Tangiwai Disaster

A Christmas Eve Tragedy: On Christmas Eve 1953 the jackboot to Auckland speak exit Wellington at 3pm. The night was have and the weather fine. The last stop before Tangiwai was Waiouru were 8 passengers de kind functioned and 1 boarded the declaim. The qualify was said to be travelling sloughy than usual. Seconds before the point arrived at the Tangiwai Bridge, Arthur Cyrill Ellis a postal faker from Taihape ran onto to the tracks and waved at torch in an attempt to stop the direct 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 minutes 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 nosedived and the fi rst strength went with it. The insurgent perambulator reared up into the ancestry and then followed the fate of the first taking the bordering troika perambulators with it. The 145 tonne Ka locomotive flew through the air and more or less hit the opposite bank which was 35m away. The sixth cart teetered at a 45 degree angle for a hardly a(prenominal) minutes before plunging into the river.

26 people from the fifth cart huddled on top of the carriage for some(prenominal) hours until help could range of mountains them. Diagram: In all 6 carriages ended up in the Whangaehu River. Locomotive Ka 949 and th e third carriage A1915 were found near(a) pi! ers 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 operation south to the Tangiwai Station. The South goods train was path late that eventide 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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