DERAILMENT OF TRUCKS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19394, 31 July 1926, Page 11

DERAILMENT OF TRUCKS

THE ACCIDENT NEAR POKENO. EXTENSIVE DAMAGE DONE, WORK OF CLEARING LINE. REPAIRS EFFECTED PROMPTLY. A noise like thunder followed by a crash that rent the still air of the night was the first startling indication to residents of the quiet Pokeno valley that 17 goods trucks attached to the AucklandWellington express goods train had become derailed late on Thursday evening. The derailment was one of the most nerious of its kind in the history of the New Zealand railways. Several of the trucks were shattered completely, and seme five chains of the main trunk line were torn and twisted almost beyond recognition. With 50 heavily-laden trucks and guard's van, the train left Auckland at 7.50 p.m. Everything apparently went ■well until the engine cleared Pokeno station, when the driver, Mr. A. Manning, felt a grating, and thought a hose pipe had broken. He quickly pulled the train up and on looking out found to his dismay that the rear portion of the train had left the rails and many of the trucks were piled up on the side of the line. A remarkable thing was that the guard, Mr. T. F. Donehue, also thought a hose pipe had broken and alighted prepared to remedy the trouble. Track Carried Away. Investigation showed that the twentysixth truck from the engine—a large heavily-laden freezer —and sixteen other trucks back to the sixth from the guard's van, had been forced from the line. The train was travelling at about 25 miles an hour at the time along a perfectly straight track and the driving force of the trucks as they left the rails must have been terrific for they carried everything before them. One side of tha track was carried completely away and buried beneath scoria, while many of the sleepers were clea;i cut as if by a saw. The trucks themselves piled up in a destructive looking heap at the side of the line and some of them were battered and splintered beyond repair. The driver, guard and fireman, Mr. H. Galbraith, escaped uninjured. The accident happened at about 10.30 o'clock and two hours later a break-down train was rushing to the scene from Auckland with gangers and repair and salvage gear. At two o'clock yesterday morning work was commenced in making a temporary track. Use Made of Siding. Fortunately, running alongside the main track where the accident occurred, was a dead end siding terminating beyond the damaged main line. Preparations were made to join this line with the main rails south of the accident. To appreciate the difficulty of this task i« must be remembered that the rails had to be bent to meet the distance between the two tracks. Aided by gas flares, the men worked almost feverishly to complete the task to enable the first express from Wellington to pass through. Sleepers were relaid, strong rails bent, and bolts driven home. Meanwhile, another gang was engaged in the dangerous work of removing from the main line a heavy covered goods van that had broken couplings from the rest of the train. This van lay half on the track and half over the edge of a steep bank. At first it »was proposed to remove the cased merchandise'stored in it but owing to its precarious position this was abandoned. Four iron girders were suspended from the opposite bank to the side of tht track and the van was gradually forced on to them. At a quarter to five the work of connecting the Wo sets of rails was completed and there was breathless silence as an engine tested tho new track. She passed over without a quiver and the Auckland-Wellington main line was announced clear. " This ?s the best piece of repair work I have ever seen," declared a prominent official. Half an hour later the first express from Wellington passed slowly and safely over the new line. The Cause a Mystery. On all sides one heard theories as to how the accident happened, but the definite cause remains a mystery. Some said one of the waggons broke an axle. From mark 3 on the line it is practically certain that one of the waggons, probably the big freezer, left the rails about a mile north of Pokeno. The indent is quite visible. Just where the accident occurred there is what is known as a " frog" or projecting piece of rail running from the main track at an intersection. It is presumed that the derailed truck caught this and that the force of the impact threw other waggons off the rails. It was surely an act of Providence tha,t the accident occurred where it did. The railti are guarded by low banks on either side and the derailed waggons were prevented from going far. Fifty yards further south the land falls away on either side of the track and had the derailment occurred here it is probable that the whole train would have been carried away. A little further south is a bridge crossing the Pokeno Creek, There were those who visioned the destruction that would have been wrought had the accident occurred at the station. The opinion was that the train would have been completely wrecked. A Scene of Destruction. With the break of day, one got a complete idea of the actual damage. Seen with the aid of the gas flares the pile of wreckage seemed unreal, but in the cold light of the morning tho picture was one of disaster. In one spot four or five trucks were smashed together. The woodwork was sadly splintered and the contents, if not strewn on the ground, were visible for all the world to see. Resting' upright on a shattered truck was a piano, still intact in its wooden case. It apparently escaped undamaged. In another place two boxes of cabin biscuits had been thrown out by the impact and the eontentg strewn over the line. Not a few made an early morning breakfast of them. Oranges and* lemons floated in the rainwater beside the track. The stout- home signal was torn right up and lay beneath the wreckage, thirteen yards from its former resting place. Other goods that had been uncovered included towels, furniture and agricultural implements. The damaged trucks were labelled as follws: —Taumarunui, 3; Te Kuiti, 3; Hamilton, 3; Te Awamutu, 3; Frankton, 2; Otorohanga, 1; Ohakune, 1 and WanEfanui, 1. "It is difficult to estimate the damage •to goods, rolling stock, and track, but it lis expected to ran into a large figure. Little Disorganisation Caused. Little, if any, disorganisation occurred In train services. The ordinary and limited expresses from Wellington were held up a few minutes at Mercer. The most serious delav was to the Herald special train to Frankton. This was held up at Whangarata and passed through Pokeno about an hour and a-half late. Several railway officials gathered at the scene of the accident soon after it happened. These included Mr. J. K. Lowe, district engineer, Mr. J. Gordon, inspector of permanent ways, Mr. v\. Thompson, traffic inspector, Mr. G. F. Martin, locomotive foreman, and Mr. J. H. Crowhurst, train examiner. The work of removing the goods from the trucks was commenced yesterday and will be continued to-day. To-morrow the department is sending a special crane to the scene of the accident and with the aid of this the damaged waggons will be lifted on to fiat trucks and taken to the Workshops at Newmarket for repairs.