‘We ran for our lives’
Two women enjoying an afternoon stroll ended up running for their lives as a cascading gum tree crashed across railway lines into the path of an oncoming train.
A section of Hamilton’s Western Rail Trail, near Gallagher’s Hockey Centre in Frankton, has been closed for two days while contractors work to clear the tree.
Bronwyn Jackson, Suzanne Hunt and dalmatian Nicky saw it all unfold. Around 4pm on Tuesday their meander was interrupted by a loud crack.
‘‘The tree just came down across the walkway, and we were not far away from it at all,’’ Jackson said.
The 25 metre tree and its branches crashed through power lines as it fell, throwing leaves and sparks in the air, Jackson said.
Part of the trunk landed across the railway lines, so Jackson phoned Fire and Emergency. As soon as she got off the phone she noticed a train hurtling along in the distance.
Despite jumping onto a nearby seat and frantically waving at the train to stop, it was too late.
‘‘We just ran for our lives. I looked behind as we were running and saw the train hit the tree and it exploded, it was huge, the branches went everywhere.
‘‘We were really scared. It was like a disaster movie.’’
Jackson said she saw the train’s windscreen cracked in. The drivers appeared shaken but uninjured, she said.
Stuff visited the roughly 500 metre stretch of tall eucalyptus trees near the Hockey Centre yesterday afternoon. A number of them were on a heavy lean.
Jackson wants Hamilton City Council to deal with the trees, either by cutting them down or maintaining them. ‘‘Somebody could have died.’’ While she did not usually support removing trees, she believed they were hazardous to the many walkers and cyclists along the Western Rail Trail.
But council parks and recreation manager Maria Barrie said she isn’t aware of any dangerous trees in the area.
‘‘We continually monitor and maintain the 100,000 plus trees on city land. We prioritise any urgent work identified.’’
Council contractors are pruning the trees to minimise natural shedding, and to keep the path and railway lines clear, Barrie said.
Barrie did not confirm whether any other tree in the group would be removed.