3-021-346 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Scene of the railway accident at Swansea, [south Wales], 1865. Engraving from a photograph by Mr. Gulliver. 'The accident which happened...close to the Swansea terminus of the Vale of Neath Railway, was one of a very remarkable kind. It appears that the railway there passes over an iron drawbridge...this bridge being made with a movable portion in the centre, which may be withdrawn or replaced at discretion, by the power of one of Sir W. Armstrong's hydraulic engines, so as to open the entrance to the dock for the passage of shipping. At six o clock that morning, when the coal-trains were about to pass, as usual at that hour of the day, the bridge was left open... but the signalman, instead of telegraphing to this effect, gave the signal "line clear." The consequence, of course, was that the train of twenty-three coal-trucks rushed on, and, upon reaching the bridge, fell over into the lock below. The two men on the engine, the driver and stoker, were killed on the spot...The bridge is not affected by the accident, and the traffic on the line was resumed in a few hours. John Howells, the signalman, was taken into custody, and will have to stand a trial for manslaughter'. From "Illustrated London News", 1865.