EXPRESS SMASH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 284, 29 November 1940, Page 8

EXPRESS SMASH.

INQUIRY PROCEEDS. EXPERTS' EVIDENCE. PASSENGER TELLS STORY. I i Further evident.* as to the .-peed of ,the train, technical matters in connection with the track and the time taken bv the engine in overturning, in addition : 4o a passenger's «tory were dealt with at to-day's sitting of the special board of inquiry set up to invesigate the cause or causes of the derailment of the Wel-lington-Auckland Limited express at Mercer on October 28, as a result of which the fireman and driver were killed and 21 passengers injured. The personnel of the board is Sir Francis) Frazer (chairman), Professor S. E. Lamb, of Auckland, and Mr. F. W. Furlkert, of Wellington. Leslie Gordon Keys, a bachelor of civil engineering, employed as assistant engmeer on the staff of the district engineer at Auckland, submitted calculations and prepared diagrams showing the time taken for a K locomotive to overturn subject to certain assumptions. The assumptions were that the locomotive was subjected to a centrifugal force, just sufficient to overcome the stabilising force due to tlie weight of the engine at the commencement of overturning; that at the moment of overturning one inch of the cant on the track had been eliminated by compression of the springs of the locomotive; that centrifugal force, once applied, remained constant while the engine was travelling around the curve. From the calculations he had made, said witness, it was found that from tlie time the inside wheels of the locomotive lifted to the point of mounting the rail w a,-, approximately one and a half seconds. Scoria Thrown Up. Horliert William Be-asley. recalled, dealt with the tank at Mr. Fleming's house alongside the scene of the accident. A scoria pebble had ptiiictured its side about two-fifths of its height from the bottom. To Mr. Johnson. representing the Engim dri \ ers. Firemen and Cleaners' Association, witness said he had made no attempt at calculations as in the speed because of the scoria Ix'ing thrown there. Imt he thought it could be done. "I said. 'She is hooting it along. That is the fastest | have ever seen a train travel.'" said John Stanford Dai-Icy. a motor engineer at present in the employ ot the Hoose Shipping t'oinpanv, in recounting his remarks, to a friend when lie saw the Limited express travelling north on October lis;, "Mv impression was that the train was travelling very last. It was the very fast speed that attracted my attention. I have lived a t Mercer for three years, but unless there is something unusual about trains I rarely take notice of them. . '"I cannot say whether the engine was throttled as it passed, because it went so ijuicklyhe added." A ictor Cyril Otto List, a truck driver employed by the Rnosc Shipping Company. corroborated the previous witness" opinion. -| saw that the train was travelling much faster than usual,"' lie added. Passenger's Story.

Arnold Miller Keith. •-foreman packer, who was a pa-i»enger on the Limited \vlieu the accident occurred. saki that though the train travelled at a faster speed from Frankton to the scene of the disaster than it did on any other part of the journey from Wellington. its s]K?ed did not cause him any concern. I was in the third carriage from the front and I was sitting on the left hand side of the train, facing the engine." said witness. "This was the side that was ripj>ed out by the engine when the accident happened." He said lie could not remember whether or not lie heard a blast from the train whistle just prior to the accident. Neither could he remember whether he felt the application of the brakes. "I remember the frain giving a sudden jerk, and then another jerk more pronounced than the first one ju-t prior to the accident." he went 011. "Immediately afterwards. there was a sudden rip along the side of the train and the windows and seats were smashed. 'Hie -lass from the windows was showered into the carriage. "[ suffered n few cuts aliout the face fi oui flying plass and also a bruise mi my left leg. but. nothing serious. The train did not, apjK-ar 'to me to have slowed down at all just prior to the accident." To Mr. A. E. Johnson (K.F.C.A.) witness said he did not often travel on trains. There were one or two had jerks before the accident. This would happen every now and again. He did not know whether the train would Ik- on the 10011 or not. 1 (Proceeding.)