THE NEWS OF THE WEEK

RUNAWAY RAILWAY TRUCKS CRASH

GUARD KILLED AT HIS POST

APPALLING SCENE NEAR MACEDON

Between Macedon and Woodend, shortly before 2 o'clock on Saturday 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 suffered severe shock, but were not seriously wounded.

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. E. Evans, guard, were the trains' crew. A second train, which followed soon after, was driven by G. Kellam. and the fireman was P. Chandler. The guard was J. Holberry.

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, they 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 damaged.

Evans was killed outright.

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.

Warns Others Of Danger

Hi! Hi!! Hi!!!

This exclamation, shouted in a man's loudest tones, was heard by the Stationmaster at Macedon early in the 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 on-coming 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.

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.

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.

Knocked Back 50 Yards

The stationmaster at Macedon, Mr. Pennington, promptly rang for assistance, and set out in the darkness along the line to see what had happened. He had gone about half 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.

The train which had been run into had been knocked back about 60 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. Evans 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.

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.

The old guard railway men 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 had 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 Evans's act will not soon be forgotten by the railway-men."

Marvellous Escape

The guard, on the oncoming train, whose head had been pushed through the window when the collision took place, suffered only 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 cleared from the line, and as much of the damaged rolling stock as could be removed taken to Melbourne.

Engine Driver's Story

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

Mr Garland 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 charge of Driver T. Monahan.

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 the 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.

Evidence Taken at Bendigo

The departmental board, which made preliminary inquiries into the railway disaster at Macedon, had a strenuous time on Saturday, and Sunday.

The board was expected in Bendigo at 8 p.m., but it was not until after 1 a.m. on Sunday that the city was reached. An inspection was made of the engine of the train from which the breakaway occurred, and also of the trucks which remained on the train, and which were brought on to Bendigo.

The evidence of several witnesses was also taken, it was nearly four o'clock when the investigations ended. The board immediately left for Melbourne to prepare a "report for presentation to the Commissioners.