RAILWAY INQUIRY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23029, 5 May 1938, Page 16

RAILWAY INQUIRY

RATANA DERAILMENT PASSENGERS' STORIES EVIDENCE BEFORE BOARD WEARER OF BROWN COAT [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] "WELLINGTON, Wednesday Passengers on the excursion train which was derailed near Ratana on March 26 with the loss of seven lives, gave evidence to-day before the board eet up to investigate the disaster. The evidence was directed toward explaining an impression created by previous witnesses that there might have been-a third man in the cab of the engine at the time of the accident and to determining the speed of the train when it left the rails. The man referred to as wearing a brown coat and grey trousers was among the witnesses heard. * The board consists of Sir Francis Frazer (chairman) and Messrs. F. W. Furkert and H. L. Cole. Mr. H. F. O'Leary, K.C., with him Mr. F. W. Aickin, railway law officer, is representing the department and Mr^ C. G. Watson appears for the Enginedrivers' Association. Mr. Watson is also representing the driver of the train, Mr. E. Percival. Indefinite Adjournment The inquiry was adjourned late this afternoon and it will probably be resumed during the second week in June. So far 37 witnesses have been heard. The passengers heard to-day were called by the board at the request of Mr. Watson. Sir Francis Frazer said the board could not go any further in the meantime. Statements made by passengers to the police had been examined, but there was not a great deal more on the police files than had been disclosed at the inquiry. About half the passengers whose statements had been taken said the train was travelling too fast, and the other half maintained that the speed was moderate. At the instigation of the chairman counsel engaged on the inquiry will examine the police files to-morrow, when a decision will be made as to what additional witnesses will be called when the inquiry is resumed. Use ol Steel Cars Mr. F. J. Foote, appearing for the relatives of one of the victims, asked if the board thought it was within its order of reference to consider whether steel ears should be substituted for wooden cars in order to prevent loss of life in future derailments, and whether the department proposed effering evidence on this question. The chairman replied that although this was not in the order of reference he did not think there would be any objection if the board decided upon making any recommendation regarding the use of steel cars, cars with steel ends or steel in any part of their construction. The members of the board, said the chairman, had inspected the cars damaged in the accident and some were badly knocked about. The board had examined photographs that morning which showed the damage received by steel and wooden cars in other accidents. Steel cars, he added, did not seem to get knocked about so badly, but that depended on the violence of the collision.

Brown Coat and Grey Trousers William Henry Eden, a cleaner employed by the Railway Department at Wellington, said he was in the second car and en rqute to Wanganui. 1 He knew both the x engine-driver and the fireman and spoke to them at Palmerston North. Witness said he was wearing a brown coat and grey trousers He climbed on to the footplate at Palmerston North, but left the cab before the train departed. At Marton he gave up his seat to a woman. This seat was wrecked and the woman was killed. He did not notice anything abnormal about the speed after leaving Marton, and just before the accident it was slightly below normal. When he left the car he made toward the cab to turn off the steam, but scalded his foot in boiling water which was coming away from the locomotive. , In reply to a question by the chairman, witness said he may have confused steam from the engine with mist. Whatever it was it was not very thick. Witness gave the names of three friends who were in the same car. He said he spoke to them after leaving Marton.

The Chairman: There was just a\ suggestion at one stage that you might have been travelling on the engine. That is why I asked you this question about your friends. Witness added that he did not hear any whistles blown. Escaping steam after the accident, however, sounded like the whistle. Remark About Hot Bearing Frederick William Billows, of the Land and Income Tax Department. Wellington, said he was in the third car. At no time, said witness, was the speed excessive. He travelled in the same car as Mr. Winstone, an earlier witness, but did not notice the car swaying alarmingly from side to side. He was wide awake at the time' Ho spoke to the driver casually at Palmerston North and saw the previous witness, Mr. Eden, in the cab talking to the fireman. The driver was coming round the side of the locomotive with an oil can. Witness said: "Hullo. Having an oil up. I thought you would have had a 'K' engine on an excursion such as this." The driver replied that it was just his luck to strike an engine with a bearing running hot. Witness did not hear the driver say, "I'll get a bit of speed out of this later on." Nobody had ever asked him about this conversation until now. He had not discussed it with the driver or anvbody representing him. "He did not * hear any passenger suggest that the accident was due to speed. Cross-examined by Mr. O'Leary, witness said the man referred to by Mrs. Manning as having said tJje engine was going too fast was not witness. Thomas Joseph Calnan, storeman, of Wellington, who was in the front compartment of the third car, said that five minutes before the accident the speed did not appear to vary from that of the whole trip. He did not notice any swaying. Ho felt brakes go on a minute or so before the accident. Just before the accident the speed definitely decreased. The application of the brakes and the crash did not come simultaneously. He felt the brakes being released and the accident occurred no more tham 10 seconds later.