Now! Then! A Yorkshire Almanac for 2024

Excerpt

The Bramhope tunnel, more than two miles long, pierced through a hill of extremely loose earth. The line through it rises from north to south; and trains coming south to Leeds are provided with an additional engine. On the morning of Tuesday, a train entered from the north; it consisted of two engines and tenders and eleven carriages, the centre carriage being an open one, filled with Irish reapers; altogether there were about 200 passengers. When the train had proceeded halfway through the tunnel, the first engine dashed into a large mass of stones and rubbish lying across the rails; and so powerful were the engines that both of them and one of the tenders ran over a considerable quantity of this debris before the train was brought to a stand. The shock of the concussion drove the passengers against the sides and ends of the carriages and against each other with great violence. The driver of the first engine, John Graham, was severely crushed in the back and loins, but the other driver and both the stokers escaped comparatively unhurt. Thomas Porritt, the guard, sustained such wounds as to place his life in danger. The shock caused the coupling-chains of the fifth and sixth carriages to break; and the five hindmost carriages, with the guard’s van, began to descend the decline to Arthington station, near the tunnel, with great speed. Porritt, however, notwithstanding his dreadful hurts, managed to put on the brakes, and the carriages were brought up at Arthington station. Scarcely, however, had the carriages begun to slacken their pace, and before a single passenger could alight, when the truck filled with Irish reapers, which had also become detached, was seen descending the decline with frightful velocity; and it dashed into the five carriages with a force so great that the truck was shivered to pieces and the Irishmen were flung in all directions – fortunately not far enough to be thrown over the embankment, which is very high at that point. Several of the Irishmen were a good deal hurt, while the passengers in the five carriages suffered more from this second concussion than they had done from the first one inside the tunnel. Immediately after the collision in the tunnel, the drivers and stokers hurried from their engines and tenders; and most fortunate it was they did so; for scarcely were they clear of them when a large mass of the roofing and the superincumbent earth and loose rock fell in with a terrific crash, burying engines and tenders beneath.

Comment

Comment

Re the gradient at this, the first of the Arthington railway stations:

A station has been proposed to re-open on this site to alleviate road traffic into Leeds along the parallel A roads.[4] West Yorkshire Combined Authority declined to push forward with the plans for Arthington Parkway (as it is named in a 2014 Feasibility study). Reasons cited are the severity of the gradient at the site, insufficient car parking space and lack of suitable road infrastructure for a Park and Ride facility.[5] Local campaigners refute these claims citing that there was a station on the site before and that the report wrongly places the station on the old trackbed of the now closed Otley railway line (Wikipedia contributors 2021).

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Original

On the 19th, a complication of disasters occurred on the Leeds Northern Railway, with a surprising escape from a wholesale sacrifice of life. The Bramhope tunnel, more than two miles long, pierced through a hill of extremely loose earth. The line through it rises from north to south; and trains coming south to Leeds are provided with an additional engine. One the morning of Tuesday, a train passed through the tunnel for Leeds at half-past eight; and the man at the south end signalled to the north end, “All clear.” An hour after this, a train entered from the north; it consisted of two engines and tenders and eleven carriages, the centre carriage being an open one, filled with Irish reapers; altogether there were about 200 passengers. When the train had proceeded half-way through the tunnel, the first engine dashed into a large mass of stones and rubbish lying across the rails; and so powerful were the engines that both of them and one of the tenders ran over a considerable quantity of this débris before the train was brought to a stand. The shock of the concussion drove the passengers against the sides and ends of the carriages and against each other with great violence, inflicting cuts and bruises, and more serious injuries. The driver of the first engine, John Graham, was severely crushed in the back and loins, but the other driver and both the stokers escaped comparatively unhurt. Thomas Porritt, the guard, sustained such wounds as to place his life in danger.

The shock caused the coupling-chains of the fifth and sixth carriages to break; and the five hind-most carriages, with the guard’s van, began to descend the decline to Arthington station, near the tunnel, with great speed. Porritt, however, notwithstanding his dreadful hurts, managed to put on the breaks, and the carriages were brought up at Arthington station. Scarcely, however, had the carriages begun to slacken their pace, and before a single passenger could alight, when the truck filled with Irish reapers, which had also become detached, was seen descending the decline with frightful velocity; and it dashed into the five carriages with a force so great that the truck was shivered to pieces and the Irishmen were flung in all directions – fortunately not far enough to be thrown over the embankment, which is very high at that point. Several of the Irishmen were a good deal hurt, but none fatally; while the passengers in the five carriages suffered more from this second concussion than they had done from the first one inside the tunnel. Immediately after the collision in the tunnel, the drivers and stokers hurried from their engines and tenders; and most fortunate it was they did so; for scarcely were they clear of them when a large mass of the roofing and the superincumbent earth and loose rock fell in with a terrific crash, burying engines and tenders beneath. The passengers in the carriages in the tunnel were removed as quickly as possible. Beside the driver and the guard, 21 passengers were injured.

On examining the tunnel, it appeared that the stone arch had given way for 15 feet of its length by 11 feet in width; and that an immense mass of earth and stones had poured down, nearly filling part of the large tunnel.

557 words.

Tags

Tags are assigned inclusively on the basis of an entry’s original text and any comment. You may find this confusing if you only read an entry excerpt.

• Arthington Viaduct (2) ·
• Arthington railway station (1) ·
• Bramhope Tunnel (2), 2.138-mile tunnel with crenellated north portal built 1845-1849 by the Leeds and Thirsk Railway on the Harrogate Line between Horsforth station and the Arthington Viaduct ·
• 📌Bramhope (4) ·
• Harrogate line (2) ·
• Harrogate (11) ·
• Leeds Northern Railway (2) ·
• 📌Leeds (224) ·
• Rail transport (21) ·
• Work accident (20) ·

All tags.

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