N.S.W TRAIN SMASH

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 February 1930, Page 10

N.S.W TRAIN SMASH

A PORTER’S AGONY. SYDNEY, January 30. T>e most remarkable thing about the derailment of the Blue Mounts express last Monday night was, thfact that only two lives were. those of the engine crew. Behind tin <wo engines that toppled ever the embankment were crowded carnages containing hundreds of people who ha spent the holiday among the mountain Xfrts. Had the train been travelling a- a fast Mee the loss of life won d h ; ’VG been terrible, for nothing could S?vo prevented the carriages following the example set by the two enp’incs. The primary cause of the crash was ?. truck derailment earlier in the day which had put one of the two lines out of commission. It was therefore necessary to work fairly . heavy _tia - fic on the single line, and in the single line working, apparently ,a fatal mis ;;ako was made. It seems clear that owing to ah error on the part of somebody the catch points were Jeft open, for had they been closed it is difficult to seo how a derailment could have occurred. Tho section where the accident took place has ah easy curve and would normally be safe at 60 miles an hour. The evidence that the train was travelling at a low speed is supported by the fact that no damage was done to any of the carriages. The points, which are for the purpose or derailing runaway trains, were open, and that was why two men lost their lives. , , The hero of the sensational happening was a young porter, Joseph McGarrity, aged 16, who told a dramatic story of his adventure: —“We left Valley Heights shortly after 7 p.m.,” he said. “Passing Wai'rimoo we came to the catch points. . It was not dark, and we could see that the catch points were open. The fireman called out: ‘Hold her, driver. The points are wide open.’ Everything occurred with a smack. The driver pulled on the brakes. There was a loud screech, tho engine toppled over, and everything was a blank. I was riding in the engine, and I was pinned down by tho right, leg and the right arm. Nobody will ever know what I went through. The driver and fireman — both good fellows —were suspended above iiid ,and their feet were dangling ii&ar my face. Blood and steam dropped all over me. It was a terrible experience. I thought I would never agfiin see daylight. My mother and father are dead, but I could not help thinking of my aunt, with whom I live, and my brothers and sisters. Doctors and ambulance, men came to help me. All the time they kept cheering me up. Someone gave me brandy, and I needed it badly. I was nearly through. . “Then I heat’d someone say that there was no chance of getting me out unless my hand was sawn off. It was dreadful to hear them talking like that. But I knew that I was trapped. 1 c'ould not ftfove either my arm or my leg. I think someone gave me an anaesthetic. I firn too dazed to remember much. But I reinember waking up, still under the tender, but my hand was free. (It had been amputated.) An even worse thing was to follow. My leg was firmly held to the ground by a tremendous weight. By this timo I had been there for about two hours, and the breakdown gang had arrived. The only way they could get mo out was by using the oxy-weld-ing apparatus. The Welder had to burn through the steel work, and tile flames from the machine burned holes in my leg: But I knew that I had to stick it out, arid I did.” Tho rescuers speak highly of McGarrity’s pluck, and declare that he never whimpered, and did everything that he was told to do. He repeatedly asked how his mates were —those wild had b'bbn in the engine with him find who were lying dehd in the tangled mess around him —and whether any of the passefigers were hurt.