Sunday History Photo / Qld

On 26 February 1960 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 passenegers who died were in these cars, with the other fatalities being three train crewmen.



Dr. Whitchurch was one of the first on the scene of the accident. The railway asked him to go out to Medway Creek because the Midlander had crashed and there was no way of getting out there by road because of floods. And they made up a special steam engine train, there was no disaster plans in place in those days so they hit the ground running.
It took them just 30 minutes to travel from Emerald to Bogantungan, well under the scheduled time of the journey. When they pulled up at the railway station at Bogantungan there were quite a few injured people on stretches. Then they went out to the actual crash scene where they were still extracting people.
Dr. Whitchurch said a railway driver took the large engined Garratt, against railway policy, to the scene of the crash, it was the only way of getting light on the thing.
The rule was that the senior driver took the lead engine. But the senior driver had only just been transferred to Alpha and had only been over the track once and asked the driver of the second engine if he wouldn't mind taking the first engine," he said " which put the man who should have been on the first engine in the second engine, and he was the one who was killed.



It was a long day for Dr. Whitchurch who worked from 2am till 9pm that night. Looking back he believes they were fortunate in some ways.
"We were very very lucky that it happened where it did and with the delay in getting the train we were able to organise things," he said.
"Going out on the train Dr. Whitchurch was talking to the ambulance and the fire people and organising what they would do when they got out there. .



It was pitch black and all Mervyn McMurdo could hear was pained screams and cries for help. He went to move but was trapped – his leg impaled by debris. With only about 10cm of room to move he started punching the ceiling to make more space before realising he couldn’t hear his mate in the bunk bed below. Mr McMurdo reached his hand down only to realise his friend had been killed – his skull crushed by the weight of everything above.
Another passenger, Sydney Moore, was pinned by the shoulders and up to his waist in water, sung out and the pair spent the next seven hours keeping each other awake before rescuers got to them.
They were just two of the survivors of the Bogantungan train crash disaster. Mr McMurdo said the government classed the crash as an “act from God” and therefore he could not claim compensations for his injuries.
It was 50 years ago in 2010 that the areas around Bogantungan, 360km west of Rockhampton, experienced heavy rainfalls, so much so the rivers and creeks flooded. Medway Creek,
Mr McMurdo and other passengers were rescued by doctors and nurses from the Royal Flying Doctors Service and Emerald doctor Charles Whitchurch.
Dr Whitchurch, who has since passed away, worked at the crash scene from 2.30am to 9pm , he played a pivotal role in many people’s survivors and has been honour for his dedication and service. When Dr Charles Whitchurch passed away the Royal Flying Doctor Service held a memorial dinner to commemorate his life.


TRAGICALLY TAKEN
George Albert Krause, 35, married train driver from Alpha
Neville Eric Helmuth, 24, married fireman from Alpha
Samuel George Hedges, 63, married conductor from Rockhampton
George Sundergold, 11, from Ilfracombe
Allen George Martin, 10, from Longreach
Darryl Edward Large, 64, from Barcaldine
Alexander Fraser, 65, from Cork Station, Winton.



Another train accident on this line occurred on 8 April 1941 at Alpha on the Central Railway, inland from Rockhampton. The bridge across Alpha Creek collapsed as a goods train was crossing with the locomotive dropping and killing the driver and the fireman who were crushed between the firebox and the tender.
The locomotive was no. 147 of the C16 class and its weight was 80.5 tons. Before salvage work could be undertaken the creek flooded and the locomotive collapsed into the water, being later recovered and taken to Rockhampton where it was repaired and put back into operation.





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