A train of 18 ballast waggons, drawn by a heavy engine, broke away as it was running down the grade from the scoria pit at Mount Albert yesterday morning, and crashed into eight stationary trucks on the siding above the Mount Albert station. Five of the trucks were destroyed, some damage was done to the engine, and for nearly two hours traffic on the main Kaipara line was disorganised. Shortly before 10 o’clock the train was stalled from the scoria tip below the quarry, the 18 hopper waggons’ and the brake van which it comprised being hauled by an 80-ton engine of the WF class. The grade of the branch line is 1 in 40 crossing the main road and curving round into a siding with a dead-end a short distance above the Mount Albert railway station. Six of the trucks were fitted with Westinghouse brakes, which were connected with the locomotive, and on four of the others the hand brakes had been put on. The load represented about 63 tons of scoria, and in ordinary circumstances the brake-power would have been sufficient to control the progress of the train, but the rails were slippery, and as the train was approaching the level crossing it broke away and ran down the incline at a rapidly-increasing speed. The driver, McPhail, endeavoured to arrest it by reversing the engine, but his action was ineffective.

Trucks Reduced to Scrap.

There was fortunately no traffic upon the level crossing as the runaway train passed over it, for in less favourable circumstances a more serious result must have attended the accident. The train ran on to the siding at a considerable speed, until it was brought to a standstill by colliding with a string of eight ballast trucks of the M class, loaded with scoria, which were standing at the end of the line. The result was the immediate destruction of five of the trucks, the derailment of the locomotive, and the blocking of the main line. One truck was thrown upon the one next to it, and the two vehicles which received the full force of the impact were reduced to scrap, the woodwork being broken into kindling, and the iron framework being shattered. Three of the other trucks were overturned and damaged beyond repair. The remaining three, waggons were only slightly damaged.

Train Crew Escape Injury.

The locomotive was completely derailed, and immediately it left the line it ploughed into the ballast until the main structure was resting upon the ground. The cow-catcher and other parts of the head of the engine, were badly damaged, and oil-pipes, water-leads and other frail parts were broken. None of the hopper-waggons left the rails or sustained any damage, and the driver and the fireman who remained on the engine were uninjured. At the spot where the collision occurred, the line was torn up in a remarkable fashion, one length of rail being bent into a perfectly symmetrical curve like the letter 0.

Main Line Quickly Cleared.

The wreckage caused by the collision completely blocked the main line, but no time was lost in clearing the way for traffic. The inspector of permanent ways (Mr. J. Northcott) was at the quarry at the time, and he at once summoned the relaying gang, which was at work at Avondale, and within a couple of hours, a section of about live chains of the main line was taken up and relaid round the obstruction. The passenger train from Helensville, which is due to arrive at Auckland at 10.18 a.m., reached the obstruction shortly after the accident, and it was delayed for about an hour and three-quarters, reaching Auckland a few minutes before noon. The motor-train, which left Newmarket for Henderson at 9.20 a.m., was delayed for about the same time, and when it reached its destination, it was too late to make its usual return trip, and the service from Henderson, starting at 10.27 a.m. was omitted. Another train was put on to make the 11.45 a.m. running, and this one and the 10. a.m. train to Helensville were not delayed. During the morning the ballast train was despatched to Helensville, and throughout the day a gang of men was engaged in breaking down the wreckage.

Papers Past link

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Mrs. Appleby used to recall  that just near where Smith and Caughey’s shop is situated in Queen Street she and other children fished with cotton line and bent pin. The whole of Queen Street was little more than a gully in those days. Mrs. Appleby went to a school not far from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and as native children also attended she soon learned to talk the Maori language.

The most exciting incident in her life happened during the Maori War of the sixties. She had not long been married and was living near Drury. Inside the house, hanging on the wall in brackets, were ten rifles. They belonged to men working on the roads in the vicinity. One day when Mr. Appleby and the men had gone to work, a party of Maoris came to the cottage. In those days they were rather primitive. Each wore a blanket round the shoulders, another round the loins, and carried a ‘wicked-looking tomahawk, the head of which was kept as bright as a new shilling. It was a deadly weapon in the hands of an angry native.

They squatted down outside the door and asked for food. As Mrs. Appleby went about her duties she could see them eyeing the rifles hanging in their racks. At that time it was the wish of every native to become possessed of a rifle. There was a fine of £100 for anyone selling firearms to a Maori. By and by the natives began talking among themselves, and Mrs. Appleby was terrified —she understood every word they said. The savages were discussing the chances of knocking her on the head and making off with the firearms. “Patu te wahine!” (“kill the woman”) was the suggestion.

Although almost scared to death, Mrs. Appleby could not show it, and she resorted to subterfuge.  She started laying the table for the midday meal, putting down as many plates as she had in order to make the Maoris think there were a whole lot of men coming in. She told them her husband and the men would be back for dinner, but never let them suspect she understood their murder plot.

There were evidently some in the party who were not at first willing to “patu te wahine,”’ and before a decision was reached it was nearly 12 o’clock. The sun was the only clock of the Maoris. Pointing upwards one of them said to his companions that the sun showed midday, that the men would soon be coming in for dinner, and the best thing would be to put off killing the woman and taking the guns until next morning. Then the party walked away. No sooner had the last of them disappeared than Mrs. Appleby rushed out and “coo-eed” to her husband. When he got home he sent off a message to the soldiers, camped some miles further on. Quickly a party was sent down and escorted Mrs. Appleby and neighbouring settlers to a church that had been appointed a refuge in time of peril.

In 1879 Mr. and Mrs. Appleby went to live at Maungatawhiri Valley, where her husband had a contract for supplying puriri sleepers for the railway. Then for many years they were farming in the valley, finally coming to live at Mount Albert. Mrs Appleby reared nine sons and four daughters, two children having died in infancy.

Papers Past link

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