Letters To Editor: Tangiwai drama short on facts

Re: Tangiwai rail disaster TV One feature.

The recent TV One feature reliving the 1953 rail disaster when 155 lost their lives was a bit short on facts.

The programme inferred the first-class carriages were in front, whereas they were in the rear of the train.

Railway policy at that time meant that all passenger trains had second-class carriages located at the front of the train and first-class at the end - the simple reason was that it was safer at the rear and extra was charged for safety and seating comfort.

This was the case at Tangiwai, where the engine actually just made it to the end of the bridge [when] the structure collapsed, all the second-class carriages plunged into the stream below and only one first-class carriage teetered and eventually fell.

One first-class passenger lost his/her life.

As the Wairarapa Dominion part-time reporter at the time, I was delegated to interview the only two survivors from the second carriage. These two lads escaped because of their size.

They were able to squeeze through a window which only opened a third of the way. They described the carnage as horrific - as the carriage toppled into the stream below, all the unsecured luggage in the open racks above descended on to the passengers and mayhem ensued with children and women screaming.

The lights subsequently failed and there was no hope of survivors with water swirling around and passengers trying to climb over luggage and each other.

There had been no rain and yet the stream, usually just a gentle flow of knee-deep water, had become a raging torrent which had undermined the bridge.Colin BeckHavelock NorthCredit to GreensLet's give honour where honour is due.

In Hawkes Bay Today on Tuesday, August 16, Chris Tremain and Craig Foss are shown praising government-subsidised insulation and heating for older houses.

This is described as originally a Labour Government initiative, but in fact this was a Green Party programme. The Greens managed to secure funding for warmer, drier, healthier homes in the budget of 2008, and then managed to persuade the National Government to continue the scheme.

The Green Party has also continued to push for more state houses to be built, creating 28,000 jobs and helping to reduce appalling rates of rheumatic fever and infant mortality in our poorest communities.Margaret GwynnNapier