ENGINE TAKEN INTO RIVER IN MANAWATU GORGE

Chronicle (Levin), 20 August 1946, Page 5

ENGINE TAKEN INTO RIVER IN MANAWATU GORGE

—Press Association

"DRIVER AND FIREMAN MISSING

By Telegraph-

PALMERSTON NORTH, August 20. When a goods train which left Palmerston North at 3.36 o'clock this morning was passing through the Manawatu Gorge, about three-quarters of an hour later, it was engulfed in a slip, and the engine and three wagons were taken into the Manawatu River forty feet below. The driver, Mr. B. M. Craighead, married, of 140 Russell Street, Palmerston North, and the fireman, Mr. R. F. Hoskings, single, of 50 Guy Avenue, Palmerston North, whose parents reside in Gorran Avenue, WAnganui, are missing. The guard, Mr. Maitland, of Waipukurau, is not hurt. Police and railway officials have been out since early morning searching for the engine crew, but so far without result.

An ambulance is on the scene and a breakdown train has been despatched, but until a further slip at j Whakaronga has been cleared it will be unable to get through. It was some time after the mishap that the guard was able to make the fact known that the ac- • cident had occurred. When the train came to a standstill, he made his way to the- front of the train, calling'out to the engine crew. He reached the slip, but there was no sign of either the driver or fireman, so he had to make his way back along the line for some miles to seek assistance. It was not until daylight that three wagons were diseovered in the river. The scene of the mishap is at the Apiti siding. . The engine of the goods train was a K class locomotive, weighing 140 tons. When a Manawatu Standard reporter visited the scene, the engine lay completely hidden at the bottom of the river, together with the tender and two trucks, a small portion of another van being just visible above the level of the water. Engine Crew Imprisoned It is believed that the engine driver and fireman are imprisoned in the cab of the engine, but no; attempts at recovery have yet been possible, because th river is still rising fast. Railway officials at the scene stated that the engine apparently hit a liuge eiglit-foot rock, which had fallen on the line, pushed it along for fully 20 feet and then jumped off the line, breaking a coupling just ahead of a double unit van, plunging over the side of the gorge into the viver below with two trucks. The remainder of the train stayed on the track, with the exception of a double unit van, which now lies at a precarkms angle across the face of the slip. It is thought that it may not be possible to save Ihis wagon. as tor-* rents of water are now coming down the face of the slip, making the position more unstable every minute. Guarcl's Version j According to the guard, the brakes were not applied. The whole accident, he said, was very quick, and all he felt in the guard's van were two sharp jars and the application of the brakes as the brake cable broke in the front of the double unit wagon. Repair gangs have been busy on

the line since early morning, endeavouring to save what they can of the train and clear the line for traffic, which is expected to be held up for at least four days. Clearing Work Dangerous Work in the area is both uncomfortable and dangerous, as the bank along the side of the train is flooded with torrents of water and already further slips have come down at various parts of the stranded train.