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Read more about the article Rail smash at Ardglen, NSW, July 9, 1926

Rail smash at Ardglen, NSW, July 9, 1926

Steam trains and long tunnels are a dangerous combination, especially when not enough attention has been paid to ventilation, and when safe breathing apparatus hasn't been provided to the train crew. Poisonous gases from the combustion of the coal can overcome crew members and the train can go out of control. This is what happened in the tunnel through the Great Dividing Range in NSW, on the line between Muswellbrook and Quirindi, on July 9, 1926. A 44-car goods train, hauled by a 53-class locomotive, stalled on the steep grade and the engine crew was overcome…

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Read more about the article Three ship pile-up in Newcastle Harbour
The entangled ships Ditton, Port Crawford and Peeblesshire in Newcastle Harbour, April 1902.

Three ship pile-up in Newcastle Harbour

It was just on dark, April 4, 1902; the weather was taking a turn for the worse, and among the fleet of ships that appeared off Newcastle, NSW, hoping to enter harbour, was one of the world's biggest three-masters, the 311-foot-long (95m) Ditton. The harbour, apparently, was already reasonably crowded, and there were two fully laden ships - The Port Crawford and the Peeblesshire - tied up at the so-called "farewell buoys" in the channel, ready to leave next day. It was a situation fraught with danger and, unfortunately, the danger was not avoided. The Ditton…

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Read more about the article Off the rails at Woodville Junction: a vintage photo essay on a railway mishap

Off the rails at Woodville Junction: a vintage photo essay on a railway mishap

As a newspaper reporter, I often had the experience of spending time covering a story, only to have it never appear in print or, even worse perhaps, see it cut to a brief on a page deep inside the next day's edition. Even though I disliked this, I had to admit that our staff photographers suffered the problem to a far greater degree than most reporters. The photographers would be sent racing at a moment's notice to some event that seemed to hold promise for the news pages, returning later with a comprehensive set of shots…

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