TRAIN DERAILED

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20927, 5 January 1938, Page 5

TRAIN DERAILED

MUCH DAMAGE DONE By Telegraph—Press Association NEW PLYMOUTH. January 4 Rail communication in North Taranaki was cut off this morning, when a large special meat train from Patea to New Plymouth was derailed at Durham Road. Five trucks went off the line, three of them being badly crushed and twisted. The track was also considerably damaged for some distance, the rails being buckled. No one was hurt. A wrecking gang was sent from New Plymouth, and at noon a work train arrived from Wanganui. In spite of the extensive damage, it was expected to have the line clear by 3 p.m. A feature of the smash was that the wheels of one truck came off the line a mile before the actual smash, the track being scored for this distance. As the line was completely blocked, the Auckland-New Plymouth express and the New Plymouth-Wellington express were both delayed. The passengers from Auckland were transhipped by buses past the scene, and went on by train to New Plymouth. The Auckland express was then transformed into the train for Wellington.