BULL ON TRACK

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 148, 15 February 1932, Page 2

BULL ON TRACK

ANIMAL WANDERS ON TO TRACK AND MEETS TRAIN. ' AN OLD PEST GONE. SYDNEY, Wednesday. "Billy" the bull from Monkerai will be buried to-day at the scene of his downfall, alongside the North Coast railway line, and a thankful ganger will write his epitaph. Here lies the bull, from Monkerai, Who came at last to grief; He tried to push a train away — Now Billy 's graVy beef. Last night, when the clouds had" obscured the moon near Monkerai, "Billy" broke through the railway fence and sneaked on'to the line just when No. 145 special goods was coming round the curve. . Too late the driver ohserved the bulky form on the line, and with a hump the front of the locomotive hit "Billy" and pushed him along for 165yards, a mangled mass. The leading wheels of the engine left the rails, and the track was pushed out of alignment from two inches to two feet six inches, and it took nearly two hours to get it square again. Meanwhile a long line of trains with impatient passengers was held up on either side of the obstruction. The down Brisbane Limited express and the up and down North Coast and Kempsey mail trains were. delayed up to an hour while the remains of "Billy" were shovelled down the embankment. For a long time the bull has been the worry of settlers. Frequently he has broken down the railway fence, and only last week-end he was driven off the track. When the settlers chased him he always bounded away p'eacefully, but at night he stole back again.