RAILWAY ACCIDENT

Taranaki Daily News, 21 July 1933, Page 11

RAILWAY ACCIDENT

“GHOST TRAIN” DERAILED. EXPRESS CUT IN HALVES. Twelve passengers in the “Ghost Train” —that is its name locally, on account of the few people who travel in it—had a remarkable escape from injury shortly after dawn s.n June 1, when the train, travelling at 60 miles an hour, was suddenly derailed near Rugeley, Staffordshire. The permanent way was ploughed up for a distance of about 300 yards; sleepers, smashed to pieces, were strewn over the track. The coaches of the train, which broke in two, were leaning over the torn metals at a precarious angle, some of the wheels being embedded nearly two feet in the track. The fact of the train breaking in two in this way relieved the strain on the engine, "which kept on the rails, and it is thought that this prevented the accident from being more serious. There was a gap of 100 yards separating the second and third coaches when they finally came to rest. The back wheels of the tender were the first to run off the lines, followed by the six coaches. All the 12 passengers, of whom eight were women, had an alarming experience, but not one was hurt. A guard was bruised.