Ill-Fated Engine Crew

Chronicle (Levin), 22 August 1946, Page 7

Ill-Fated Engine Crew

SOME MAILS SALVAGED ! With tho exceijtiou of a portion oi j one waggon uncovered by tho receding i flood. waters, few traces reiuained yes _ torday of the shocking tragedy in tlxt : Manawatu Gorge when a "lvA' ; engino and three leading waggons of a goods train wero enguifod in a land ! slip and hurtled ovcr a 60-foet drop int o the Munavvalu River at 4J3 a.in. on ! Tucsday. At a late ,hour last n-ight no ! traco had been fouud of Uio iniHsing i engine driver, Alr. B. AI. Craighead, oi : his lireman, Ai r. lt. p. lloskiu. ' (iaiigs of raihvay employees, working , in eontinuous shifts throughout Tuesj day niglit and vesterday morning, sue j ceeded in restoring tlie dainaged scc- ' tion of the lines. The weather eondi j tions wero atrocious, and the workmeu « toiled in several inchcs of mud. The alip, wedged in betwecn the derailed "Z" class vau and the luink, was cleared during the niglit and shortlt after daylireak the -10-ton crane Jifted tho van from its precarious position on . the edge of the drop,. back on to th. ( rails from whenee it was reinoved ti, ' ihe Te Apiti siding. A goods train for Napier was de.s[>ati'hed from 1'aJmerston Nortli a' ].]."» p.m. but was dclayed at Terraet , End luTiil a uiinor slip in anolher scetion of the gorge was cleared. A l' p.m the train, carrying approximately 4D( ; tons of materials, safely negotiated t!n scene of the accident, and the lino wa. opened fof traHic, several goods trains passing ovor the route during the after i noon. The ordinarv passenger railca. : service from Palmerston North WoodviTle was resumed last eveiiing the railcar passing through tlie gorge a i.) p.m. The river level continued to drop slowly during the afternoon, leaving practically all of the uppermost waggon, containing mails, exposed. •Just before 3 p.m. three railway work men were lowered down to the -waggon by ropes, the door was opened and the work of salvaging the mails was start ed. Approximately half of the con , tents of the waggon, comprising a large ntmiher of canvas mail bags, wooden boxes and cardhoard parcels, were re moved h'y the time darkness called a halt to the operations. As the sodden bags and packages were dragged from the waterlogged waggon, they were tied to the end of a rope and draggec! up th« hank. A thick layer of silt covered the larger parcels, and it was impossible to discem the addresses on them. t The recovered mails were takcn b* ' rmd In the mail room at the Palmerston North Hailway Htnlion and todav xvill be forwarded to the (thief Post Otlicat Wellington, for dryphg and disposai. Prpviding no furth(#'heavv rain falls io il^ughjiai tlie river. level, the re miu ddei""o'f the mail ru the waggon : should J)e,Sal vaged tbdar. *-'.r?T}ji^u^|orttiea are Lisop.ing ( h.^t ( .the r^dYef^ilCeontiiiue to |all*'itt ils'present rate rW offler to permit a ;&earclf to be made of tlie cnb of Aii; engine today People who know the gofge, dnt inialelv state that no large dcep hole exisls ut .the; . -pQint . tyhgre khe engine ainl tw th * 1 i n P iieeper Water, ,%tii^y,r:istnt ed." 'Tt walliought lliat tlie engine hurtled ou* into the deepor water, swinging tlie tw nearest waggons further out, while the

i hird waggon, portion of which is pro { jecting from tlie river, was rosting on ! the rockv ledge. ' A departmental surveyor ga\ e it as j liis opinion that Ihe slip which caused Ihe accident was starled by tlie rain seepiug througli to a liard clayey formation from which the liglit top soil dipped. An examiuatiou of Ihe ma-•tork-tl. .itu.fche slip- -showed that but for tlie big boulder, it • was conijiosed of sludge througli which the Jucomolhe 'ould probably havo ploughed without dauger. Two tragic aspects of tlie accident I : '•aiiie Lo light vesterday when it was j reveuled that tlie train had been de t laved beyond its scheduled time of de j parture from Palmerston North for mail| ind perishable goods connections from I .fellinglon, and that the line througli Ihe gorge had been exauiiaed liy u patrolman only a few mimites before .vhen it was quite clear of slips. Tlu { rain had only about oU yards to go and j t would liave been clear of tlie danger jf slips. Adviee lias beeii received from Weiinglon tiiat coronial and departmental nquiries will be held. Major Job Ahead 1 An engiiieer of the Railways Department stated yesterday that it miglit be from six weeks to two liionths before che engine is removed from the river bed. The department workshops woula iiave to make special equipment for thc salvage operations, and this would ake considerable time. Tlie lifting of Ihe waggons up the ii( ■ eet bank is not expeeted to cause an;. indue (lifficulty, Init trouble is autici patcil when it coines to reiiioving tlie •ngine. Tlie ''KA*' engine, together vvitli its tender, weighs approximately 14(1 tons, aird tho engineer expressed tlie \ iew that the engine would iiave to be laken up in sections. They would probably lift the tender and tlie bogey.--eparately, and then an attempt would. be made to rcmove tlie boiler. These ipcrations would depend upou the ex tent trr which the engine protrude; from the water when the river level re lur'ned to normal. The crane iias been sent back ti. Wellington and will be brought back vlien reipiired. Allliough tlie raihvay line through ihe gorge is now opened for traflii igain, a strict patrol of Ihe wliole lenglli is being maiiitained bv surface uen from both the Ashhurst aud tho Woodville ends. The hillsides are •euvilv saturated and further minor lips are a constant possibility.