THE ENGINE-DRIVER’S STORY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 3944, 29 May 1913, Page 5

THE ENGINE-DRIVER’S STORY.

"A FEW SECONDS TO DECIDE.”

[BY TELEGRAPH—SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT] AUCKLAND, May 28. Mr J.. Benny ,an engine-driver ofi 14 vears’ experience, who was with Carl Little, the fireman in the enginebox on the outward-bound train, in speaking tq a “Star” representative of the accident, remarked that the whole thing happened so quickly that he had only a few seconds to decide what to do after he caught sight of the other train as it showed up through the fog and dashed over the bridge to .the collision. “My train (the 5.25 a.m. ‘goods’ from Auckland) was running right up to time, “he said, “and the tablet picked up at Avondale was dropped at New Lynn. After taking in water wo went on up the line as usual past the station towards the bridge in order to back on to the siding to let the fassenger train through to Auckland, t was just before the engine had left the bridge and as I was about to reverse the engine gear to shunt back on to the siding that I saw the ot-lior train coming. My mate noticed it at the same time and we gave a simultaneous shout of warning. Our train had commenced to move back Very slowly ,b.ut in to offer as little resistance as possible when the .smash came I gave the engine full reversing steam, and we had got two or three car lengths when tho engines met.’'’ Both men in the engine-box were, in- a sense, prepared for the collision and- although they were thrown heav-:-By , were not very much hurt. Mr Benny is of the opinion that had not his train been moving back at the time of the collision the smash would have been a great deal more serious. Some Queer Sensations.

Mr H. M. Ingram was one of those in No. 1 car ,and his experience was typical of those ofl the other unfortunate company of 20. . “Coming round the curve,” he said, “we got the usual sensation of being nearly thrown out of our seats, only on this occasion the shock was greater than usual. Hardly had we recovered our balance, however, and got back into our seats than we were sent flying in every direction like shots out of a catapult. • 1 wafl thrown clean into, the pasago way and fortunately missed striking any seats en route, so that I have escaped with a few bruises. Halfi-a-dozen others came tumbling on top -of me and I saw one lady (Miss. Smyth) thrown from her own -seat right dver the seat in front of her. Fortunately I was able to go to her assistance, and to the assistance of others. Nearly everyone in the car seemed to be covered in blood, the reason being, no doubt, that most of them were thrown forward on their faces on to the hard wooden seats in .fjont. Half-a-dozen people had to be carried out insensible and placed on the wet ground. The thing occurred so suddenly that no ono semed to quite realise what hadi happened. There was a little screaming, but no panic; and there Is no doubt that everyone really behaved very well. As to the cause of the trouble, that, of course, is problematical, but there was a fairly thick fog at 7 o’clock and the-rails were terribly greasy, so that the . brakes, which I heard thrown hard on, evidetnly failed to grip properly. The mercy is, of course, that were not all toppled over into the creek below the bridge. That, indod. would have been a calamity.”

“A Loud Explosion."

There were about 100 people waiting at New Lynn to travel Citywards by this train and their first intimation of the disaster came in a startling manner. The most lucid account in this connection was obtained from a boy named James Warburton, who was selling newspapers at the station. “We heard the goods tram shunting at the Waikumete end of the station,” he said, “but could not see very much because of the thick fog. A 1 lat once there seemed to be a loud explosion in the . direction ofi the bridge, two or throe hundred yards away and everyone on the station started to run at the direction. * I was one of the first there,and on the way I passed a man with his face all oyer blood who said he was going td the station to telegraph for a doctor." ifost-o,n,the:/tation side of the bridge led' up togijjhcr- The ooweavers.

smell of escaping gas, too, that, kept 1 up for a long time from the gaspipee and cylinders underneath the carriages. Those wero torn about and. in some places broken right off. When we got to tho bridge we saw that things wero pretty bad, because men with bleeding faces and crying women were running about as if they didn’t know what tq do.-,, Then the people from the station got busy and took all who were hurt along to be attended to.” Scene of the Accident. New Lynn station is situated just 10 miles from Auckland on the North Auckland line. The scene of the accident is about 300 yards above the station. The bridge on which the collision took place is about 40 feet long, and the creek is between 40 feet and 50 fleet below. A 15-ft concrete sloping wall banks up the water at this point and the overflow makes quite a pretty cascade. Had the cars gone over the bridge, which has no parapets ,the accident would have been followed with , far more terrible consequences. The Wreck. As seen on the bridge extending across the forty-foot span and overlapping it on either side, the wrecked train stood forth in token of the favors ofl Providence as it poised throughout the forenoon on the bridge which mounts the Rewa Rewa stream at a height of about 50 feet. Soon after the accident crowds of people stood on the high embankments at the approaches to the bridge, having been drawn thither by the sensational reports which had spread through the neighborhood. Even from tho embankments a glance to the waters and concrete parapets below was produeivo of dizziness and tho sensations of the passengers when .hauled up with a shock on the. bridge itself! must have been much more intense. Plight of the Passengers.

At the moment of the terrifying crash the'engine and the foremost car of the passengor train had left the bridge. The second car would then be on the structure, and the third just passing on to the bridge with five other cars bringing up the rear on the other side. Perhaps it was because the seoond and third carriages were old-fashioned and well worn, or because they wore at tho time on the straight run formed by the bridge that caused No. 2 car t-o run itself on the rebound into No. 3 car just as a rod is rammed into a gun. Tho sides of the third car fell away and the buffer-capped end of the second car crashed inward grinding to matchwood the floor, seats, hatracks and every inanimate object within. How" the passenger Farrell escaped uninjured is almost beyond comprehension. A large pool of blood graphically explained the plight of the unfortunate man Stone, the said pool being in the thick, ofi the most shattered portion of the telescoped carriage. Right along even to the guard’s van the cars exhibited evidence of a tremendous shock. Window catches had been forced, hatracks were bent, splinters had come awav from the seats and the signs of bleeding were many. This last mentioned aspect was most pronounced in the newest ear nearest the engine, where the shock must have indeed been terrific. Seat after seat was covered in blood, which extended in ghastly trails along the passage ways and corridors by which the Sassengers effected their exits. plashes of blood about the fire-boxes ofi the engines showed that the men in charge had not escaped.