Rimutaka railway accident
The Rimutaka railway accident occurred on September 11, 1880 on the Wellington – Wairarapa railway near Upper Hutt in New Zealand . He was a crosswind caused the cars to derail brought. Four deaths were the result. It is the oldest known railway accident caused by wind .
requirements
The railway line led to the accident site by extremely difficult terrain. The route itself had a 4.8 km long slope of 67 per thousand, which could only be mastered here with a special technique, the Fell system . It ran on a ridge and trains could be exposed to extreme cross winds.
The New Zealand Railways accident train was traveling from Greytown to Wellington . It consisted of a Fell locomotive , which was set in the middle of the train, which pushed two passenger coaches and the baggage car in front of it and pulled another two freight cars loaded with wood and a brake truck for the Fell system.
the accident
On the ascent, the three cars at the head of the train were pushed to the side by strong gusts of wind , derailed and fell down a slope. The structure of the first car detached itself from its frame, fell into the valley and was smashed. Here the dead were to be lamented. The frame and the two following cars did not crash because the coupling held - as did the clamp of the Fell locomotive on the central rail. The weight of the locomotive prevented the entire train from crashing. The brakeman of the last running brake car separated it from the train and let it roll downhill to get help. All of the dead passengers (three died in the accident, one later succumbed to his injuries) were children.
Accident investigation
The investigation into the accident came to the conclusion that it was a natural event and that there was no fault , but recommended that endangered parts of the route be shielded with a windbreak. Which came New Zealand Railways Corporation by. In addition, trains were now always carried by two locomotives in strong winds on the section .
Worth knowing
A similar accident occurred on the line again in 1936 when a railcar was pushed out of the rails by a gust just before the start of a windbreak . Eight people were injured. In 1937 the dangerous section of the route was replaced by a base tunnel under the Remutaka Range .
See also
literature
- Disasters ans Mishaps - Railways - Rimutaka Derailment . In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966 ( online [accessed December 17, 2015]).
- Geoff Conly, Graham Stewart: Tragedy on the Track: Tangiwai & other New Zealand Railway Accidents . Grantham House Publishing, Wellington 1986, ISBN 978-1-86934-008-7 , pp. 68-77 .
Coordinates: 41 ° 7 ′ 32.4 ″ S , 175 ° 12 ′ 37.1 ″ E