The Accident at Bevice Works in 1866

Scarcely had the people of Bevice recovered from the shock of the Kolmino disaster, when their city was the scene of another, albeit quite comical, mishap less than two weeks later. The main line at Bevice-Akohniçe is carried on a viaduct but the works are laid out at ground level, the two being connected by ramps on a gradient of 1 in 40. On the day in question, a class G 0-6-0, which had failed at Tormu and been towed back to the works, was being eased down the ramp by a class H 0-8-0T, when the latter's brake rigging broke, allowing both engines to roll down into the works yard, through the buffer stops at the end of the headshunt, through the yard wall, across the street and into the front door of the police station opposite. According to eyewitnesses, there had never been such a police presence visible at one time for many years before, nor has there been since. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, except perhaps the police in their pride, and the two engines had been recovered by the evening of the following day.