Sheep slaughtered in spectacular crash
SHEEP were flung across the tracks and a bull bolted for the hills after a Taita-bound passenger train rammed the back of a goods train at Ngauranga in June 1950.
‘‘The sea at Ngauranga this morning was red with blood. It was caused by the slaughter of cattle and sheep – the only casualties in a spectacular train accident a few hundred yards north of the Ngauranga station,’’ The Evening Post reported on June 20.
Freezing workers were called in to clear the sheep carcasses. They also ended up chasing a bull that ran off after being tipped from one of the capsized carriages. It took off southwards and had nearly reached Kaiwharawhara by the time it was caught.
‘‘Because of the danger to school children, the frenzied beast was shot,’’ The Post said.
The dead sheep were bundled into trucks and taken to a nearby freezing works reasonably quickly, but clearing the damaged trains took longer.
The Dominion detailed the wreckage. The wagons on the goods train were ‘‘smashed to matchwood’’, and the woodwork and windows of the passenger train were splintered and broken, and the engine scored along one side.
‘‘Wool caught on the jagged end of the broken window fittings and the blood and dirt indicate at least one sheep had been thrust into the carriage in confusion,’’ said the paper.
The train line was closed for three hours while the accident was cleared. GET THE BOOK The Dominion Post – 150 Years of News is available via dompost.co.nz or 0800 50 50 90. Priced at $34.95 + $3 postage and handling or $29.95 + $3 p&h for subscribers.