ENGINE ALMOST BURIED Clay Slides Into South Express

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31659, 20 April 1968, Page 1

ENGINE ALMOST BURIED Clay Slides Into South Express

(New Zealand Press Association) DUNEDIN, April 19. A large soft slip swept down the side of a 40ft cutting about a mile from Karitane, 23 miles north of Dunedin, and all but engulfed the steam locomotive and the first carriage of the Christchurch-Invercargill express about 330 p.m. today. No-one was hurt when the slip of clay and earth halted the train, carrying 114 passengers, on an incline in the cutting.

The slip was about 60ft wide and piled up to about iwo-thirds of the height of the engine and up to the windows of the carriage. The train had been travelling about 15 m.p.h.

About an hour and a half later two DJ diesel locomotives towed the six carriages, guard’s van, and three freight cars of the express back about four miles to Waikouaitt There the passengers boarded four Railway Road Services buses. Sixty persons who were travelling to towns south of Dunedin, along with 90 others who were to have boarded

the express in Dunedin, were taken south in a special fourcar train, which left for Invercargill about 6.45 p.m. Emergency gangs of railwaymen cleared the clay and earth from round the stranded engine, and a steam locomotive sent from Dunedin pulled it free about 7 p.m. They reached Dunedin shortly after 8 p.m. Passenger’s Account The accident happened when the train was travelling up an incline towards Puketeraki. One of the passengers said later that he noticed the locomotive was rocked violently. He saw the slide start down the slope and hit the engine. “It felt as though the engine might have been pushed over, but the line was sloping towards the slip and the engine stayed on the rails,” the passenger said. “The train just came to a sort of shuddering halt.” Passengers on the Christ-church-Dunedin and Dun-edin-Christchurch rail-cars travelled by bus from Oamaru and from Dunedin to Oamaru, so the buses and rail-cars were able to make return journeys and cause little disruption to timetables. Persons travelling to Christchurch left Dunedin only 15min late by bus for Oamaru at 5.45 p.m. ! and southbound passengers were expected to reach Dunedin about midnight Clearing Line About 30 railwaymen were working tonight to clear the slip from the main trunk line and it was hoped to have the line clear to let the midnight express from Christchurch through to arrive in Dunedin about 7 o’clock tomorrow morning. There have been other minor slips on railway routes but no other disruption. The Railways Department said one or two areas were being watched but no other parts of the main or branch lines had been cut