At approximately 8:10am on Tuesday 18th January, 1977, electric locomotive 4620 hauling an eight carriage passenger train derailed about 100m west of the Bold Street overbridge. The bridge design was such that the main span of the bridge was partly supported on two steel trestles which were founded upon footings placed between railway tracks. The derailed locomotive struck the northern trestle and removed it entirely. The locomotive finished on its side clear of the bridge. The first carriage was torn open and several deaths occurred but was clear of the bridge. The second carriage also cleared the bridge but was relatively undamaged. The third and fourth carriages were however sharing space under the now severely weakened bridge which gave way. It is believed that about 200 tonnes of concrete and steel fell when the bridge span came down. Most of the passengers in these locations had little chance as the lower side of the now collapsed bridge span reduced the carriage sides to cm's of height.
Officially, 83 people died and 213 were injured in what is to date Australia's worst railway accident. The real toll of trauma of those who survived and of those who came to assist in the rescue, recovery and cleanup would be much, much higher.
The background of the accident is steeped in politics. The railway system was not being maintained at an appropriate level. But the combination of the Bold Street bridge and its design added to a complication of errors including alleged poor track geometry, alleged worn out permanent way and a locomotive with wheelsets beyond the condemning line to amplify a derailment into a manifest tragedy. But, to this writer's knowledge, little has been written about this event. Very few contemporary writings are present. The accident sees mention in chapters of books or receives a "mention in passing" in others. A film was made based on the disaster but it would seem that artistic licence took precedence over any thorough analysis.
The Bold Street bridge was temporarily replaced with a single span "Bailey Bridge" of military origins before the current single span structure was completed. On the southern side of the railway line, a small plaque notes the "new" bridge opening in 1978. For many years the original footings were visible but they have now been removed.
But a more fitting memorial was years away. The waymark is at this memorial over the road from the railway line. It apparently took quite an effort by concerned individuals to have the memorial wall established. Note also to the right of the wall a number of additional plaques subsequently placed.
EDIT:
The notes above were compiled for the waymark's original posting in July 2009. Several things have changed / come to light.
In 2011, June Ollerenshaw published "Granville: A Mother's Grief" (Boolarong Press) which is essentially an autobiography concentrating on the effects of the deaths of her two daughters , Lyndy and Cathy (and their friend, Angela) in this tragedy.
In 2012, Barry Gobbe, an ambulance officer who was in fact first on site minutes after the accident happened published "35 Years of Memories" (Granville Train Disaster Memorium Foundation) which contains anecdotes from those who were there as train passengers, rescuers and relatives as well as technical information and sheds quite some light on the matter.
Unknown to the writer at the time of establishing the waymark was Dan Monty's "The Granville Train Disaster" of 2006. Gobbe's work essentially is a 2nd edition, corrected, expanded and revised from Monty.
On the 18th January 2013, 36 years on, "The Train", a Foxtel documentary with interviews of those who survived and those who attended as emergency workers was screened on the pay tv Foxtel "History" channel.
In January 2015, Barry Gobbe released a greatly amplified version of the "35 Years of Memories" under the title "Revisiting the Granville Train Disaster of 1977".
Previously, a reference to this disaster was (
visit link) This has been subsequently changed to that of the Historians website.
In January 2017, 40 years after the disaster, a memorial service saw the large granite tablet containing the names of the deceased with modifications so that the names appeared on sub-tablets over the original. This was done as tragically, it was found that no less than 12 names on the original had been mis-spelled.
On 4th May 2017, the NSW State Parliament Legislative Assembly offered an Apology to those involved in the disaster - the relatives of the deceased, the injured and uninjured passengers and the rescue and recovery workers concerning what was ultimately the very poor treatment of them at the time of the disaster.