RAIL FATALITY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23512, 24 November 1939, Page 8

RAIL FATALITY

WASHOUT ON LINE ENGINE FALLS 20 FEET DRIVER KILLED INSTANTLY ESCAPE OF PASSENGERS [IIV TKLKGKAPIT —OWN COTtKF.SrOXnENT] GREVMOTTth. Thursday The .engine of n mixed passenger and goods train from Christchurch to Greymouth, when nearing Knimatiu.shortly before four o'clock this morning, plunged 20ft. below the permanent way when it ran into a washout. Apparently it was carried from the lino by an avalanche of debris resulting from a movement appearing to have started following heavy rains experienced throughout the district during the previous 24 hours. The locomotive, an A class engine of 78 tons, toppled on to its side, and the driver, Mr S. M. Home, aged 44, married, residing at Cow per Street, Grevmouth, was caught in the cab, suffering injuries which indicated that death was instant. The fireman, Mr. M. J. Creighton, aged 33, married, residing in Cobden, and seven passengers in a carriage attached immediately behind the engine, had" a miraculous escape. Carriage Held Erect The scene of tho accident was a gradient between Kaimata and Stony Creek, about a mile and a-half on the Grevmouth side of Aratika, where the railway follows the edge of the Arnold River. The train consisted of an engine and tender, one passenger carriage, 43 goods trucks and vans, and a guard's van. ]t was proceeding at about five miles an hour when the . passengers noticed a sudden jolt, followed by a second and more severe bump and the noise of escaping steam. Although derailed, the carriage remained on the permanent way supported on one side by a telegraph pole and on the other by the engine tender, which remained in a vertical position, tho front portion being supported by the engine. Had the carriage tipped toward the other side it would in all probability have crashed over a bank at the side of the Arnold River. Fireman's Experience. Owing to the partial collapse of the cab, great difficulty was experienced in extricating Mr. Home and a large number o£ men was engaged from the early hours of the morning until almost one o'clock, the body being removed after the walls of the cab had been spread by jacks. The driver was still grasping the controls when his body was removed. Mr. Creighton said <that the line collapsed without warning, throwing the engine down the bank. He was thrown clear. Although temporarily dazed ho immediately secured a light. Going to the cab of the engine he called out to Mr. Home, but received no reply and was unable to locate him. When the steam cleared away he commenced to dig in the vicinity of the cab, being assisted by one of the men passengers. They were unable to make headway and Mr. Creighton proceeded to Kaimata, where he aroused a surfaceman and informed him of the accident. Gap of 75ft. The heavy rails completely snapped under the weight of the engine, but little damage was done on' either side of the subsidence. The gap left is about 7oft. in length. The engine had almost crossed on to the more solid ground when the filling gave way. The engine remains turned almost upside down. The tender, which was wrenched from the engine, rests partly on top of the driver's cab, the other end being wrenched from the carriage, but remaining level with the track and obviously retarding the further progress of the carriage toward the ravine. Slight damage was done to the front of the carriage, but it remained intact, the windows not even being broken. All the carriage wheels were derailed. Traffic Disorganised Traffic is disorganised as a result of the accident, but railway officials carried out a rearranged programme with great promptness. A large gang of men from all parts of the line was early on the scene and while one section was engaged in the work of extricating the driver, the other men were employed preparing a short deviation toward Hillside round the slip. Excellent progress was made and it is expected that the line will be reopened for traffic late to-night. Tho deviation involves the laying of more than 200 ft. of rail. The view that the movement of spoil occurred suddenly is supported by the fact that a particularly heavy goods train of 54 waggons with the same type of locomotive passed the scene two hours previously, when the line was in good order. Six Miles Speed Limit The accident occurred on an easy curve in the vicinity of which there have been a number of slips in recent years, and for the last two months a speed limit- of six miles an hour has been fixed. " Mr. Home, who bad had 30 years' service, mostly on the Frarikton and Te Kuiti sections, had been senior driver on the Westland section for the past 21 months. He leaves a wife and two young children.