A accident occurred on the 10th December last, at Norwood junction, on the London, Brighton, and South Const Railway, from a shunting engine while off the rails breaking down the two cast iron girders of an under bridge, and falling into the road below. The driver of the engine had his arm fractured. ·

A short distance to the north of the passenger· platform at Norwood junction seven lines of railway have been carried over the Portland Road by under bridges constructed of cast-iron girders.

These lines of railway have been laid down for an large number of years, probably nearly amounting to 20: but about four years since, in consequence of alterations at the junction station, the line of rails, across the second of these bridges reckoned from tho west, was taken up, but the two cast-iron girders which supported the transverse bearers on which the chairs for the rails were fixed find the wooden planking between them, were allowed to remain.

The rails at the south side of this bridge were also removed for a distance of about 20 feet southwards from the bridge, and the line from the station which is straight thus constituted a species of blind siding, without having any buffer stops or the end of the rails turned up, to prevent any engine from running off the rails, along the ballast, and on to the platform
between the cast-iron girders of the under bridge, in the event of an engine driver making any mistake and continuing to ran on this siding. · 

About 49 yards north of the north end of the main line platform there are a set of three throw facing points, with one pair and a line to the left leading to the local up line, a. second pair for the ·straight line to the blind siding before referred to, and a third pair with a line to the right lending out on to the main up line ; and working with the facing-points at the ends of the lines to the left and right there are ground disc signals, to indicate to a driver when those points have been set right for a train to proceed on either of those lines: but no signal is attached to the points for the straight road leading to the blind siding as no engine or train was intended to travel on that line

David Miles, engine driver three years and 9 1/2 years fireman in the service of the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway, states: That he was in charge of the shunting engine on the morning of the day on which the accident occurred, and had nearly completed his work : that he had passed  from the goods yard siding on to the local up line, and then reversed his engine to go back to the Pimlico siding on which there were between 20 and 30 trucks standing, and he had to hook on about 17 trucks to draw them ahead, and to take them on to the local up line; that his engine stood level with the north end of the main line platform, on his right hand : that as soon us he had had the engine hooked on to the trucks he received a hand­ signal from the foreman over the shunters, which he thought at the time was intended for him, and he then put steam on the engine with the intention of pulling the trucks out : that as he expected to receive another signal from the same man he kept his attention fixed on him longer than he should have, done, and thus omitted to see that the disc signals at the three throw points. stood at danger against him : that after had passed the dummies (disc-signals) he found that he was running on the wrong road, leading to tho blind siding, and he shut off the steam, reversed the engine, and had the break applied so as to bring the engine to a stand still as. soon as he could: that he might have been running at three or four miles an hour when he got on to the bridge after running over the sleepers at the end of the rails on which his engine had been running: that as he got on to the bridge he found the girders of tho bridge give way, and the engine fall into the road below, and he and his  mate went down with it: that his arm was fractured but his mate escaped without any injury: that this happened about 10 or 12 minutes before 8 o'clock in the morning.