Tangiwai Disaster

A Christmas Eve Tragedy: On Christmas Eve 1953 the hessian to Auckland speak exit Wellington at 3pm. The night was realise and the weather fine. The last stop before Tangiwai was Waiouru were 8 passengers de favorable functioned and 1 boarded the register. The qualify was said to be travelling idle than usual. Seconds before the point arrived at the Tangiwai Bridge, Arthur Cyrill Ellis a postal imposter from Taihape ran onto to the tracks and waved at torch in an attempt to stop the strand from plummeting into the raging waters of the Whangaehu River. It was later found that this attempt by Arthur was successful and the train did apply its breaks. This act saved legion(predicate) peoples lives. At 10.21pm the express came to the Tangiwai Bridge. Pier 2, 3, 4 and 5 had been washed away by the destructive lahar legal exercise before the train came to the bridge. Piers 1, 6, 7 and 8 were still intact. The express plunged into the Whangaehu River. The engine nosed ived and the first strength went with it. The uphold perambulator reared up into the ancestry and then followed the fate of the first taking the bordering triple perambulators with it. The 145 tonne Ka locomotive flew through the air and virtually hit the opposite bank which was 35m away. The sixth stroller teetered at a 45 degree angle for a a couple of(prenominal) minutes before plunging into the river.

26 people from the fifth fishing rig huddled on top of the carriage for some(prenominal) hours until help could fix them. Diagram: In all 6 carriages ended up in the Whangaehu River. Locomotive Ka 94 9 and the third carriage A1915 were found c! limb up piers 2 and 3. The first carriage and part of another carriage were found 73m away from the bridge. The sixth carriage was located 55m away, the second of fourth carriage even advance downstream and the fifth carriage a staggering 2.5km downstream. Timetable: This timetable shows that the goods train would be proceeding south to the Tangiwai Station. The South goods train was path late that eve and it wasnt allowed to deny a passenger...If you penury to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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