CONCERN AT SPEED OF TRAIN IN SEDDON SMASH

Grey River Argus, 3 April 1948, Page 3

CONCERN AT SPEED OF TRAIN IN SEDDON SMASH

Evidence At Inquiry P.A. WELLINGTON, April 2. Evidence of concern at the speed of the Blenheim-Christchurch express at the time of its derailment at Seddon was given by passengers when the inquiry was resumed this afternoon.

Herbert Leonard Cummings, of Wellington, a retired district electrical engineer of the P. and T. Department, who, with his wife and daughter, was travelling in the express, said his first feeling of apprehension was when the train overran the Blenheim station by a few car lengths, and had to be set back. He had already been surprised at the speed at which it travelled over the two miles immediately before Blenheim. On ascending the Dashwood Pass, witness said, his confidence in the driver was restored, as he considered it the most difficult part of the journev. The train obviously lost time on the hill, but, going down the steep grade on the other side towards the Awatere River, his confidence was further restored when he felt the smooth grip of the braking system. After leaving Seddon, the train passed along a level stretch of track, and then started its descent. After that, there were several curves. At the first curve, at the bottom of the straight, speed was building up to a point at which he was waiting to feel the grip of the brakes. INCREASE IN SPEED "From that point to the point of the accident was a very short distance and space of time, at the speed at which we were travelling”, said the witness. "Before I could make up my mind to do anything, the-crash came. I had already assured myself where the emergency brake was. It was about two feet behind me. but tilings happened so quickly that I had no opportunity to make up my mind. Fortunatelv, the car I was in was of the collision type, and stood the shock far better than those ahead of it, and finally landed against the engine. I think' the car I was in was originally the fifth coach from the engine. "After commencing the descent of the hill from Seddon to the smash, I cannot recollect feeling the firm grip of the braking system. At. the beginning of the run, from the top of the hill, the speed was not high. It was only accelerated towards the bottom”. BRAKES NOT FELT Alfred Desmond Primrose, a stationery engine driver, and for a number of vears a locomotive driver for the Public Works Department, said he was a passenger in the train as far as Seddon. The witness said that the engine and train laboured heavily up the long hill after leaving Blenheim, and the train went very slowly, but going down the other side he was concerned about the speed at which it took the curves. “It entered my mind that the train might go out of control”, he said. “I did not feel any brakes go on. I considered the train was taking the curves at a dangerous speed”. Percy Roy Angus, chief mechanical engineer in charge of the locomotive branch of the New Zealand Railways, said the peculiarity of the accident was that there were no flange or wheel marks showing between the rails on the portion of the track still remaining intact after the accident, except at some little distance south of a sleeper on which the first mark that could be attributed to the accident appeared. The former were flange marks from the right-hand wheel or wheels, and they appeared on the sleepers close in to the lefthand rail. It would require considerable obstruction to cause such a derailment, and consequently the traces of it would certainly be noticeable. The witness found no such traces, nor did the front of the locomotive show any signs of encountering such an object.

NO OBSTRUCTION ON TRACK “I consider the accident could not possibly have been caused by an obstruction on the track”, the witness added. It was impossible after the accident to make a complete survey of the locomotive, as its left side was well buried. He said the reversing lever was in full forward gear, the throttle value was closed, the Westinghouse brake valve handle was in full release, and the reversing level and throttle in normal position for drifting. The normal position of the brake valve was in a running position, except when making brake applications, or when releasing the brakes. There were four conclusions possible from the nosition in which the witness found the brake valve handle. The first was that the brakes may have been applied by the engine driver and then released. The second was that the brake valve handle may have been inadvertently or purposely placed in that position by the engine driver or fireman at the time of the accident. Thirdly, some portion of the locomotive may have struck it while the engine was still travelling in a capsized position. The fourth reason was that someone else may have altered it after the accident. The witness was unable to state which cause was the most likely. To Mr A. G. Wicks (for the Cresswell family), witness said he did not think that' lack of knowledge of the route would matter to a lirst-year driver, nrovided he was a mature man. If' a man did not have road sense at 25 he could never have it. Wherever possible, mature drivers should be placed on express trains. A speedometer would assist any man in checking speed, and previous boards of inquiry had recommended them. The Department’s history with them was chequered, and later witness would detail this. It was cleai* the lender overturned first, said witness to- Mr Wild. It was unlikely that both the engine and the tender went over together. He could not visualise any defect in the tender bogevs causing it to overturn first, but he could do so' if it had been a derailment. The tender bogeys were completely tern off, and one particularly badly damaged. He could not visualise that in the latter was a break, the nature of which could not now be determined. If there had been such a break, the tender would not have overturned. It would have been held in nosition by the engine at 30 miles an hour. JUDGING SPEED A driver judged his speed by a click over rail joints, the revolutions of the wheels, the beat of the engine or the exhaust note. The Department acknowledged that a speedometer would be of assistance in checking speed. He thought it advisable, where possible, that any man should have a run over a route with which he was unfamiliar. I

Mr Wild: Would you nut a man of 50 or 70 days’ driving experience in charge of a passenger express for .the first time over an unfamiliar route? —Witness: He had most, of that [experience on an excellent testing ground, and it was known that, ho had experience over some of the route. As a suppositious case. not. referring to Driver Gurr, I would try to give a man a run over a route first

DRIVER WAS EXPERIENCED Mr Jas. Brinsted, district mechanical engineer, Christchurch, was cross-

examined by Mr H. R. C. Wild (for the fireman and the driver of the train). He said it was usual to nut special grade drivers—men who had 24 years’ experience—on the Christchurch to Invercargill express. Mr Wild: “But you put a lirst-year driver on the Picton-Christchurch express”. Witness: “I have already pointed cut the difficulties of getting men to go to places like Kaikoura”. Witness said express driving was not necessarily the prerogative of all first-class drivers “We have firstclass drivers whom we would not put on express trains”, he said. Had it been possible when 'Gurr went to Kaikoura, it would have been preferable for him to have ron over the line as third man on an engine before taking charge of a train. As it was, he tool; a goods train over the track —No. 931, north-bound goods—before running back with the south-bound express. Witness agreed that the written records in the Christchurch locomotive depot, from which Gurr was transferred to Kaikoura, showed Gurr had knowledge of the road only up to Kaikoura, but he was the only man who could be found to go to Kaikoura at the time. It was better to send him there than to have other drivers at Kaikoura working excessive hours. “There is nothing in my records”, said witness, “to show that Gurr was ever a negligent driver”. Mr Wild: “Do you see anything wrong with the fact that before February 25 Gurr had never been over the track before as a driver between Blenheim and Tuamarina?” Witness said he could see nothing wrong with it when all the relevant factors were taken into account. On the difficult Arthur’s Pass section Gurr had had an all-round grounding in train operating. He did not know Gurr was married with four children. Mr Wild: “Is it obvious to you that Gurr tool: rc-lieving jobs in order that he could get training?”—“lt is not obvious to mo. He may have had other reasons".

end of sitting The Inquiry Board concluded its Wellington sittings this afternoon. The Board will resume its sittings at Blenheim on Tuesday, and hear evidence there up to and including Friday Josenh William Gurr, the driver of‘the train, will give evidence there, or at Christchurch, at which place the Board will sit at the conclusion of the Blenheim hearing. There will also be another sitting in Wellington.