Camp Mountain Rail Disaster (1947)

[Hunter]

Was looking at some stuff about Mt Nebo the other night when I came across this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Mo...train_disaster

The Camp Mountain train disaster occurred at approximately 9:48am on May 5, 1947 when a crowded picnic train derailed on a sharp left-hand curve between Ferny Grove and Camp Mountain stations on the now-closed Dayboro line, approximately 20km northwest of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. 16 people were killed, including both the driver and fireman. 38 were injured. This is still the largest loss of life in a rail accident on the Queensland Rail system.

[edit] Overview

The train was chartered by the social and recreation club for employees of the Commonwealth Department of Customs who were travelling to a picnic venue at Closeburn to celebrate the Labour Day public holiday. The special train, service number E91, consisting of six suburban passenger cars and hauled by a 4-8-0 C17-class steam locomotive, No. 824, departed Roma Street Station in Brisbane at 8:50am. It was estimated that the train carried 215 passengers, most of them Customs employees and their families.

The train climbed the Samford Range to the west of Ferny Grove station and then descended the steep grade towards Camp Mountain station. The speed limit on the Dayboro line at the time was 25 miles per hour on the straights and 20 miles per hour on the curves. As the train descended the Samford Range it suddenly picked up speed. The locomotive soon left the rails on a left-hand curve with a radius of six chains (approximately 120 metres) at an estimated speed of 40 miles per hour. The locomotive tipped onto its right hand side while its tender and the three leading cars telescoped into each other.

A subsequent Court of Enquiry found that the driver, H.C. Hind, had been rostered to drive a train on a line he had little knowledge of. The driver, who died later in hospital, admitted to others while he was trapped in the wreckage of the locomotive that he did not know the line, but that the fireman had.

The Dayboro line was closed beyond Ferny Grove in 1955 and the right-of-way in the vicinity of the accident site was converted into a rural road, McLean Road South. The accident site is commemorated with a stone cairn on the side of the road.

I had no idea about this accident and it was quite a surprise!

[graphixboy]

WOW.... I didnt even know there was a train line going out to Samford....