DEFECT IN TRACK

Evening Star, Issue 25083, 26 January 1944, Page 6

DEFECT IN TRACK

REPORT ON UPPER HUTT DERAILMENT STAFFS EXONERATED (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Jan. 20. # The report of the Board of Inquiry into the derailment on the Upper Hutt line, near Haywards, on November 8, in which three passengers were killed and 19 injured, has been released for publication. The board found that the cause of the derailment was the inability of the W.A.B. engine, running bunker first, to respond to the inequalities in the track and the wear in the rails which were proved to exist at the time. In the vicinity of the point at which the derailment occurred the inequalities in the track were sufficient to set up a rolling of the engine, eventually causing the unloading of the weight from the outer leading bogie wheel. This ena-bled the flange to clircub the worn inner side of the head of the outer rail and led to the derailment of the engine and part of the train. It was obvious, the report added, that the primary cause of the derailment was the defect in the track, and the blame for any dereliction of duty must fall on those employees responsible for the proper maintenance of the track. EMPLOYEES EXONERATED. " We find that the inspector, Mr Leineweber, who has been in charge of this section of the. line for only a little more than one month when the derailment occurred, was carrying out his duties diligently, and, as far as we can judge, efficiently," the report states, •" We do not attach any iname to him."

Dealing with the evidence by the ganger, Mr Robertson, the report says that he passed over his section of the line every day on a velocipede and walked over it onco every week. He stated that four days before the derailment occurred he had walked over the track in the vicinity of the scene of the accident with the inspector, Mr Leineweber, and that his attention had been drawn by the inspector to defects in the slack and variations in the cant.' None of these matters at that time appeared to the inspector or to the ganger to be of :an urgent nature, and it was Mr Robertson's intention to attend to them early in the following week. Further evidence given by Robertson related to a reduction in the strength of his gang, which had been below strength for some considerable time.

"We think," tlie report states, " that this circumstance, together with the fact that the defects noted on the Thursday preceding the day on which the derailment occurred (a_ Monday), were then apparently of a minor nature and did not anpear to require immediate attention, and the fact that the district engineer stated that Mr Robertson had considerably improved his section since he took charge of it justifies ns in exonerating him from blame." WORN RAILS. Dealing' with the question of the wear on the rails, the report states: " TJndouibtedly the responsibility _ for renewal of the worn rails rests primarily With the district engineer, and ultimately with the chief engineer. Both these officers were working to standards that had been laid down by the department many years ago, and, provided a good runimng surface be held and maintained, there was no reason to doubt that in the past standards were, in practice, found sufficient. We think, however, that wear to the extent of 32 per cent, of the head of a rail.' with the resultant loss of lateral stiffness in the rail, makes it difficult to maintain a srood track, especially under the conditions of increasingly dense and heavy traffic. " While we do not consider that the engineering staff is to be blamed for adhering to the accepted standards, we are satisfied that the circumstances of the derailment into which we inquired call for intensive research with a view to a revision of those 'standards. We are satisfied that the locomotive, cars, and the guard's van were in first-class order and condition. '< Considerable criticism was levelled at the W;A.B. class of engine, which, when running bunker first, is admittedly harder on the track than the engines of other classes, but we think this calls rather for the strengthening of the track than for condemnation of the engine, which is of a peculiarly useful type. We have already stated that we could find no inherent defect in the engine W.A.B. 794. or in W.A.B. engines as a class. " While we recognise that any restriction on the free use of W.A.B. engines must add to the difficulties of the transportation branch of the department in handling heavy suburban traffic on the Wellington-Upper Hutt section, we find it necessary to recommend that the W.A:B. engines in the service • should not be run bunker first until the chief engineer is satisfied that the permanent way has been adequately strengthened, and he is able to maintain it at a standard sufficiently high for the safe running of this class of engine bunker first." TRACK RESEARCH NECESSARYThe report suggests, that when world conditions permit responsible officers of the engineering and transportation branches should from time to time proceed overseas to investigate and report upon developments in railway practice. "We recommend that considerably more attention should be given by the two branches directly concerned to joint research into track stresses and locomotive flange forces," states the report. " A great deal of work has been done and much information has been disclosed as a result of the research along these lines in America, Europe, and India, especially during the decade immediately preceding the outbreak of the present war. " These researches, however, relate almost entirely to railways of 4ft B_in and sft 6in gauge, and it is notorious that track conditions in each country are necessarily governed to a very great extent by local circumstances. The results obtained from the research work carried out overseas, therefore, are not directly applicable to New Zealand's 3ft 6in gauge railways. We desire to emphasise that such research work is called for on practice grounds in the interests of safe operation. The New Zealand Railway Department uses locomotives that are heavy in relation to the 3ft 6in aauae. So far as we are aware only the South African railwavs carry heavier locomotives ?nd rollina stock en that gauge. The operatinn speeds also are not inconsiderable.

" "For these reasons, to which we "may add the special physical conditions existing in New Zealand, track maintenance in this country, up to the hicrh standard required by the present traffic conditions, is not easy, and past experi-

ence is not a completely adequate guide. It should be recognised, thereFore, that a systematic investigation into track stresses and locomotive flange forces is an actual necessity, both in the immediate interests of safety and in order that the usefulness and future development of rail-ibome traffic may not he unduly restricted. '' To take a case in point, the use of equipment for testing actual flange forces set up on curves by guiding wheels of different locomotives would provide specific information of direct value to both the locomotive and maintenance branches. Such information, if it had been available, would have thrown more light on the conditions that led to the_ present derailment. Closer contacts with overseas service—it is noted that owing to the geographical isolation of New Zealand the Railways Department and its respective branches must set and develop their own standards without the advantage of contacts with other systems—*would afford a more intimate knowledge of the standards adopted and would also provide greater opportunities for the exchange of first-hand information and the results of experience. _ Much that is of value is lost by isolation, for the lack cannot be made good merely by the matter published in technical journals received from overseas. Moreover, relatively little that is published relates directly to the operating conditions and prolblenis of systems 'having a 3ft Gin gauge.".