The Lucky Escape. Behind the 1919 Train accident at Castlemaine

 

    The above photo shows the aftermath of one of the most remarkable accidents ever to have occurred in Central Victoria. On Tuesday morning, June 10th, 1919, the 6.25am Bendigo to Melbourne express ran off the rails between Sawmill Road (then known as Knight's Hill Road) and the Skew Bridge, Castlemaine (which spans Barker Street North, see photo below ca. 1930). The engine, reaching a section of newly laid track, left the rails, ripping them up for over 600 metres, before heeling over. Three of the carriages fared worse because they slid down a steep embankment before coming to rest on their sides.

    Remarkably, of the 60 passengers on board, only one, the conductor David Mahoney, suffered a serious injury, a broken leg. Given the damage to the engine and carriages this was considered, at the time, to be nothing short of miraculous. 

photo:  Jeff Gartside

    But where exactly did the accident occur and what caused it? Luckily, locations were given in the newspaper reports. We are told that the derailment occurred as the train was crossing a 30 foot (9 m) embankment near the 80 mile (129 km) post, and not long after passing under Knight's Hill bridge. In addition the top photo gives an important clue.  We can see that it occurred just before a bend to the right (west) at a point close to the Castlemaine Bendigo Road (Midland Highway). This allows the exact location to be pinpointed. Below is a Google Earth view with the likely position of the train at the point of derailment marked in red.

        Here is a view of how that section of the track looks today.

       

                                                                 

    What can't be seen here is the steep embankment behind the trees on the left (east side). You'll note that the Midland Highway is very close to the track here, matching the historic photo. In the distance the cutting on the left is now clothed with vegetation.

    The reason for the accident was simple. The gangers hadn't got around to spiking all the rails, only one in four had been pinned to their sleepers. In those days flags would have alerted the train driver that the track was under repair and a speed limit of 10 mph (16 kmh) imposed over this section. For some reason it had been decided to allow the 6.25am express to proceed through at its usual speed of 50 mph (80 kmh). The papers of the day reported the proceedings of the Railway Board of Inquiry (e.g. The Age, Thurs, 19th June 1919, page 6) and Mr. F. W. Mann, counsel for the Victorian Railways and Mr. G. Higgins representing the public certainly made the men in charge of the work crew perspire in the witness box with their probing questions.

Photo: Jeff Gartside

    One finding interested me in particular. The Railways Commissioners made the following observation (The Age, Tues, 24th June, 1919): "Portion of the derailed train, including the engine and tender, was found at a place where the curvature of the line was of a radius of 50 chains (1 km), concave towards the west. The van at the rear was on a curve of 50 chains radius, concave to the east, the intermediate carriages being partly at one of the said curves and partly at the other". This implies that the train in describing a shallow letter S shape is more inclined to put lateral stress on the rails, similar to whiplash forces.

    So how dangerous is this section of track? In 1979, before the old double tracks were replaced by a single track, a train was derailed at exactly the same location. "It derailed coming into Castlemaine just before the train bridge over Main street (the Skew Bridge at Barker Street North), opposite Merrifield street, after Sawmill Rd bridge. The train didn't go over the embankment but ripped up a section of track. It was a very hot day, around 45 degree day" (Ken Priestly, social media). This is exactly the same spot the train had left the tracks in 1919. The hot weather may have caused the rails to buckle and been the principal reason for the accident but the S bend at this location certainly didn't help matters.  The photo below is of the 1979 derailment.

  Photo: Jeff Gartside 

Perhaps the upgrading of the line in recent times has allowed VicTrack to realign the track here somewhat, smoothing out the curves, but the next time you pass over this section of track on your way southwards from Bendigo it might pay to hold on tight.