MACEDON RAILWAY MISHAP.

FLAW IN DRAW-GEAR PIN

Effective Braking Claimed.

The coroner (Dr R. H. Cole) yesterday continued the inquiry into the death of Edward Thomas Evans, the railway guard who was killed as the result of several trucks of a goods train bolting down a steep gradient near Macedon on the morning of February 4. Inspector J. McCormack conducted the inquiry; Mr Scott Murphy (instructed by the Crown Solicitor) appeared for the Railways Commissioners; Mr A. W. Foster (instructed by Messrs. Loughrey and Douglas) for the Victorian branch of the Australian Railways' Union; Mr E. J. Corr for the Australian Locomotive men's Union, on behalf of the drivers and firemen of the locomotives concerned, and Mr W. H. Jones for the relatives of the deceased guard.

Albert Richard Stamp, acting superintendent of locomotive running for the Victorian railways, described the method of equipping the train and the component parts and working of the Westinghouse automatic brake, in regard to which he could not admit any weakness.

To Mr Murphy.-- There was no regulation which stated implicitly the position which loaded and empty trucks should occupy, and he disagreed with the assertion that the train had been badly marshalled. There must have been a substantial drag on the draw-pin of the Q.R. truck, the shock of which it could not withstand. Double-heading of trains was customary throughout the world.

To Mr Jones.-- About 80 per cent of the department's broken couplings were due to flaws in material. He could not agree with the statement that the reason why defects were not remedied was that men were not available for the purpose. The pin which was broken should not have been used as portion of the draw-gear.

To the Coroner.-- There was no regulation defining the duties of a train crew when a locomotive "stalled" but a regulation prescribed the duties of a guard on such an occasion.

Alfred Ernest Smith, chief mechanical engineer of the Victorian railways, said that the rolling stock was maintained at a high degree of efficiency. The safety factor of the draw gear was about 3.5, and on the American railways, it was about the same. As the result of inspection, he attributed the cause of the accident to a flaw in the pin holding the drawbar in position. It was not possible to eliminate flaws entirely. Unquestionably the pin in the draw gear was the first part to break.

To Mr Foster.-- There was a good deal of play between the pin which broke and the eyelet of the drawbar.

To Mr Jones.-- If the engine had been in thorough steaming condition it was probable that the train would not have stopped. He did not believe that on an average one broken draw pin a week was repaired. There would be breakages as long as there was draw gear, but the department did all that was possible to eliminate them. There were 40,000 sets of draw gear in use in Victoria.

The inquiry was adjourned to 9 o'clock on Tuesday morning.