MAIN TRUNK EXPRESS CRISIS INTO SLIP.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 206, 31 August 1936, Page 9

MAIN TRUNK EXPRESS CRISIS INTO SLIP.

PASSENGERS HURT.i CARRIAGE WRECKED. LOCOMOTIVE OVER BANK. MIRACULOUS ESCAPES. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Sunday. Striking a slip a quarter of a mile 011 the Wellington side of Paraparaumu railway station, the Auckland-Welling-ton Main Trunk express was derailed at G. 25 o'clock this morning. The locomotive crashed down an embankment to within a few yards of the main road, running parallel with the line. A secondclass carriage immediately behind the engine was smashed to pieces and. the four following carriages loft the rails. The passengers in the front carriage had a miraculous escape. Although many of them suffered from abrasions, only five were injured sufficiently seriously to be sent to the. Wellington Hospital. The enginedriver was Mr. G. A. Wilslier and the fireman Mr. G. C'ooke, both of Taihape. Their escape was even more remarkable. The locomotive came to rest on its side buried in earth up to the floor of ihe engine cab, out of which they crawled without a scratch or scald from the escaping steam. The injured were:— Mr. A. F. Bush, retired, aged 83 years, of Buller Street, Picton, fracture of both legs, condition serious. Mr. A. F. Bush, jun., of Taumarunui, abrasions to leg. Mr. V. Riley, of Ohiro Road, Wellington, injured x'el y i s s condition satisfactory. Mr. C. J. Rogers, school teacher, of Taneatua, head injuries, lacerated right foot, cuts to hands, condition satisfactory. Mr. P. W. Reeves, commercial traveller, of 46, Naseby Street, Christchurcli, injury to left leg and abrasions to face. Mr. Bush, jun., and Mr. Reeves were able to leave the hospital after they had received treatment. The Wellington free ambulance received a call by telephone at about 7.30 a.m., and two ambulances were dispatched immediately.

Engine Ploughs Through Slip. Drawn hy a 130-ton K locomotive and right on time, the express roared past Paraparaumu and down the long straight. The slip had come down about a quarter of a mile from the station, throwing two arms of spoil across the rails, and because "f the limited visibility the engine swept or., ploughing straight'through the slip. It then left the rails with a lurch, heeled over to the right, broke itself free of the leading carriage and toppled over a 10ft embankment. It came to rest on its side with its nose only a short distance from the road. As the engine left the rails the corner of the tender caught the first carriage, so that the roof was lifted off and the walls fell on the track, leaving the interior exposed. There were 15 passengers in the carriage, and among them were the injured. This carriage, with the four following, were all off the rails, but the momentum carried them on, so that the leading carriage was abreast of the engine before it stopped. The couplings and inter-carriage platforms simply folded up, and the carriages wedged themselves against one another in a mass that jammed the dooiways. Some of the doors would not open, and a number of passengers were imprisoned in the carriages until crowbars were brought into use to release them. All the derailed carriages were within the slip area, so that it was approximately 175 ft from the point where it entered the slip that the engine came to rest. Still on the lines were the sleeping cars, the postal van, and three luggage vans. The locomotive lay on its side covered in mud and with the glass of the front lio-ht mis3ing. Lazy puffs of steam came from the smoke stack, but every - tliinc in the cab was in order. Nothing was°bent or displaced. The gauges all registered zero, and the driver s tea flask was not even broken. The first carriage lay in the chaos of its own. wreck. Only the seats remained upright, and around it lay a mass' of broken windows and smashed woodwork.