Waiouru boys in train crash

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 272, 31 January 1989, Page 6

Waiouru boys in train crash

BY

MYRA

MACGIBBON

Well seasoned travellers Geoffrey (14) and Steven (12) were Southbound on the Silver Fern, returning from holiday in Auckland when last week's crash occurred. During the crossing of the Tangiwai Bridge Geoff thought about the 1952 Tangiwai disaster as he often does

while making that journey. Little did he know that only minutes later he would be involved in a train accident himself, though luckily not a disaster. At the time of the impact he was engrossed in a Jeffery Archer novel, reading about a military coup. The first sign of anything wrong was the carriage rocking and mud splattering in the

windows. The carriage he and his brother were in had veered off to the right as the engine carriage went left. Looking out the window across the aisle he noticed the top part of the cattle truck on the ground. He folded back the corner of the page he was reading and wondered what he should do next. He saw guards

checking the rails outside, but none in the carriage. The train was full of American tourists and nobody panicked or was injured badly. Everybody calmly gathered hand luggage and left the train. As he left the train his father was waiting for him. The Army people there took him into camp for afternoon tea.