Main Trunk Fatality.

Taihape Daily Times, 17 May 1919, Page 5

Main Trunk Fatality.

EXPERT OPINION. WHY BRAKES REFUSED TO ACT. Good progressi is being made at clearing away the obs't ruction on the line, the Railway Department expect to have the line sufficiently cleared tOmororw to allow the mail itrain to get through on Monday morning without transhipping. The body of the late Driver Welsh was taken through to Masterton yesterday, where the funeral will take place to-day. § V" Expert opinion at Frankton Junction is divided as ! to the probable cause of the -goods train smash. Two thearies are mainly supported. One is that the pump of the Westinghouse brake must have suddenly leaked, thus preventing the driver putting enough air on the brakes, and the other is that a faulty connection had been made in one of the hose coujjlings, also preventing air to be in operation throughout the train

CAUSE OF TRAIN SMASH A MYSTERY.

OHAKUNE, this (day

The cause iof the train smash near Taihape still remains a mystery;: as the only two .who can throw' light on

the matter are in Hospital at Taihape, too ill to make a statement at length. Guard Batty is in a state of collapse and Fireman J. MeKenna is likewise in a very bad condition. He* was badly burned by the escape of steam and boiling water; but thongh his

vitality is very low hopes are enter-

tained that he will recover. More than fcalf the wreckage has been cleared away, but the considerable task of removing the engine has not yet been ■. completed. Passengers, mails and luggage are being transferred most expeditiously from one train to the other The authorities cannot understand the failure of the brakes.

WESTTNGHOUSE BRAKE TESTED. *IN THE PRESENCE OF CORONER'. ACTUAL RUNNING TEST ON - • MONDAY. At the request of the Eailway Employees' Association in Taihapc, the Westicghouse brake on the engine ,"Which was derailed in accident, was sealed by order of the Coroner. It was tested this morning in the presence of the Coroner and the representatives of the Railway Department and the employees. The Department offered every facility, and offered to use the same brake, in its present condition, with the same load, and on the same grade as the engine that was derailed. The test will probably be. held on Monday. Mr Pearson, chief mechanical engineer, who was present when the test was made this morning, has announced that •he is prepared to personally undertake > ** i lHe trial, and will occupy the foot-plate of the engine on the journey between Ohakune and Taihape on Monday.