Tangiwai disaster

The Tangiwai disaster occurred at 10:21 p.m. on 24 December 1953 when the Whangaehu River bridge collapsed beneath Wellington-to-Auckland express passenger train No. 626 at Tangiwai, in the central North Island of New Zealand. The locomotive and first six carriages derailed into the river, killing 151 people. The subsequent Board of Inquiry found that the accident was caused by the collapse of the tephra dam holding back nearby Mount Ruapehu's crater lake, creating a large lahar in the Whangaehu River, which destroyed one of the bridge piers at Tangiwai only minutes before the train reached the bridge. The disaster remains New Zealand's worst rail accident.

Tangiwai disaster
The wreckage of the KA locomotive, the sixth carriage and the rail bridge, in the Whangaehu River at Tangiwai, 25 December 1953.
Details
Date24 December 1953
22:21 NZDT
LocationWhangaehu River Bridge, Tangiwai, North Island
CountryNew Zealand
LineNorth Island Main Trunk
OperatorNew Zealand Railways Department
Incident typeDerailment
CauseBridge collapse due to lahar from Mount Ruapehu
Statistics
Trains1
Passengers285
Deaths151
List of rail accidents in New Zealand

Bridge collapse
Front page of the Auckland Star newspaper of 26 December

On 24 December 1953 the 3 pm express from Wellington to Auckland consisted of a KA class steam locomotive hauling 11 carriages: five second class, four first class, a guard's van and a postal van. With 285 passengers and crew,[1] the train was stated by a witness—the station agent at Tangiwai railway station—to have passed through Tangiwai Station on time at 10:20 pm at about 40 miles per hour (64 km/h).[2] The specified maximum track speed between Hīhītahi (to the south of Tangiwai) and Ohakune (to the north) at the time was 50 miles per hour (80 km/h).[2] There was no evidence presented to the Board of Inquiry regarding any calculations made or indications of the speed of locomotive 949 either as it approached the incident site or at the time of the incident.

Approaching the bridge over the Whangaehu River at Tangiwai, in response either to Cyril Ellis, a passerby, standing by the track and waving a torch or on seeing the condition of the bridge, the driver (Charles Parker – Locomotive Engineer First Class) shut off steam and initiated an emergency air brake application, while his fireman (Lance Redman) shut off the oil supply valve for the fire. These actions can be assumed from the state of locomotive cab controls observed following the incident. However, these actions could not stop the train running onto the bridge, which collapsed, pitching the locomotive, tender, and five second class carriages into the river.[1] The leading first-class carriage teetered on the edge of the bridge before its coupling to the rest of the train snapped and it, too, rolled into the river. The remaining three first-class carriages, the guard's van, and a postal van remained on the track.[3]

The death toll of 151 consisted of 148 second-class passengers, one first-class passenger, the locomotive engineer and fireman. Twenty of the bodies were never found and were presumed to have been carried 120 km (75 mi) downriver to the ocean.[4] Among the dead was Nerissa Love, the fiancée of cricketer Bob Blair, who was playing in a Test Match in South Africa at the time. On going out to bat after his loss, he received a standing ovation.[5]

Aftermath
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Karori Cemetery, 31 December 1953

After the train crashed, Ellis informed the train's guard, William Inglis, of what had happened and the two entered the sixth carriage, then still balanced precariously on the bridge's edge, in an attempt to save passengers. While they were in the carriage, it tumbled off the bridge and Ellis and Inglis, with the assistance of passenger John Holman, smashed a window and helped passengers out of the carriage. Of the carriage's 24 occupants, only one died, a girl who was trapped in her seat and drowned.[6]

Shortly after the accident, rescue teams departed from Waiouru 8 km (5 mi) east of Tangiwai. These included soldiers from Waiouru Army Camp, radio operators from Irirangi Naval Communications Station and Ministry of Works (MOW) workmen from the Waiouru Ministry of Works camp. By midnight the first survivors had been admitted into the Waiouru Camp Hospital, and by 4 am the following day, Christmas morning, the first bodies had been transported there.

The Prime Minister, Sidney Holland, arrived at Tangiwai early on Christmas morning after a high-speed drive down from Auckland. He coordinated the rescue work by railway, army, police, navy, MOW, local farmers and undertakers. While the army led efforts near the accident site, local farmers recovered bodies further down the Whangaehu River; at Fields Track, Mount View, Mangamahu, Kauangaroa, Whangaehu village and the river mouth. The bodies were taken by truck to Wanganui and thence by rail to Waiouru, where police and undertakers identified them. Local settlers carried out daily search-and-recovery operations for the next month as bodies rose to the surface.

For their actions, Ellis and Holman received the George Medal in the 1954 New Zealand bravery awards. Inglis and a passing traveller, Arthur Dewar Bell, both received the British Empire Medal for actions that saved 15 lives. Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh were visiting New Zealand on their first royal tour when the disaster occurred. The Queen made her Christmas broadcast from Auckland, finishing with a message of sympathy to the people of New Zealand. The Duke of Edinburgh attended a state funeral for many of the victims.[7]

Public inquiry

A Board of Inquiry was appointed to look into the cause of the accident; this sat in public from 26 January until 2 April and reported on 23 April 1954.[8] The bridge had eight piers and seven spans. After the accident four piers had been damaged and five spans dislodged.[9] The Board found that a lahar from Mount Ruapehu had removed the fourth pier a few minutes before the train started to cross the bridge. Their subsequent report stated; "The relative positions of the 44 ft. girder (span 3) and the first car (A. 1907) dictate that the girder was removed before the passage of the first car. This girder must therefore have been removed either before the locomotive arrived on the span or during the passage of the locomotive and tender over the span. If this girder was removed during the passage of the locomotive, there is a strong inference that some part of the heavy structure of the locomotive would have hit girder No. 2. There is, however, no evidence of extensive damage to girder No. 2, and it may therefore be inferred that girder No. 3 was not removed during the passage of the locomotive across it. Span 3 was therefore carried away before the locomotive entered upon it and there is a strong inference that Pier No. 4 was carried away before the train passed over it. This would also cause span 4 to be carried away. There is also a strong inference that Pier 4 was removed by the lahar and that this caused the accident."[10] The bridge had been designed for foreseeable flooding and for previous lahars that had different characteristics to the 1953 lahar, the forces of which had been unpredictable.[11][12]

The official report had this to say about the facts as presented to it; "Much of the evidence submitted relating to the order of events at the crucial time of the destruction of the bridge and of the train and of the conditions about the bridge, including the bed of the river, rests on inferences on which the Board is asked to make findings of fact. It seems unavoidable that the reconstruction of some events and circumstances must rest on such a foundation..." The Board also stated, " ...it is appropriate to record that in respect of every member of the train crew of train No. 626 and of every member of the Way and Works and Traffic Branches whose duties can be regarded as being involved in the accident there has been no failure to exercise reasonable care or fulfill any duty or responsibility reasonably to be expected of that member in the circumstances leading to the accident. The Board thinks this view can properly apply also to Constable Smidt."[13]

Legacy
Tangiwai Memorial, showing the replica of the number plate of the train's locomotive, KA 949
The site of the disaster as of July 2020. A concrete pier belonging to the bridge destroyed in the disaster remains visible.

Following the disaster, the Railways Department installed a lahar warning system upstream in the river to alert train control to high river flows. The early warning system installed in 1999 measures the river level using radar and sends the level to the Network Control Centre at Wellington railway station via an RF link to Waiouru and then via the signalling network to Wellington. If the river changes level, an alarm is triggered which alerts staff to the fact. If the level indicates a significant risk, the control centre sets the signals either side of the Tangiwai bridge to danger and warns trains in the area to stay clear by radio. The system is failsafe and if there is a problem with the system it automatically sends a fault signal to the control centre. In this instance, trains in the area are restricted to 25 km/h (16 mph) and told to take extreme care over the Tangiwai Bridge. Since 2002, it has also been backed up by the Eastern Ruapehu Lahar Alarm and Warning System (ERLAWS).[14]

A lahar of similar magnitude to the 1953 one occurred on 18 March 2007. The early warning systems worked as planned, stopping trains and motorists at Tangiwai before the lahar hit. The newer bridges held up to the lahar, and after inspection, trains resumed operation over the bridge.[15]

Dramatisations

Among the dead was Nerissa Love, the fiancée of New Zealand international cricketer Bob Blair. The 2002 documentary The Truth About Tangiwai directed by New Zealand film maker David Sims and available on NZ on Screen examines events surrounding the tragedy, finding that it was an act of God.

In 2011, a television film about the disaster was made by Lippy Pictures for Television New Zealand. Entitled Tangiwai: A Love Story, it follows the disaster and the love story between Blair and Love (portrayed by Ryan O'Kane and Rose McIver respectively). It premiered on TV One on 14 August 2011.[5][16] A play written and performed by Auckland actor Jonny Brugh, The Second Test, tells the same story from Blair's perspective, emphasizing his commitment to continue playing with the New Zealand team, then on tour in South Africa, after hearing of the tragedy.[17]

References

Notes
  1. Inquiry Report 1954, p. 4.
  2. Inquiry Report 1954, p. 5.
  3. Conly & Stewart 1991, pp. 6–7.
  4. Conly & Stewart 1991, p. 7.
  5. "Death and the maiden: The tale of 'Tangiwai'". The New Zealand Herald. 6 August 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  6. Conly & Stewart 1991, pp. 15–16.
  7. "Tangiwai Railway Disaster 1953". Christchurch City Libraries. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  8. Inquiry Report 1954, pp. 3, 24.
  9. Inquiry Report 1954, pp. 16–17.
  10. Inquiry Report 1954, pp. 8, 17.
  11. Inquiry Report 1954, p. 18.
  12. Inquiry Report 1954, p. 20.
  13. Inquiry Report 1954, p. 21.
  14. Tony Taig (October 2002). "Ruapehu Lahar Residual Risk Assessment" (PDF). TTAC. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  15. "Photos: Lahar could have been much worse". The New Zealand Herald. NZPA. 18 March 2007. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  16. "Tangiwai (2011)". IMDb. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  17. "Cricket: Emotion of Blair's story brought to stage". Otago Daily Times. 30 March 2011. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2011.

Sources
  • Conly, Geoff; Stewart, Graham (1 October 1991). Tragedy on the Track: Tangiwai & Other New Zealand Railway Accidents. Grantham House. ISBN 978-1-86934-008-7.
  • Tangiwai Railway Disaster: Report of the Board of Inquiry. RE Owen. 30 April 1954.Archived at archive.org. Retrieved 5 November 2012

Further reading
  • Kevin Boon; Nelson Price Milburn (1 October 1990). Tangiwai Rail Disaster. Nelson Price Milburn. ISBN 978-0-7055-1483-5.
  • Bruce Morris (1987). Darkest Days. Wilson & Horton. ISBN 978-0-86864-087-7.
  • Le Vay, Benedict (2013). Weeping Waters:When Train meets Volcano. London: One Particular House.

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