A RAILWAY MISHAP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14508, 24 October 1910, Page 9

A RAILWAY MISHAP.

SLEEPING PASSENGER'S SHOCK.

An unusual mishap, which startled some of the passengers in a first-class smoking compartment, occurred to the inward Main Trunk express on Saturday morning at Papatoetoe. As the train passed that station the automatic tablet exchanger, for some reason failed to act, and did not spring back after the passing of the engine, to its proper position. The result was that part of the attachment struck the Eido of a window of ono of the wider type of carriages. The result was the tearing away of part of the heading of the window and the smashing of the glass. A passenger was- asleep in the reclining chair list inside the* window, but tho falling of a shower of glass on the back of his head brought his slumbers to a sudden end. He fortunately escaped injury, though had he been in an upright position the consequences might have boon more serious. The floor of tho carriage in front of the window was strewn with fragments of the broken glass, but another passenger, who called at this office on Saturday, stated that although there was an officer of the Railway Department in uniform on tho platform of the carriage, neither lie nor the guard took the trouble, to go into the carriage to inquire whether anybody was hurt.

On inquiry being made from (ho Department, it was stated that the train was stopped immediately after the occurrence in order to investigate the cause, and that although the guard did not go through the carriage, ho doubtless made himself aware of the fact that no passengers had been injured. The passenger who occupied the scat next to the broken window, had, it was stated, reported tlio matter on arrival at Auckland, but had made no com plaint.

The accident is said to be a most unusual ono, and the local traffic manager, Mr. Howies, elates that it is the first time in. his experience that such a. mishap has occurred. The exchangers occasionally fail to do their work properly, but in no other case has any part of the attachment come into contact with a carriage. The exchanger in question will, of course, be examined, in order to ascertain why it failed to act.