Story: Railway accidents

After the Ōngarue crash

After the Ōngarue crash

This photograph, taken the morning after the Auckland–Wellington express ploughed into a landslide at Ōngarue on 6 July 1923, shows both the cause and the aftermath. The wrecked engine, still steaming, is embedded in the slip, and behind are the derailed carriages in which 17 people died and 30 were seriously hurt.

Using this item

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Reference: Geoff Conly and Graham Stewart, Tragedy on the track: Tangiwai & other New Zealand railway accidents. Wellington: Grantham House, 1986, p. 88

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How to cite this page:

Nancy Swarbrick, 'Railway accidents - Major railway disasters', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/20598/after-the-ongarue-crash (accessed 28 March 2024)

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 11 Mar 2010