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Hyde-Middlemarch Road, Straw Cutting

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Daily Photo – Hyde-Middlemarch Road, Straw Cutting

By the time John Corcoran pulled his train into the Ranfurly Station, it was already an hour late. Scheduled to arrive at 2:30 a.m, it wasn’t until 3:30 a.m. that the train finally ended its run for the day. With trains running to tight schedules and a shortage of experienced engine drivers, crews were often pushed hard while a lack of track maintenance had left the line in poor condition. Whenever they did get downtime, it was vital to rest properly so they could remain alert and able to work at full capacity – despite the hectic rosters. John Corcoran was no exception.

That Friday morning in June was particularly cold, with a heavy frost covering much of the Strath Taieri. The temperature barely rose above 3 or 4 degrees, and the hard frost lingered well into the day. Earlier, Corcoran had brought a goods train from Dunedin, arriving in Ranfurly an hour late at 3:30 a.m. He signed off duty and walked to the Ranfurly Hotel, where he had a room booked. He rose by 10:30 a.m, had a drink with an old friend in the hotel bar, ate a pie for lunch, and then walked the short distance to the station to take charge of the Ab782 for the homeward run to Dunedin. The train left Ranfurly ten minutes late, at 12:48 p.m.

By then, Corcoran had been off duty for a little more than nine hours. In that time, he had managed less than six hours’ sleep, had a drink at the hotel with a friend, eaten a pie for lunch, and was now under pressure to ensure his train – already late leaving – arrived in Dunedin on time on a line that was in poor condition. Later that day, passengers who survived reported that the train had seemed to be travelling much faster than usual, lurching violently from side to side. At 1:45 p.m, at a bend known as Straw Cutting, the train derailed at excessive speed, killing 21 people.

Help from Dunedin would take time. In 1943, the road from Outram through the Strath Taieri to Middlemarch and Hyde was narrow, unsealed, and still followed the winding course of the old bullock wagon trails. Any motorised assistance faced a long, difficult journey, bumping over rough roads in the dark before reaching the scene.

That left those at the scene or nearby needing to act quickly. Members of the Gimmerburn Football Team, travelling in one of the rear carriages, rushed to help where they could. The Maniototo Battalion of the Home Guard from Ranfurly was mobilized at 2 p.m. and were also among the first on the scene. Doctors and nurses from Middlemarch, Ranfurly, and Waipiata soon arrived to assist. In the days that followed, local hotels in Hyde and Middlemarch kept extended hours and exhausted local supplies providing blankets, meals, and accommodation for rescuers and railway workers who laboured to clear and repair the track.

Following the disaster, the derailment was proven to have been brought about by excessive speed and lack of judgement on the part of a tired driver who had had little sleep and inadequate food during the previous 24 hours. Yet, it seems a little striking and hard on Corcoran that nothing was said about the tight scheduling, the lack of adequate rest between shifts, or the poor condition of the track itself.

At the time, it was New Zealand’s worst railway disaster.

#dailyat6am, Straw Cutting, Travels in small-town New Zealand, Wild Horses

Straw Cutting

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Daily Photo – Straw Cutting

For ten years, the Hyde railway disaster held the title of New Zealand’s worst rail tragedy, until it was overtaken by Tangiwai in 1953. Having visited both, you couldn’t find a sharper contrast. Tangiwai is moody and sombre, with carefully constructed boards that guide you through the events leading up to, during, and after the tragedy. There are graves, multiple memorials, and a well-signposted track that draws you to the site itself. Once there, the information repeats in a way that allows you to pause, reflect, and imagine how horrific that Christmas Eve night must have been. It’s a poignant reminder of a tragic day in New Zealand’s history, and almost impossible to miss as you drive past. Hyde, on the other hand, is a different story entirely, it consists of a recently erected memorial that is 500 metres from the actual site and a lonely information board in the middle of a paddock politely advising you to head eight kilometres back up the road if you’d like to know more.

I was on my way through the Strath Taieri heading for Middlemarch when I reached a sign on the side of the road that encouraged me to see the Hyde Rail Memorial and that’s exactly what I did. I parked in a makeshift car park, spent a few minutes viewing the memorial – reading the names of those that lost their lives, then set off down the track for the crash site. I didn’t know what to expect but suspected it wouldn’t be much, after all, nothing along the way suggested I was even walking in the right direction. Sure enough, after about 500 metres I reached a curve known as Straw Cutting, where the old railway once ran. This, it was clear, was the site. At the top of a bank stood a modest board with just over a hundred words on it, none of which told me anything new. Quite frankly, it was a little disappointing. I wasn’t expecting a theme park selling novelty souvenirs, but I had hoped for a few stories about the survivors, or information about the crash. It seemed only logical: if you’re standing on the site of a disaster, that’s where the story should be told. You don’t go to a museum, stand in front of an exhibit, and then get directed three blocks down the street to read the details. Here I was, at the site of New Zealand’s second-worst railway disaster, and all I got was a reminder to put my rubbish in the bin (though there wasn’t actually a bin to be seen).

For the record, the Hyde railway disaster happened just after 1:30 pm on June 4, 1943. A passenger train was rattling its way from Cromwell to Dunedin, carrying 113 people, many likely heading for the Dunedin Winter Show. The driver, under pressure to make good time, had taken the train well beyond the safe speed limit. As it careered into a sharp bend near Hyde, the inevitable happened – the carriages left the track, crashing and rolling in a scene of devastation. The wreckage stretched across the countryside, leaving survivors to clamber free and search for loved ones amid the chaos. Twenty-one people lost their lives, many more were injured, and Hyde (along with Straw Cutting) became one of those quiet country places forever marked on the map by tragedy, its story, much like the Tangiwai disaster, retold with a mix of sorrow and disbelief.