Ōngarue rail tragedy: Ruapehu committee plan centenary commemoration for lives lost

Sculptor Marcus Tatton (left) and Ruapehu councillor Weston Kirton talk about plans for a memorial to the victims of the Ongarue rail tragedy. Photo / Supplied

The first train crash in the region's history is set to have a memorial put up after work led by a Ruapehu regional councillor.

Although the Tangiwai disaster of 1953 is the worst railway disaster in local history, the first fatal train crash was 30 years earlier at Ōngarue, north of Taumarunui.

That rail tragedy, in 1923, killed 17 people when an express train ran into a massive slip blocking the tracks.

As the 100th anniversary of the tragedy approaches, a committee has formed to plan a commemoration and erect a memorial to those who died in the crash.

The committee is led by Horizons Regional Councillor Weston Kirton who said funding for the monument was being sought from the Rail Heritage Trust but more finance would be needed.

This photograph was taken the morning after the Auckland-Wellington express ploughed into a landslide at Ōngarue on 6 July 1923. Photo / Te Ara

Planning was well under way, Kirton said.

"We are aiming to reach out to descendants of passengers, railway staff and volunteers who helped the injured.

"There were members of the Māori All Blacks team on board the train and they helped tend to the injured so it would be fantastic to hear from their families."

The train was travelling from Auckland to Wellington carrying more than 200 passengers.

"The weather conditions were terrible and the locomotive hit the landslide and derailed, killing 17 people and injuring 27," said Kirton.

"The driver didn't have a chance to stop. He had just come around a sharp bend in the track."

Kirton said the committee is hoping to commission Ōngarue-born sculptor Marcus Tatton to design and build the memorial.

"His family has lived in the area for generations and he is willing if we can get enough funding for the project."

The names of the 17 who died in the crash will be recorded on a suitable plaque at a nearby pull-off area where people can stop to read them and pay their respects, Kirton said.

People may have family records of the tragedy, the councillor added.

"There were passengers on the train from Whanganui, Raetihi, Ohakune and Marton.

"My own grandfather was the Taumarunui station master at the time and I don't know what level of involvement he had with the Ōngarue tragedy."

Kirton said the committee would be engaging with the local community in the coming months to gather input on planning for the commemoration and the Ōngarue primary school had plans of their own.

"The children from the school are intending to invite the Prime Minister to the commemoration," he said.

"When the tragedy occurred there would not have been a lot of money around after the First World War and the community probably couldn't raise enough for a monument. So it is important that we mark the centenary and honour the lives that were lost."