Tangiwai... 30 years

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 1, Issue 29, 20 December 1983, Page 1

Tangiwai... 30 years

This Christmas Eve is the 30th anniversary of the Tangiwai train disaster which claimed the lives of 151 people and injured many more. On Thursday 24 December 1953 the WellingtonAuckland Express was carrying 278 happy passengers — men, women and many children — towards what should have been a joyous Christmas occasion with expectations of family reunions, exchanges of presents and other seasonal festivities. But all that changed just after 10pm as the train approached the Tangiwai rail bridge in darkness from the south. A massive wall of sulphurous water released from Mt Ruapehu's Crater Lake and carrying blocks of ice, boulders and sawn logs was approaching the same bridge at the same time from

the north west down the Whangaehu River. The rest is history — a tragic confluence of a natural phenomenon with the destiny of so many New Zealanders and a season of rejoicing. News of the disaster made world headlines, helped by the presence of a large overseas press to cover the first visit of a British royal family to New Zealand —

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. Many local people who lived in the Waimarino at that time — and possibly helped in the rescue operations and subsequent cleaning up and restoration work — will no doubt be reminded of this tragedy that occurred on our doorstep-30 years ago on Christmas Eve.