Railway Bungling

Feilding Star, Volume VIII, Issue 89, 3 February 1887, Page 2

Railway Bungling

Since the Waugauui section of railway was opened we are glad to say that not one passenger has ever been killed or maimed under circumstances where any blame could be attached to the servants of the G-overnment. That several fatal accidents have been recorded we are aware, but in each instance the sufferers hare alone been to blame for their contributory negligence. From what occurred on the line between Feilding and Palmerston on Tuesday last it would appear the record was at last to be broken. The train from the north 'which leaves here at 11.5 a.m., on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, crosses the Wellington train at Terrace End on these days only. Owing, we understand, to forgetfulness on the part of some one, the train from south did not wait in the siding at Terrace End for the north train to cross, but continued on its way. The consequence was that the two trains only escaped coming into collision by the breaks being put down and the engines reversed. When they were stopped, only a few yards intervened between the heads of the respective engines. As we understand the guard and the engine driver of the south train have been suspended, pending an investigation, we will write nothing further on the subject just at present, but we must express our profound thankfulness that a serious disaster was averted by the readiness and presence of mind of those who had been the cause of the danger.