A Bilpin resident who was a family friend of one of the rescue workers at the Granville train disaster in 1977 attended the 40-year service for the victims and survivors at St Mark’s, Granvillle, today.
He said even at 10am it was so hot the Salvation Army were giving out bottled water.
“It was standing room only in the church, extreme heat with one kid having to receive treatment,” he said. “Representatives from the Fire Brigade, NSW Ambulance, police, transport officers and Rural Fire Service filled the whole right side of the church.”
He said he sobbed when the heroism of those who attended the accident was acknowledged, but the stand-out speech at the service was by Meredith Knight whose father was in the accident.
“Her father was flown by helicopter to Royal Prince Alfred but later died from injuries,” he said. “She spoke movingly and very powerfully and put the blame for the disaster very squarely on the drastic reduction in the government’s railways maintenance budget.
“She said the cause of the accident was found to be the wheel flanges on the lead bogie of the locomotive which were deemed to be worn out beyond safe limits in August 1976 (five months before the accident).
“But they were put back into service and did a further 50,000km based on railway maintenance logs before they derailed on the sharp left turn between Harris Park and Granville. The lack of wheel and track maintenance were the primary causes of the accident.”
He said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Premier Mike Baird were there for the annual throwing onto the tracks of 83 roses representing those who died in the accident.
He said the bridge barriers on the Bold Street bridge, installed on most bridges now to stop vandals throwing things on the tracks, were designed specially to allow a locked section to be opened up on the train disaster anniversary for the throwing of the roses each year.
He said a feature of this year’s commemoration was that it was not only the children of the victims and survivors who attended, but their grandchildren as well.
“The march from the church was led by the grandson of police rescue worker Dick Lamb who was one of the first on the scene,” the Bilpin resident said. “He was wearing a singlet, shorts and thongs, as he was on his way to go fishing when he heard of the accident. His wife brought his uniform up later.”
Gerry Buchtmann, one of the accident’s rescue workers attending today’s ceremony, collapsed from the heat before he could lay a wreath. He was taken to Auburn Hospital but was later reported as fine.
