TRAIN WRECKERS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 256, 21 June 1932, Page 5

TRAIN WRECKERS

(Press Assn.

two more attempts EXPRESS STRIKES SLEEPERS BUT REMAINS pN RAILS " A NARROW ESCAPE

— By Telegraph— Copyright.)

SYDNEY, Monday. Two more deliberate attempts were made to \yreck the Newcastle to Taree trains near Wingham, being the third within five days in Ahat district. A special police watch was kept, and a gangstei' passed over the spot where the attempt was made half an hour before the train was due. In that brief time a sleeper, a baulk of v/ood, and stones were placed over the line 15 feet from a bridge over a gully. The locomotive hit them with terr rific force and thrust them aside, but' fortunately kept to the rails. The engine later was found to be damaged. The train-wreekers, having f ailed in their first attempts, replaced the obstructions, but these were discovered before another train was due. At the beginning of June on three nights deliberate attemnts were made to wreck trains on three different suburban lines. In each case the vigilence of the driver prevented serious accidents. The police were convinced that a gang of men were responsible for the attempts. Two deliberate attempts were made last week to wreck trains crowded with passengers. at a lonely suo't near Wingham, North Coast. Th'e mail train struck se-veral sleepers placed across the lines, and soon afterwards a patrol linesman fonnd four sleepers replaced on the line to derail a local passenger train.