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MACEDON FATAL TRAIN CRASH

Saturday 4th February 1922

Railway Smash at Macedon

RAILWAY SMASH AT MACEDON

Guard Killed and Two Men lnjured

RUNAWAY VEHICLES CRASH INTO ONCOMING TRAIN

Between Macedon and Woodend, shortly before 2 o'clock this morning, a collision between goods trains resulted in the death of David Edward Evans 53, a guard in the employ of the Victorian Railways.

Driver G. Kellam and Fireman P. Chandler though greatly knocked about and sustaining severe shock, were not seriously injured.

The 8.15 "through" Bendigo goods train, which left Melbourne on time, was hauled by two engines, and was made up of 45 vehicles. T. Garland and T. Monoghan, drivers, T. Lalor and C. Straughan. firemen, and D. J. Evans, guard, were the trains' crew.

A second train, which followed soon after, was driven by G. Kellam. and the fireman was P. Chandler, J. Holberry being the guard.

The casualties were: —

Killed

Guard David Edward Evans, 53, married.

Injured

Driver G. Kellam, shock and abrasions.

Fireman P. Chandler, shock and abrasions.

Trucks Break Away

Between Macedon and Woodend, the rear portion of the leading train broke away, and 13 trucks ran back on the "down" line through Macedon Station. Gathering momentum, the runaway trucks had arrived at a point about a mile and a half on the "up" side of Macedon station, when the oncoming train was struck by them.  Four trucks and the guard's van of the runaway train were wrecked, and other vehicles were damaged. Evans was killed outright. Holberry, the guard of the second train, escaped without injury. No time was lost at Melbourne in sending to the scene a casualty train with a steam crane. Passengers travelling on the up and down, morning passenger trains were transferred across the scene of the collision.

Both tracks were blocked, and were not cleared until noon.

GUARD DIES AT POST

WARNS OTHERS OF DANGER

Runaway Trucks Crash At 70 Miles An Hour

(From "Our Special. Reporters)

MACEDON, Saturday;

Hi! Hi! Hi!!!

This exclamation, shouted in a man's loudest tones, was heard by the stationmaster at Macedon early this morning.

It was the cry of an elderly guard sticking loyally to his duty.

The stationmaster saw that trucks had broken away and were running downhill at a speed of almost 70 miles an hour and that the guard was calling out to warn others on the line of the danger, so that they should not be in jeopardy. A minute later a loud report rang out. The stationmaster then knew that the worst had happened. The runaway trucks had crashed into an oncoming goods train. Evans, the guard, who had shouted the warning, was found dead on the line 200 yards away from the scene of the accident.

Appalling Scene

Right opposite the 42-mile post on the line to Bendigo, between Gisborne and Macedon, the scene was appalling.

Six trucks and the van of the break-away were piled on the side of the high embankment of the line. They were wrecked beyond repair. Wheels were twisted, woodwork was in splinters, and thick iron plates were as though they were so much paper. Coal was heaped all around, and iron bolts, nuts and bars were scattered far and wide. These wrecked trucks were those of the break-away. The greatest damage to the goods train, which was struck, was to be seen on the engine, from which the funnel had been carried away, and the front of the boiler staved in.

Very little damage was done to the permanent way.

Fearful Impact

The whole scene spoke plainly of the fearful force of the impact.

The departmental board of inquiry went to Gisborne this afternoon and opened an inquiry into the cause of the accident.

Gradient 1 in 50

The two trains concerned left Melbourne last night. One was the 8.15 good train, bound for Bendigo. It was made up of 45 trucks and was hauled by two engines one of the A2 and the other of the DD class, and was drawing a load of 624 tons.

Tho other train was the 7 p.m. from Melbourne, drawn by an A2 engine and comprising 41 empty trucks.

The 8.15 p.m. left Gisborne a few minutes before the train of empty trucks and was one mile and a half on the other side of Macedon on the way to Woodend, when several trucks and the van broke away. In this van was Evans, the guard. At this time the trucks were on a gradient of one in fifty, perhaps the steepest of the whole of the line, that part of the country being 1854 feet above sea level.

Great Momentum

Seven of the trucks were loaded with coal, and one with bricks and the momentum gathered was tremendous.

The trucks flashed past the Macedon station, and Mr. E. Pennington, the stationmaster, was amazed. That amazement was increased by loud calls from the guard, who, Pennington properly surmised, wished to attract attention to the danger so that he could send the warning signal along the line.

An Awful Crash

It seemed only a few seconds after that, when an awful crash was heard at both Macedon and Gisborne. Railway officials estimate that the escaped trucks had passed through Macedon at from 65 to 70 miles an hour.

There was no doubt left in the minds of the railway officials at those stations that a terrible accident had happened and that the trucks had crashed into the slow-moving train that had left Gisborne only a few minutes previously and was steaming up the incline at about 15 miles an hour.

Stationmaster's Search

Mr Pennington immediately rang for assistance and set out in the darkness along the line to see what had happened. He had gone about a mile when he was met by P. Chandler, the fireman of the slow train staggering along and clearly suffering from shock. He braced himself together and hurriedly told what had occurred and then almost collapsed.

Train, Knocked Back 50 Yards

In a few moments, a number of people had reached the scene of the smash. So great was the task before them that nothing could be done until further assistance arrived. The train, which had been run into had been knocked back about 50 yards by the impact, and, while the engine had been badly damaged, three of the trucks had been derailed.

Off the rails and down the embankment were six of the trucks of the runaway, and the remains of the splintered van. Some of the wreckage was 100 yards distant, and when a search along the line was made the body of Evans was seen 200 yards up on the Macedon side of the 42-mile post, where the accident occurred.

He had either jumped out on seeing that a collision was inevitable or had slipped and fallen in an attempt to get the brakes into action.

Fireman's Solitary Walk

When Chandler the fireman, after his terrible shaking, went along, the line in the darkness for assistance, he had not a single soul for company.

G Kellam, the engine-driver, had been thrown back by the impact and sustained a nasty bump on the head.

MACEDON SMASH

MARVELLOUS ESCAPE

The guard, on the oncoming train, whose head had been pushed through the window when the collision took place, escaped with a few scratches.

How the crew of this train escaped death or serious injury is a mystery.

When the railway authorities at Melbourne were notified of the accident, the relief train and crew were sent to Gisborne, and, working all night under the direction of Mr W. H. Jones, superintendent of the metropolitan rolling stock, had the wreckage removed from the line and as much of the damaged rolling stock as could be removed taken to Melbourne.

REFRESHMENTS FOR WORKERS

Soon after the accident occurred railway officials from various centres were hurrying to the scene and Mr Williamson, supervising officer on the Bendigo line, was stationed at Woodend and put in charge of the line.

The gang of workmen, who were toiling unceasingly all night, were supplied with refreshments by Mr F. Williams, of the New Gisborne Hotel.

The body of Evans was taken to the New Gisborne Hotel, where it remained until this afternoon, when it was removed to the Melbourne Morgue by Constable McKay, of Macedon.

AT GRIPS WITH DEATH

The Gallant Guard

(From Our Special Reporters)

MACEDON, Saturday

Evans lay on the line dead.

His right foot was almost torn off at the ankle joint, and the left boot had been grazed heavily against some object.  His left leg was broken and his skull fractured.

In the opinion of Dr U. A. Daly, of Gisborne, who was summoned to the scene of the accident, death was instantaneous.

Railway men stood near the pile of wreckage this morning and looked toward the spot – 180 years distant – where their colleague’s body was found.

WORKING HARD AT BRAKES

The old guard, they said, had stuck to his job bravely.  They reasoned that he was working hard to get the brakes into action on the bolting trucks.

The torn and twisted foot, they declared, showed that he was working on the brakes, but the momentum that been gained by the runaway trucks was too great, and in his fight against death he was beaten.

He was apparently caught by the foot and whirled off the waggon.  Had he jumped they thought his body would have been found further from the line.

“He must have been a game man,” said one railway-man in a quiet tone “or he would have jumped off before the trucks gathered such an awful speed.  Ted Evan’s act will not soon be forgotten by the railwaymen.”

“LIKE A CANNON SHOT”

“I CANNOT GET NOISE OUT OF MY EARS”

“Oh, my God, I hear it still,” said Mr Pennington, stationmaster at Macedon, in describing the accident.

“It was like a cannon-shot. I cannot get the noise out of my ears.”

Mr Pennington had been working all night and was showing the effects of the continuous strain.

He described graphically the dash of the flying trucks as they passed through his station.

“They cleared through like a whiff,” he said. “I heard someone call “Hi! Hi! Hi!!!”

It must have been Evans, the guard, shouting to notify me of what had happened to his train so that I should put the other stations on the alert.

“I rang up Woodend and Gisborne.  Almost immediately afterward I heard the horrible crash.

“I knew that something terrible had happened – that the runaway had hit the second goods train.

“I went out for help and set out along the line to find out what had really happened.  It was only a mile and a quarter, but it seemed like a three-mile walk in the darkness.

“One of the men of the goods train was walking towards Macedon.  He said that they had thought the light ahead was at Macedon, but it was the light on the brake-van which was rushing toward the oncoming goods train.

“Later, with Constable McKay, we found the body of poor Evans on the Macedon side of the scene of the accident.  His watch, which was found a few yards from his body, was still going.  The constable remarked, “It is right to the second.””

PULLED UP TO GET STEAM

Engine Driver’s Story

BENDIGO, Saturday

Passengers from Melbourne by the morning train reached Bendigo at 1.30 p.m. – more than two hours late.

Messrs T. Garland, engine-driver, and D. J. Lalor, fireman of the train from which the trucks broke away, brought the rest of the train on to Bendigo.

On being seen this afternoon, Mr Garland, who was in the company of his fireman, said that the train consisted of 45 trucks, a number of empties being in the middle, and loaded trucks at each end.  They had a second engine in chare of Driver T. Monahan.

TRUCKS THUNDERING DOWN

Realising that a break-away had occurred, he immediately went back, and, as he did so, he heard some trucks thundering down the bank towards Macedon.  On reaching the back of the remainder of train, he turned off the air tap, and, after complying with the regulations, and protecting the up line, he went full steam ahead to Woodend, which was a mile and a half away, to report the occurrence.

Of the original train, 32 trucks remained, and he brought them on to Bendigo, the second engine returning to Melbourne.

Messrs. Garland and Lalor were to take another train to Melbourne tonight but in view of their experience, they will go back as passengers by the evening train.

When within half a mile of the top of the bank near Woodend, they pulled up to get more steam for the final pinch. When the steam had made sufficiently, he whistled for the second engine to let the steam go and then started off.

The engine had only gone a few yards when it was pulled up by the air brake acting.

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