Early on Tuesday morning, the fireman of a goods train was alarmed by missing the driver, Thomas Thorpe, when near Oxenholme Station. The motion of the train was immediately reversed, and after proceeding about a mile, the unfortunate man was found lying on the line in a state of insensibility. His head was severely crushed, and his body much bruised. The express train coming up shortly afterwards, he was conveyed by it to Carlisle, and placed under the medical staff of the Infirmary. His consciousness has since partially returned, but his life is in danger.
Newcastle Guardian, Saturday 2 April 1859