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The Penistone Railway .Accident.

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The Penistone Railway Accident. OPENING OF THE OFFICIAL I INQUIRY. Major Marandin, the Government inspector, arrived at Penistone on Saturday for the purpose of holding an official inquiry into the recent accident on the Manchester, Sheffield and Lin- colnshire Railway. Major Marindin was received by Mr R. G. Underdown, general manager of the company Mr Sacre, chief engineer; Mr W. Bradley, general superintendent and Mr H. A. P. Hamil- ton, district superintendent. Immediately on arriving at Penistone, Major Marindin went to the scene of the accident, and inspected the line, the wrecked carriages, and the broken axle. He subsequently returned to the Penistone Station, and commenced his inquiry in one of the waiting rooms. After two signalmen had given evidence, in the course of which they stated that the signals were right for the coal train and the excursion train to pass each other, John Couldwell, the driver of the excursion, was called. He stated that he had been in the service of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lin- colnshire Railway Company for 20 years, and had been a driver for 13. His engine was fitted with Smith's vacuum brake, and the carriages were each fitted with the vacuum brake, worked from the engine. He tested his brake before starting, and also at Wadsley Bridge and Deep- car, two stations on the road to Penistone. It worked all right after leaving Deepcar. All the signals were off between there and Penistone, and, said the witness, we passed the Barnsley Junction Box at a speed of 25 or 30 miles an hour with the steam on. I first caught sight of the mineral train after passing the box. It would then be about 100 yards off, and I perceived then be about 100 yards off, and I perceived nothing the matter. When we got within eu yards of it I saw a waggon of the mineral train run off into the six foot way. I should think it would be about the fifth waggon. The driver of the mineral train appeared to be looking back over the engine on the six-foot side. I could not say whether he had the steam on or off. As soon as I saw the waggon I made prepara- tions to stop the train by shutting off steam and applying the vacuum brake. My fireman applied the tender brake. Both brakes were hardly on before we struck the other engine, and we had reduced the speed a good deal-I think by half the speed the train had been travelling at. I did not notice what speed the other train was running at. I saw the waggon work from the six-foot into the four-foot of the down line, and when I struck it the waggon knocked the smoke-box door of the engine in. I bent down and did not see any- thing more until the train stopped. I bent down because I thought something might come over the top of the engine. There were about six vehicles off the rails after the collision. The smoke-box, the right side rod, and several minor parts of the engine were damaged, but not very greatly. The line was in very good order. My engine did not leave the rails, nor the tender. I do not know which was the first carriage to go off the rails. Jacob Hanley, one of the guards of the excur- sion train, said:—Everything went right until we were approaching Penistone. When passing 81 "1 Barnsley junction box, I wasstandiug looking out of the window. When I got opposite the distance signal for Hudderstield junction, I saw the driver of our train make a rush to his reverse lever, and I thought we had run over a shunter, or that something was wrong. I immediately applied my brake, and I felt the vacuum brake come on sharply. I was knocked down in the van almost at once. Before this, however, I had seen the engine of the goods train pass-at about the time I was applying my brake, but I could not say whether the vacuum brake was on before the enc-inn was nassinEf or not. It was so very quickly all happened. Our train on passing Barnsley junction was running between twenty-five and thirty miles an hour—certainly not more than thirty. The speed was a good deal reduced before our train struck the waggon. It pulled up very suddenly. I was knocked down, and my left shoulder was hurt. I came up to Penistone as soon as I could get out to tell the signalman to stop the road. I warned the signalman at Hud- dersfield Junction box on the way to block the line. I took a train down as far *s we could, anf. when I got theio found the woi-nded passerypj13 had been got out and placed or the bank The Liverpool portion of the train vas very full, the Southport part was not. The vorst damaged car- riages were the sixth and severth from the engine -th Liverpool portion of the tain. William Spinks and J oserh Plowright, two other guards, having given evilence, John Schofield, the driver oc the coal train, was examined. He said I came on duty at 4 o'clock in the morning at the shed tt Gorton, and took on the empty train from Ariwick. It consisted of twenty-six or twenty-seven waggons. I left Ardwick at five o'clcck, and had to take the waggons to Shireoaks. We stopped at Penistone goods station, where we picked up one troods wag- gon and left again ai 8.21 or 8.22. The signals wers all right up to lenistone, and we ran at the rat af 10 or 12 miles per hour. On approaching p Barnsley Junction, laving shut off sternal Peni- stone, my mate firfc called my attention to a waggon in the six-bot way, and I immediately put on the vacuun brake. It was the fifth waggon from the eigme so far as I could tell. There was a vacuum brake on the engine and a hand-brake on the teider. The latter was applied by my mate. We were close on the passenger train when I put m the vacuum brake. I did not see the passenger train until I had my hand on the brake. Whei I first saw the engine of the passenger train it wis close on to u. The driver of the passenger tain applied his brake at the same time that I applied mine. My mate opened tin whistle as soon a. we saw the waggon wrong. That was just at the moment the passenger engine was i passing My engine stopped just beyond the crossing, and several waggons became detached and were broken up. When the collision took place my train was running not more than ten or twelve miles per hour. As soon as 1 felt my engine vas all right I went to help the injured. First, I examined the waggon wbich gave way, but I could not find out the reason. I felt no jerk on the engine. There was nothing to com plain of in the state of the line there was no roughness between Penistone and Barnsley Junction. I had nat put my brake on at all after leaving Penistone vntil reaching the scene of the accident, when I applied the vacuum gently, lest the waggons should mount on the top of each other. Edmund Peacock, fireman of the coal train, said I have been in the service of the compa.ny since 1876. I saw the waggon jumping near Barnsley Junction. It was the fifth waggon, as near as I can say. I called the driver's attention to it, then opened the whistle, and afterwards ran to the tender brake, which I applied. 1 he pas senger train was perhaps fifty or sixty yards ott when I first saw the waggon jumping. I felt the shock of the collision very greatly. After aoing what I could to assist the injurec., I went aiong the line for about 100 vards from the broicen wa^on, but failed to discover any roughness or «m?filiner wroner with the line. ne witness, in replv to the inspector, when his evidence was being read over, said his tender brake was not on until after the collision took place. Robert Higgs, who has been a goods guard for nine and a-half years, and was guard of the Ard- wick coal train, said There were nine waggons empty next the brake for Shireoaks, two for Waleswood Colliery, and five belonging to the Kiveton Park Colliery. There were also sixteen loaded goods waggons and a brake coming Oil t,) Penistone. After dropping and taking up wag- gons at various stations, we ran from Woodhead to Penistone. The first I saw was some tire flying from one of the waggons when I was about sixty yards, apparently, from the scene of the accident. It was about the fourth waggon from the engine. I f aw it oscillating very much, and fall into the b?;iiii(i -It -,ii six foot, the wwggon behind it following. When I noticed this, the engines would be about pas- sing one another. I now saw the pas-enger engine strike the waggon, rearing it on end towards the coal train. The waggon then fell into the pas- senger train. Having applied my brake, i go down behind to give assistance. I applie > brake as soon as ever I could The wmst damaged carnages were those about the of the train. After the aocident; I saw that oe en wagons had been knockeu off the After other evidence had been Mr Joseph Sharp, locomotive Sur, -rintelident of Sheffield, described the of the psmenger train and the waggons after the ace:dent. The wheels of the waggons that caused the accident was, he said, marked Harrison and Camm, but he could find no name on the axle itself- The wheel was marked inside the boss Harrison and Camm 1,167." None of the carriages of the pas- senger train were telescoped. The damage was done by the train dragging alongside of it. In his opin> 11 the broken spring came off No. 218 waggon. H-: nad seen the broken axle..It had had a flaw .n it- a quarter of a inch deep. An his opinion the axle broke first, for he did not think the spring would have fallen out unless the axle had broken. The inquiry was adjourned until this week, tuid will be continued at Manchester,

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