Railways and Tramways of Australia

Collision in the fog

 

Two trains collided head-on at Serviceton on 7 September 1951.

 

Serviceton is located in western Victoria, close to the South Australian border. For many years it was an important railway facility where engines were changed and serviced.

 

The Overland express passenger train operated overnight between Melbourne and Adelaide. On the night of the accident the eastbound train was 79 minutes late when it arrived at Serviceton. The South Australian Railways locomotive was detached from the train and two Victorian Railways A2 Class engines, 953 and 946, were attached.

 

There was thick fog at Serviceton. At 2.55 am the westbound Overland, travelling at 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) and hauled by A2 Class engines 977 and 958, collided head-on with the stationary eastbound train. The fireman on no. 977 was killed instantly.

 

The four locomotives absorbed most of the impact and were severely damaged. Nos 953, 958 and 977 were condemned and subsequently scrapped; no. 946 was repaired and returned to service.

 

Around 600 passengers were on the two trains, each consisting of 12 carriages. Local townsfolk and emergency personnel rushed to the scene. Injured passengers and crew were treated and some taken to hospital. Refreshment room staff supplied passengers with food and drinks.

 

A Coronial Inquest found that the driver of 977, the leading engine on the westbound train, had failed to reduce the train’s speed when he should have known it was approaching Serviceton, and passed the home signal when it was at danger. He was committed on a charge of manslaughter but the jury found him not guilty. Victorian Railways restricted him from driving on main lines again.

 

Serviceton’s large railway station still stands, but trains no longer stop. The chaos of a foggy night in 1951 is lost in the silence.

 

Bibliography

FB Andrews & JL Buckland, ‘The Serviceton collision’, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, no. 611, September 1988, pp 195–206.

K Pearce, Australian railway disasters, 2nd edn, IPL Books, Sydney, 1999.

D Potts, ‘The Overland 112 Years down the track, Part 2: 1951–1975’, Newsrail, vol. 28, no. 1, January 2000, pp 11–14.

J Wilson, The Overland: a social history, SAR Lines Railway Books, Adelaide, 2020.