Sunday, 25th January, 1885
Only two years after the track from Melbourne to Sydney was finally connected all the way, one of the first rail disasters took place at Cootamundra, NSW. The express train to Sydney had left Melbourne carrying many passengers bound for the races at Randwick. Little did they know that disaster lay ahead, barely over half way through the journey.
A 250ml rainfall over the previous few days had caused flooding in Cootamundra, and normally dry creek beds swelled over their banks. Salt Clay Creek, which the railway crossed, became a torrent which washed part of the track away — the culvert not being big enough to withstand such a swell. Added to that the telegraph wires were down, so the warning message could not be sent through to the rail company.
Being around 8pm, there was little light, so the washed out bridge would have been unseen until they were almost upon it and so the train plunged ahead into the gap. Sadly, eight people died and another forty-nine were injured in the crash. In darkness, survivors had to help one another, getting out of the water and to dry ground. You can see from the photo, how a number of carriages were completely shattered in the impact.
At the coroner’s inquiry, it was found that the Railways Department were at fault for not building a big enough culvert to withstand those kind of floodwaters.
Have you ever been in a serious accident? How did it impact your life?
Romancing The Rock 
Wow… that’s some smash. Thank God, I haven’t been in a serious accident like this or some car crashes you see.
I did see one happen right beside me at a set of lights a few weeks ago. That was awful enough. ;/
I know. Seeing accidents happen is bad enough – let alone being in one (and I haven’t been in one either). I imagine they carry around the trauma for a long time afterwards.