TRAINS COLLIDE AT AUCKLAND

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22242, 5 November 1937, Page 10

TRAINS COLLIDE AT AUCKLAND

ONE OUT OF CONTROL ON GRADIENT THREE PERSONS INJURED WRECKAGE BLOCKS LINE AT STATION (PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) AUCKLAND, November 4. Three persons were injured and the front portions of two trains were reduced to a mass of tangled debris when they met in a violent head-on collision near the Parnell overbridge, about 400 yards south of the Auckland station, at 9.17 tonight. The accident occurred when a goods train, returning to Auckland from Newmarket, got out of control and crashed into a mixed goods and passenger -train outward bound for Henderson.

Harold Macky, aged 35, a married man, of New.ton,' a shunter on the train from Newmarket, suffered injuries to a groin and hip. He was admitted to hospital, and his condition is not serious.

Frederick Edwin Henry Ongley. aged 41, a married man, of Point Chevalier, a shunter, who was riding in the engine of the Newmarket train, suffered concussion and a severe cut under the right eye. Several stitches were inserted in the cut, and the injured man was admitted to hospital. His condition is not serious.

Herbert Reid, the driver of the train for Henderson, suffered slight facial wounds.

Jack Muir, aged about 36, a married man, of Broadway, Newmarket, the fireman on the train from Newmarket, jumped clear just before the crash and rolled down the embankment. He received numerous abrasions and bruises, and suffered badly from shock. After treatment at the St. John Ambulance station he was able to return to his home. A woman passenger also was taken to the Auckland Hospital suffering from shock, but after treatment at the casualty ward she was able to go home. Train Out of Control A few yards from the place where the collision occurred a double line commences, but the outward-bound train had not reached this crossover when a piercing and prolonged whistle was heard from the line ahead. The driver reduced speed knowing that another train approaching at an increasing speed down a fairly steep gradient was experiencing trouble with the brakes and was giving the acknowledged warning to other traffic. It was impossible to avert a collision, and within sight of the Auckland station the two tank locomotives met with a resounding crash. The two engines were locked completely, and were wedged so tightly that it was later found necessary to cut them apart with acetylene torches. Behind the outward-bound locomotive the first of a rake of heavilyladen waggons was standing on end and behind it a string of trucks was piled one against the other. Much greater damage was done to the rolling stock drawn by the other train. Two waggons were standing on end and another nine were smashed. Pigs in the trucks were injured and some had to be killed. The line was completely blocked, several waggons being thrown off the line down a 20-foot embankment. A breakdown gang was hurriedly made up. Taxis were dispatched throughout the suburbs to obtain men, and a determined start to clear the wreckage was made at midnight in the eerie light of flares and small lamps. No indication could be given as to when the work would be completed. All services have been diverted by the Orakei route.

Mr H. C. Couch, District Traffic Manager, said the inward-bound train got out of control and, while it was impossible to state the cause at present, it was probably due to a failure of the brakes.