TWO MEN KILLED

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 24 December 1925, Page 7

TWO MEN KILLED

KNOCKED DOWN BY TRAIN. ANOTHER BADLY HURT. ACCIDENT AT NEWMARKET. (BY TELEGRAPH PRESS ASSOCIATION.) AUCKLAND, Dec, 23. Two railway surfacemen were killed and a third received injuries td Ms head through being knocked down by a shunting train at about a quarter past two this afternoon. The accident occurred on what is known" as the “back shunt” portion of .the line, along which trains shunt backward from Newmarket station before proceeding along the Kaipara line. The names of the men killed are John William Brown Harland, married, aged 47, of Remuera, who is stated to have a grown-up family; and? Richard George Diiworth, married, aged 59, of Kingsland, who also is stated to have a grown-up family. The injured man is Arthur" Skeen, married, who lives in one of the railway cottages beside the line. His injuries are not regarded as serious. He has a family of two sons and a daughter. .

The three men were members of a gang which was employed in weeding and repairing the track of the “back shunt.” They were working under the supervision of a ganger; who was absent for a few moments. He was re- ' turning, and was about 50 yards from the men when lie noticed a train, which consisted of about ten trucks and an engine with no van. It was travelling comparatively slow. He shouted to the men, but it is doubtful whether he was heard. At the same time he signalled to the driver of the train, but Ms signal was not noticed. The men appeared to straighten up just as the train was upon them, but whether they heard the ganger’s shouts or the train is not known. Skeen is the only one who managed to . save his life, but it is not clear why he was more fortunate than the others. The bodies of. Harland and Diiworth' were terribly mutilated,, the train having passed right over them before coming to a standstill. Death must have been instantaneous in each case. The train by which the , men were knocked down was a regular daily shunting train from Newmarket to Mount Eden. All the men were supplied with time-tables showing the times at which trains were’ to be expected. There was no one on the back of the train at the time, as’it was regarded as being engaged in purely shunting operations within the yards. A shunter was travelling on the step of the engine to change the points when the “back shunt” was completed. When the train commenced to run forward again it would be outside the yards and he would travel on the last waggon. Other gangs of.men were employed on the other two- Hides of the- triangle of which the- “back shunt” forms the base. The spot where the accident occurred is regarded as dangerous, as trains run backward along this part of the line and the sound of their approach is apt to be drowned by the' noise of a timber, mill on one side or of passing trains on the other. ; ■. The three men were all experienced in the class of work in which they* were engaged. Harland and Diiworth wre casual surfacemen, but had- previously been permanently employed by the Railway Departmenet and had-had experience extending over about twenty years. Skeen was a permanent surfaceman and also had long experience.