Rakaia railway accident
Encyclopedia
The Rakaia railway accident at Rakaia
, Canterbury, New Zealand
on the evening of Saturday, 11 March 1899 occurred when the second of two excursion trains returning from Ashburton
to Christchurch
, ran into the rear of the first at the Rakaia
Railway Station, killing four passengers. While due to excessive speed, the accident resulted in overdue improvements by New Zealand Railways
to signalling and braking.
between Ashburton and Christchurch, with a branch line to Methven. Two excursion trains carrying about 3000 workers and families from the Islington Freezing Works (abattoir) in Christchurch had been to Ashburton for their annual picnic. The first train had two locomotives and 30 carriages, and the second had one locomotive and 14 carriages plus two wagons. The first train left Ashburton at 6.05 pm. The second train left 20 minutes late at 6.35 pm., and the chief guard (William Climpson) was left on the platform. The two trains had to wait at Rakaia for the regular Christchurch-Ashburton train, and a Methven branch train was waiting on the branch line south of Rakaia Station. Conditions were wet and unpleasant, with driving rain and a south-west gale.
The accident led to the fitting of air brakes to rolling stock and improved signalling. Only the locomotives (Ub) were fitted with air brakes, with hand-operated brakes in the guard’s van at the rear, and Rakaia station had no fixed signals.
So Westinghouse
Continuous Air Brakes were fitted to rolling stock, and interlocking signals installed, plus (Tyers) tablet machines on single lines (as most NZR lines were).
Rakaia
The town of Rakaia is seated close to the southern banks of the Rakaia River on the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island, on State Highway 1 and the Main South Line. Immediately north of the township are the country's longest road bridge and longest rail bridge, both of which cross the...
, Canterbury, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
on the evening of Saturday, 11 March 1899 occurred when the second of two excursion trains returning from Ashburton
Ashburton, New Zealand
Ashburton is a town and district in the Canterbury Region on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the third-largest centre in Canterbury, after Christchurch and Timaru. The area around Ashburton is frequently referred to as Mid Canterbury, which is also the name of the...
to Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, ran into the rear of the first at the Rakaia
Rakaia
The town of Rakaia is seated close to the southern banks of the Rakaia River on the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island, on State Highway 1 and the Main South Line. Immediately north of the township are the country's longest road bridge and longest rail bridge, both of which cross the...
Railway Station, killing four passengers. While due to excessive speed, the accident resulted in overdue improvements by New Zealand Railways
New Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...
to signalling and braking.
Background
Rakaia was an intermediate station on the single-track Main South LineMain South Line
The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railroad line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Invercargill via Dunedin...
between Ashburton and Christchurch, with a branch line to Methven. Two excursion trains carrying about 3000 workers and families from the Islington Freezing Works (abattoir) in Christchurch had been to Ashburton for their annual picnic. The first train had two locomotives and 30 carriages, and the second had one locomotive and 14 carriages plus two wagons. The first train left Ashburton at 6.05 pm. The second train left 20 minutes late at 6.35 pm., and the chief guard (William Climpson) was left on the platform. The two trains had to wait at Rakaia for the regular Christchurch-Ashburton train, and a Methven branch train was waiting on the branch line south of Rakaia Station. Conditions were wet and unpleasant, with driving rain and a south-west gale.
Accident
The second train was tying to make up time, and should have stopped short of the Rakaia station. But the driver (Charles Carter) did not brake until he saw the hand-held light of a station clerk, and the brakes skidded on the wet rails. The guard (J. Curson) of the first train saw the second train approaching fast, and signalled the drivers (William Hyland and Gardiner) to move the first train. Though the first train only had time to move two coach lengths, this reduced the damage. The engine of the second train ploughed into the back of the guard's van of the first train, causing it to cut 14 feet into the next carriage while the third carriage mounted the second carriage to a distance of about 8 feet.Aftermath
The Inquest jury found Carter was negligent in approaching the station too fast, though also criticising the lack of fixed signals at a station where five passenger trains met. Carter was then acquitted of manslaughter in the Christchurch Supreme Court, but was dismissed after a Royal Commission of Inquiry found he was negligent in not observing the regulations governing an approach to a station. But he was “scapegoat for a railway system suffering from severe growing pains, using operational methods that had not kept pace with increased traffic” (Conly & Stewart, page 77).The accident led to the fitting of air brakes to rolling stock and improved signalling. Only the locomotives (Ub) were fitted with air brakes, with hand-operated brakes in the guard’s van at the rear, and Rakaia station had no fixed signals.
So Westinghouse
Westinghouse Air Brake Company
The railway air brake was invented by George Westinghouse of New York state in 1869. Soon after, he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he established the Westinghouse Air Brake Company on September 28, 1869...
Continuous Air Brakes were fitted to rolling stock, and interlocking signals installed, plus (Tyers) tablet machines on single lines (as most NZR lines were).