Show I PUZZLING RAILWAY MYSTERIES II I Some of the Recent Disaster Riddles Which Have Defied I If jf f Solution S I Answers It seems se ms certain that the cause of the ther I recent r dreadful disaster to the Scotch express at Grantham will never be as ascertained It will swill be remembered that tl driver passed signals set dead against him and ran through Gran Grantham tham Station st at t a great rate of speed The points were set for the Nottingham lle which leaves the other at a sharp curve curse and the express going too fast to take the curve left the metals and andas andaas was aas as wrecked wr r kd In n almost precisely simi lir l r fashion to the Southwestern Ex Express Express press ress at Salisbury a few months pre previous pret t ous It is not often in these days das that the thee cause e uso of o an accident remains a mystery mys mrs mystery tery yet t within the past few years there th rc have been a few such cases re recorded recorded corded In May five fire years rears ago ajro a special cial ial train trash was on its way wa to Lourdes the holy hot shrine of French Roman Cath CatL Catholics olics olles 5 when hen between Amiens miens and Com J there thre was a violent crash and andt the Wie t H train not the engine left the He There were thirteen carriages laden l with some pilgrims and next all the coaches were telescoped one into the other Eight were killed on the spot and a very Cr large number horribly injured injurE Twenty doctors were at It work nork all night attending to the hurt and what whit made mad matters worse was that FO so 0 many of the passengers rs were in invalids lids already alread T Tlc c extraordinary part of or the thc accident wets was that the engine it olf rower rr If left lItt ft the metals It has been that the tile cause of the disaster Jisa te I i was tt as the tilt breaking of an axle in the front coach but the tit smash was so that it ft Is I not certain whether I the axle was broken before the car carr rt r ae left the metals melas or 01 not Other ex cx experts experts Erts put it down to spreading of the Ute tails mils through the very er wet weather But no one knows knovs the cause for certain There is much doubt too as to the reason season of the New Kew York Central ex tx express express press wreck in June 1905 This train was the finest fin pst and most expensive p vcr over built hullt and covered the 90 miles mills be ht between tween New York and nd Chicago in 15 18 hours It was equipped with barber lop oP bath rooms library and smoking loons and Its cost was It was teas as tearing along at 70 miles milts an hour tour when near Mentor Ohio it suddenly j i dashed from the rail through an open opens j I pair of points people were i I killed and injured and the train reduced to scrap iron and most of it burnt This is a question which re rc remains j i mains unsolved There is a horrible j suspicion that it may have been the J work of a train wrecker i deaths were caused in Sep September j i 1901 by one of the most ex extraordinary extraordinary extraordinary railway accidents cye re recorded recorded corded A freight or goods train was standing stand standing standIng ing in a little wayside wa station at a place called Essex This Is on the thc Great Northern railway of Montana U S A and stands sands high up among the The engine driver left the stoker alone in the engine and arld the I latter after carefully setting the air brakes went to coal up It so hap happened happened happened that the conductor was in the theoffice theoffice theoffice office getting orders and the two brakemen were also off the train Suddenly and without any an warning whatever r the heavy train ran away awa i and before anything could be done was j i tearing down the steep st P slope eastward j I at a pace which increased each instant j Seventeen miles mills further on she shet hit hita hita a passenger train The latter was go going goIng going ing in the same direction but only at I 30 10 miles an hour the freight by that time was running at 90 The Tit catastrophe catas catastrophe catastrophe was appalling for the timber with which the runaway was loaded took fire and nearly twenty of the in injured injured I wore were burned b to death The only reason that could be given for or the run runaway runaway I away awa was that the air leaked faked from the brakes yet et the latter were in perfect I order Older just previous to the runaway Near Indi is there thue was a similar J accident a seven years ago fortunately I without such terrible results Only I three people were hurt Burt But the driver I of the runaway train and all her h r crew swore that the brakes were full on and why wh their train gain should shave have run away aWa they could not comprehend hend It was some time before the mystery m ster was solved Then it was discovered that a atrain atrain atrain train pulling a car loaded with fish had passed previously and drippings had left the line Une f so 10 o greasy that the wheels skidded of or the following train simply I |