Railways and Tramways of Australia

J131 Class locomotive no. 140 at Bathurst locomotive depot showing damage from the collision on 25 April 1890. Photo: Ron Preston collection, Time of the Passenger Train, First Division, p 152.

Bathurst runaway crash

Part of a train ran away and caused a shocking crash at Bathurst on 25 April 1890.

The runaway was part of a mixed train hauled by J131 Class locomotive no. 132. It departed from Bathurst, stopped at Kelso then climbed the steep 1 in 50 gradient to Raglan.

When stopped at Raglan, a drawhook on the third goods truck snapped off. As a result of the breakage, the rear portion of the train, consisting of 13 trucks, a horse box, passenger carriage and composite van, ran away backwards towards Bathurst. The guard turned his handbrake to try and stop the train but this was ineffective. He then jumped down and unsuccessfully attempted to sprag the wheels of trucks as they passed.

The rear portion of the train gathered speed. A telegraph message was sent to Kelso and Bathurst advising of the runaway. A porter at Kelso saw the runaway pass through at a speed he never seen a train travel before.

The Station Master at Bathurst had despatched an Up goods train, hauled by J131 Class locomotive no. 140, moments before the telegraph message was received. It was too late to stop the train. The goods train proceeded a short distance before the trains collided.

Noise from the crash was heard across Bathurst. Engine no. 140’s boiler burst and the train was forced backwards. On the runaway train, the brake van, passenger carriage, horse box and eight goods trucks were completely smashed. Four passengers died and three were injured. Hundreds of sheep were also killed.

Following the accident, continuous automatic air brakes were introduced to goods trains. This automatically applied brakes if part of a train broke away. Raglan station was moved to a more level location.

Equipment failure led to a shocking runaway and crash.

Bibliography

DJ Chamberlain, Railway west chronicles: Penrith to Orange, 3rd edn, Denis Chamberlain, 2011.

RS Fookes, ‘The Bathurst accident’, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, no. 209, March 1955, pp 28–36.

RG Preston, Time of the passenger train, first division, Eveleigh Press, Sydney, 2003.

Report of the Board of Inquiry on Accident at Bathurst, New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 21 May 1890.

‘Shocking railway accident at Bathurst’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 April 1890, p 12.

Plan showing where the collision occurred near Bathurst station on 25 April 1890. Source: Report of the Board of Inquiry on Accident at Bathurst, New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 21 May 1890.