THE DERAILED EXPRESS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18168, 14 August 1922, Page 6

THE DERAILED EXPRESS

extensive damage done, disorganisation limited. SCHEDULE SERVICES RESUMED. The damage causcd by the sensational derailment of the Main Trunk express southward on Friday night at Drurv will run into several thousand pounds. No official estimate has yet been made but it is stated that the repairs to the ■shattered track and splintered and broken rolling stock will bo fairly extensive. So far, departmental activity has been concentrated on temporary work, rhe replacement of the permanent way is now in hand. Those who have seen the original results of the smash and also the temporary repairs so promptly effected are- cordial in expressing appreciation of the work accomplished. In less than 12 hours after the arrival of th« first team of an efficient breakdown gang a detour track some six chains in length had been laid down past the huddle of wrecked rolling stock, and through train services resumed. The work, which was done without an interval for food, is accepted as a very creditable achievement. The disorganisation of the southern railway service of the province was not extensive. It was restricted practically to the accommodation of the passengers of the derailed train, who arrived in Wellington five hours late, and to a lesser extent to the passengers on the express from Wellington on Saturday morning. They also had to change trains at Drury, but as a special train awaited them on the north side of the damaged track, their arrival at Auckland was only Ih. 48m. belated. The express from the South yesterday morning was only 43m. late on arrival at Auckland. The Rotorua express on Saturday was on time. Scheduled running is now the general rule. The only difference from the normal time-table is a little delay to the through trains in reducing speed over the temporary deviation at the scene of Friday night's mishap. Passengers by the incoming expresses since the accident all agree that the passengers by the derailed train had a providential escape from disaster. Work ol the Breakdown Gang. There was no delay at Auckland headquarters in mustering a breakdown gang of competent workers with essential equipment for handling wrecked rolling stock. Immediately on receipt of the news of the accident from Drury the acting-inspector, Mr. Wilkins, left the Auckland yards on a motor " jigger," and called out platelayers and surfacemen on. his way to the locality of the smash. On arrival there the first task was to' drag apart from the eanashed postal vans two derailed passenger coaches, one of which, the nearest to the vans, had not been occupied. These were quickly jacked up and restored to the main line and taken back on the line, as had previously the main train of abandoned carriages. About midnight the breakdown train arrived with more workers, and essential gear, rails, and sleepers. The fact, that the smash had fortunately occurred at the siding north of Drury station facilitated the work of laying down a detour track. Some scop© was afforded for building up a new trssck-bed along tht ' embankment. This was done with ra-

markable speed in the circumstances, and by 9.30 a.m. on Saturday ten chains of a temporary line cleared the way for traffic. The first test of the temporary track was made slowly, and its result? were satisfactory enough to justify an adjournment for a well-earned breakfast. The more laborious work of reraon'of the derailed and damaged rolling stock, some of which had been deeply. embedded in the clay of the formation bed, and repairing the permanent way was begun on Saturday morning. Good progresn is reported. Extent of the Damage. A detailed official report of the damage is not yet available, though it is admittedly extensive. The derailed engine was imported from England turn ago, and is of the powerful type, S3 its * 4 service required. Though the extent of damage to it is very much lees than tht> circumstances of the mishap suggested, considerable repairs will be required. Some of the undergear has been shattered, and the rear axle is useless. It will probably be mounted on new wheelu on the ground and run by its own povrev to the repair shop, since none of the more vital gear has been smashed. The cylindrical tender and th# twii postal vans suffered all the violence of imj>act with the track formation, as they weie dragged like tractors through a bed of scoria into the yielding clay of a comparatively new embankment. The understructure of fsush represents a sorry wreck, while much of the upper parts has been splintered and broken. The permanent way for about ICOyd.'j. was rudely torn and twisted. Three set* of points "to the siding were irreparably smashed: sleepers were shredded like flax, and several lengths of rail split icto many jagged strips. The tearing, rending force of the derailed train must have been tremendous. Safety o! the Public. As regards the revived suggestion that the make-up of the express trains should be changed in order to place a so-called shock-absorbing van between the engine and occupied coaches, a railway official , points out that such a provision would be a somewhat doubtful safeguard. It is not so much a question of looking for accidents, as it is a matter oi taking every practical precaution against disaster. That i 3 now the fixed policy of the Railways Department in New Zealand. The first and dominant rule in the service is consideration of the safety of the travelling public. THE ENGINE AND THE COW. FAMOUS ANECDOTE RECALLED , A famous anecdote regarding the relative strength of a locomotive and a cow is brought to mind by the cause of the ~ derailment of lie Main Trunk express on Friday night—the straying of several cattle on to the line. George Stephenson, the inventor of the railway locomotive, when appearing in 1825 before a. select committer of the House of Commons to support h'a application for the building of the Liver" pool and Manchester railway, was asked by the opposing counsel, representing the canal interests, whether he would not consider it an awkward circumstance should a cow stray upon the line while his engine was travelling at a rate of nine or ten miles an hour. . . " Yes," replied Stephenson in his nortnoountry brogue, and with a twinkle in his eye, " very awkward indeed —for th 9 cow."