SERVICE DISRUPTED
ELECTRIC TRAIN DERAILED By Telegraph—Press Association WELLINGTON, July 13. The new electric, railway service to Johnsonville was not available for nearly four hours owing to the derailment to the Kaiwarra Gorge of the 6.15 a.m. stock train from Wellington to Johnsonville. The cause of the derailment is quite a new one to railway history of the Dominion. Apparently as a result of very heavy rain, a heavy deposit of silt or soil Interfered with the track circuits of the automatic signal, which is operated by the train wheels. The weight of the locomotive apparently was great enough to cut through the silt and keep the signal at the clear, but after two trucks got by, the points went across. It is thought that because the trucks were too light to overcome the silt and retain the circuit, the following trucks therefore tried to take a different track from the engine. Two trucks were completely derailed and a third partly derailed.
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Bibliographic details
Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21088, 14 July 1938, Page 9
Word Count
162SERVICE DISRUPTED Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21088, 14 July 1938, Page 9
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