Train track death: Photographer misjudged position

File photo / NZ Herald

A Kaiata man who died after being struck by the steam train he was photographing had misjudged his position on the railway track, the coroner said after an inquest in Greymouth this morning.

Gregory John Duncraft, 50, died after being hit by the locomotive while it was making a steam train enthusiasts' trip from Christchurch to Greymouth on September 7 last year.
In his initial finding today, Southern regional coroner David Crerar said Mr Duncraft had died as a result of high energy impact to his head, chest, abdomen and limbs, after being struck by the 310-tonne train.

Mr Crerar said Mr Duncraft had misjudged his position on the track as he waited to photograph the train.

He said he was not holding the crew of train engineer Norman Leonard and driver Alfred Wilson responsible, who had been hired by Kiwi Rail to run the train.

Mr Leonard told the inquest the train had rounded a bend at Kokiri and got on to a straight piece of track, the driver then blew the whistle to clear anyone who was close to the tracks.

Mr Leonard said he saw someone standing near the middle of the tracks. When the train got to within 150m of the person, he blew the whistle. When he saw that they had not moved, he blew it again.

"By the time I realised he was not going to move, it was too late.

"You think he's going to take his photo and move, they always do but leave it late. He didn't move, he must have been preoccupied taking his photos, he was too late," Mr Leonard said.

Lisa Hartigan told the inquest she had witnessed the accident from her car, which was positioned about 10m away from the tracks.

She said Mr Duncraft did not move until the train was just 3m away from him, when he did a "funny step off and tried to step away" from the tracks.

Sergeant Matthew Frost, of Greymouth police, said the final photograph on Mr Duncraft's camera showed he was only a foot or two from the mainline, right in front of the train.

Mr Frost referred to an extract of a statement from Mr Duncraft's son, Lucas, who said that when his father was "concentrating hard on someone or something, he was sometimes hard to get out of it".

- The Greymouth Star