Recent Main Trunk Smash.

Taihape Daily Times, 18 September 1919, Page 5

Recent Main Trunk Smash.

CORONER’S INQUEST.

The adjourned inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Thomas Welsh, engine-driver on the Main Trunk Line, who was killed in an accident on May 15th la,st, wa s resumed to-day, before Mr J. P. Aldridge, Coroner, An inquest was held on May 17th, when evidence of identification of deceased was taken, and. has been adjourned on .several occasions on account of the inability of Fireman McKenna, who was in the engine with Driver Welsh, at the time of the accident, to be present owing to

injuries received. The Coroner explained why the inquest had been adjourned though comment has been made in the press about the delay, he had done his best in the interest of McKenna and he hop’d in the interests of the community. Ho ■was determined to give every possible scope in the inquiry to all parties concerned.

Mr Ongley appeared on behalf of Guard Batty. Mr Loughnan on behalf of the widow and Fireman McKenna.

Mr A, S, K. Macasscy appeared for the Railway Department, and Sergeant Matthews for the Police.

Arthur Batty deposed that he was a guard on the railway. He was in charge of the train on the 14th. Left Ohakune at 5.23. It wag a goods train, drawn by an X engine. On leaving Ohakune there were 364 tons on the train. First noticed something wa& wrong at Gardner’s Siding, got four short whistles, and then another four short whistles, which is an unusual signal. Immediately applied the brakes, as he knew something was wrong Was travelling about ordinary speed; brakes failed to act. He went out to the hvaggon and dropped , the hand brake. Had previously applied Westinghouse brake. The hand brake had no effect whatever on the train, which continued to increase, speed until it came to a dead stop. The train had travelled about four or five miles after he got the whistle s and the .time of the smash. When the smash occurred the train was travelling about 60 miles an hour. After the smash occurred he Went towards the engine, and found Fireman McKenna, who was in a paddock alongside the line, and said he ■wanted a drink. He wa s badly scalded and very . confused. He asked where the driver was, end McKenna said he did not know He took' McKenna back to the van, and then went to the engine and found the driver, who was lying in the cab of the engine, with a lot of timber about him, being pinned down by the timber and coal. Witness spoke to Welsh, who asked for a drink. Though conscious he was badly scalded. No steam or water was playing on deceased at that time. Witness pulled some of the timber away, and went down to the river for a drink. Found he could not extricate deceased, and went to Ngarukehu for assistance, which was obtained. He met a porter who was just starting out. It is about three miles F’-'vm Ngarukehu to the smash. Deceased was eventually got out and removed to the Taihape hospital. The line is a down grade where the train got but of hand. Previously the driver had not complained to witness about the brakes being wrong. There had been nothing unusual in the running of the train up to that time

To the Coroner: Had heard nothing mentioned about the defect on that brake up to that time. To the police: Had had considerable experience with the driver before, Cannot offer any opinion as to why the brake failed to .act when applied. The reason the brakes failed to act was that there was not sufficient air in the pipes —about eight pounds. The usual pressure is from 70 to 76 pounds. First noticed there was only eight pounds when ho applied the brakes. As far as possible everything was done for decased.

To Mr Loughnan: Got to Hihitalii at 7.23, and left at 8.30; Was shunting there, putting on seven waggons, and put them behind the fourth waggon from the engine. The waggons were loaded. It is his duty to test the brakes after making up the train, and he (witness) did so in this instance. It was tested from the van, and ho signalled to the driver to avply the brake, which he did and he looked to see that the wheels of the von was braked. This was done on this occasion; the brake acted. It was -a. few minutes to eight when this was completed. The test was made from the fireman’s side of the train. In consequence of a. message ■witness received he waited for the express and got ' away about 8.30, Dxoynot. notice the pressure in the van at the time of testing brakes. Did not notice pressure before he left. This engin r * had taken the train up from Taihape. When he got the four short whistles he applied the brakes. The usual conseouence is that a rush of air gushes out, in thi s instance just a 1

slight pressure of air came out, and he looted .at the indicator and saw no pressure. He turned the lever back again. To the Coroner. Arrived at Hihitahi at 7.23, and ‘did not leave till 8.30; this was not considered a long time as a rule. “Had on this occasion done a considerable amount of shunting. On ordinary occasions the work would take ■ntiout 15 minutes'. Had the train got away in decent time it would have been due to cross the express at Ngarukehu.

The Coroner: Had the train gone on under ordinary circumstances, an'd loss of air taken place, the loss of life would have boen a great deal more? Witness; We got the signal not to proceed.

To Mr Maeassey: He was quite satisfied the train was properly coupled up, though he did not remember if he did it himself. Did not notice any application of brakes until the time he got the signal. Did not have the hand brake on at the time he got the signal. Would not say when he got the signal the train was out of han'd, but was travelling tabout the average ispecd. When it left Taihape at 1 o’clock that day he foun'd the brake acted satisfactorily all through. To the Coroner: On leaving Hihitahi the weight of the train would be 440 tons. Had 38 trucks on the train on leaving Hihitahi, I Daniel Thomas McKenna depose! he whs a fireman on the N.Z. railways, and on the 14th May was on the train from Ohakupe, the engine being in charge of Thoma s Welsh. It was an X engine. After he left Ohakunc about 5 o’clock, he stopped at Rangataua, Karioi and Waiouru. Up to that time the engine was running all right. When the train left Hihitahi he first noticed something was wrong when crossing the bridge at Gardner’s Siding. When it was found that the train wa 3 gathering speed .the, driver remarked ..to.. Witness, “We’re done.” The driver gave four short whistles, and he looked at ; the guage dial, and foynd; the. alr-pressure was pretty low; he' could not' say the exact , pressure. He did not notice the driver apply the 6fak.es, but.witness screwed the handbrakes on. In the ordinary way if the WeStinghouse wa s operating -it would not be necessary to put the hand •brakes on. The train still gained speed. "At Gardner’s Siding he went put to try to get the pump to work, and tapped it with a hammerj which is the usual practice. The pump at that time was not working, and did not start when witness tapped it. Just before they got to Gardner’s Siding he reported to deceased that it would not go; deceased made no remark. They did all they could to check the frain. He did, not remember having any previous trouble with the pump on this engine. Have known the Westinghouse pump to work unsatisfactorily before. The pump would go for a while and stop. Then we turned the steam off and after a while turned it on again. Had been working with deceased for a few. months, and he was reliable and steady.

To Mr Loughnan: The usual brake test was made St Hihitihi, but he could not remember the time it was made.. The test is invariably any coupling i s He went 1 outside when he realised they were in trouble, and endeavoured to coax the pump. Had known a pump fail to work, and the means he employed on other occasions he applied on this. Tapping the pump with the head of a hammer, turning off the steam and then turning it on again were the methods also used. The pump troubles he had referred to took place some time previous to the accident; but could not say ex aetly when. He tapped the pump ak the time of the accident, just before entering the tunnel, and went out again after passing the tunnel. The engine wa s ffhyeliing so fast that he thought it better to get back into tho cab_ The guage of ‘‘the pump faces the driver, slightly on that side. He took the tablet when crossing Ngartikchu.

To Mr Macassey. The pressure guage lamp was lighted when they left ITlhitahi; on leaving Hihitahi he did not notice the guage. The first time he noticed the guage was when the driver said, “We’re done.” It was very low. Did not know when the pump stopped, it was working when they left H*ihitahi. He tapped the pump, but did not tap the pump governor. There was sufficient steam to work, the pump. Ho did not hear the driver say any more than “We’re done.” He did not know whether the driver reversed the engine.

To the Police: At the time of the smash he did not notice the driver, as witness was badly scalded.

Ralph -Kenworthy, a ganger on the railway, stationed at Mat-area, gave evidence. He remembered the accident on May 14th, and went to the scene, and saw the driver, Thomas Welsh. When he got there deceased was pinned in the cab and could not get out. He was conscious, though badly injured. Deceased made no statement. With assistance got him

n out and he was attended by the doctor in about an hour. Only just got deceased out when the relief train arrived. Witness did not see the fireman. To the Coroner: He first got word from the. clerk at Mataroa station about the accident from Ngarukehu. About 10.10 he first got word. As far as they were concerned there was no time lost in getting assistance-. The Coroner said he wanted to be certain there wag no delay in getting assistance to the injured men. Mr Macassey said the guard had to walk or run about three miles before he could communicate with anyone. This would take some time.

The Coroner: That is the point I want to get at. I want to he quite sure that there was no time lost. B. E Dew deposed that he had been an engine-driver on the railways for 14 years. He had driven the engine 459 on the morning of the accident, from Taihape to Taumarunui and bade. The brake was defective and it was booked as defective on arrival at Taihape. The defect was in the brake it self; the pump was satisfactory except for one stop during the trip from hape to Taumarunui, which is not an unusual occurrence. Had no difficulty in setting it going. He had heard the evidence of McKenna, and witness was of opiniofT'ho more could* have been done after the air had been lost than had been done, before giving the governor a slight tap # He did not think it would be possible, owing to the speed the train was travelling to reverse the engine. There is more difficulty in reversing an X engine than with others. When he booked the defect he thought it wa s the brake.

To the Coroner: When a defect is booked for repairs it is attended to by the fitters. He booked the defect at 8.30 a.m. and the engine was out again about a quarter to 12. This would give he thought, sufficient time to effect re-

pairs. • -• The Coroner. Were you present when the brake’ was tested, after the accident, on another engine Witness: I \va s present. The Coroner: Did trial of the brake under, working conditions take place on the Monday after the accident Witness: A s far as I know the trial never took place.

The Coroner; That was an arrangement made between the head mechanical engineers and the local staff. — Yes

Witness: The reason for the trial not taking/ .place was owing to a defect in the governor. A s far as ho knew it was the same governor as was on the train which met with the accident. He gave details in his entry in the ■book.

To Mr Macassey. He made a report in the book in the morning. This brake had been giving a fair amount of trouble for some time. The washers on the brake cylinders were 1 worn. They were able to apply -the brakes slightly. The brake would act slightly on the engine, but woul’d act fully on the train.

To the Coroner: He knew the deceased for about five years; be had a good deal of knowledge of him, and considered him a capable man, but he was inclined to get a bit excited Thomas Cairns, loco, foreman at Taihape, stated: He remembered the bight of the accident*. He first heard of it at 9.35 by a telephone message from the Traffic Department. Immediately on receipt of information that the engine had passed* Ngarukehu whistling signals of distress, and had not at that time reached Mataroa, he came to the conclusion that something had happen - ed. He detailed what steps had been taken to send up a relief train when h heard there had been a smash up; all available men and plant were requisitioned. They reached the scene of accident at 10.45, The driver had been extricated. Witness went to the van where the driver and fireman were and when he found the doctor was there, he returned to the damaged engine. He examined the engine as far as possible, and f ound a number f steam pipes broken in the cab, and both injectors broken off outside. He then examined the pump to see if there, were any marks where they had endeavoured to start it by tapping, but could find none. .He could find nothing whatever about the pipe broken or damaged in any way. To the Police: Was everything done as quickly as possible for the relief of the injured.— Nothing could have been done quicker. To the Police: The repairs to the pump minuted* in the book were effected; there was a broken nipple on the brake cyclintfcr, This would allow the air to leak off; when the engine was sent out again, it was all right. Did not know if there were any special emergency appliances for use. There was full complement of tools. The jacks carried were quite capable of lifting an engine to release an injured man.

To Mr Macassey: There were ample tools and appliances for a case of this kind in Taihape. The pump on going out wag in good working order; he witnessed her working for an huor.

The effect of the defect would affect the engine and tender, but the brake would apply Avith full force to the rest of the train. (Left Sitting.)