RAILWAY MISHAP.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 March 1919, Page 5

RAILWAY MISHAP.

The Manawata Stan lard gives the following particulars of an interruption in railway traffic on Monday: As the up mixel goods train from Wellington was passing the Longburn freezing works, about a quarter of a mile from the Longburn station, it met with a mishap, resulting in the derailment of seven waggons and a serious dislocation of the up and down traffic. It appears that one of the iron hand-brakes at the side of a truck slipped down acd bumped along over the sleepers for some distance with- j out doing any harm, btt in pausing over the points near the freezing works the brake became wodged in between them and snapped off, causing the waggons immediately following to leave the rails. An eye-witness of the accident states that as each waggon passed over the obstruction it jumped the rails, and apparently before the engine-driver noticed auything wrong, the front portion of the train, consisting cf a f-.w trucks and the engine, broke away. The two waggons on the front portion of the train left behind suddenly reared themselves into the ?ir, and wita a lone crash fell to the side of the line, narrowly missing a ganger, who jumped behind a pile of sleepers just in time. Fortunately, the train was not travelling at a high rate of speed and as it broke in two the brakes went on automatically, thus preventing a much more serious smash. Although there wen; a couple of cars t.n the train, these passed the obstructions safely, probably on account of being four-wheeled bogeys and heavier weight. The two waggons which fell o\'er were an L and a W, and they are st.ll lying at the side of v