Hacking's account of the events of 12 March is similar to that reported by "The Times". He claims to have travelled to Clifton to witness an L&YR clerk being prevented from collecting tickets, and to have then continued on another train to Manchester. On his arrival there, he saw L&YR employees ready to pull up the rails to the ELR platform, although the rails were left intact. He then mentions returning to Clifton after hearing that L&YR employees had recently left for the station. He blamed the Managing Director of the L&YR, Captain Law, and Mr Blackmore, superintendent of the Bolton line, for ordering theline to be blocked with the baulk of timber. Hacking also mentions an approaching up-train from Bolton, which on encountering the blockage apparently moved across to the down line to bypass it – in the face of oncoming traffic. Expressing his shock, he claims to have ordered the ELR's stone train onto the down line, changing the signals accordingly. Hacking's account ends by claiming that Blackmore ordered the L&YR train to move, effectively resolving the dispute.