Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

17 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

Advertising

TOPICS OF THE DAY. _HumI

[No title]

[No title]

CARDIFF-BOUND SCHOONER ABANDONED.

[No title]

Sudden Death of Mr * Luard,…

| ILLNESS OF MR GLADSTONE.

Advertising

-The Penistone Railway Accident.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

The Penistone Railway Accident. OPENING OF THE OFFICIAL 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. Lnderdown, 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 Peniston", Major Marindin went to the scene of the accident, and inspected ti -ic line, the wrecked carriages, and the broken ax: lIe 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 excur?;• ul train to pass each other, John Oouldwell, the driver o; tie excursion, was called. He staved that ho ha.-> bc-eii in the I service of the Manchester, Sheffb'd, and Lin- j colnshire Railway Company for 20 anI) had been a driver for 13. His engine was fitted with Smith's vacuum brake, and the carriage-; 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 of? between there and Penistone, and, said the witness, we passed the Barnsley Junction Box at a speed ot 25 or 30 miles an hour with the steam on. I first caught sight of the mineral train after passing the box. Itwould then be about 100 yards off, and I perceived nothing the matter. When we got; within 20 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 wera 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, tho right side rod, and several minor parts of the engine were damasred, 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, s'ticl :—Everything went right until we were approaching Penistone. When passing Barnsley junction box, was standing looking out of the window. When I got opposite the distance sicnri for Huddersfield junction, I saw the driver of our train make a rush to his reverse ]ever, 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 couid not say whether the vacuum brake was on before t;ie engine was passing or not. It was so very quickly all happened. Our train on passing Barnsley junction was running between twenty-live 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- dersfieid Junction box en the way to block the line. I took a train clown as far as we could, and when I got there found the wounded passengers had been got out and placed on the bank. The Liverpool portion of the train was very full, the Soutliport part was,not. The worst damaged car- riages were the sixth and seventh from the engine -th Liverpool portion of the train. William Spinks and Joseph Plowright, two other guards, having given evidence, John Schofield, the driver of the coal train, was examined. He said I came on duty at 4 o'clock in the morning at the shed at Gorton, and took on the empty train from Ardwick. It consisted of twenty-six or twenty-seven waggons. I left Ardwick at five o'clock, and had to take the waggons to Shireoaks. We stopped at Penistone goods station, where we picked up one goods wag- gon and left again at 8.21 or 8.22. The signals wers all right up to Penistone, and we ran at the rat af 10 or 12 miles per hour. On approaching Barnsley Junction, having shut off steam at Peni- stone, my mate first called my attention to a waggon in the six-foot way, and I immediately put on the vacuum brake. It was the fifth waggon from the engine so far as I could tell. There was a vacuum brake on the engine and a hand-brake on the tender. The latter was applied by my mate. We were close on the passenger train when I put on the vacuum brake. I did not see the passenger train until I had my hand on the brake. When I first saw the engine of the passenger train it was close on to us. The driver of the passenger train applied his brake at the same time that I applied mine. My mate opened the whistle as soon as we saw the waggon wrong. That was just at the moment the passenger engine was 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 I felt my engine was all right I went to help the injured. First, I examined the waggon which gave way, but I could not n find out the reason. I felt no jerk on the engine. There was nothing to complain of in the state of the line there was no roughness between Penistone and Barnsley Junction. I had not put my brake on at all after leaving Penistone until 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 trilin: said: I have been in the service of the company 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. The pas- senger train was perhaps fifty or sixty yards off when I first saw the waggon jumping. 1 felt the shock of the collision very greatly. After doing what I could to assist the injured, I went along the line for about 100 yards from the broken waggon, but failed to discover any roughness or anything wrong with the line. The witness, in reply 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 guaid of the Ard- wick coal train, said There were nine waggons empty next the brake for Shireoadcsj two for Waleswood Colliery, and five belonging to the Kiveton Park Colliery. There were also sixteen loaded goods waggons and a brake coming on to Penistone. After dropping and taking up wag- gons at various stations, we ran from Woodhead to Penistone. The first I saw was some fire 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 saw it oscillating very much, and fall into the six foot, tne waggon behind it following. When I noticed this, the engines would be about pas- sing one another. I now saw the passenger engine strike the waggon, rearing it on eud towards the coal train. The waggon then fell into the pas- senger train. Having applied my brake, I got down behind to give assistance. I applied my brake as soon as ever I could. The worst damaged carriages were those about the middle of the train. After the accident I saw that seven waggons had been knocked off the road. After other evidence had been adduced. Mr Joseph Sharp, locomotive superintendent of Sheffield, described the position of the passenger train and the waggons after the accident. <-he wheels of the waggons that caused tie accident was, he said, marked "Harrison and Uffim," but he could find no name on the axle Itself. The wheel was marked inside the boss ilarnson and Camin 1,167." None of the carnages of the pas- senger train were telescoped, The damage was done by the goods train dragging alongside of it. In his opinion the broken spring came off No. 218 waggon. He had seen the broken axle. It bad had a flaw in it a quarter of a inch deep. In opinion the axlo broke first, for he did not think the spring would have fallen out unless the axle had broken. I The inquiry was adjourned until this week, and will be continued at Manchester.

I The Nile Expedition.

IThe French in China.

-... AFFAIRS IN ZULULAND.

ARABI PASHA.

THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION.

'-,--MEETING OF GLAMORGANSHIRE…

Advertising