RAILWAY ACCIDENT

Taranaki Daily News, 16 May 1919, Page 5

RAILWAY ACCIDENT

DRIVER DIES FROM INJURIES.

BRAKES FAULTY. Taihape, May 15. Another fatal accident occurred on the railway north of Taihape last night. The goods train that should arrive at Taihape at 8.30, usually draws into a siding at Ngaruakehu to allow the express to pass, but being late last night the express passed at Hihitahi. The goods train followed and when going down the incline to Gardiner's siding got beyond control. The driver whistled for brakes, but no brake action followed, and the train careered along at a terrific pace past Gardiner's siding and was going 60 to 70 miles an hour when Ngaruakehu was reached. It rushed through the station rocking dangerously, and continued '.o gauii-.v speed till it was estimated that the pace was at the rate of 100 miles an hour. Three miles south of Ngaruakehu the engine left tho rails and the trucks banked "jp some mounting lie high bank oi the cutting where they remain perched. 'i-ic ■.v.j.'m was composed of 35 trucks loaded with coal, timber and sundries. ''":;:) tngine lies on the side of tlie line; •>>i>;t> trucks leapt over the wreckage and are two chains past where the engine lies. The locality is an indescribable scene of wreckage. Tile '.-ugiue-drivcx who was severely scalded was brought to Taihape where he «ied this morning. Tho fireman

wm :.U:m> baci'y scalded and now lies in a critical condition. The guard is sufi-.- rin,(i from severe shock. No passeri- .;. •: .i were on the train.

'.' The engine-driver was Thomas Walsh,! j i married jjiau. with one child, the fire- ! rasAi M'Kenna, and the guard A. Batty. j Relief parties went out immediately ! after the receipt of the news and an- | oth'-r -j/fTit this morning. A gang of. I workers has been dispatched. Tha coroner, Mr J. P. Aldridge, opened an inquest on the scene of the accident and adjourned to Taihape. Wellington, May 15. The accident occurred on a steep ffradc. The line will probably be blocked for several days, necessitating the transhipment of passengers_ j Particulars of the accident to the goods train between Ngaurukelm and Mataroa ■ show that the engine got out of control, ran down a hill, and is now lying overturned, with 30 wagons piled on it. Welsh, the driver, was removed to Taihape, where he died at 3 a.m. McKenna, the fireman, was also injured, but is progressing favorably. The accident occurred at 9 pni, after the Aucklandbound express had passed. FURTHER PARTICULARS. DRIVER'S TERRIBLE FATE. NARROW ESCAPE OF EXPRESS TRAIN. Taihape, Last Night. The scene of the crash reminds one of a huge pile of refuse timber at a forsaken sawmill, spiked here and there with protruding wheels and pieces of ironwork. The force required to cause such dual heaping and scattering is reflected in the hugeness of the pile and the j distance the wreckage has been thrown. Pieces of iron, two inches in diameter, were hurled seventy-five yards away. Serious as the smash is, it might have proved incalculably worse. It appears that Guard Batty had received instructions to proceed ahead of the express, and had passed the tablet to the engine driver when he heard Ngaruakehu station telephone persistently ringing. There being no attendant there, he answered, and received instructions not to proceed, as he might delay the express. By this piece of good fortune a greater catastrophe was averted, as the oncoming express would undoubtedly, have dashed into the mass of wreckage which consisted of at least twenty trucks. Engine-driver Walsh suffered a terrible death, being pinned down where a jet of leaking steam played upon him. When rescued he was still conscious, though scalded past all hope of recovery. He behaved with admirable bravery and stoicism, merely asking to be given a stimulant. The inquest was adjourned for a week. BRAKES FAIL TO ACT. AN INDESCRIBABLE SCENE OF WRECKAGE. Wellington, Last Night. Later accounts of the Main Trunk Railway accident state that Guard Batty applied the Westinghouse brake, but apparently it failed to respond, and by the time Ngaruakehu crossing and station were reached the train had gathered speed equal to about a hundred miles an hour. The signaller at the latter station concluded that the train had run away by the excessive speed at which it was travelling, and the fact that the driver was tausing a peculiar whistle to sound, as if in distress. Warnings were consequently flashed along to Mataroa and Taihape, but the end of the train came at the curve about Ave miles down from Gardiner's Crossing, when the engine shot off the track. The impact was terrific with the great pressure behind, and occular demonstration is afforded at the scene of the disaster, where the wreckage is piled up to a great height, hundreds of tons of coal and timber having been flung over the engine for a distance of three or four chains. 'The wreckage is terrible, and simply beggars description. When Guard Batty recovered from shock following on the impact he rushed to the assistance of Driver Walsh and Fireman McKenna. He found that the latter had escaped miraculously, though he was suffering intense agony from burns caused by the steam and boiling water. The driver had fared worse, and was still penned up in the overturned engine, and he was not released until a couple of hours afterwards, when a special train from Taihape had arrived with medical aid, notice of the disaster having been sent through there and to Ohakune by poster at Ngaruakehu. The traffic manager at Ohukuna also organised a relief train, and it arrived about midnight 1 with a gang of men, who cut a track over the bank for the express passengers, who readied the block several hours later, and were transhipped to a train waiting on the other side of the wreckage. The injured men were conveyed back to Taihape. Local trains to and from Taihape have been suspended on that section for several dajs, but the expresses will run a3 usual, passengers being obliged to tranship. The estimated damage wiH. ihardlybe covere*bj...£l2oe.