Railway Accident.

Manawatu Herald, 29 August 1899, Page 2

Railway Accident.

An accident fortunately, unattended with loss of life or serious injury, occurred on the Rimutaka incline on Saturday night. It apaears that when the Wairarapa train, leaving Wellington at 4 o'clock, reached a spot about two chains to the southward of the Pakuratahi tunnel — midway between Kaikoke and the Summit — the engine tan into a small landslip that had come down over tho rails from the hillside. The engine— one of the j heavy American locomotives of the new type recently imported by the department — was thrown off the line completely, and fell over the embankment. The next vehicle, a truck, was thrown over, but. luckily, rhe remainder of the train remained on the track. The down express from Napier was meanwhile waiting at the Summit in order to allow the ordinary to pasa. There were ab^ut 150 passengers in this train, and it was deoided to transfer them to the train on the other side of the slip, and to embark the passengers from the disabled train into the express, the intention being that the express should return to the Wairarapa, he ordinary train, for which an engine had been despatched from the Butt, should go back to Wellington with the through passengers. In order to caray this into effect the express had to be brought down from the Summit to the scene of the accident. In order to do this— the Fell engines not being suitable — it was neoessery to wait until steam had been raised on a spare locomotive which 13 kept at the Summit for use in case of emergency. This took abo'it three hour?. The traveller were landed at the Wellington station shortly after one o'clock on Sunday morning. The Masterton train, with its dt-jected occupants, put in an appearance at about a corresponding hour. When the engine rolled over the driver and fireman stuck to their places, and had to crawl out of the aab afterwards. The driver iseaped unhurt, but his assistant Jones bad one of of bis legs cut about. — N.Z. Times.