DiscoverScroll article

The Tangiwai disaster was a railway accident that occurred at 10:21 p.m. on 24 December 1953, when a railway bridge over the Whangaehu River collapsed beneath an express passenger train at Tangiwai, North Island, New Zealand.

The locomotive and the first six carriages derailed into the river, killing 151 people. The subsequent board of inquiry found that the accident was caused by the failure of the tephra dam holding back nearby Mount Ruapehu's Crater Lake, creating a rapid mudflow (lahar) in the Whangaehu River which destroyed one of the bridge piers at Tangiwai only minutes before the train reached the bridge. The volcano at Mount Ruapehu was not erupting at the time. The disaster remains New Zealand's worst rail accident.

On 24 December 1953, the 3 p.m. express train from Wellington to Auckland consisted of a KA class steam locomotive hauling 11 carriages: five second-class carriages, four first-class carriages, a Guard's van and a postal van. With 285 passengers and crew, the train was stated by a witness—the station agent at Tangiwai railway station—to have passed through right on time at 10:20 pm at about 40 miles per hour (65 km/h). Approaching the bridge over the Whangaehu River at Tangiwai, in response either to passerby Cyril Ellis standing by the track and waving a torch or upon seeing the condition of the bridge, driver Charles Parker shut off steam and initiated an emergency air brake application, while his fireman, Lance Redman, shut off the oil supply valve for the fire.

Shortly after the accident, rescue teams departed from Waiouru 8 km (5 mi) east of Tangiwai. While the New Zealand Army led efforts near the accident site, local farmers recovered bodies further down the Whangaehu River; at Fields Track, Mount View, Mangamahu, Kauangaroa, Whangaehu village and the river mouth. Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh were visiting New Zealand on their first royal tour when the disaster occurred.

The board found that a lahar from Mount Ruapehu had removed the fourth pier a few minutes before the train started to cross the bridge. This girder must therefore have been removed either before the locomotive arrived on the span or during the passage of the locomotive and tender over the span.

Following the disaster, the New Zealand Railways Department installed a lahar warning system upstream in the river to alert train control to high river flows. A new early warning system was installed in 1999 by Tranz Rail, which measures the river level using radar and sends the level to the Network Control Centre at Wellington railway station via an RF link to Waiouru, and then via the signalling network to Wellington. If the level indicates a significant risk, the control centre sets the signals on either side of the Tangiwai bridge to danger and warns trains in the area to stay clear by radio. In such a situation, trains in the area are restricted to 25 km/h (16 mph) and told to take extreme care over the Tangiwai bridge. The early warning systems worked as planned, stopping trains and motorists at Tangiwai before the lahar hit. In recognition of the disaster itself, and the effect that it had on the concurrent Test match between New Zealand and South Africa, since 2024 the Test cricket teams of New Zealand and South Africa play for the Tangiwai Shield.

In May 1993, the Television New Zealand Communicado co-produced Heroes television series had an episode covering the Tangiwai Disaster. The 2002 documentary The Truth About Tangiwai, directed by New Zealand filmmaker David Sims, examines events surrounding the tragedy. In 2011, a television film about the disaster was made by Lippy Pictures for Television New Zealand. Titled Tangiwai: A Love Story, it follows the disaster and the love story between Blair and Love (portrayed by Ryan O'Kane and Rose McIver respectively).

Quick Facts

• In recognition of the disaster itself, and the effect that it had on the concurrent Test match between New Zealand and South Africa, since 2024 the Test cricket teams of New Zealand and South Africa play for the Tangiwai Shield.
• The disaster remains New Zealand's worst rail accident.
• Following the disaster, the New Zealand Railways Department installed a lahar warning system upstream in the river to alert train control to high river flows.
• The locomotive and the first six carriages derailed into the river, killing 151 people.
• Titled Tangiwai: A Love Story, it follows the disaster and the love story between Blair and Love (portrayed by Ryan O'Kane and Rose McIver respectively).

Source material: Wikipedia - "Tangiwai disaster". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.