ACCIDENT ON MAIN TRUNK LINE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 198, 16 May 1919, Page 8

ACCIDENT ON MAIN TRUNK LINE

GOODS TRAIN DERAILED DRIVER FATALLY INJURED FREIGHT CARS WRECKED Official advices were received in Wellington early yesterday morning that a goods train .of thirty-two cars, bound from Ohakune to Tuihape, was derailed between Ngaurukehu and Mataroa on Wednesday night. The engine got out of control on a down grade, and the train, after travelling some distance at high speed, left the rails and crashed into a gully, thirty of the cars being , piled up in the wreck. The driver of the engine (Walsh). was so badly injured that he succumbed at 3 o'clock yesterday morning. M'Donald, the fireman, was also injured, but is making favourable progress. The line is considerably blocked, and passengers require to tranship in tho meantime. LATER PARTICULARS AT THE SCENE OF THE SMASH. By Telegraph—Press Aesociation. Taihape, May 15. The scene of the crash reminds one of a huge pile of refuse timber at a forsaken sawmill, with hero and there protruding wheels and pieces of ironwork. Pieces of irrm two inches in diameter were hurled ?a yards away. Serious as the smash is, it might have proved incalculably worse. It appears that Guard Batty had received instructions to proceed ahead of the express, and had passed tho tablet to tho enginedriver when he heard the Ngarukuhu station telephone persistently ringing. No attendant being there, he answered, and received instructions not to proceed, as ho might delay the express. By this piece- of goo.d.forttiiu' a greater catastrophe was averted, as the oncoming express would undoubtedly have dashed into the mass of wreckage, which consisted of at least twenty trucks. The engine-driver, Walsh, suffered a terrible death being pinned down where a jet of leaking steam caught him. When rescued he was still conscious, though scalded past all hope' of recovery. He behaved with admirable bravery and stoicism, merely asking to be Riven a stimulant. The inquest has been adjourned for a week. A GRAPHIC STORY TERRIBLE RIDE WITH DEATH .(By Telegraph—Special Correspondent.) Ohakune, May 15. One of those unfortunate accidents that appear to be inseparable from railway operations occurred on the Ohakunt-Tai-liflpo section last night. Over .£IO,OOO worth of damage has been occasioned to the railway rolling stock, equipment, arid permanent way. The disaster was attended by loss of life, the driver of Uio train, T. Walsh, of Taihape, having died at the Taihape Hospital, whither he was conveyed as the result, of. injuries sustained. Tho fireman, M'Donald, of Taihape, was also very seriously burned by steam and scalding water, which escaped when the engine overturned. ■ The cause , of the catastrophe was undoubtedly due to the freighter getting out of control through some cause' or other when running down the gradient between Waiouru and Mataroa, but tins will be iiiQuire'ff into later by the Department. The Runaway. The details of the accident when pieced together eliow that the train was a goods, uiude_ up of 32 vehicles, including tne guard's va.ii. It left Ohakune at about a o'clock. The weight of the load is estimated at between -100 and 500 tons. Guard Batty, was in charge of.the tra'in, which was headed by an X engine driven by T. Walsh, with T. M'Donald as iiroiuau. From Ohakune to AVaiouni is a distance of 16 miles up a pretty stiff grade., which was negotiated safely. The train then proceeded down hiil, and no difficulty was experienced in pulling her up at Hihitahi, eight miles distant,, to allow a crossing to be made with the Auckland-bound c'xpre.ss. Neither was any trouble apprehended later vjfcn the tram left Gniciucr's Siding, two miles further on, but it was after the freighter left the siding that anxious feara were entertained that all was not well. A Terrifying Ride. Tindinp; unusual conditions prevailing lui regards the speed which the train was making and the bumpincss of.the van, Guard Batty, it is reported, applied tho Westinghouse brake, "but failed to get any response. The driver, being evidently of the same opinion, kept the whistle going erratically as an indication to the porter in charge of Ngaiirukeliit Siding Station, which Tie was fast approaching, that the train had got away and could not be pulled up. Tho latter station was flashed by at,,.it is estimated, a speed of quite 100 miles an hour, and it was quite apparent that; nothing but a njiracle could navo the Uvea of the men working the freighter or preventing tho list of railway catastropliies being further augmented. The speed down hill was greatly accelerated owing to the heaviness of tho. lond anil the pressure behind the engine, ami just as a curve was being taken the expected happened. The engine shot off Uie track, and immediately toppled over. The driver and fireman, who had remained at their posts during the thriiling rule with death, were hemmed in. Heavy jets of steam nnd scalding water began to escape, nntl further reduced their chances of escape. The Casualties. Fireman M'Donald, though' badly burned, managed to ■ £cl out o; the, "death-trap, but Driver Walsh was evidently stunned and unable, to extricate himself. As a matter of fact, he was so closed in that n hole had to bo dug by the rescue party before he could be released. In the meantime, ho had sustained such a shock and had been so seriously burned that his case was hopeless. Death intervened 6oon after his admission to the hospital. - Guard Batty was seriously battered and knocked about, but in the course of a few seconds ho recovered sufficiently to enable him to get up to the engine with the object of succouring his comrades. At that time the fireman wns endeavouring to pet to the creek to try and relievo himself of tho agony caused by the severe ]>urnlng he had received. The fireman's faco was quite unrecognisable nnd it wns easily seen that he had been subjected to n.. very severe scalding beforo he escaped. Relief Trains. Clausen, the porter in charge of Ngaul'ukelm siding, had just got home when tho train streaked past, nnd rushjng buck to the station he and his assistant immediately flashed messages of tho runaway to 'the head officials at Taihape and Ohakune. At both terminals arrangements for speedy relief were made. Drivers nnd firemen of specials were promptly at work, and gangs of men mustered at different intermediate stations in response to telephnno calls to be picked up later by the special rolieftrains as. they passed through to the scene of the disaster. The Taihapo con tingent. being nearer, reached the place at about 11 o'clock, and no time was loot in getting the driver out and rendering medical assistance to alleviate his and the fireman's suffering. Tho Ohakuno special, with a big gang of men, arrived at midnight, nTul were set to work clearing a track over the lon of the cuttiiif? to allow the wife transit,of passengers by the'express-from one train to the other, whicli had been drown up on tho other side of the wreel;o"e. The freighter and its goods wore piled up to a great height, mid lui<'" Matrons wove smashed to matchwood. Evidence of the severity of tho concussion is demonstrated by the conglomerate mass of limber, coal, butler bases, wagon wheels, etc.. which were thrown over thr» engine and now cover n dislaneo of several chains beyond. Mr. O'Loughman. traffic manager, Mr. Currie, inspector of permanent ways, and Mr. Jeffries, district engineer, are quite agreed that never in their respective connections with the railways had they wit-

nessed such destructive effects. The engine, it is stated, cost over ,£3OOO to build, aud the estimated value of the 28 irapons destroyed is between ,£3OO nnd ■£100 each, so- it will bo apparent the loss of rolling stock alone exceeds j;10,000. Then the permavi/Kt way has been badly torn up. Driver Walsh was very popular among tho locomotive men and oilier members of the staff operating over the section. _ A big gang of men is now -ongased in clearing away the debris, and shifts are to be kept continuously employed until uninterrupted traffic can be resumed, fortunately, the weather is fine, and the nifihts are brightened t)y a moon, so that, the anticipations of Departmental officers regarding tho through connection being established within three days should bo established.