In 1953, the Tangiwai Disaster occurred when the Whangaehu River bridge collapsed beneath a Wellington to Auckland express passenger train at Tangiwai, killing 151 people. YouTube / Auckland Museum
Whanganui man Bruce Harper was taken back 63 years when he saw a photo in the Wanganui Chronicle last week.
The photo, which shows a man surveying the wreckage of the train that crashed into the Whangaehu River at Tangiwai in 1953, has special significance for Mr Harper, because he was there and the man pictured was his boss.
The man in the 1953 photo at Tangiwai is engineer Hugh Stevens.
"The man in the photo is Hugh Stevens who was the district engineer for NZ Rail in Whanganui at the time.
"I was a draftsman for the railways, and I travelled to Tangiwai with Mr Stevens and a group of senior engineers to carry out a site survey after the crash," said Mr Harper.
Mr Harper said he had never been back to the crash site since 1953 but thinks he would like to go and see the memorial there.
"I left the railways not long after that and went to work for the Post Office because there was more opportunity for promotion as a draftsman at the time," he says.
Bruce Harper was a young draftsman when he visited the site of the Tangiwai disaster in 1953.
Photo Stuart Munro
Heritage Minister Maggie Barry will be at Tangiwai near Waiouru on May 7 for the unveiling of two plaques recording the bravery of the train driver and the fireman in the 1953 Christmas Eve rail disaster.
Train driver Charles Parker and fireman Lance Redman were among the 151 people who died in the disaster, but their actions helped save the lives of 130 passengers travelling on the Christmas Eve Wellington-Auckland night express.
