Toowoomba, 1913 On 1 January 1913, six people were killed and six injured. The people killed were working at the scene of an earlier derailment. There are varying reports of two rail accidents in (near)
Toowoomba in 1913. These come from lists of major accidents compiled by some newspapers in the 21st century. One claimed accident is for 1 January 1913 where it is claimed six people were killed. The other is for 30 January 1913 where it is claimed 14 people were killed. The only reasonably cited reference is to an accident at Murphys Creek (near Toowoomba) on 30 January 1913 (see entry below) where six people are reported as being killed. There is no verifiable citation for fourteen people being killed in an accident near Toowoomba in 1913.
Murphys Creek, 1913 On 30 January 1913, six people were killed, when a goods train had left Toowoomba on the night of 29 January 1913, and had derailed near the
Murphys Creek railway station on the
Main line, about one mile from the station yard limits, on the range side near the 84-mile (139 km) mark. No members of the crew were injured, but a considerable amount of damage was caused to the goods vehicles and the track. A breakdown gang was sent from Toowoomba and breakdown trains were also despatched from Brisbane and Toowoomba to clear wreckage from the line. The spot where the derailment had taken place was in a relatively inaccessible area and workers had to prise the wreckage apart. Several trips were made by breakdown trains to the derailment site. At 9:35 am on 30 January 1913, a special train left
Holmes railway station to collect passengers from the 6:30 am Brisbane train and the Sydney mail train (departed Brisbane 7:50 am). The relief special consisted of nine empty coaches, two covered wagons, and two C16 Class engines attached to the front and rear of the train. On the first part of the journey down the range, the train was under control. Mr Hallam said a guard rode on the leading engine to advise the crew of the location of the derailed stock train. The guard and fireman on the lead engine saw a glimpse of the wrecked train through the trees. However, no warning devices (detonators, or red flags) had been deployed to warn the approaching train of the breakdown train's position. The only indication was a warning which was shouted from about 70 metres from the breakdown van by a workman on the line. The driver of the relief special had made several air brake applications on the way down without recharging brake reservoirs. The driver then made an "injudicious" application of the Westinghouse brake and was unable to stop his train. The engine propelled by 226 tons (230 tonnes) of combined weight behind its tender collided with the rear of the breakdown train. The breakdown van, engine and tender were all driven forward 3.5 metres. The engine collided with an "H" wagon that was being re-railed which, in turn, was driven forward into another five goods wagons. Members of the rescue gang, who had been working on the "H" wagon, were crushed beneath the wreckage. An additional breakdown train was sent to the crash site from Toowoomba at 10:00 am. Fifty workers dug frantically in the wreckage to free trapped workers, however
six had died due to horrific injuries received in the collision. The driver was found to not have approached the scene of the derailment with "the caution demanded of him", according to the initial departmental inquiry, and that the guard of the breakdown train had failed to adequately protect the rear of it.
Humphery, 1918 On 1 June 1918, one man was killed and two women were seriously injured following this collision between a cattle train and a mixed goods on 1 June 1918 at
Humphery railway station, 20.2 km from
Mundubbera on the
Mungar Junction to Monto railway line. The collision crushed the guard's van and telescoped a passenger carriage, fatally injuring one of its occupants.
Kuranda, 1918 On 25 November 1918, there were two fatalities and one injury when a 'light engine' ran out of control at the top of the
Barron Gorge, 2 km ('a mile and a quarter') from the
Kuranda railway station. The engine and tender derailed on a sharp curve and hit a rock wall, the engine falling on its side, causing the boiler to burst and the firebox to be torn open. The driver and fireman, Thomas Patrick Duignan, 27, and Evan William Whiting, 22, were thrown clear but suffered severe injuries and extensive burns. The guard, James Foley, also received serious injuries. The injured men were evacuated by trolley to
Redlynch and then taken on a breakdown train to the Cairns District Hospital. Whiting and Duignan survived long enough the reach the hospital but died soon afterwards.
Traveston, 1925 On 9 June 1925, ten people were killed in a derailment of the Rockhampton Mail train on a high timber trestle bridge near
Traveston on the
North Coast railway line. Ten people were killed and 48 injured when a passenger car and the luggage van plunged off the bridge, and another passenger car was pulled on its side. It resulted in baggage cars being specially built for passenger trains and ended the use of certain types of goods vehicles on passenger trains.
Tully, 1931 On 22 May 1931, a man was killed whilst walking along the
North Coast railway line between
Tully railway station and Banyan bridge, He was run into by the southern-bound
Cairns mail train, sustaining a compound, commuted fracture of both ankles and a probable fracture of the skull. He died whilst being conveyed by the Tully Ambulance to the
Tully General Hospital.
Moselle, 1938 On 1 December 1938, three people were killed near Moselle siding east of
Richmond on the
Great Northern railway line. A train carrying concentrates from
Mount Isa collided with a light train heading west. Two engine drivers and a fireman were killed in the collision.
Alpha, 1941 On 8 April 1941, two people were killed near Alpha. The locomotive, tender and two wagons of a goods train from
Emerald plunged through a section of the wooden rail bridge over Alpha Creek.
Marrawing, 1944 On 15 December 1944, one person was killed. Two almost new locomotives were destroyed and many ballast and freight waggons damaged when a "B18¼" class loco collided with a Standard Garrett G51 class loco at Marrawing, 29 km south of Gladstone on the North Coast railway line. The tender of the "B18¼" telescoped into the loco, and the following ballast waggons were piled up on top of it. Wagons further back derailed and rolled down an embankment, ripping up line and sleepers. The driver of the "B18¼" ballast train was injured and died at the scene. The smash caused long delays for regular Townsville and Rockhampton trains bound for Brisbane in the days following the accident before the line was repaired. The two engines were written off at a cost of £100,000 (1944 values = $200,000). Both locomotives, ASG G51 and B18 1/4 903, were repaired and returned to service. G51 was sold for scrap in 1955 while 903 was finally written off in 1970.
Tamaree, 1947 On 18 October 1947, eight people were killed and twenty-two injured in a mail train collision at
Tamaree north of
Gympie.
Camp Mountain, 1947 On 5 May 1947, sixteen people were killed and 38 injured. The accident occurred at approximately 9:48 am when a crowded picnic train derailed on a sharp left-hand curve between Ferny Grove and Camp Mountain stations on the now-closed
Dayboro line, approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) northwest of Brisbane.
Wallumbilla, 1956 On 1 December 1956, five people were killed and 100 injured. This accident occurred when the '
Westlander' crashed into the 'Western Mail' at Wallumbilla, near
Roma, SW Qld (467 km west of Brisbane). The two trains were intended to cross at the station. However, the 345-tonne Westlander passed through a danger signal without slowing and hit the 200-tonne mail train head-on, pushing it back 46 metres, and derailing both engines and many carriages. Passengers were thrown about and many aboard the mail train were injured by smashed timber in the broken carriages. Ten passengers were admitted to hospital. The Westlander had steel carriages that saved its passengers from any serious injury.
Bogantungan (Medway Creek), 1960 On 26 February 1960, seven people were killed and 43 injured. The railway bridge over Medway Creek near
Bogantungan (100 km from Emerald) collapsed after an uprooted gum tree (estimated to weigh 12 tonnes) struck and dislodged one of the pylons as it was swept downstream by floodwaters. The bridge then collapsed as the Rockhampton-bound Midlander passed over it, resulting in 7 dead and 43 injured. The leading engine made it across the bridge and derailed on the other side, however, the C class second engine, the power van, and three passenger sleeping cars fell 7.6 meters into the Creek. The four passengers who died were in these cars, with the other fatalities being three train crewmen.
Duaringa, 1968 On 7 November 1968, two people were killed. A coal train driver and a fireman were killed when their train collided with a mixed passenger/goods train in
Duaringa, Queensland. The assistant station master at Duaringa was charged with unlawful killing and a manslaughter trial was held in the Rockhampton Supreme Court in March 1969. However, his body and the bodies of his wife and their two children were found at their Duaringa home in an apparent
murder suicide on the eve of the trial.
Bindango, 1987 At about 5.30 a.m. on Friday 6 November 1987,
Cunnamulla-bound
Westlander train 3V02 was derailed at the nearby Bindango railway siding between
Hodgson and
Muckadilla, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of
Roma. An infant was burnt to death in the resulting fire. Investigations revealed that the
points had been deliberately changed from the main railway line to divert the train into the siding. The police offered a reward of $50,000 for information leading to the person responsible.
Hervey Bay, 1988 On 1 April 1988, three people were killed and 33 injured when a bus collided with a train at a level crossing near Hervey Bay.
Rungoo, 2008 At 1447 on Thursday 27 November 2008, the northbound Cairns
Tilt Train (CTT) collided with a loaded B-double truck at the Rungoo level crossing, about 19.5 km north of the township of
Ingham in north Queensland. On board the CTT were 81 passengers and seven train crew. The truck driver was the sole occupant of the B-double truck. The two train drivers were fatally injured as a result of the collision, the truck driver sustained moderate injuries. In addition, injuries were incurred by nine passengers.
Mundoo, 2009 On 1 January 2009, one person was killed, when
The Sunlander passenger train and a garbage truck collided at a crossing at Mundoo near
Innisfail in far north Queensland. The 40-year-old truck driver was killed and six people were injured, including three pregnant women.
Moranbah, 2010 At about 10.35am on 8 July 2010, a man was killed after his car struck an empty coal train at a level rail crossing on the
Goonyella railway line.
Wynnum West, 2021 At 13:39 on 26 February 2021, a
Queensland Rail suburban express passenger train on the
Cleveland Line was approaching the Kianawah Road level crossing when it collided with a motor vehicle. The vehicle was destroyed and the sole occupant was fatally injured and the only 2 occupants of the train, the driver and guard were not injured. An
ATSB investigation found that although all safety systems were operational at the time of the accident, the boom barrier did not meet the
Australian standard (AS 7658) or Queensland Rail's own level crossing safety standard as there was a 3.1 metre gap between the tip of the lowered boom barrier and the median island on the northern side of the level crossing. The report also concluded that, "Queensland Rail had not been managing risk at level crossings in accordance with the requirements of its level crossing safety standard" and "The standard stated that public and pedestrian level crossings were to be assessed every 5 years or sooner. However, the Kianawah Road level crossing had not been assessed for 19 years". This was due to Queensland Rail having just one person qualified to assess all public, pedestrian, private, maintenance and construction level crossings which numbered in the thousands. ==Accidents with injuries only==