METAL TRAIN BOLTS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5006, 28 July 1926, Page 4

METAL TRAIN BOLTS.

ACCIDENT AT MATATOKI. a ESCAPE OF THE DRIVER. ■On Thursday afternoon a 'rake of trucks, containing metal, from the Matatoki quarry, drawn by a locomotive, was wrecked at Matatoki just opposite the store. From wha,t can be gathered, the weight of the load was too heavy for the locomotive’s brakes, and, notwithstanding all that the brakesman could do, it ran at a great speed down the incline into Matatoki and up to th® hopper. At the points near the hopper the locomotive became derailed and toppled over. The first truck of metal piled up on top of the locomotive, thus preventing it from falling the thirty feet to the road. The rest of the trucks ran back, the coupling having broken. A visit, to the scene o® the accident showed the locomotive, which is petrol driven, straddled across the ramp half-way up to the top of the hopper. It looks just balanced, and as if a touch would send it hurtling tel the ground.. Attached to it oin th®, ramp side is a truck ofc metal, and it is tnis weight that is keeping the locomotive, in position. The latter weighs 12 tons, and .the; problem presents itself ejs. to how to get the machine back to the rails, as the ramp is narrow.

A gang of men is busy with timber erecting shores to carry the weight. The locomotve, with some dozen trucks, left the quarry as usd al on Thursday afternoon, and proceeded towards the hopper at Matatoki. At the top of the la ; st rise the man riding on the last truck is supposed to chock the wheels, but on this trip he missed his footing, and the rake gathered speed too quickly for him ,to catch it again. The only brake is on the engine, but thie proved ineffectual to > pull the train up. The weight, which is estimated at about 15 to 16 tons, caused the train practically to bolt down the incline tfc| the hopper. It is strange that the locomotive did not run off the rails a,t the points, but it toiok the siding in good style and successfully negotiated the second and third pciints. which

are on the ramp itself. What happened when the engine left the rails- is not quite known, but the train broke between the. first and second-trucks, .and the rear portion ran back on the siding, the second truck capsizing and spilling its contents on to the foot of the ramp. The driver Of the locomotive was able to step out of his cab on to the ramp, and he undoubtedly had a very narrow escape, as a few- inches more would have sent his- engine and himsellf to the ground.—Thames Star.