BROKEN AXLE

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 183, 5 May 1925, Page 8

BROKEN AXLE

TWO CARRIAGES AND TRUCK LEAVE RAILS PASSENGERS’ NARROW ESCAPE EXPRESS TRAINS DELAYED A broken axle was responsible for the derailing of three railway vehicles near P.aekakariki yesterday afternoon, and caused a complete dislocation of traffic on the Manawatu line for several hours. Three passengers had narrow escapes. As a mixed train was travelling from I’aekakanki to Wellington at about 4 p.m. yesterday an axle on a truck loaded with ballast snapped, and caused the derailment of two Carriages and a truck. There were three passengers on board, and two of them were in a carriage that left the line, and landed on the beach, but nobody was injured. The Driver’s Story. The driver gave his account of the accident to a DOMINION representative last night. “We were about one mile on the Wellington side of Paekakariki,” he stated, “and were travelling round a bend at about twenty miles per hour. All of a sudden the air went and the brakes were automatically jammed on. I looked back to see what was the matter and saw a carriage and a wagon on the beach, and another carriage falling towards the hill. The.re were two women in the first carriage, and they were facing one another. When the accident occurred they fell into one another’s arms, and got out of the carriage with no injuries other than a severe shaking. On making an investigation I found that the axle of a truck loaded with ballast had snapped.” Heavy rain and a biting southerly wind added to the discomfort of passengers and officials alike. Advice was immediately sent to Wellington, and a train was dispatched to the scene of the accident. The passengers were removed to a railway cottage a few hundred yards away. As the New Plymouth express was due it had to be stopped at Paekakariki, where the passengers had to wait several hours until arrangements could be made for their conveyance to Wellington. It was found that, owing to the soft nature of (lie ground, it would take some time to clear the line, so it was eventually decided to bring the New Plymouth train to the scene of the trouble, and tranship the passengers to another train, on the city side of the obstruction. This relief train arrived at Thorndon at 9.40 p.m. Thorndon station was a scene of considerable activity during the night, out-ward-bound passengers walking up and down the platform, and the more impatient making repeated inquireis as to when the “I/fliited” would start, while friends and t»latives of those on the New Plymouth express wore a look of anxiety, and wondered when they would arrive. The stationmaster gave over his office to a number of ladies, and children were to be seen asleep in every available corner. After a delay of nearly four hours the “Limited” left at 11.9 p.m., when the track was reported clear.