The day AB 745 came to grief

IT WAS 1.28AM, a wet cold morning on July 16, 1956, and the rain was hosing down. In fact it had been raining solidly in Taranaki for four days.
AB 745 was slowing, chugging down the track, over a railway crossing just south of High St in Hawera, heading north, taking a load of seven wagons of meat from the Patea freezing works to the port in New Plymouth.
The main trunk line was closed at the time and the Limited had passed over that stretch of line not long before. That driver had reported bumps on the line.
The 85-tonne steam engine, also known as the Taranaki Flyer, was taking it easy at about 20 miles an hour, and 21-year-old fireman David Marshall was shovelling coal into the firebox when disaster struck.

Disaster

It was very dark, and David and driver Fred Price of Hawera couldn't see that 100 foot of track in front of them was missing and hanging in the air. An underground spring had caused a major washout.
The mighty loco toppled sideways, fell off the track and slid upside down 40 feet off the track, its slide only stopped by a row of big pine trees. One wagon and the tender came off with the train with the rest of the carriages stayed on the track.
"It happened too quick to think about it. All I remember is the loco starting to rock," said David.
He was knocked unconscious and when he came to, 10 minutes later, he found himself outside the cab, climbing the ladder on the coal tender. It was pitch black and there was just the noise of escaping steam from the boiler.
Fred the driver was crying out for help, and re-entering the cab David found him trapped by a hot steam pipe and beginning to choke as the mud level rising in the cab began to engulf him.
Fortunately a safety clip had kept the door of the firebox shut and burning coal hadn't filled the cab.
David pulled him free just in time before the mud claimed him and the guard and railway workers ran up from the station and helped carry him to an ambulance.
David was in hospital for two weeks, although he only suffered cuts and bruises. Fred the driver had serious steam burns and was off work for six months. He never drove again.
In 1922 the original cost of building AB 745, was 13,510 pounds. New Zealand Railways estimated the scrap value of the loco was 1600 pounds and the cost of retrieving it was 2000 pounds. As well, the loco was helping support the track, so they left it there and covered it over. It languished there under the ground for 45 years.

A loco for a dollar

In 1984 Tony Batchelor, who was working in the traffic branch of the Railways, brought the loco for $1. He had a dream of salvaging and restoring it, and after much thought, his plans came to fruition in 2001, when, with a team of 12 volunteers, the train was dug up.
"It was a mammoth job. There was a thousand tonnes of rail traffic passing over the track every day, and the team had to slowly roll the loco down the hill and backfill as they went to keep the track stable.

Restoration

A trust was formed, and the loco taken to Waitara where restoration began.
It was shipped to Stratford last year and a new organisation formed – The Taranaki Flyer Society Incorporated.
Ownership of the loco passed from Tony to Keith Hancock of Waitara, and it now sits in a rail shed at the end of Juliet St, where a team of volunteers is busy every Sunday restoring of the iconic steam engine. A TET grant is helping fund the work.

Memories

David Marshall, Keith Hancock and Tony Batchelor were in Stratford last Sunday at an open day of the society and were impressed with the enthusiasm of the group.
The team is aged 14 to 78 and they cover a wide range of skills. Anyone wishing to help can turn up on Sunday mornings or join a friends group that has been set up. For more information phone project manager Harry Hessell, 06 7546695.
David Marshall, now living in Palmerston North, enjoyed his reunion with the old steam engine. He still vividly recalls the day AB 745 came off the track 54 years ago and was the first to join the "Friends of AB 745" support group.
He looks forward to the day restoration is complete and he can throw some coal into the firebox again for old times sake.