WAGGONS DERAILED

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20308, 6 August 1931, Page 15

WAGGONS DERAILED

MISHAP ON midland line, goods TRAFFIC delated. Thirteen empty waggons, portion of o . s tram travelling; from terdav ? ° Artkur>B I'asa late yesterday morning, left the rails near Kot? n ? eek ' ° Q tho far •Kowhai Bush, and completely blocked tT* ! ° vcr oi&ht hours Most of ti luc^ s were damaged, soipo of em badly, and the long stoppage ecessitated the cancellation of other trains wlucJl were to have run jes erday, and tho reorganisation of subsequent timetables. Tho line ivas c caitd by a largo breakdown g/ng, as . ° pen to traffi c, at reauceu last night. Througu o derailed waggons knocking down a Ph pole, mere was some mtereco with telephonic communication with the West Coast.

Track Not Damaged. I lie derailment took place near J aterson's Creek siding, between Kbwiiai Uush and Staircase, and as far as can bo ascertained one waggon left the line first, and dragged others after it thirteen in all leaving tho rails. S ore em P t i e& 1 being taken to the VN est Coast, and were in the middle of tho rake. What caused the first waggon to slip tho rails is not yet known, a ] - . P will not be known until officials of the Railway Department institute an enquiry. Since the train was not travelling at any great speed at the time of the accident, the permanent way suffered little damage from the dragging trucks, but the precaution is always taken afte- mishaps of this nature to run traffic lollowing at reduced speeus. Motor-cars Undamaged. On waggons immediately behind the engine were four motor-cars, • tho owners of which were travelling on the train. None of these was damaged, the waggons being well ahead of those derailed, and they wore later taken on to Arthur's Ppss, the train arriving there three and a half hours late. Big Breakdown Clang. A' big breakdown gang left Christchurch on a special train for the scene of the derailment at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon, Railway officials accompanying them. A crane was used to lift the damaged trucks clear of the line, and these will be brought back to Christcliurch for repairs on Friday. Several had the undercarriage; badly smashed, but the full extent of tho damage will not be ascertainable until the officials who left to inspect the' accident make their report. They were expected to return with _ the breakdown gang early this morning. Automatic Signal Damaged. Through the derailed trucks knocking down a telegraph nolo on the side of the line, the automatic signalling apparatus between Springfield and Cass was out of action until about 10.30 last night, but it caused only slight inconvenience, since most of the traffic which normally uses the line had to bo cancelled. This entailed considerable additional worli on the part of train-running officers at Christchurch. who had to reorganise tho goods traffic time-table. Fortunately, thero is no passenger traffic on the Midland line over tho affected section on Wednesday, and the line will be available for expresses to and from the West Coast to-day. The goods tram which runs on Wednesday trom Arthur's Pass, corresponding with tho derailed train, was not nblo to leave the Pass until 10 pin., nearly seven hours late.

Another Delay. There was another alight delay to this train, however, when the guard s van attached to it skidded on tn frozen snow which covers the rails at Arthur's Pass, as the.train wasi pulling out for Springfield, and left the line. It was a little oyer an hour before the van could be jaoked on to the rails and the tram cleared from the station. Telephone Wires Down. The interference with the West Coust-Christchurch telephone service, caused through the carrying away a telephone P°l°- " sufficient to make it extremely difficult to carry on conversation over wires between tho two and caUg were put through only at the caller s OT Post IS Office _ officials did that communication would be restore to normal until tlua j n graphic traffic was not interrupted in any way. 1