THE SOCKBURN SMASH.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 157, 4 June 1934, Page 2

THE SOCKBURN SMASH.

INQUIRY AT ONCE. Per Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, June 4. Specialists from the head office of the Railway Department will arrive in Christchurch to-morrow to hold an inquiry into the Sockburn smash. A representative of the men will sit with them and the findings of the inquiry will be delivered to the General Manager, Mr G. H. Mackley. Several causes could have been responsible for the accident. Failure of the signal system has been suggested and tests have been carried out by experts to decide this point. Evidence on the tests will be given to-morrow. An alternative explanation is that the driver of the Little River train failed to see the automatic signal if it was against him. Both the driver and fireman stated after the accident that the signals gave them a clear road. A woman who was near the crossing at the time said the signals there were obscured by smoke from the two locomotives on the south express and that it would have been impossible for the driver to see them. Visibility was ba.d on Saturday evening -with a heavy drizzle and ro moonlight. Under normal conditions, with the express in the position it was there would be the usual red light against the oncoming train and further back a caution signal showing yellow. The report of the smash appears on page 8.