History corner

Rodger Cox sent us this photo of an “Oh no moment” at the Ashburton Railway in 1952 when a wagon full of beer and oysters tipped over. Rodger’s dad was a shunter, responsible for moving the wagons around. In this incident the lines were mixed up and there was a slight mix up with the points not being changed causing the wagon to tip over. Rodger says his dad was fined for the accident, but it would have been a small amount compared to the damage done.