The Warrimoo Train Smash—1930
At 6.25pm on Monday 27th January the excursion
train service consisting of two steam locomotives along with 8 carriages filled
with passengers and a brake van, left Mount Victoria
headed for Sydney Central. It was a drizzly summer evening and the tourists on
board were weary from the eager pursuit of Mountains’ bushwalking exertions—it
was the end of the Summer school holidays .
'Coupled' steam locomotives of the type used by NSW Government Railways in the 1930's |
Everything works well as long as the track ‘points’ along
the way are all adjusted for the reverse direction—especially since this
excursion train had two locomotives leading it, an extra one being necessary
for work at Blaxland. Both locos had a Driver, Fireman and a Pilot lookout on
board as the train edged eastward beyond Warrimoo Station at about 10 miles per hour (15kms per hour).
The excursion train was travelling at a very slow speed when the mishap occurred, and this fact, no doubt, prevented a grave
disaster, in which many passengers must have been involved. The leading engine
passed safely over the catch-points
about a quarter of a mile (400-450 metres--WH) on the Sydney side of Warrimoo, but
the second engine fouled the points and left the rails. The heavy locomotive bounced along the permanent way for some yards
and then took a sudden lurch to the right and "nose-dived" over a 16ft (5 metre—WH)
embankment.
Realising their extreme danger the crew of this engine
leapt clear, and were uninjured. The sudden lurch of the engine, however, threw
the leading locomotive off the rails and caused it to turn over on its
side with portion of it projecting over the brink of the embankment. Those in the
cabin of the engine, including McGarrity, were pinned down by the twisted
ironwork, and it is believed that the driver and fireman were killed instantly.
The brake-van was derailed, but the carriages did not leave
the line.[1]
As the
second loco lurched forward to push the lead engine off the rails and down the embankment,
it crushed the cabin containing Driver Harold Hanna, 32, and Fireman Edward
Smith, 26, both of Springwood, killing them instantly. Yet a 16 year old
‘Junior Porter’, Joseph McGarrity of Station Street Blaxland, survived with his
arm and leg pinned amid the heavy iron of the wreckage. His account is as
follows…
Although the night was cloudy the track was not so dark, and
I heard the fireman call out loudly to the driver: 'Hold her, driver. The
points are open!' After that I remember a screech of brakes and then we toppled
over. Everything went black. When I came to I was in great pain. My right leg
and hand were jammed and I was held up by my hand. The leg hurt very much, but
the pain of my hand was worse. I thought I would never be rescued; I was almost
smothered. I noticed the feet of the driver and fireman dangling over me, and I
felt blood trickling down on to me.[2]
In the
hectic moments that followed, the crew from the second engine sought to calm
the rattled passengers, some of whom were disembarking and wandering towards
the scene. It was a miracle the remaining carriages did not come off the rails.
Help was immediately sought by telephone from Warrimoo to Blaxland Station and Valley Heights ,
and a repair carriage was sent from Penrith post
haste. Railway Headquarters at
Eveleigh sent a full Repair Train to the accident site, complete with crane and
other heavy lifting equipment.
When the break down train from Eveleigh
(probably Penrith—WH) arrived about an
hour and a half afterwards, the youth's leg was freed with the use of
oxy-acetylene apparatus, but McGarrity was still pinned in the wreckage by his
hand. The youth partly regained consciousness during his terrible ordeal.
The two doctors then performed a remarkable emergency
operation. Drizzling rain, at times developing into a heavy downpour, and the
escaping steam made conditions decidedly unfavourable for an operation,
especially as the light thrown by the flares was very unsatisfactory. Dr. Boser
administered an anaesthetic, and then Dr. Baxter amputated McGarrity's hand,
and thus freed him. He had been pinned in the wrecked cabin for about two
hours. A waiting ambulance waggon rushed the injured youth to Penrith Hospital ,
where he was admitted in a critical state. A further operation was performed
soon after wards, and the arm was amputated.[3]
Young Joe
McGarrity was grateful to have survived, though his arm was lost and his leg
scorched by his oxy-acetelene rescuers, to testify at the Inquest that
followed.
Most
passengers were merely shocked and possibly bruised by the abrupt
lurch-then-halt of the leading engines, but one notable escapee, Walter
Aurisch, 21, of Long
Bay , was discovered by a
motorist wandering dazed and confused on the Highway. He was taken to Penrith Hospital where he was found to have
suffered severe abrasions to the head causing serious shock and disorientation.[4]
At the Inquest the Coroner, Mr. A.
Judges, found that Robert Rupert Hindmarsh, fettler, and Alexander Angus Gollan,
flagman, were ‘guilty of culpable negligence’ for not locking the points in
place and not signalling that the points were open to the oncoming train.
McGarrity and the crew of the
second loco had both confirmed that the points were seen to be open, and that
there was no flagman present to signal the danger. Gollan had testified that he
was heading towards Blaxland Station at the time of the smash because Hindmarsh
had waved to him on the previous train, indicating that he was relieved and to
head towards Blaxland. Hindmarsh for his part, said that he was simply waving
to Gollan as a goodwill gesture—in short, the tragedy had occurred through
mistaken communication.
Hindmarsh and Gollan were
committed to trial for manslaughter and their Superviser, Signalman Berkeley,
was severely censured for the casual manner in which he supervised the work of
the other two men, who appear to have avoided custodial sentences.[5]
[1] TROVE,
‘Parkes Western Champion’ derived from the story in the SMH, Thurs 30th
January, 1930, p.1
[2] Ibid,
p.1
[3] Ibid,
p.1
[4] Ibid,
p.1
[5] TROVE,
‘Daily Pictorial’ (Sydney), Thursday 13th February, p.7
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