MAIN TRUNK EXPRESS STRIKES SLIP

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 220, 31 August 1936, Page 8

MAIN TRUNK EXPRESS STRIKES SLIP

Engine Crashes Down Bank and Five Cars Leave Rails FIVE PASSENGERS INJURED By Telegraph—Press Association. WELLINGTON, Aug. 30. Striking a slip a quarter of a mile on the Wellington side of the Paraparaumu railway station, the Auckland-Wellington Main Trunk express was derailed at 6.25 o’clock this morning. The locomotive crashed down the embankment to within a few yards of the main road running parallel with the line. A second-class carriage immediately behind the engine was smashed to matchwood, and the four following carriages left the rails. The passengers in the front carriage had a miraculous escape. Although many of them suffered from abrasions, only four were injured seriously enough to necessitate their retention in hospital. The engine-driver was Mr G. A. Wilsher and the fireman Mr G. Cooke, both of Taihape. Their escape was even more remarkable. The locomotive came to rest on its side buried in earth up to the floor of the engine cab, out of which they crawled without a scratch or a scald from the escaping steam.

The injured were* •MB. A. BUSH, retired, aged about 80, of Taumarunui, fracture of both legs; condition serious, MB. J. BUSH, his son, a carpenter, of Taumarunui, abrasions to the face. MR. V, VILEY, farm worker, of Taumarunui, injured pelvis; condition satisfactory, MR. C. J. ROGERS, school teacher, of Taneatua, head injuries, lacerated right foot and cuts to hands; condition satisfactory. MB. C. W. BEEVES, commercial traveller, of 48 Naseby street, Christchurch, injury to the left leg and abrasions to the face.. The Wellington Tree Ambulance received a call by telephone at about 7.30 a.m., and two ambulancs were despatched. They reached the scene of the accident after an hour and aquarter’s run, and were back in Wellington by 10.45 with the five victims, who were all admitted to the Wellington Hospital. After treatment at the casualty department Mr J. Bush and Mr Beeves were able to leave hospital, EYE-WITNESS’S STORY. An eye-witness of the accident was Mr W, Howell, whose dairy farm is directly opposite where the slip occurred. Just after daylight Mr Howell went out into his paddocks to bring in his cows for their morning milking when his attention waj» attracted by the exposed clay soil of the sloping hillside. Realising that there must be a slip on the line and that the Main Trunk train was due to pass through Paraparaumu in a few minutes, he made a valiant but unsuccessful effort to intercept the south-bound express. “I was out getting in my cows when I saw the slip in the hillside,” said Mr Howell, ‘‘and although I could not actually see if it were across the line I knew it must be over the track. I looked at my watch and found it was 6.23 a.m. The train was due in a few minutes, and I immediately ran toward the station close on half a mile away. It was my intention to break the signal wire so that the arm of the signal would go up to the danger position, for I knew there was no-one on duty at the station at that hour. WAVED FRANTICALLY. ' ‘‘l was about 40 yards off the station when the engine whistled, and a moment or so later it passed through. I waved frantcially and called as loud as I could, but with the noise of the train and the poor visibility it was im possible for the engine crew to hear or see me. The rain was pouring in torrents, and I. should think the visibility of the driver would not be more than 50 yards.” Steps were immediately taken by Mr Howell to call assistance. He sent one of his boys to call the tablet master and Dr. Paterson, and with another he went in his lorry to the place of the accident. ‘‘Just as I arrived there,” he said, ‘‘the driver and stoker were crawling up out of the engine cab. The driver worked like a Briton and did everything he could for the distressed passengers.” COLLAPSED IN BITS. ‘‘Everything seemed to collapse in bite. The carriage was smashed to matchwooJ. and absolutely all that was left was the floor and debris,” one of the few passengers in the first carnage who escaped without a scratch, Mr H. A- Milne, a Hamilton business man, said in his description of the accident on his arrival at Wellington by a relief train. Mr Milne, who joined the Main Trunk express at Franktou <m Saturday, said that the train was doing an average speed at the time. The engine bad gone off the line down the bank. ‘•p saw the driver and fireman crawling out of the top of the cab,” Mr Milne said. He could not understand how nobody was killed. He felt the brakes being applied, and thM Ue engine struck. The right hand

side of the carriage and roof were thrown over and collapsed to the left. With that side they piled up like matchwood. Broken glass and debris was strewn over the floor and seats, all that remained of the carriage. Had the engine not gone off the line, Mr Milne said, the front carriages would have telescoped and the accident must have been much more serious. MOST SERIOUS INJURIES. His first job was to pull a girl passenger out from underneath the debris. The most serious injuries were received by a man who was crushed beneath the seats. ‘‘The most amazing thing of the lot was to see the driver and fireman climb out of the engine with no apparent injury, and join in the work,” Mr Milne said, Residents and settlers provided biscuits and tea, which was served in the guard’s van and was much appreciated. Ail hands set to in removing the injured. Men were seen running about in the rain without coats, which they had given to the women and children. Passengers in the sleeping ears gave their berths up to the injured and to the women and children. Everything possible was done for those who were hurt. There was little confusion, although some of the wcraen were affected by the shock. The relief train left the scene at about 10.15 and arrived back at Wellington shortly after 11.30. Some of the passengers had been brought to Wellington by taxis and private cars. Mr Milne mentioned that it was noticeable that nobody travelled in the front carriage of the relief train; they all piled into the back. Tension was still noticeable among the passengers on the relief train. It was raining heavily at the time of the mishap, Mr Milne said, and the passengers had to wade through mud and slush when they got out of the train and again on transferring to the relief train. CARRIAGES DISINTEGRATED. ‘‘The whole carriage disintegrated around us,” said Mr H. Stephens, a Christchurch engineer, who was also a passenger in the first carriage. ‘‘l can’t understand why we were not all killed. I went through the Great War, but I can’t remember being shaken up any more-than I was in this smash. ‘‘lt was all over in a few seconds, but I felt then that my end had come. I had a momentary glimpse of the carriage folding away from me, and then I was floundering among the seats and on the floor. The whole carriage seemed to come backward on us, and then it folded away. The peculiar twist it tcok undoubtedly saved us from serious injury or death. ‘‘l was amazed when I found that I had received nothing worse than a few bruises. Three or four other passengers were more seriously hurt, and I gave a hand in getting them attended to. ‘‘Just before the actual impact I felt the brakes being applied sharply, and then there was a rending, tearing crash. The train was travelling fast, but 1 wouldn’t care to estimate the speed.” crunching and splintering. Some idea of the impressions people in carriages further back received was given by Mr and Mrs J. Richards, of Levin, who were coming to Wellington to spend the day with their son. They were in the third car from the engine. “We heard a crunching and splintering sound and had the sensation of going off the line. We thought the leading carriages had already gone over,” Mr Richards said. ‘ ‘ The train went on a short distance after the engine went over the bank, and came to a stop with the second carriage level with the engine tender. The passengers in the first carriages were imprisoned for a time, as the cars had been driven together when the train eame to its sudden stop.” Mr Richards added: ‘‘lt wasn’t quite daylight at the time, and it was very wet and misty.” The front of the en-

gine camo to rest down on the road. The driver and fireman stuck to it. It tipped over on its side. ‘‘l have never seen so quiet an accident,” Air Richards continued. “Nobody got excited; all were calm and collected.” CARRIAGE DOORS JAMMED. The doors of the carriages, he said, were jammed, and there was some difficulty for the men to clamber out and assist the women passengers to alight. Mrs Richards received a slight head injury through being thrown against tlio seat in front, but there were no serious injuries outside the front carriage. A fanner nearby invited some of the women passengers up for tea, and tea was provided for others in the guard s van.