Tangiwai disaster train driver

A man named cyril ellis had not been able to pass the bridge when he saw the train lights approaching. People will gather at the site of the tangiwai disaster tonight to. On sunday, 7 may 2017 a national memorial for engine driver charlie parker and fireman lance redmond was unveiled at the tangiwai rail disaster memorial site on sh49 near waiouru. It was, at the time, the worlds eighthdeadliest rail disaster and. Causes and consequences the tangiwai disaster 1953. Every year at christmas families travel to tangiwai to pay their respects for the peoples who lost their lives in the disaster, the christmas eve express also slows down and the driver of the train throws a bouquet of flowers into the river below to pay respects to those who died. This 2002 documentary examines events and the board of inquiry. Unbeknown to the driver or the 285 passengers on board the train, part of mount ruapehus crater lake wall had collapsed. Locomotive driver s family members finally get closure. A 11carriage overnight wellington to auckland north island main trunk express train, carrying mainly passengers travelling north to auckland for christmas, fell into the whangaehu river at tangiwai, ten kilometres six miles north of waiouru. The train driver must have either seen cyril ellis waving his torch on the side of the tracks or the water on the damaged bridge, because a later investigation found that the brakes had been applied, before the train reached the bridge, and though it wasnt enough to save all the carriages it saved the end ones. What were the affects of the tangiwai disaster answers. Of the 285 passengers and crew on board, 151 died in new zealands worst railway accident.

Tangiwai memorial ministry for culture and heritage. On christmas eve 60 years ago, 151 people died in the tangiwai railway disaster. Tangiwai disaster wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. A cromwell to dunedin passenger train derailed on a curve due to excessive speed and the driver being intoxicated. On christmas eve 1953, the rim of mt ruapehus crater lake gave way, unleashing around 2 million cubic metres of water, filled with ice and rocks, down the whangaehu river in the form of a giant 6metre wave.

The tay bridge disaster occurred during a violent storm on sunday 28 december 1879, when the first tay rail bridge collapsed as a train from burntisland to dundee passed over it, killing all aboard. At the time, tangiwai was the eighth biggest railway disaster the world. New zealand railways corporation collection the crash on christmas eve 1953 killed 151 people and is the worst railway disaster in new zealand history. The subsequent board of inquiry found that the accident was caused by the collapse of.

At the time of this disaster, a woman named nerissa love was engaged to be married to a cricket athlete named bob blair. And that was the center focus of a tv movie released in 2011 called tangiwai. Ruapehu and the tangiwai disaster te ara encyclopedia of. Tangiwai means weeping waters, and the name seemed sadly apt on christmas eve 1953, when the wellingtonauckland passenger express plunged into a river near tangiwai, killing 151 people in new zealands worst rail disaster. Earlier in the night of the disaster the wall of the crater. The consequences of the tangiwai disaster is the remains of the train, deaths and upset families, also a lahar warning system has been put in place. The bridge carrying the north island main trunk railway over the river had been badly damaged just minutes earlier by a lahar from mount ruapehu. Tangiwai rail disaster memorial ohakune 2020 all you. Unbeknown to the driver or the 285 passengers on board the train, part of mount ruapehus crater lake wall had collapsed, causing a lahar or mudflow to escape in a sudden wave. There was evidence that the engine driver had applied the. It was, at the time, the worlds eighthdeadliest rail disaster and made. Railway accidents te ara encyclopedia of new zealand. When a memorial was established to victims of the tangiwai disaster decades later, relatives of hyde disaster victims began to work for their own memorial, led by molly winter and elizabeth coleman.

They had been repaired with stones and seemed to be stable. New zealands worst railway disaster occurred 60 years ago on christmas eve 1953, when the wellingtonauckland night express plunged into the swollen whangaehu river near tangiwai. The dominion posts linda burgess found this tv movie. The causes of the tangiwai disaster is mount ruapehus lahar and the water levels that cause the bridge over the whangaehu river to give way. An 11carriage overnight express from wellington to auckland fell into the whangaehu river at tangiwai, 10 km 6 miles west of waiouru. The worst railway disaster in new zealands history occurred on christmas eve.

The tangiwai disaster on december 24 1953, was the worst rail accident in new zealand. On may 7 two plaques for bravery will be unveiled at the tangiwai memorial site to honour train driver charles parker and fireman lance redman, heroes of the rail accident that shocked the nation. The tangiwai disaster on 24 december 1953 was the worst rail accident in new zealand history. A new memorial was unveiled on 07 may 2017 to mark the courage and sacrifice of train driver charles parker and fireman lance redman who helped save the lives of 4 people when the wellington to auckland night express plunged in to the swollen river. The tangiwai disaster in new zealand happened on the night of december 24, 1953, when a train fell into the river after a section of the railway bridge had been swept away by a massive avalanche. Daughters of tangiwai disaster heroes seek closure in. The worst rail accident happened on christmas eve 1953 at tangiwai when a train plunged into a flooded river in the dark, and 151 people lost their lives.

A railway bridge collapses at tangiwai, new zealand, sending a fully loaded passenger train into the whangaehu river. Simple drainpipe could have saved 151 lives in tangiwai. Amazingly 21 of the 22 people in this carridge survived. Map of tangiwai disaster site travelling at approximately 65 km per hour, locomotive ka 949 and its train of nine carriages and two vans reached the severely weakened bridge at 10. His fiancee nerissa love maddigans quests rose mciver is boarding an illfated train, which in this excerpt will plunge into the whangaehu river at tangiwai, in the countrys worst rail disaster. The bridgedesigned by sir thomas bouchused lattice girders supported by iron piers, with cast iron columns and wrought iron crossbracing.

Tangiwai railway disaster christchurch city libraries. Who was the driver of the train in the tangiwai train disaster. The trains driver had engaged the breaks 200m before the bridge and that is the only reason that 4 people of the 285 survived. Cricketer bob blair ryan okane is in south africa, days away from batting for new zealand. The wellingtonauckland express crossed the rail bridge at tangiwai minutes later. Tangiwai disaster train driver charlie parker will always remain a hero to his taihape daughter. Family memory of tangiwai train driver hero lives on tangiwai disaster book a mustread a memorial service is being held at tangiwai on may 7 to finally honour both redman and parker. Attempting to slow the train down, engine driver charles parker had applied the emergency brakes. Christmas would never be the same for families of the 151 people who lost their lives at tangiwai in 1953.

Prior to the disaster, the tangiwai bridge had been damaged multiple times, in 1925, 1936 and 1944 some of the piers had been damaged by flood waters. On sunday, 7 may 2017 a national memorial for engine driver charlie parker and fireman lance redmond was unveiled at the tangiwai rail disaster memorial. The tragedy stunned the world and left a nation in mourning. In 1957 a memorial was built to remember the disaster. Dec 24, 20 on christmas eve 60 years ago, 151 people died in the tangiwai railway disaster. The driver saw him and applied the brakes, but the trains momentum carried it out onto the bridge. Major railway disasters te ara encyclopedia of new zealand. Photo triggers memories for man who attended tangiwai rail.

Twentyone people were killed, and many others were injured. In tangiwai, a rural maori community in new zealand, about half way between the rural towns of rangataua and waiouru, just off the side of highway 49, is a memorial to the worst train accident in the countrys history. He has just published them in a book, the tangiwai disaster. A love story, revolving around the couple up to the disaster. Family memory of tangiwai train driver hero lives on stuff. Tangiwai railway disaster tangiwai disaster nzhistory. The tangiwai disaster on 24 december 1953 was the worst rail accident in new zealand. Out of 285 people, 151 died, in new zealands worst rail accident. The area is well set out and just recently new information boards about the disaster have been placed around the site as well as plaques and other memorials to the passengers and train.

Rail travel is the safest form of land transport in new zealand, but occasionally train crashes occur. A dramatic mudflow, or lahar, was unleashed from mt ruapehu when the crater lakes wall collapsed. The memorial site is for the train crash that sadly took 151 lives on christmas eve 1953. On christmas eve each year the express train slows as it crosses the new bridge across the whangaehu river, and the driver. At the time, it was new zealands worst railway accident. Tangiwai rail disaster video seventeenyearold barbara mahy and her younger brother john had firstclass tickets but could only find seats in a secondclass carriage. Search and rescue tangiwai disaster nzhistory, new.

Aug 21, 2011 tangiwai means weeping waters, and the name seemed sadly apt on christmas eve 1953, when a lahar volcanic mud flow partly destroyed the railway bridge over the whangaehu river. Tangiwai railway disaster tangiwai disaster nzhistory, new. The truth about tangiwai on christmas eve 1953 a volcanic eruption caused a massive lahar to flow down whangaehu river. New zealands tragic tangiwai rail disaster on christmas.

The driver, fireman, one first class passenger, and 148 of the 176. The drama of tangiwai continues to resonate, its timing on. Dec 24, 2017 tangiwai disaster this was new zealands worst ever rail accident, killing 151 people on 24 december 1953 photo. The engine and first carriage nosedived, landing against the opposite bank. As the bridge buckled beneath its weight, the engine plunged into the river, taking all five secondclass carriages with it. It is still the fifth worst disaster in new zealands recorded history. Search the list tangiwai historic reserve heritage new. After leaving waiouru the guard moved them to the last firstclass carriage, at the rear of the train. At the time, tangiwai was the eighth biggest railway disaster the world had seen. On christmas eve each year the express train slows as it crosses the new bridge across the whangaehu river, and the driver throws a bunch of flowers into the water.

Later investigations showed that the brakes had been applied, but not soon enough to save most of those in the first five carriages. Tangiwai railway disaster 1953 by ting sun digitalnz. Four more carriages plunged into the river, floating in the torrent briefly before sinking. Tangiwai railway disaster nzhistory, new zealand history online. It was, at the time, the worlds eighthdeadliest rail disaster and made headlines around the globe. Dec 25, 2019 when it was all over, 151 people were reported dead, including the driver and fireman. But just over ten years later, the tangiwai disaster took 151 lives on 24 december 1953. Tangiwai rail disaster roadside stories nzhistory, new. The hyde railway disaster occurred on 4 june 1943 near the small settlement of hyde, new zealand on a bend of the otago central railway. The tangiwai train disaster 66 years later duration.

Tangiwai means weeping waters, and the name seemed sadly apt on christmas eve 1953, when a lahar volcanic mud flow partly destroyed the railway bridge over the whangaehu river. He attempted to stop the train by flashing a torch. The tangiwai disaster killed 151 people and remains the worst rail disaster in new zealands history. Tangiwai railway disaster the news that shocked the nation new zealands worst railway disaster. Tangiwai memorial unveiled for unsung heroes newshub. The story of the tangiwai disaster by gameoholic1994 on. More than 60 years ago a train full of passengers plunged into the flooded whangaehu river at tangiwai but family members of the locomotives driver have only just found closure. Tangiwai train disaster march 5, 2017 63 years after the tangiwai tragedy the unveiling of the memorial stone last year displayed the names of the 151 victims this was funded by the ruapehu lions club to mark their 50th anniversary. Memorial of new zealands worst train accident, in tangiwai.

The catastrophe occurred on xmas eve in 1953, when the railbridge over the whangaehu river collapsed beneath an express passenger train traveling from wellington to. The piers were narrower and their crossbracing was. Mar 18, 2007 deaths from the tangiwai rail disaster 24 december 1953 main trunk railway, tangiwai, new zealand. Memorial stone for tangiwai disasters unsung heroes. Cyril ellis, a motorist who discovered the nearby road bridge was out, tried to alert the crew of the oilfuelled steam locomotive ka 949, driver charles parker and. Rim of ruapehus crater lake gives way, releasing the lahar 10.

In august 1990, a committee was formed to erect a monument, a 2. Tangiwai a love story crash scene tangiwai disaster. The card attached reads, in memory of all who died at tangiwai on christmas eve, 1953. The locomotive and first six carriages derailed into the river, killing 151 people. The tangiwai historic reserve has national historical significance as the site of the tangiwai disaster, an event perceived of as a national tragedy. Each christmas eve as the express approaches the whangaehu river it slows to walking pace and the duty driver casts into the water a bunch of flowers. The worst railway disaster in new zealands history occurred on christmas eve 1953, at tangiwai, northwest of waiouru on the north island main trunk line. Heritage minister maggie barry will be at tangiwai near waiouru on may 7 for the unveiling of two plaques recording the bravery of the train driver and the fireman in the 1953 christmas eve rail. This resulted in the derailment of a train and the deaths of 151 people in what has become known as the tangiwai disaster. One shows colin morgan of lower hutt standing next to the wreckage of the seat he had occupied on the train. Wrong place at the wrong time tangiwai disaster nzhistory.