Railway accident at Aberdeen, New South Wales

Abstract

Photograph of derailed train carriages, a damaged railway track and piers, and onlookers. Three carriages lie on their sides and the ruins of another part of the train can be seen further along the line. Other wreckage is scattered around the scene. Two men in official-looking peaked caps converse in the foreground. The track at this point is elevated on timber piers and in the distance the line runs between thick walls surmounted by metal arches. Telegraph poles run alongside the track and there is a number of buildings in the scene. Grazing animals in the far right suggest that the surrounding area is semi-rural. On the night of 10 June 1926, five people died and thirteen were injured when the Brisbane express train, hauled by two engines, fell through a timber bridge. One of the engines was of the NN type, which William Ellis had worked with for many years at the Eveleigh maintenance workshops. Ellis was shown photographs of the Aberdeen accident and was interviewed by the Smith's Weekly as to the causes of the derailment. He believed this engine type had a defect and excerpts from his diary were published to support his argument that the engines were continually in the workshop for repairs. He was subsequently called as a witness to the coronial inquiry. The coroner found that the track was not in a condition to carry safely an NN engine travelling at a greater speed than 35 miles an hour. Show more