The Walloway Train Disaster Traditional Cache
The Walloway Train Disaster
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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It was 2.30am on the 16th November 1901. The night was dark, cold
and wet. A south bound loco travelling with 170 bullocks consigned
by Sir Sydney Kidman had left Hawker earlier in the night, and was
to pull into the Walloway siding to enable a north bound train to
pass. To the driver’s horror, the brakes locked up, and the
slippery rails caused the wheels to slide – in a flash the
train was past the station and now hurtling towards the
unsuspecting oncoming northbound train loaded with flour and copper
ore. About 300 metres south of the siding on a bridge over a small
creek the locomotives collided, resulting in the death of the stock
train fireman Samuel Eager. He was found with his hand still
clutching the brake lever. The fireman from the other train, Jack
Brodie, was pinned beneath the wreckage and had his left leg
severed as a result. He was pulled alive from the wreckage, but
sadly died 2 ½ hours later. Jack had only been married for 6 weeks.
Engine driver Mr Pennington was badly scalded and a Mr Haines was
badly injured. There is a excellent account of this story
incorporated in the Sound and Light Show which is put on by the
Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre in Peterborough. The actual location
of this tragic incident is approximately 300m south of the cache.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)