A NARROW ESCAPE

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 97, 19 January 1926, Page 6

A NARROW ESCAPE

MISHAP TO THE LIMITED FURTHER DETAILS OF THE ACCIDENT Further details of the mishap which occurred to the Daylight Limited near Pukerua on Saturday night show that the axle of the fifth carriage on the train broke between Pukerua and Plinimerton, where the line descends to sea level after the climb from Faekakariki.

Passengers by the train yesterday stated that the express was coming down the incline at a rate of about 25 miles an hour when the axle broke. The fifth carriage from the engine and the one immediately following it left the rails, but the stout couplings prevented the carriages toppling down the incline. The Westinghouse brake pulled the train up, but not until the track and sleepers had been cut up for a quarter of a mile. The passengers in the two derailed carriages received a severe shaking, as the cars bumped heavily over the sieepers. The train pulled up just in time, as a few yards further on was a steep slope, which would have spelt disaster had the carriages been derailed there.

The experience as the carriages bumped and banged over the sleepers was verv similar to being in the grip of an earthquake. “Lie flat on the floor!” a passenger called out, and the order was promptly obeyed. Great relief was felt when the train came to a standstill. When a survey was made of the wreck it was discovered that the cat with the broken axle had a big list down the slope. Its two front wheels were missing, and were lying between the rails some distance back on the track.

As stated yesterday, it was unquestionably due to the Westinghouse brake automatically pulling up the train that prevented a disaster. When an accident of this kind happens to a train the men on the engine or the guard know nothing of the occurrence. It is not necessary that thev should, as the Westinghouse brake is’ always on guard, and automatical!}’ acts in the event of anything going wrong.