon for assistance. Hunt, not quite satisfied with Johnson’s manner, himself took a quantity of fog signals from his box, and ordered a foreman platelayer, who arrived at this moment, to run up the line in the direction of Huntingdon, and fix them upon the down lino of rails. This was done at a distance of about 800 yards from Abbot’s Ripton, and just within the southern distance signal. A similar precaution to block the up line of rails was also taken by Hunt. It happened that Lord Colville, DeputyChairman of the Great Northern Railway, with Mr Robert Tennant, M.P. for Leeds, one of his colleagues, had gone to Doncaster on Friday to meet Mr Bentley, Mayor of the town, and a deputation from its Corporation, to discuss the question of a level crossing which the company desire to lay down in connection with the racecourse. Mr Oakley, general manager of the railway, Mr Johnson, engineer-in-chicf, and other officers of the company, were present at the meeting. After the business of the day was over, Lord Colville determined to return to London by the Scotch express leaving Peterborough at 6.18 p.m. In the train was Count Schouvaloff, Russian Ambassador at the Court of St James’s, The express left Peterborough at 6.34 p.m, or six minutes late. All went well with it until it reached the Abbot’s Ripton block signal station, when the collision happened as above described. Lord Col ville happily sustained no injury, and was among the earliest to engage himself in endeavouring to relieve the sufferings of his less fortunate fellow travellers. He soon discovered the state of matters, and, finding that the coal engine and its tender stood fair on the up metals, the collision having only started the tender drag-hook, he ordered Bray to run on to Huntingdon, six miles south, and obtain all the aid that station could supply. Bray left Abbot’s Ripton at 6.51 p.m., before it had been possible to extricate any of the passengers seriously hart. He took with him upon his engine Mi Usher, a relief clerk in the locomotive department of the Great Northern Railway, his guard, Hunt, and two or three others. His train had not proceeded more than 800 yards, and was, in fact, just approaching the distance signal south of Abbot’s Ripton, when the Leeds express—leaving King’s-cross at 5 p.m, and consisting of a powerful engine and 12 carriages—was discerned dashing onwards through the blinding storm. It was the work of a moment for Bray to sound his whistle rapidly three limes in token of danger ahead, Hunt meanwhile waving his red lamp over the side of the engine, a fact which has been corroborated by Robinson, rear guard of the Leeds express, who admits that he saw a red light waved violently to and fro over the side of the coal train as it met his train,

It must that what has bei n related above was the work of only a very few minutes. Most of the passengers in (he express who were able to escape and alighted, and were engaged in endeavouring to help those who were among the broken carriages, which at this lime completely blocked both the up and down lines. Probably none were aware of the danger by which all were at this moment surrounded. Indeed, before any time for reflection had been allowed, the Leeds express, either unwarned by signal or unobservant of them if exhibited, ran, apparently at full speed, into the wreck. The effect of this second collision was calamitous. The engine of the Leeds express literally cut its way through the tender of the Scotch train, lying across the down metals, and, glancing off to the gently rising embankment on the down side of the railway, fell over on to its broadside, as the Scotch engine had previously done, dragging after it the tender, and setting free the guard’s brake and leading coaches, which, from the tremendous impetus the speed at which they were travelling had given them, mounted on to the wreck of the fractured carriages of the Scotch express, and by their superincumbent weight utterly crushed and destroyed those beneath. Here, it is supposed, occurred the great sacrifice of life among the passengers of the Scotch express. No deaths, as far as has been at pre sent ascertained, have occurred among the travellers in the Leeds express.

The following, says the Home News, is a list of the persons killed by this terrible accident:—Mr James Sanderson, land surveyor, and agent to the Marquis of Exeter, resident in Camden town, London, with offices in Pall Mail East. Mr Sanderson was fifty-four years of age, and besides the Exeter agency held other lucrative appointments. Mr Ben Joliffo, of Yafford House, near Shorweli, in the Isle of Wight, gentleman farmer. Mr Jolliffc met his death under peculiarly distressing circumst <nces. He was returning with a friend from Edinburgh, and although the caniagc in which they were travelling was thrown over on its side by the collision with the coal wagons, neither Mr Jolliffc nor his friend suffered except by the shock, from which they speedily recovered, and applied Themselves with great activity to assisting other passengers not so fortunate as themselves. In this way they had already rendered valuable aid to several ladies, when Mr Joliffo appears to have gone forward with a view of inspecting more closely the wreck of the engine and front coaches of the train, the first three or four of which were broken up. While thus engaged the Leeds down express was rapidly approaching Abbot’s Repton, although unobserved by Mr Jolliffc, probably owing to the noise arising from the steam blowing off the Scotch engine, then lying broadside on the slightly rising embankment on the downside of the railway. Mr Joliffe stood here unconscious of the danger up to the moment when the Leeds express dashed through the broken fragments of the Scotch train, and then itself rolling over on to the downside embankment, crushed Mr Jolliffe beneath its ponderous weight. He died in a very few moments. This gentleman was thirty-four years of age, and farmed an estate at Yafford belonging to his widowed mother, who survives him. Miss Elizabeth Burdon-Sander-son, aged twenty-seven years, daughter of Mr Burdon-Sanderson, of Newcastle uponTyne. This young lady was travelling with her father, mother, sister, and only brother, in the Scotch express. She had not suffered severely from the first collision, and her brother, who is a law student in the Temple, was endeavouring to assist her out of the wrecked carriage in which the family were riding, when the Leeds express arrived, and crushing over the spot where the broken carriages lay, ran through the compartment in which this lady was fixed by some portion of a broken carriage, killing her instantly. Her body was afterwards found beneath one of the carriages on the down line. Miss Margaret Burdon-Sander-son, aged twenty-four years, sister of the preceding. This lady was also compatively uninjured until after the Leeds express had immolated the Scotch train. She was then found entangled among the iron framework of one of the carriages, where her brother found her. She complained that she had lost all sensation below the waist, and died in a few moments after giving utterance to this expression. Mrs Fosbery was travelling as a first-class passenger in a Glasgow carriage, and was accompanied by two grown-up daughters. They were seated facing the engine, and, as far as appearances can be trusted, they must all have been killed at the same moment by one of the Leeds express coaches, which, mounting the Glasgow carriage, crushed in its roof. A bottle of champagne, unbroken, and with its label unsoiled, was taken out of the net rack of the carriage in which these three ladies were killed. Mr Dion William Boucicault. aged twenty-one years, eldest son of Mr Boucicault, the dramatic author and actor. This young man had been on a visit to some friends in Lincolnshire, whence he was returning to London by the Scotch express. His remains were recognised by his visiting cards and other documents found on bis person. Mr Herbert Westerman Noble, aged nineteen years, son of Mr Matthew Noble, the sculptor, of Berkeley square. Mrs Allgood, wife of the Rev James Allgood, M.A., rector of Ingram, near Alnwick, in Northumberland. This lady was travelling with her two sons, who at Peterborough left their mother in order to get into a smoking carriage, in which Lord Colville was travelling. Both youths were killed, as well as their mother, from which it will be understood how marvellous was the escape of Lord Colville. Mr Thomas M. Mure, of Perreton, Ayrshire, aged thirty-four years, a member of the Scotch Bar. This gentleman’s loft leg was smashed, he had a severe contusion of the left eye, and suffered a great shock to the system. He was convoyed to the Huntingdon County Hospital, with very small hope of recovery, and be died in that institution at an early hour the next morning.

There were twenty passengers in the up and down trains who suffered more or less from the two collisions. Those who are most seriously injured are the following : Mr Richard Burdon-Sanderson, aged 57 years, of Newcastle-on-Tjne, broken leg, with fractured right arm and collar-bone; Mrs Burdon-Sanderson, wife of the above, terrible shock to the system and severe bruises ; Mr A. Fawcus, aged 67 years, of Seaton Carew, Durham, leg fractured ; Mr Foster, town clerk of Halifax, severe injury of the right leg ; Mr Philip Lelich, valet in the service of Count Schouvaloff, the Russian Ambassador, compound fracture of the left leg.