WRECK AT PUKEKOHE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 388, 23 June 1928, Page 1

WRECK AT PUKEKOHE

THIRTY-FIVE TRUCKS DERAILED MANY CATTLE KILLED JUST before dawn this morning an early goods train from Frankton, bound for Auckland, crashed to destruction on the main railway line between Pukekohe and Paerata. Thirty-six trucks were piled in indescribable confusion, and smashed to matchwood. About 30 cattle were either killed in the accident or had to be shot immediately afterwards. The engine and 12 other trucks and two vans held to the line and none of the train crew was injured.

The track was torn up for a distance of about 150 yards and the rails and sleepers twisted and tangled among the broken woodwork of the trucks. The main line was completely blocked, and passengers from the Limited did not reach Auckland until 12.30 o’clock to-day by special relief trains. The mishap apparently resulted from a four-wheeled truck leaving the rails about a quarter of a mile from a small bridge over Adams Creek. The derailed truck crossed one small bridge, and tho whole train came to grief just

before the next. The truck next to the engine was apparently the first to leave the line and it was hit by the following trucks, six of which carried 48 bullocks between them. Eighteen trucks of coal followed these, and four trucks of timber finally piled themselves on the lot before the remainder of the train came to a standstill. Trucks toppled over the bank, turned upside down, stood on end and piled themselves in heaps on both sides of the line. The impressions of the guard, Mr. C. Filmer, were that an airpipe had burst. The end of the train did not feel the concussion of the smash. He went forward immediately and finding the extent of the catastrophe, crawled over the wreck to find out how the engine crew had fared. Imprisoned Animals Neither the driver, Mr. Currie, not the fireman had been hurt, and the engine was still on the rails. The driver took the engine on to report the accident at Paerata, and the guard immediately endeavoured to do something for the unfortunate animals. Tie was very quickly joined by Mr. H. N. Svendsen, a farmer, who heard the smash and came down with a lantern to investigate. Axes were secured and as many as possible of the animals were liberated. About a third of the number in the trucks had been killed outright when the trucks telescoped, and 10 others were shot by the police shortly after the accident. Another neighbour, who was milking near by. heard the dragging caused by tho truck and then an awful shattering noise as the 35 trucks piled themselves into wreckage. He said that neither during nor after the accident did he hear any cries of distress from the injured animals, and he did not know there were any on the train until he arrived on the scene. At the time of the accident the train was on a down-grade, the derailed truck having left the line on one bend and the train finally piling itself up on another. The derailed truck was running on the outside of the bend, otherwise the accident might not have occurred. The grade is not a steep one. There is a creek on one side and a swamp on the other, the track standing high above the swampy ground. The wreckage extends for 30 feet on either side of the line. When the trucks left the line and went over the side they carried away a concrete telegraph pole and broke all comniLinication with the stations south of the accident. Mass of Wreckage The wrecked and overturned trucks smashed completely through the trucks which immediately followed the engine and piled themselves up for a chain past the present resting place of the truck which caused the trouble. Wreckage is piled to a height of 20 feet above the line, and is a mass of dead bullocks, splintered timber, twisted metal, coal, batteries being transported for the Railway Department, and general merchandise. The train which was overtaken by disaster was running late. She was dLie in Auckland at 6.24 o’clock this moi*ning, but had been passed by the first express due in Auckland at 6.41 a.m. at Whangarata. some distance on the Frankton Junction side of Pukekohe. Immediately news of the disaster was

received in Auckland a repair train was sent out from Newmarket, leaving at 7.30 o’clock. It carried a large repair gang of workmen, tools and a breakdown van. Soon afterwards several of the executive officers from Auckland left for the accident to give their assistsance. Mr. E. Casey, divisional superintendent; Mr. J. F. Mackley, locomotive engineer; Mr. J. K. Lowe, district engineer; Mr. J. G. Rickerby, traffic manager; Mr. J. Low, engineer, new works; and several others were among those who travelled down to assist with the

organisation of relief trains and repairs. Buses for Passengers Motor-cars and motor-buses were requisitioned from Pukekohe and neighbouring districts and a fleet of them carried passengers from the Limited and other trains from Pukekohe to Paerata, where they caught the relief trains for Auckland. Several extra cars were sent out on the Tauranga express, which left Auckland at 8.30 o’clock. Relief trains were also organiser from the Frankton Junction end, and it is not expected that there will be very much delay in getting passengers transferred. Relief gangs were gathered from the neighbouring railway areas and were soon at work engaged in clearing the line. The broken and damaged wagons were removed from the line and gangers set to work to repair the rails in order to allow the ordinary traffic through. It was thought at a late hour to-day that the line would be clear by tonight. Some of the stock on the train was being sent to R. and W. Hellaby, Ltd. Linesmen soon repaired the telephone and telegraph wires. The first relief train with lifting gear was on the spot at noon, but before this a large gang of railwaymen had been engaged clearing a way for tho truck carrying the crane and putting one new rail on the bridge, replacing one buckled in the accident. For a distance of nearly a chain no rails or sleepers remained on the track after the accident. There was some delay in procuring an engine to remove the back portion of the train which remained on the line and, until noon when an engine arrived, the gang could only work at clearing one end. The intention of the railway staff is to re-establish the line as quickly as possible and to clean up the wreckage as opportunity offers. Clearing - the Line The wrecked trucks will be tipped off the line and the engineer in charge considered that he would have the line clear for traffic late this afternoon. Because of the position of the mishap it was practically impossible to transfer passengers and their luggage round it. Every available bus and taxi in Pukekohe was requisitioned by the Railway Department and passengers were quickly transferred at Pukekwe and Paerata to their respective trains. The Pukekohe railway yard became taxed to its utmost during the morning and relief was gained by transferring a number of railway vehicles to Mercer. The cattle which escaped serious injury did not take the matter very peaceably, and at the scene of the wreck a policeman with a loaded shot gun was kept fairly busy either disposing of the injured bullocks or keeping an eye on one or two which displayed a tendency to dispute the rights of the spectators. Owing to the rather isolated position of the scene of the smash there was only a small number of spectators, anti the railway men had every opportunity to make a quick job of the clearance.

Bicycle Stolen.—Andrew Peter Jensen. aged 25. who pleaded guilty at the Police Court to-day to a charge of stealing a bicycle valued at £B, was remanded to appear for sentence next Thursday.