CLAIM AGAINST CROWN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21403, 21 July 1939, Page 6

CLAIM AGAINST CROWN

Railway Employee’s Action Injury In Shunting Accident Evidence For Plaintiff Evidence for the plaintiff from eight I witnesses was heard in the Timaru I Supreme Court \e.ht?rday in the civil |ca e in which Herb ?rt Lawrence I Cou thlan is claiming 1’295 4s 10c! j special damages and £1250 general i damages ficm the Crown as a result lof an accident in which .he was mI voiced while employed by New Zealand j Railways as a porter. His Honour Mr | Justice Northcroft pre-ided. Mr E. I D. Blundell : ppeored for the plaintiff I and Mr W. D. Campbell for the Crown. i The following jury was empanelled: ! Messrs J. Burris (foreman’, L. S. Dunn, ‘C. C. Kinsman, D. Ilalkelt, S. M. ; Brown, W. P. Hendry. J. R. Irvine, I R. Hyde, C. Currie, H. C. Bradley, A. E. Chapman. J C. Wham.. i Outlining the case lor Coughlan. Mr I E. D. Blundell said that th? accident i occurred on May 23 last year, when j Coughlan, a junior porter employed by I the Railways Department, was injured I in the course of shunting operations, j Coughlan was engaged in his duties ?.s a yards and points man and was assisting to make up trains to leave | Timaru and to break up trains that had arrived. He was aware from the station orders issued each morning I that a train had to be made up to go to Winchester, and he began coupling up a rake of empty waggons on No. 3 road. When he was coupling between the seventh and eighth ti ticks and was in the act of fxXing the Westinghouse brake something happened and the next thing he knew was that he was lying at the side of the track. He did not know what had happened but others saw it. While he was coupling

the trucks the Cave train had moved through the station along the main line and backed into tire yard;-, the van hitting the rake o trucks that Goughian was coupling with suc’i force that it moved the waggons. The plaintiff contended that the shunting of the i Cave train had been nt too great a I speed and that it v.v; a source of | danger to a man in Goughian's posi- • tion. The yard forema had given no signal for the train to slow down i and evidence would shew he received a great shock when the train hit the rake of trucks. Several persons who saw what happened would say that the train was going too fast and some of them made heroic efforts to stop it hitting the rake of trucks, but the ; efforts were made too late. None of them had seen Goughian and had I acted purely because they thought the I train was going too fast. A guard had | seen the tail of a coat between the 1 trucks and had called a warning that Coughlan had not heard. That was not surprising as there was considerable noise in the yards at the time. There were two main allegations of negligence against tiie Crown. Plaintiff would allege that the shunting operations had been carried out in a negligent manner in that ’he shunting train had been allowed to go back to the rake of trucks at an excessive | speed that caused the whole rake of trucks to move as one. At the normal shunting speed a heavy train such as the Cae train would in contact with empty waggons cause a jolting of each truck f turn that would have warned Coughlan and given him time to get out of the way. Even if ~e could not get out of the way tl e jolt at a normal speed would not be sufficient to knock a man off his feet. It was contended that had the train gone in at the proper speed the a"cidon 1 ' would not have happened. It. w's also alleged that there was it efflcicncey in that a man could be pla cd . rucl. a position that he was in danger and that no warning of any sort had been given. A certain amount of risk was inevitable in that work, '.ut those directing the shunting should have known that Coughlan was there in the proper performance of his duties. Tb.e'c was Tine fault in the system if they did not know he was there, and if there wr : a negligent .-y.de operation the Department was liable. Coughlan had his right foot run over and had lost four toes ami a .T of the big toe. lie had been i i hospital for five mouths the fust tim . am’ some time after dis< irgr he had Io go to hosp "al again. He had been off work for a year and It I rermamml disability. He was ir.ai ie Io run and his foot hurt ” hen Im ns standing or walking for any lenidh ol time. II" was unable to do I It type of work at which he had been employed, but I the Department .tad been considerate and had given him a clerk's job. Plaintiff's Evidence Coughlan. in evidence, said he was at present employed al Dunedin, but at the lime of I he .accident he was a junior porter at Tininrn where he had commenced work in September, llltili. j On the morning of M: ' 03 [933 |.,, was on yards ami poi ; duly and he was working on (lie making of the 1 train going to Win Tier, receiving I instructions to make up the train at 11.30. He did not receive specific instructions, but knew that as pari ol J his work as yards and points man It would have to make up the tram, lie was working at the southern ml of I No. 3 road, reaching the I’o odd wag- | .nuns there at approximately 11.30. None of them was coupled. He described the condition of the I rucks, and his actions before Hie accident. ” When lie was between fie seventh and eighth waggons he was in lhe ael 01! coupling the We.-.|ineliutl.ie hose ami Iliad both feet on lhe p.roiimt when net I car knocked. The next lie I new he w.c. | on the ground at the side of the wagI gons. He heard no sound of jolting ’ ol \\:a futons. nor did hi* hoar any ■ J warniin:. Thorp was a fair bit of ! uois? in the yard and there was an engine nearby blowinn oil strain. He saw the Cave special come m on the! | main line, but he had no idea th.)' i the train was to be backed on t<> his road. 'l'b.c time of that (rail, comma l 1 in varied considerably and it normalh I

(': t ire t a ' . ee no ol a train appiomliiD.g. although lie ! entrance to No. 3 road. He had prei viously been engaged in coupling when I a train had rim into the trucks an I at normal pare the standing trucks jolted from one to another so th g I he had limo tn get out of the way. ; This time ho heard no jolt. ( ress-I xaniination To Mr Campbell Coughlan said the Cave train was (ntirely a goods train, and would have io b? broken up at .■ Timant. It could go into the goods | yard lor that purpose either from the north or from the south end. He knew that if it did not go in from the north end it would have to go from the south. He saw it pass that morning and knew it would have to come back into the yard, but he had no idea what I road it would go into. He did not think i it would go into No. 3 road as the trucks on which he was working were in that road. To put more vehicles into No. 3 road it was just a matter of pushing along the vehicles

on which he was working. He hac not been told the Cave train was goint into any other road and he had not or any previous occasion been told whai read it, would go into. He had frequently. from th? beginning of May been getting the Winchester train together. but he could not remembei working on it as lhe Cave train came in. Ii the Cave train did not come ir ou the road on which he was working it was possible for other trains to come in on that road. There were examinations in the shunting rules but he hac not been examined and he had nevei been supplied with the rules. A mar coupling trucks knew he would get nc warning if there was an approaching rake of trucks, and lie knew he had to rely on his own alertness, a fact that was impressed upon the men. He had been told by the yard foreman that his personal safety was the first consideration and he had been warned to keep a sharp look-out for vehicles approaching. It was his duty to know the signals, and when a driver gave two "pops” on the whistle it meant he was going to reverse. The driver could not go astern without giving the t—o "pops.” He did not hear them from the Cave train. If he had he would have looked out for it. A train might take a while after the two "pops’ before it came back. He would not j doubt the driver of the fireman if they said the signal for reversing was given. I He had definite instructions from Mr | Watson to couple those trucks for the Winchester train. To Mr Blundell he said the trucks to the south were all the same height and would be a foot above him. “Going Too Fast” J. D. H. Mclntyre said he was working at the north end of the yard on the morning of May 23 and while walking between No. 2 and No. 3 roads he saw the Cave special go past. It passed b in. went to the south end of the yard to the cross-over from No. 1 road. He saw it approaching the points and he considered it was going too fact. He saw Mr Gardiner, the foreman, give the signal for the train to come back. Air Blundell: Would you say it was going too fast to meet a rake of trucks? Mr Campbell objected to the question as a leading one. "It is not only leading.” said his Honour, "but it is the very question the jury will have to answer." He did not see anyone signal for the train to slow down, said Mclntyre. H? considered a man in the rake of trucks would be in danger as the train was tiavelling too fast. He saw the bump between the train and the rake of trucks and he did n- ' think too pace of the tram had altered. No sooner had he heard the report than all the waggons moved. lie was about j a rds away. He did not see Coughlan before the accident. but saw him a Iterwards. To Mr Campbell lie said that as a * m faceman he had no experience of shunting. As lie was not a shunter he had not taken i n notice oi what particular speed would be dangei ’is. Alter stopping before turning. back the van would, have to go. roughly. ?.)■) yards before it reached the standing trucks. Robert Frederick 'kivey, who was on the north eml oi tie. \an of the Cave Ham at the lime oi tin* accident. si d he had not seen Gardner give uiv signal to tlu* driver to slow tin* Hain up. Warned by another .••hmue. of the impending lol'o.-ion he had moved to the centre ot the platform to prepare lor it. the impact, a heu.y our, shot him through the door into lie \iiu. lie had watched Mr Gardner signalling as he had not iced the speed ol Ihe I rain and , anted ( » .see it Mr Gardner intended to sleadv the driver He hint not opcraird Hie brake in th" guard.- van a . he had not feared anv danger. Al t»l■« a I 1 i iiiriice Hr J C Ah Ken io. medical sunerin lciide.it ol lhe limaru Hospital, drl ibt'il Ihr mill! a-. sutterc 1 by ('oujdan v .'ii- il.i n ’i-ahilifv would d< hai turn iti.t-.i . m.ohmg ton-, wall.in-.. .-I s.iiiiii!'. vv.'i'ht aTid lie would walk with a limp It was a Alli rd ire 1 .is- 'limiter at Timaiu. who w.i•. woil.i i-'. at lhe sou'll eml ol toe vu .1 • :l \ c o tl | ( , u t . ;1 ., Jo I l ’’ Hl'’..■lll, 111 ( t l; ,j n which, be i -•ii ldi'i r,| ba. kr'd al an ex

van passed him h' rushed through the | second or third waggon to the station side to signal to lhe engine driver to stop the train. He made the stop signal to the fireman a'most simultaneously with the bump which, in his opinion, was a very severe one. He had seen no stop or slow dov.ni signal by Gardner. A man in Coughlan's position should always be warned of an approaching train or rake of trucks, and it was usually done verbally. Edwin George Cogger, guard on the Cave train, said he had leit the train on its way south and walked across towards the seaward side of the lines. He called cut to a man in the stationery trucks as he thought he was in danger. The Cave train was moving at a greater =peed than the . ordinar.v shunting speed. Tiie man did not he-.r him and he rushed between the van and the waggon and I broke the air brake coupling to stop tl'.e train, and succeeded in stopping it as it hit the waggons. He heard no i warning signal. There ...is no particular road to which the Give train j was taken. I Mr Campbell handed the Court a ‘ statement made by Cogger at the De- j partmental inquiry when he said the | : speed of the train wa.> a safe speed. I i I\lr Blundell submitted a letter to j Cogger from the General Manager of , • Railways, who commended Cogger on I I his action "of stopping the train and ' i n inimising the force of the impact.” | I To his Honour. Cogger said that j • when he made the report to the De- ■ pa rimer- he thought the train was I ■ moving at a safe speed cad that the | . shunt wits carried out in a proper j ' manner. That statemcn must have ' been true as he had signed it. j Joseph Patrick Earle, who was work- j ,mg in the yard at the time of the : accident, but did see it. said he I hoard a crash so loud that lie went to see what had happened. He was coupling al the time and had the Cave train been going to his line he would have expected to be tol ’ of it. Alan Watmh who was in charge of i the making up of Hi Winchester ' H..m. >aid Cuughlan was engaged in his | duty m coupling the trucks. To Mr Campbell he said he used some oJ the trucks for the Winchester train I llUt he had not found r.ny of them i damaged. The ea.'C was adjourned until this MODERN KITCHEN SINKS The populai idea in lhe moden | Kitchen is the installation of the Mercer Stainless Sink (patented’ Beautiful and silvery, it is easy to kcei clean, prevents accumulations ot grease prevent crockery breakages. Lasts a lifetime. Moderate in price. Inspection invited by R. V. Kennedy, Arcade I’miaiu. ....