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Two 'watched'
Aurora crash
MELBOURNE, Tues
day. — Two traffic con
trollers "watched" the
Southern Aurora on its
collision course from
more than 100 miles
away — and could do
nothing to prevent the
crash that killed nine
people — the City
Coroner, Mr Pascoe,
was told today.
As the two men — in the
control room at Spencer
Street Railway Station, Mel
bourne — stared at the elec
tronic panel, flashing lights
showed that the collision
was inevitable.
One cried out, "She's
gone, hell, she's gone",
That was at 7.04am on  
'Friday, February 7. Min
utes later a senior constable
was rushing to the railway
line near Violet Town in an
effort to stop the two trains
from colliding.
These moments of drama
immediately before the
Southern Aurora hit the
goods train head-on were
related at the second day
of the inquests into the
deaths of the nine people.
Mr Robert Arthur Hum
phrey, senior traffic con
troller with the Victorian
Railways, said he and Mr
Francis James McDonnell
were in the operating room
at Spencer Street, where
signals and points are con
trolled and charted by
means of an electronic
panel.
The panel showed that
three signals warned the
driver of the Southern Aurora,
John Bowden, that the
goods train was on the
same track ahead.
Flashing lights revealed
that something was wrong
and so emergency services
were alerted immediately
Mr Humphrey said.
Senior Constable William
Maurice Brady, of Euroa,
said that he received a call
from Melbourne at 7.09am
telling him to try to stop
the Southern Aurora.
He rushed to the line and
picked up detonators.
Had already
collided
"I was told, however,
that the trains had already
collided", Constable Brady
said.
A sales representative, Mr
Peter John Fennessy, of
Wagga, said he had seen the
Southern Aurora on a num
ber of occasions from Wod
onga and was parallel with
the moving train when it
collided.
"I was driving along the
highway abreast of the third
carriage and my speedo
meter showed that I was do
ing about 68mph", Mr Hen
nessy said.
"It seemed as if I was
travelling slightly faster than
the train, as I was gradually
gaining on it", he added.
It was when he was
abreast of the third car that
he saw the goods train —
"about 150 yards down the
line".
"I saw the two trains
crash and heard a tremend
ous noise", he said. "I pulled
up and ran across the pad
dock and saw fire starting
in the region of the two
engines".
Mr Hennessy said he then
helped with rescue work.
Mr Robert Daniel Gates,
a mechanical engineer em
ployed by the Victorian
Railways, said the brakes
and running gear of the
Southern Aurora were
checked thoroughly at South
Dynon depot two days be
fore the crash.
No defective or worn
parts could be found and so
no replacements were made,
he said.
Mr Malcolm Reginald
Bullock, a car and wagon
examiner, said he checked
the Southern Aurora at
Sydney just before it de
parted at 8pm on February
6.
'I examined the wheels,
braking system and other
parts and found them all to
be in satisfactory running
order", he said.
The hearing will continue
tomorrow.
$