ACCIDENT TO THE EXPRESS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 66, 27 June 1910, Page 8

ACCIDENT TO THE EXPRESS

I FURTHER PARTICULARS. We take the following additional details concerning the accident to the Xew Plymouth mail train on Friday from the Wellington Dominion:— The train, which had on 'board from 100 to 120 passengers, was running up to time, and approached Koputaroa at a speed of 'between twenty and thirty miles an hour. Both signals at the station weTe set at "dear," and a porter waved a green flag as the express wbistled its arrival. Coming ahead at unslackened pace on reading the signals, the driver saw that the facing points about two hundred yards south of the station were not set properly, but were standing, as railway men would say, at "half-cock," which means that a clear entry was given to neither line. The driver promptly applied the brakes, but as the train at the time was only about fifty yards away from the points it was not possible to puill up to a standstill. <MGDm LMVBS THE RAIL'S. The train was still running at a fair speed on reaching the points, and the engine at'once let the rails and went hammering over the sleepers. The tender, a postal van, and two first-class carriages coupled immediately behind' also left the trade, and the -weight of the train caused these cars to rock along the metals for a distance of some fl'rty yards before coming to a standstill. The passengers naturally received a severe shock. Those who occupied the foremost carriages—one a bird-cage car and the other a smoker—together with the clerks ' in the postal van, were roughly shaken. Had it not been for the promp't manner in which Driver Coulter turned the full power into the brakes along the train, a very serious accident would have been inevitable. As it was, the engine was rendered quite unworkable, the tender 'was .practically wrecked, the end of the postal van was stove in, and two passenger cars were shaken about forcefully. "LIKE A SNOW PLOUGH." itfot many people were about when the accident occurred, but one resident who stood to watch the main train run past, and who consequently saw the mishap, expresses surprise that results were not more serious. He declares that the' engine, after bumping over the rails at: the points, resembled a snow plough as it dashed along between the two railway trucks, throwing up earth on all sides. As proof of this statement it may be mentioned that the cow-catcher was twisted back out of aM recognition, and soil" rested on the front parts of the engine. The spectator interviewed stated also that at one time it looked very much as if the forepart of the train was going- to buckle uip, as the engine gouged more deeply into the ground and the heavy ears pressed forward. Residents in the vicinity were startled by the un-1 usual rumbling noise, and rushed from j 'their doors to view the train. Inasmuch as there was risk of the | tender crashing right into the cab of the ! engine, or buckling up completely, the I enginemen showed courage in remaining | at their posts until the train labored to a standstill.

OTHER DAMAGE. The undergear of the engine was badly battered about. The thick steel running ■plate npon which the boiler rests forced back the front framework of the driver's cab, and then itself buckled up. The tender was subjected to pressure great enough to cause extensive bending of the framework, and the bogies were torn from their fixtures. On the forward end of the postal wagon the damage pointed to telescoping in a primary stage, for not only were the couplings displaced, but the whole end of the car was loosened and the walls opened in large cracks. The windows also were broken. The wheels and undergear of the next two car.9 suffered from contact with the unaccustomed track, but the rest of the train—three passenger cars and a luggage van—remained on the rails, and was apparently uninjured' by the sudden jarring stop.