RAILWAY MISHAP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3823, 21 June 1927, Page 54

RAILWAY MISHAP.

SIX WAGONS DERAILED.

TRAIN TRAFFIC DELAYED.

The north express on Saturday was three hours and forty minutes late in reaching Dunedin. The delay was caused by derailed wagons obstructing the line between Mihiwaka station and Upper Port Chai mers, near where a washout occurred a few years ago. The derailed wagons were portion of the goods train which passes Port Chalmers about 3 p.m. from Oamaru. That train had emerged from the Mihiwaka tunnel and was steaming along the hillside on the down grade to Upper Port Chalmers, which was then’ the first station ahead. That particular section of the line is practically a continuous series of twists and turns owing to the permanent way largely following the undulations of the somewhat rugged hillside. Embankments, cuttings, and, in one place, a small tunnel, have reduced the natural angles to negotiable curves, and check rails are fitted to ensure safety and to reduce the wear and tear of tho rolling stock.

Tho goods train was negotiating those curves in tho usual way on Saturday afternoon, when an empty wagon near the engine left tho rails, despite tho preventive effect of tho check rail. Several other wagons were then dragged off the rails also. The shearing stress of the pul] snapped the couplings, and some of tho derailed wagons rolled over the bank and piled up on each other in a small gully below the line. Some of tho derailed wagons did not leave the permanent way. remaining more or less on the sleepers, and they wore jammed by the oncoming back portion of the train into a cutting which the locomotive was approaching when tho derailment occurred.

A few. tense moments were experienced. The engine and tender had escaped, and also the back portion of tho train, which included in front of the guard’s’ van a railway carriage in which a football team from Anderson’s Bay School was returning from a game at Seacliff. No one was injured.

Gangs. of men were hurried to the spot. As the track had not been damaged, it was decided to put the three derailed wagons in the cutting back on the rails, and convey them to the nearest available siding, which was at Sawyers’ 3ay. When the trucks had been replaced on the rails it was found that one of them was too severely damaged to keep on the metals. It was therefore thrown clear of tlic track and left a short distance from the cutting. The other two trucks were taken to the siding at Sawyers’ Bay. the intact portion of the goods train and the express following. The clearing of the < nek to let the express through took a little longer than was at first anticipated. It was, however, regarded as doubtful whether the despatch-of a relief train from Dunedin to convey the passengers would have saved much time in the circumstances. As the passengers would have to climb over broken and hilly ground in travelling from the express to the relief train it would have entailed a risk for the women and children in the dark. A little extra delay was considered preferable to the risk.

The cause of the derailment of the goods train has not yet been definitely established. The reason why the first wagon left the rails is not clear. The cause of the subsequent derailment of the others may have been due to manuka poets having been dislodged from one of the trucks and landing on the rails as a result of the jolting of the first truck. The wagon containing the manuka posts was one of those which went over the embankment and was piled up in the gully. In the gully were six wagons more or less damaged. The gully overlooks a portion of the beach on the south side of Deborah Bay where several old coal hulks lie stranded. Of tho wagons on the damaged goods train some were fully loaded, some partly loaded, and some empty.

The through express, timed to arrive in Dunedin at 4.18 p.m., did not reach Dunedin until 8.45 p.m., and left again at 9.15 p.m.. arriving at Invercargill about midnight. A departmental inquiry will be held this week.