TRAINS COLLIDE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 30 March 1938, Page 7

TRAINS COLLIDE

A FIREMAN KILLED ACCIDENT ON AYLESBURY LINE ALL PASSENGERS ESCAPE [British Official Wireless] CHRISTCHURCH. This Day. The second fatal railway crash in the Dominion in under a week occurred at Aylesbury, on the West Coast line, at 5.30 a.m. to-day. A head-on collision between a goods train from Christchurch and a mixed train from the West Coast resulted in the death of a fireman on the Coast train, Mr Alfred Bailey, aged 34 years, of Christchurch. Mr Bailey, seeing that a collision was imminent jumped from the engine, but before he could regain his balance and race clear the postal and luggage van which left the rails crashed dow r n the bank and onto him. There were eight passengers in the carriage of the mixed train which was directly behind the engine. All were fortunate, for apart from one woman who was somewhat bruised there were no injuries. CAUSE OF ACCIDENT UNKNOWN The cause of the accident is as yet vague, but it is understood that the train from Christchurch was either stationary or was starting at the time of the impact.

The damage to the city bound train was by far the most extensive. The carriage next to the engine had started to telescope. The end and the two back seats were wrecked but fortunately for the occupants the telescoping stopped at that. Behind this carriage was the van and this ripped away the couplings and portion of the carriage platform as it slid down the bank. It was possibly a stroke of luck for the passengers as the van with another empty departmental carriage formed a buffer between the passenger carriage and the rest of the sixty odd vans and trucks which carried a miscellaneous cargo of sheep and cattle, timber, coal and apples. Behind the foremost carriages were four vans full of cases of apples. These were piled one on top of another in indescribable confusion. Most of the

woodwork was smashed and apple cases by the hundred burst, strewing thousands of apples amid the wreckage over the permanent way and for yards on each side of the line. As these vans tore away from the rails they heaped up the ballast into a pile and crashed down onto one of the standards bearing the lights used in the railway automatic signalling system. A similar standard on the other side of the line was also mown down by the postal

The Coast-bound train at the time of the crash was on a loop about a hundred yards from Aylesbury station. This train consisted of fifty or sixty heavy steel wagons, several of which were lifted bodily from the rails and were swung sideways so that they lay astride the main track. Twisted steel was evidence of the momentum of the crash.

Actually not a great deal of damage was done to the two engines. The tenders were pushed almost up to the footplates and the cow-catchers and fore-structure were naturally crumpled. A few of the wheels left the rails but otherwise there was little damage apparent. CLEARING THE LINE By 10.45 a.m. engines had arrived to remove the undamaged rolling stock and by 11 o’clock a break-down gang from Christchurch was on the scene, and a big crane arrived from Springfield. Every endeavour is being made to clear the main line by to-night, and if necessary the wreckage on the permanent way will be pushed over into a small depression beside the line so that the track may be repaired for tonight’s traffic. Bailey had been in the railway service for seventeen years, operating trains in the Christchurch district since the time of his appointment as a fireman. He was a married man and leaves a widow and a daughter of ten years. An early arrival at the scene of the accident was Mr W. Rogers, assistanttraffic manager at Christchurch; also Mr J. Binstead, chief locomotive engineer in the South Island. As to-day was Wednesday there was little inconvenience to passenger traffic, as it is a day when expresses do not run. However, a train from Springfield carrying about 40 school children and some adults was held up at Kirwee and the passengers were transported to Christchurch by bus. At the time of the accident the guard of the downward train received a severe jolting, as did the driver, who unlike the dead fireman did not risk a jump. The fireman who was trapped when the mail van turned on its side was crushed and killed instantly and his body had to be dug out A LONG TRAIN All the wagins of the upward train at the time of the crash were on a loop about 100 yards from Aylesbury station. the engine being the only portion of the train parked on the main line. The train was too long for th|) loop and it was intended to split the train by shunting a portion of it on to an adjoining loop. This goods train consisted of fifty or sixty heavy steel wagons, several of which were lifted bodily from the rails and were swung sideways so that they lay astride the main track. MAIL RETRIEVED Postal officials also visited Aylesbury to ‘retrieve the mail, which was removed from the van through a hole hacked in the roof. Luggage and goods were also removed through this hole. It is understood that at the time of ’ the impact the driver and fireman of j the train from Christchurch were not ( on the footplate. With no hope of

avoiding a collision they raced down the bank beside the line and through the fence adjoining it. As one of them remarked to a by-stander. he was chased through the fence by beer barrels which were in the truck directly behind the overturned mail car. The cargo consisted of cases of apples and about a dozen empty beer barrels, which when the truck overturned were decanted through the fence. FAMILY’S NARROW ESCAPE CHRISTCHURCH. This Day. Apart from the death of the fireman, there were no other serious injuries, Those who suffered most were a passenger. Mrs Rusbatch, of Arthur’s Pass, head injuries and shock; and Driver Young, of Christchurch, of the down train, head injuries and shock. Two passengers who suffered bruising were Messrs E. Quinn, of Waiuta, and T. McGuiness, slight shock, and A. B. Shand. of Palmerston North. The remaining passengers, all uninjured, were: Miss Dunn, of Moana. and Messrs Rusbatch, railway employee, of Arthur’s Pass. W. Downing and Dalziell. both of Kotuku. in addition to a two-year-old child of Mr and Mrs Rusbatch was not hurt. Members of the Rusbatch fc-nily had a narrow escape, for they were sitting at the end of the carriage next to tha engine of the down train. Actually the child was surrounded by debris but did not receive a scratch. GENERAL MANAGER LEAVES FOR CHRISTCHURCH WELLINGTON. This Day. In connection with the train colli, ion the General Manager of 'Railways, Mr Mack ley, left Rongolai at noon by air for Christchurch.