Tuesday, 09 March 2010
WHAKATANE’S iconic River Edge Park miniature railway was derailed by vandals on Sunday.
No one was hurt in the incident, in which a steam engine and three carriages came off the line, but the model engine will need several hours of labour to repair the damage.
Dave Fitton, the owner of the engine and president of the miniature railway group, said a group of teenage girls had wedged a workman’s steel sign into the track on the bend after the tunnel.
Because of its position on the bend, the train driver hadn’t seen the obstruction and could not stop in time.
Mr Fitton said the engine crashed straight into the one-metre high sign, causing it to jump off the track and land at a right angle to the following carriages.
Whakatane mum Lisa Badger’s seven-year-old son Jack was among those on the train when it derailed.
“We were waiting round the corner for the train and knew nothing about it until Jack came running up and said the train had crashed,” Mrs Badger said.
Her son only suffered a cut finger and she was more concerned about the driver.
“He was shaking, almost in tears, saying ‘I couldn’t stop’.”
Girls at the station had said they’d seen the teens wedge the sign in the tracks and run off, Mrs Badger said.
“They said they knew who they were.
“It’s a stupid thing to do - some kids could have been badly hurt.
“It happened so quickly that he couldn’t do anything about it. Russell [the driver] said there was a hell of a bang.”
The engine driver was whacked in the leg but the carriages remained upright so the passengers were unharmed.
Mr Fitton said police had attended the incident and he understood they had caught the troublemakers.
Senior Sergeant Bruce Jenkins of the Whakatane police was unaware of the incident and could not comment.
Fortunately railway volunteers were able to get the damaged engine off the track and hook the carriages up to another engine and the rides were quickly resumed.
However, it would take “quite a few hours” of work for Mr Fitton to repair the damage, which included dents to the cow catchers at the front, a dent to the side tank and the boiler being shifted in its frame. There was also possible damage inside the smoke box.
Mr Fitton spent three years building the engine, which is a model of a coal-fired FA class tank engine of the New Zealand Railways, which has been running at the miniature railway in Whakatane since the rides began almost eight years ago.
Mr Fitton said this wasn’t the first time that youngsters had caused them problems.
“Before this we have had branches thrown over the track and we have had boys sit on top of the tunnel throwing branches down,” he said.
“It is getting to the stage where we will have to get someone to sit down there and keep an eye on things. It’s a bit sad - you don’t expect that kind of thing.”
The miniature trains run on the first Sunday of every month in Whakatane next to the skatepark playground.
Mr Fitton said he hoped his engine will be repaired in time for the next model railway day on April 4, although he will likely miss an event at the Hamilton Model Engine Society that he was hoping to attend.