THE MAIN TRUNK SMASH.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 108, 12 June 1914, Page 5

THE MAIN TRUNK SMASH.

THE INQUEST. jPress Association. AUCKLAND, June 12. At the inquest on the victims of the Main Trunk railway disaster, Eobert Bell, railway clerk, who took charge of affairs at Whangamarino after the accident, said that the signal worked very well on the 27th, after he had adjusted it. He found, on testing the signal, that the tension was not correct, and the arm would not drop properly, nor would it return to danger fully. He altered the tension, and then the signal worked perfectly. At 10.30 the .same night he found the signal working well, and Bhortly after midnight the porter reported that he could not see the 'back light of the south signal. It was found to be showing full green, whereas it should have been at danger. He concluded that the contraction of the wire by cold weather was such that it was impossible to work the signal.