TRAIN WRECKED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22173, 29 July 1935, Page 10

TRAIN WRECKED

ESCAPE OF PASSENGERS EXIT THROUGH WINDOWS LOSS OF ROLLING STOCK SOUTHLAND DERAILMENT^ [BY TBIjKGRAPH—OWN con respondent] INVERCARGILL, Saturday The Seaward Bush line was the scene of one of the worst train wrecks in the history of Southland at 5.30 on Friday evening, when lo waggons and a carriage of a passenger and goods train from Invercargill jumped the rails. The smash occurred 20 miles from the city, between Gorge Road and Titiroa, and 200 yards of track were torn up. No one was hurt, but the 20 passengers on board had a most alarming experience. They were nearly all in the carriage which was derailed. Scenes of Confusion Nine waggons filled with ashes, two empty cattle waggons, four othei trucks and the first carriage completely left the rails and the leading bogey of the second carriage was also derailed, but the rear bogey remained on the track. The derailed waggons were strewn over the steep bank and at one place four or five were piled in a heap. The remainder were scattered in confusion. Ashes, which had filled the bulk of the trucks, were strewn everywhere, finding a strange resting-place among other goods that had been carried on the train. The fortunate escape of the passengers was emphasised by the heavy cant of the front carriage, which was balanced precariously at the very edge of a steep bank. Had it moved any further off the rails, or if the couplings had broken, it must have fallen completely over. Track Torn Up For 50 yards the rails on one side of the track were completely torn away, and for a considerable distance beyond they were spread. Sleepers had been broken like matchwood. The train had crossed the Mataura River railway bridge and had entered on a straight level section after a down grade when the accident occurred. The first derailment must have been that of a waggon near the middle of the train. The couplings broke a few trucks back from the engine, which proceeded a short distance _ with the remaining load before stopping. Passengers, giving an account of their experiences, said there was no panic, and women and children, as well as men, remained calm even when the compartment in which they were sitting came to rest at a perilous angle. The doors in the derailed car were jammed, and after some difficulty the passengers made their way out by the windows. Journey Completed In Truck The passengers trooped along the embankment to the locomotive, which had stopped some distance further along with two trucks still attached. They clambered into a truck containing several bundles of pressed hay. The truck behind, which was slightly damaged, was uncoupled, and the engine proceeded with the truck and its unusual freight to Titiroa, a mile and a-half away. A breakdown train from Invercargill, under the supervision of Mr. J. Dow, district engineer, arrived about 10.30, and a gang of about 20 worked through a bitterly cold night. The scene was still one of ruin on Saturday morning, but the line was cleared for traffic again fairly early on Saturday evening, and the train service will be run again on Monday. Rolling stock suffered severely and the broken trucks still remain alongside the embankment.