The driver of the goods train, on which a 20 year old Hapton fireman died after being struck on the head by a stone, believed to have been thrown from a bridge, yesterday morning relived the incident, with a detective in the role of the dead man. Forty six year old Lawrence Tallon, of Sycamore Avenue, was on the footplate of the same engine " a Class 8F (2-8-0) " on which his colleague, Mr Derek Moody, received fatal injuries. On Saturday morning, as the engine passed the bridge which spans Healey Wood Rd, Mr Moody was struck by a triangular-shaped, jagged edged piece of stone, weighing six pounds, which police investigating the incident believe was thrown or pushed over the parapet by a juvenile. For the purpose of yesterday’s experiment, the locomotive approached the bridge at 26mph, passing under in cloud of smoke and steam which made it disappear from sight for a moment. The locomotive was stopped about 100 yards down the track and reversed under the bridge. From the seven-foot high parapet, detectives then conducted experiments by dropping and throwing stones onto the cab from various points.
Mr Moody, who would have celebrated his 21st birthday next Saturday, and Mr Tallon were taking the train, consisting of 32 empty coal wagons, from Rosegrove to Wakefield on the Burnley-Todmorden line. At the bridge, the stone bounced off the cab roof and struck Mr Moody, who collapsed against the driver with severe head injuries. Mr Tallon said that if Mr Moody had not fallen against him, he might not have been aware for some time that something as wrong. Cradling his stricken colleague in one arm, and driving the train at the same time, Mr Tallon took the train on to Towneley level crossing signal box, where he summoned help. Mr Moody, who had taken the shift so that a colleague could play football, died in hospital almost 26 hours later, without regaining consciousness. He was too poorly for surgeons to carry out an operation.
From enquiries, police determined that the incident was probably caused by children playing in the area. The stone could have been thrown from the Manchester Rd bridge and could have been dislodged at Healey Wood.