EXPRESS TRAIN'S ESCAPE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 51, 29 February 1916, Page 7

EXPRESS TRAIN'S ESCAPE.

COIiISION AT FTJKEKOHE. GOODS TRUCKS OX THE LINE. FOEXUXATE CIRCUMSTANCE PREVENTS TELESCOPING. The night express from Auckland to Wellington bad a narrow escape from serious accident at 10 o'clock last night, TV-hen, just south of station, it ran into half a dozen cattle trucks which had accidentally got on to th/-> main line, and only the fortunate circumstance that the trucks were moving southward on the down grade—the sawie direction as that in which the express ■was travelling—prevented an impact which would probably have caused telescoping. The precise reason for the presence of the cattle trucks on the line has not yet been ascertained by the Traffic Departjnent, which is still making inquiries into the incident. Theoretically, the presence of goods trucks on the main line, within so short a distance of the express being due, should have been impossible. OVERRUN THE POINTS. A foods train, which left Mercer for the north at 7.55 pjn., mainly composed of cattle trucks, was responsible for the trouble. The train was due to cross the express from Auckland at Pukekohe, and arrived at that place some time before the express was due. The goods train duly ran on to the loop out of the way of the express, and then commenced to 6hunt six of the trucks, containing cattle, on to a siding. For some reason not yet tnownj the trucks, which had been detached, instead of being directed by the points into the siding, ran on to the main line again. Even so, the stopblock in ordinary circumstances would have prevented the trucks from overrunning on to the main line, but apparently this had been removed to facilitate shunting. The result was that just as the express train, with its heavy engine and eleven coaches, was approaching, with the signals showing all clear, an obstruction of half a dozen truckloads of cattle travelled on to the track. There was no time for the alarm to be signalled by the goods engine, even if the driver •were aware that the operations had gone amiss, and much less for the situation to be retrieved. Disaster seemed inevitable. Happily, however, there happens to be a southerly slope on the south side of the station, and down this grade, moving in the same direction as the oncoming express, the trucks continued to run, while, in addition to this fortunate circumstance, the express train ordinarily slows down from about 40 to 20 miles an hoar before it passes through the station prior to the run down the ML PUSHED OUT OF THE ROAD. The slackened momentum of the train lad not been accelerated when the impact came, at a spot near the semaphore signal, 300 yards south of the station. The result -was that, instead of derailment and telescoping, which is expected ■wlien''trains runSlrig towards each other meet, the heavy express gave the lighter obstruction a violent bang in the rear and; drove it along the line. There was not an immediate derailment, which might have led to great havoc among the trucks, bat finally one of the -wagons left the rails and blocked the line when the express was about at a standstill. Naturally the passengers in the leading coaches received a jar, but inquiry ehowed that no one had been injured, while examination revealed that the cattle trucks had received the violence of the impact and the express had practically escaped damage. The buffers of the wagons were badly damaged, and it •was also found that both buffers of the, express engine were slightly bent. Immediately steps were taken, to clear the line. The cattle, -which are believed to have been uninjured, were liberated from the derailed wagon, and in about two hour 3 and 20 minutes the obstruction was removed. The express continued its journey South, but at Frankton one car -was taken, off, prdbably on account of damage to the bufiters.