EXPRESSES COLLIDE.

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 17835, 7 October 1929, Page 7

EXPRESSES COLLIDE.

I ACCIDENT AT POKAKA

NO ONE INJURED. SLEEPING-CAR SMASHED. ('By Telegraph.—Press Association.) PALMERSTON N., Monday. With the rear sleeper and the guard's van tailing over the loop in the line near the end of the train, the south-bound Limited Express was drawn up alongside the platform at Pokaka, 10 miles from Ohakunc, at an early hour this morning.' The front position of the last dc luxe sleeper in the train was beyond the points, but the other section was behind.

Apparently flagged on to proceed, the northbound Limited, which had been standing at the station, moved out’. When travelling at 10 miles an hour on the outside line, it crashed into the part of the other Limited Express overhanging the points of the crossing. There was a terrific impact. The big engine smashed into the side low down towards the rails below the level of the sleeping berths, ripping and rending its way along one-third of the length of the car before It finally came to a stop embedded in wreckage. Badly Ripped Open. The outer- wall of the sleeping car was badly ripped open but, miraculously enough, no passengers in thle damaged car were injured. Actually the engine did not penetrate to more than a few inches, as it tore along the side of the carriage, doing considerable damage. The people in the bunks were startled. Some were thrown out violently, and one man’s head was injured, The side of the car was torn like a sheet of paper for a third of its length when the engine struck it, there being a mass of smashed woodwork and tangled iron damage. The force of the smash canted the sleeper over at an angle of 45 degrees, and it balanced precariously, 1 being held evidently only by the twisted couplings. Tha ( t it escaped complete demolition was 1 remarkable. All the wheels on one side were three feet in the air. Those on the other side remained on the metals.

The guard’s van was sufficiently clear of the points to escape damage, but the wheels were forced off the metals on one side. The sleeping car was struck on the sido opposite the corridor, the point of impact being nearest the sleepers’ feet. Thrown Violently from Bunks. Included in the passengers in the carriage were several ladles and two .children, also Major Isltt and WingCommander Wallingford, the latter being newly appointed to a position in the New Zealand Air Force. Several passengers were thrown violently from their bunks, and one man suffered a severe knock on the head. ’When the impact occurred the sleeper was plunged into darkness and confusion, but there was no panic. After realising the damage and the nature of the occurrence passengers ,1a the car hastily dressed and clambered over the sharply-tilted platform to the ground. Most of the passengers in the other part of the train were unaware of the smash. The morning was very cold, with a thick frost. It was a spectacular soene, with the glare of oil flares. Difficulty was experienced in releasing the engine from the wreckage of the car. A TERRIFIC CRASH. EVIDENCE OF EYE-WITNESS. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) TAUMARUNUI, Monday. A person who was In the Pokaka railway station yard at the time of the accident, told a press representative that there was a terrific crash when the accident happened, and people were seen running about in all directions. A number of people were afraid to leave the carriages. Most of the passengers received a gevere shaking. LATE AT FRANKTON. The express was about three hours rate in reaching Frankton.