Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954), Sunday 26 August 1928, page 6


BIG RAILWAY SMASH

SERIOUS DERAILMENT AT KORRELOCKING

* * . -.

SEVEN PERSONS INJURED, ONE FATALLY

On« of the most serious railway accidents that has ever happened <n Western Australia occurred about 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday, when the train which was proceeding- from Merredin to Wyalkatchem and was due at the lat-ter centre at 9.50 ajn. was derailed. The train was a fast mired one, con-sisting of about nine trucks, two vans and two passenger coaches, and it left the rails after . .negotiating a curve about two miles west of Korrelocking and four miles cast of Wyalkatchem. In : addition to the crew there we ve some 14* passengers and a baby on the .train, and of these

Seven Were Injured,

two ot them- very seriously, and* one subsequently -succumbed.

it appears that at the time of the

accident a gang of railway (workers .were- constructing a -loop line, about BOA yards long, alongside the main line, the track of which had been cleaned out preparatory to relaying, and it ia believed that the rails spread, causing one of the trucks to leave the track. Five trucks were' telescoped, and a corridor .coach was thrown over on its side alongside the track: . Bails were torn up for about 60 yards, and the permanent -may was littered with debris from the wrecked trucks. One

truck, was turned completely over," With Its wheels in the air, and the ;

thick steel of «the undercarriage tom ; and twisted Into all sorts of shapes; like so much' matchwood. A 121a. wooden girder at the. eastern end of the upright corridor car was splinterei and «the platform stanchions were j

wrenched away. A 16-ton boiler partly ; Ailed with scrap iron was thrown from'a bogey flat top waggon, and the two men most seriously injured were Sound .under this boiler and over-turned-waggon.

There were two guards on the train, and one of them had a.

Very Narrow Escape.

He left the lavatory at the forward end of the first-class coach only a few seconds before the -derailment, and When it occurred about 40ft, of a «Oft. rail pierced the - Soor of the lavatory. After wrenching the wash basin-from the'wall, destroying the partition be-tween the lavatory and the usual sin-gle compartment, , and generally «de-molishing /the fixtures, the rail passed through the roof, curved and came TO rest about five yards-to the south of the coach, .fortunately there were no passengers in the compartment ad-joining the lavatory, otherwise they could hardly have escaped death or serious injury.

The crew of the train, none of whom was hurt, consisted of:-J. Daly, en-gine driver; - Edmonds, fireman; J. MTndoe, guard; and J. Robertson, assistant' guard. J. Pearse, an engine driver, who was learning 'the road, was also on,board.

The names of the seven persons in-jured are:

Nelson Jacobs (18). of Bilbarin.

. Fractured left thigh, crushed pelvis,

and severe shock (dead).

Frederick Bins kin (22), of Cor-rigin.-Head injuries. , _ "

William Wrightson (about 66), of 66 . lawier-street. South Perth.> Lacerated leg.

Mrs. Wrightson <about 62), of 66 Lawler-street, South Perth.-Injured

leg. ?

Jack Cook, of Parry-street, Perth. --Injured hand. t

E. Rowlands, of Perth.--Injured

arm.

y Leopold Steineck. of East Can*: nington.-Injured arm.

- Railwaymen, assisted by farm hands in the vicinity of the accident, ren-dered first aid to the injured, and Dr.

O. W. Corr «nd Matron Qiiealy, of the Wyalkatchem Hospital, were also speedily on the -scene, . and attended to the removal of Jacobs and Blnskin, the

- Two Most" Seriously Hurt,

to the institution mentioned: -~ The others, together with those passengers who had 'escaped injury (and who in-cluded the baby), were brought ' on to Perth, where they errived at 8.15 p.m., when the injured'were taken to the Perth Hospital and treated for minor wounds.

Jacobs, the youth who was most severely '"injured, was found by tho rescuers lying, partly beneath the waggon and the boiler, with bis head towards the rear pt the train. His right leg -was caught between the boiler land a section of a rail whicX at- the time of the accident, was lyiug alongside the permanent .way. The lad's left leg was doubled up under the guard iron of the truck. -Jacobs was quite conscious and refused to believe that Jiis leg was broken! On admission to the Wyalkatchem Hospital his hame was immediately placed on the danger

list. Dr. Corr gave him constant at-tention throughout the night, but, re-maining conscious to the last, he died at 4.55 p.m., on Wednesday. Jacobs' relations aro said to reside at Bilbarin.

I Binskin was lying in a depression on ! the ground near the middle ot thc

, truck, with the side of the waggon across his neck, lt was necessary to movo the boiler, as his" body was jammed between it and the truck, before he could be released. He was a ! good deal cut about the head, but his escape from fatal injuries was a re-markable one. The

Depression In The Ground

alone saved bim. -On arrival at tbe Wyalkatchem Hospital he was treated for head injuries, and. soon made fav-orable progress "towards recovery. He made a statement that he and Jacobs had "jumped", the train, and were rid-ing in a. truck-carrying a large boiler, when the smash occurred. The truck i left the rails, and the youths f were

pinned beneath it- Binskin's mother lives in Maidstone, Kent, England.

On receipt of news of the derailment by the Railway Department in Perth a breakdown train was despatched to the soene, and the Commissioner of Railways (Colonel H. Pope) appointed e. board of inquiry to investigate the cause of the accident. The board con-. slated of the Chief Mechanical Engin-eer (Mr. E. A. Evan»), chairman, the Chief Engineer of "Ways and Works (Mr. H. A. Cresswell), and the Chief, Traffic Manager (Mr. C. 8. Gallagher). They left Perth by special train at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, and arrived at Wyal-katchem the «ame night. They . re-turned to Perth on Thursday morning, but up to the time of writing had made no official statement of the result

of their investigations. j