SHATTERED BRIDGE

Evening Star, Issue 25673, 22 December 1945, Page 10

SHATTERED BRIDGE

RAILWAY DISASTER NARROWLY AVERTED FIREMAN KILLED SYDNEY, December 21. More than a ton of bricks crashed from . a shattered overhead railway bridge as a crowded express from Melbourne thundered through Fish Creek, near Goulburn,. at 50 miles an hour early this morning. The fireman on the second engine was killed instantly and a disaster was narrowly averted. As the crowded express sped through a cutting beneath the bridge the wheels were barely inches from masses of brickwork beside the track. Passengers screamed, and some women began to take panic when the express was brought to a screeching halt, throwing them from their seats. A few minutes before the express reached the spot a truck had smashed into the parapet of the bridge, which spans a 40-foot deep railway cutting. A 15-foot section of the brickwork was- shattered and crashed into the cutting. Some of the brickwork landed less than six inches from the rails. Portion of the brickwork was left hanging from the parapet, and when the express, which was being drawn by two engines, thundered through the cutting the vibration caused the remaining brickwork to fall. A number of the bricks struck a stanchion beneath the bridge and ricochetted into the driving cabin of the second engine, striking the fireman above the heart. The driver immediately applied the brakes. Passengers who crowded round the smashed brickwork were amazed that the bricks had not fallen directly on the track. The train was delayed 40 minutes while another fireman was obtained.