RACE TRAIN COLLISION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19893, 12 March 1928, Page 8

RACE TRAIN COLLISION.

ACCIDENT AT PENROSE.

HORSE-WAGGONS CAPSIZED.

NO ANIMALS BADLY HURT.

ATTENDANTS' NARROW ESCAPE.

Several racehorses, including Sir Archie, fresh from victory in the Franklin Cup, narrowly escaped serious injury in a railway collision at Penrose Junction shortly before nine o'clock on Saturday evening. Three waggons in a special race-train bringing horses back to Ellerslie from the Pukekohe meeting were either derailed or overturned. One was empty, another was carrying three racehorses and the third was carrying four. The waggon carrying the three horses was completely overturned.

Two men, Messrs. J. Stenning and J. D. Kemp, who were travelling in the attendants' compartment, jumped clear just in time. There were frightened screams from the horses and the sound of the splintering of wood. It was over two hours before the carriages could be righted, and during that time the horses were kicking and struggling in frantic efforts to escape. Fortunately none of them was seriously injured.

The two trains concerned in the collision were both north-bound. The goods train, bound from Papatoetoe to Auckland, was backing from the main north line at a point on the Auckland side of the station, there being several empty trucks and unoccupied passenger cars, which were to be left at the Penrose yards. The race special, with its carloads of valuable horses, entered the station slowly and passed through. Both trains were moving slowly, but they met with a crash and in an instant the station was a scene of confusion.

Timely Jump to Safety. At the end of the goods train was a passenger car. It was derailed by the collision, while the engine of the race special was slightly damaged. Behind it was an empty horse waggon, the horses occupying it having been taken out at Otahuhu. It was completely derailed. Behind it, again, a waggon containing three horses, Sir Archie, Sir Henry and Spalmore, owned by Mr. F. T. Stenning, was completley overturned and lay across the line on its side. As it toppled over it tore the rear buffer from the empty waggon ahead. Mr. J. Stenning was on the point of entering one of the compartments to place a halter on a horse. The collision came and he jumped clear. Had .he entered the compartment he would have been trapped with a horse, mad from terror, and his chances of escape would have been negligible. A third waggon was partially derailed. It contained four horses, three of which belonged to Mr. J. Williamson. After the collision, attendants from the racetrain and station hands gathered at the scene, but it was realised that any attempt to rescue the imprisoned horses would be hopeless until the waggons were restored to the track.

Work of the Repair Gang. Mr. W. J. M. Andrew was the officer in charge at the station. He summoned the stationmaster and particulars of the accident were communicated to Auckland. As it was Saturday night some difficulty was experienced in getting together a relief gang, but a party of men arrived as soon as possible. Meanwhile, owners and trainers were almost beside themselves with anxiety to ascertain whether their horses had been injured. One of the primary considerations of the relief vgang was to clear a track for traffic, and with this end in view the derailed passenger car and waggon were righted and shunted into the station yard. The waggons on the race special which had escaped damage were shunted back into the station, and owners, frightened lest their horses might have been in the overturned waggons, were relieved to take delivery at Penrose instead of at Ellerslie. When one line was clear the attentions of the workmen were turned to the two waggons containing the imprisoned horses, It was shortly before midnight when they were righted and the frightened animals were unloaded 011 the spot. They were obviously still terrified, and, although none was seriously injured, several had lost skin and were badly bruised through their efforts to kick their way clear from the overturned trucks. The injuries to Sir Archie were the most severe. Vallar, a horse trained by Mr. Williamson, lost the skin from his hocks.

None of the overturned or derailed waggons was badly damaged. Some were a little splintered, but those containing the horses were well padded. The Interruption to Traffic.

Only a few trains were delayed by the accident. The down main line was cleared at 10.49, and for over an hour all north-bound traffic was diverted to this line. Trains from the south had to back from the station on to the down line and travel on it as far as Ellerslie. A pilot guard accompanied each train, both north and south-bound, to avert any possibility of further accidents.

The fast train from Frankton to Auckland was delayed for about an hour at the scene of the accident and did npt arrive at Auckland until nearly midnight. Another suburban passenger train running from Papakura to Auckland, due to leave Penrose at 9.58, did not pass through until 10.49. It was the first passenger train to pass through from the south. A number of passengers on the train which leaves Auckland for Papakura at 8.20 suffered some inconvenience. The train was cancelled at Penrose and the passengers were transferred to the train leaving Auckland at 9.47. This left Penrose shortly after eleven o'clock, about an hour behind time. The train leaving Auckland for Papatoetoe at 11.15 was delayed for only 20 minutes. The derailment did not result in any damage to the track and this greatly expedited the work in clearing both lines. When the main up line was cleared shortly before midnight, everything was in normal order.