NO OBSTRUCTION FOUND AT SEDDON RAILWAY SMASH

Grey River Argus, 2 April 1948, Page 5

NO OBSTRUCTION FOUND AT SEDDON RAILWAY SMASH

Indications Of An Overturn

WELLINGTON, April 1.

Thomas David Lauder Garth, of Kaikoura, an inspector of permanent way, gave evidence to-day before the Board of inquiry into the Seddon railway disaster. He saw nothing in the nature of an obstruction that might have caused the derailment and th P track was in good order. He detailed inspections he had made during the past 15 months of the curve where the derailment occurred. The' curve was in good order on his last visit before the smash. On the day of the disaster he was at Seddon and went immediately to the scene in a railway bus. After doing what he could for the injured, he inspected the track for some distance back.

Witness was asked by Mr Cunningham (for the Railway Department) whether h P saw anything in the nature of an obstruction that might have caused the derailment, or anything that could in any way have been a contributing cause.

Witness said he never received any complaint from a driver about the area, where the smash occurred. Since the disaster, during the relaying of the track, he had imposed a speed restriction of six miles an hourround the curve. The track had been restored almost in the normal manner and to th P normal cant. Speed round the curve was normally 30 miles an hour. To Mr H. R. C. Wild (representing the N.Z. Locomotive Engine Drivers’, Firemen’s and Cleaners’ Association and the driver and fireman of the train), witness said that any variations in the cant or slack on a curve, sufficient to set up oscillations that would derail a locomotive, would clearly be apparent to anyone riding over the track in a trolley. Oliver Joseph Doidge, district cxvil engineer, of Christchurch, said he was at Seddon with the previous witness on the day of the crash and reached the scene at approximately 1 p.m. Witness proceeded to unfold plans and diagrams of such a size that the chairman (Mr W. F. Stilwell, S.MJ eventually remarked: “The difficulty will soon be to see where members of the board are.” (Laughter). ■ The plans were moved to the floor, the clerk’s table and the bar table, and handed up one at a time. Instructions were given for another long table to be brought to the room.

Doidge said the rails in the track were the original 551 b. ones, laid at the opening of the line in 1911. There was little side or top wear. Generally the sleepers were in good order. The curve was in a cutting of papa clay with a good formation, which gave no trouble. There were no soft spots and the drainage was good. Witness said that on reaching the scene of the smash he found that the first distinct mark obviously connected with the derailment was on a sleeper at 180 miles 69 chains, .82 links. This mark was on the outside of the high-leg rail and 14 inches from the running edge of the rail. The mark was a fairly light one, but similar marks which appeared on the next sleeper and the following ones became heavier until the point was reached where the sleepers were badly smashed. There were no corresponding marks on the ballast or on the sleepers on the log-leg side of the curve. _ “I could not determine the definite point of derailment,” said witness, “and it was therefore necessary for me to decide upon a point which I could use as a basis for measurements about to be taken. I decided to take the first mark on the sleeper as zero point.” Witness said the fact that there were no marks on the lower rail indicated, in his opinion, that there had been an overturn and not a derailment. Engines and trains were no heavier than in 1911, when the rails were laid, but 701 b. rails would have made no difference. Mr Wild: You cannot altogether rule out the possibility of some obstruction on the line? . Witness It may be a possibility, but I saw nothing. Witness said h P would not expect a very small metal object, such as a fanbolt or fishplate, to derail an engine wholly. Any such obstruction would have to be a considerable distance in among the wreckage to escape notice. Mr Wild: A piece used b”- any malicious person could have been removed immediately after the accident —No it would have been right under the wreckage itself Witness said it would not be a difficult section for a driver. There were five changes of speed and five curves and grades on the 3i-mile run from Seddon to the point of the smash. There was a 25-mile speed limit for eight-chain curves, but 35 miles was within the tolerance allowed.