TRAIN DERAILED

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 19 July 1929, Page 5

TRAIN DERAILED

NO ONE HURT. ALL BLACKS WERE PASSENGERS. SYDN E Y-B RISBA NE EXPRESS i uitcM i-reea Mxwumtiou —By S-Vi-liiO IVit-graiiL Copyright..) Australian Pres* Amwk-’luUou. ) BRISBANE, July 18. The limited express jumped tne rails near Black Mountain station, in the New England Range, early this morning. Three carriages were overturned, and it is reported that the whole train left the line. The passengers were flung from their berths, but strangely enough no one was injured. A later message from Guyra, five miles from the scene of the accident, states definitely that the All Blacks were on board the train. They occupied t-h» last carriage, which remained on the line, and they therefore were less shaken than the other passengers. When the* more curious of the All Blacks poked their heads out of the windows, and inquired what was the matter, somebody replied. “Broken rail.” Grenside ejaculated: “Well, tell them to weld it again.” It is believed that a broken rail was the cause of the accident. Fortunately the train was travelling slowly, due to fog. otherwise the mishap might have been attended with tragic results.

Two Sydney footballers,. Westfield and Lamport, who were chosen to represent Australia against New Zealand in Saturday’s test, were passengers. Both the main and the loon lines wore blocked by the overturned carriages. The night was one of the coldest known in Sydney, and there were frosts general in all the elevated country. The scene of the accident is one of the highest points on the line, 4330 feet above sea level. SICKENING PLUNGE. The train rushed through the Black Mountain station, though apparently the speed had been reduced on account- of the thick fog shrouding the mountain sides, and when just past the home signal the coaches lurched heavily. There was a heavy grinding of brakes and the shrill screeching of steel rasping and ripping on steel, and the passengers were awakened by the sickening plunge. The two locomotives hauling the train on the up grade' remained on the line, but the wheels of a ear in the body of the train- left the rails andploughed the permanent- way. The second coach was dragged with it, and both swung over at a dangerous angle. The third carriage followed, and all went over on their sides with a deafening crash, the passengers being flung from sleeping berths against the roofs of the cabins.

The three other coaches making up the train left the line and tore up the roadway, but did not capsize. The passengers were jolted, but not thrown from their berths. In the freezing dawn the passengers lit fires and huddled round them in an effort to keep warm. The sound of the crasTi attracted nearby settlers, who provided hot tea and did what they could for the- passengers’ comfort l .

The express consisted of two medium locomotives, six cars carrying sleeping first- and second-class passengers, and a- brake van. The train weighed approximately 400 tons. The brake van was also derailed. The permanent way was torn up for a distance, of 200 yards. | A relief train was rushed' to the scene from Newcastle, and breakdown "angs were sent from Werris Greek. Tt is expected, however, the line will be blocked for a few davs. Tn the meantime the Brisbane and Svdney expresses will meet on either side of the gan and transfer the passengers. Fortunately last night’s passenger list was not a long one. but '.all in the cansized' cars will remember this morning for the rest of their lives. As the coaches toppled over panic seized some of the occupants, their screams of terror resounding along the lonely mountainside. CARRIAGES SHATTERED. Windows were shattered, steel frame-, work twisted, timber splintered, and men and women were flung against the swaying walls of the toppling carriages. Then as the cars’ plunging progress ended they set to work to climb out of the windows, which were now above their heads. The task of reaching safety in this way was not an easy one with the heavy shutters and broken glass to' impede their escape. All natsrally were severely shaken, but 710 one was injured. A.s the passengers struggled from the wreck many were clad only in pyjamas, which formed poor protection against the biting, frosty atmosphere. Thick fog enveloped them, which added to the confusion for the time.

Aleanwhile, railway men from- the little Black Mountain station, alarmed by the crash, hurried to the spot, expecting to find a scene of carnage. They were astounded to discover none had been caught in the broken, splintered steel and wood of which the carriages were built, and which must certainly have spelt- death to any thus trapped.

The passengers’ escape in this case is probably the most amazing in the annals of the New South Wales railways. A similar derailment of the Brisbane express at Aberdeen Bridge in 1926 was attended by loss of life and a long injured list. At least two Al' Blacks slept right through the commotion. Kivell was a passenger on a train concerned in an accident in New Zealand just prior to embarking for Sydney. it is undei’stood Mrs McLeod, the All Blacks’ manager’s wife, was in the same mishap.

The two carriages in which the All Blacks travelled were added to the Brisbane train at Armidale. The manager. All- J. McLeod, reports that all is well with the team, who treated the experience lightly, although they cannot- imagine how some of the passengers were Tiot- killed.

The team expects to reach Brisbane to-night at midnight, which is six hours late. Cundv told an interviewer that there seemed to be a hoodoo over the tour.