RAILWAY DANGERS

Grey River Argus, 29 June 1925, Page 3

RAILWAY DANGERS

CONDITIONS FAULTY. INQUEST ON A SHUNTER. DUNEDIN, June 24. Before Mr J. IL Bartholomew, S.M., sitting as coroner, the inquest on the body of Frederick A. .1. Ben fell, aged 3S years, who was the victim of a shunting accident at Burnside on the uighl oi June 12th, was concluded at tiic S.AI. Court. The deceased was a married man .and leaves eight children. Air 11. IL Barrowclough appeared for the relatives. Air Al. Connolly for the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, Air J. Egan for the Railway Department, and Sub-Inspector O’TInL | loran for the police. Dr C. S. -Murray ,of Caversham, said that he was called to the scene of the accident about 9.50 p.m. lie found deceased lying on the verandah of :* building, lie was apparently then <ly_ J ing. He examined deceased and found there was a fracture of the right foot and Tinkle, but no other signs of gross external injuries. In the opinion or witness death was due to shock and internal injuries. Dr Ivcrach, assistant medical officer at the Hospital, said he saw deceased immediately he was brought into the I institution at 11 p.m. Benfcll was dead when he reached the Hospital. ' Witness agreed with Dr Alurray as tn :he cause of death. i Kenneth Livingstone, engine-driver. • -ami he was in charge of an engine at 1 Burnside on the night <>f .lune 12th. ' Deceased was working with him j : !i!inter. The engine left the yard i with 12 wagons of stock and pulled into the top end of the freezing works ' Doing. On receiving a signal they ■ •.■ ent back, the brakes being put on by ; th,, shunter. After uncoupling the en_ , gine from the wagons, deceased came i along and gave witness a signal to • move out. Witness was on the look. ! out, and noticed that a wagon on the ' next siding was too close. The brakes : we?f* immediately applied, and witness I heard deceased call oiil tor help. Willies- stepped down from the engine : -ml found deceased pinned beneath , th.* tank of the engine mill the W. j wagon. Deceased’s legs were caught F..tween the engine and the wagon. I Tin l wagon was jacked up, ami dc_ ! ceased was released. Assistance was • ..lueined from th<‘ 1 reeziiig works, ami i deceased was takmi away to await the lO.rival of the doctor. A high wagon ' pushed in front of the engine obscured [its light. j Di reply to a question by the coro_ | }! er. witness said it was the shunter’s 'duty to attend to the points. ' hi reply to Air Connelly, witness ' -aid deceased was riding on the firo- > man’s side of the engine. There were I i>o lights shining on the points to draw I the attention of the shunter to the I ! :;<■: I Im! they were lying wrong.. If I the points were lying wrong going in. f’he movement of Cm* points lever as ! th<‘ trucks passed over would have ['ii'(*n noticeablp had the lighting been ‘ s'ltlicient. Coming out to the main line ithey would he travelling from eight to I tin miles an Imur. The one. light, on [the f' , ee - /'ing works siding did not show ■on the points, us six wagons were i •:,a<l : ng between the light and the points. Had the Department supplied t nit: Ide lighting witness thought he : w oiihl have had a reasonable chance . <.f detecting that the points were {’.i-'mg. lie knew of nothing to pre. |\c!it tiio pushing of a wagon ahead of ’the engine in shunting. Had the light. • ing been good enough, witness would | certainly seen the “foul” wagon at least a length sooner than he did. From J the time he noticed the obstruction j until lie stopped he travelled about 28 | feet. Had he pulled up about a length I sooner, deceased would not have been I struck. With the provision of lights jin the yard, he thought there would l have been a reasonable chance of I avoiding the accident. Witness, in reply to a question by 'Air Barrowclough, said it -was the us- • ' al thing - for the points to be set to run on to the main line. The lever . <>f the points was of a dirty white , colour. It was a dark night, and .the fact that the lover was dirty ; would make it less easily visible. Tie •’LI no’ know who left the six wag--1 ons in the position they were in, but they fouled the main line by two in_ ;<•!)■■>. H<* hud experience |of sliunti •■ i n i ho ya rds. 'i Frederick Rae, fireman on the cn. '• •■|«i‘. said they left the lower yard, jund the engine pushed 12 wagons of ■ <!ock. to the freezing works siding, I where witness received the stop signal I from lhe shunter. The shunter then wont to the other side and put down j the hand brakes on the wagons. They | ‘hen proceeded to the top end of the i mud. When near Ihe AV. wagons wit- ' I'O'-s could not see plainly, as it was I too far from his side, and an L. wagion coupled to the roar of the engine obscured his view. AA’itncss was told I 1 v the engine-driver of the accident, and went for assistance. Tt was a wot, .Inrk niWit. The y.-ir.l - were b:id. ly lighted. Tn reply to the Suh-Tnspeetor. wit.I Hess soil! lie 1-imlil nol say why the T--wagon was being pushed by the on. |gine. The shunter had coupled it j there. ' Replying to a question by Mr Tigan, witness said the yard was unlighted nt. the top end. Replying to Air Con-nollV, witness said 'that When going from <te old main line to tbe freezing works yards.

...c biiuiHci \\oiiiii be riding on the ..uni oi. inc naguu. Witness was of the opinion that n lire points’ lever was painted white, it would have al_ tiacled ihe shunterLs attention. Had there been a .suitable iigul, the shunter could nut have failed to notice the points, and witness would have seen them himself. Had witness seen the points were set wrongly, he would nave drawn the at tent.on <y.' the driver to tiic fad. Witness Knew of no rule lo prevent a shunter having a wagui; pushed ahead of the engine, it ..us commonly done. in reply to Air Barrowclough, wit_ i.o.s said that if they were not allowed to push a wagon, they might nave lo travel miles around lo get in lioiit of it. There were no lights beyond lhe freezing works lights io shine <.n the yards. In rcplv io the coroner, witness said that the lights at the freezing works 1 were of the same power used in ord- . i.ary Louse lights. John Thompson Turnbull, shunter, said that he assisted in the removal of deceased’s body. Benfell asked witness not to allow the engine uri'd lo h*i the wagon down, as il would take his legs off. The experience of witness was I lint tin- points were alwavs Iving to lhe main line. The points must have been sbifteil that night. There were only the lightsfiom the freezing works to worn un. tier. .i'Xjti | h reply to Mr Connolly. witness sai<! that no lights at all were pro. viileil by the Railway Department in tin- yard. Witness ask. .1 C r a light about 12 months ago. it' thought ah 'tin- shunters had asked hn the p:o--■visioil of lights. Witness nsk.-.l 'he stationmaster, who agreed that lights uero necessary. None, however, had been supplie I. 'lhe freezing works’ lights were turned off after the stock was unloaded. Tile wagons obscured nhnt light did come from the freez. ing works' lights. Witness remember, cd ,-m engine being derailed at 'lie points over twelve months ago; it was lie'-iiuse the points were lying -at “half-cock.” The work at Bin aside v. arrant ed an assistant shunter, and such a request had Peen made. lhe lever of the points was practically id.'ick in colour. Thu lovers were now bring pointed white. lie did not know wlmt deceased would have io do lo gu near the points, which were wrongly set. William l-'ranklin Bennett. stationmaster at Burnside, said deceaseil had been released when Im reached the scene of the accident. Witness accom. paniod deceased to the hos]>ital. Benfell died on the way. There were three lights of the Freezing Company not far from the scene of the accident. On one night of the week there was a necessity for an assistant shunter. 'There was one supplied on Tuesday nights. In reply to Air Connolly, witness said that one oT thy three lights he had mentioned was GO yards from the, points, and the other two were further away. In ordinary circumstances, these lights were of value to the shunters. At the time of the accident they were of no value whatever. AVit_ ness had been approached by shunters for lights in lhe yard, and had agreed that lights were necessary on stock nights. In reply to Air Barrowclough, witness said he thought it would be desirable to liavp more lights. Edward Alason. veterinary surgeon, said that he was called to the scene of the accident to give assistance, and accompanied deceased to the hospital. George Alason, engineer at the freezing works, said the light on the post nearest to the yard was 32 candlepower. It was for the convenience of their own men coming to work. To Air Connolly: His wife rang for the doctor. She informed witness that Dr Gordon AlacDonald refused to come, because he had not been called by the railway officials. She told him he was being rung at the instructions of the railway officials. Tic thought the light was inadequate for the work carried out. Donald Kilpatrick, shunter, who was ■called by Air Connelly, said that tin several occasions ho had asked the Department to supply lights.. About three months ago the electric line inspector was out at Burnside, and told witness that throe lights were being provided. Witness had suggested Hint one light should be provided at the scene of the accident. Air Egan said the Department had a scheme in hand for improved lighting at various stations in Now Zealand. They would be fitted up in connection with their importance. Burnside was on lhe list, and would be supplied with better lighting. The coroner said the unfortunate fatality was caused by an unfortunate combination of events. The points being wrongly set. the engine and wagons were diverted on to the wrong line. That resulted in the engine be. ing brought into contact with some six wagons which were leading down from the Refrigerating Company’s siding., and which overlapped and fouled the way. The engine was pushing a wagon ahead, and did- not throw any light on the line. There was practically no lighting in the yard. There was lighting from the freezing works, but. it was ineffective. The conditions of work had been criticised in several respects. Tt appeared to him that the conditions were faulty, and were more dangerous than - they should have been in several respects, doubt shunting was always dan.

gerous, and so the working conditions should be made as safe as was reasonably practicable and possible. In the present case, the cross-over points had for some unexplained reason been set in the wrong position. There was no evidence, however, to show who was responsible, or whether there was any interference. Then there was th" fact that the lever of the points was not painted white., making it not so visible to the shunter. 'That was a weakness about the position. line there was the evidence that the lighting was bad, and the combination ol these two weaknesses, with the that the engine’s light was obscured by the truck ahu - /. led to the engine being pulled up I°° late. Mention had been made that an assistant shunter was necessary, but that x\as a matt i for the responsible officers of department lo deal with. Be noltd that proper H K htW was n,.w O be P'"vi<led nt Burnside. All he won < sax i„ regard to that was ”11"' sooner rhe better.” It was unfortunate tluu. with the unlimited supply o poxw ' , liohts, some h:ul and the cheapness oi ' rtx-'./ioil to make the connet been proxidtd i ditions of worh safer. The verdiet would be that de. th u. cau3cd liy internal injuries re.-enml through deceased hnvn.g been a.etdtu.