06/07/2026
Today marks 103 years since New Zealand's first major railway disaster occurred near the small settlement of Ōngarue, just north of Taumarunui in the Ruapehu District.
On 6 July 1923, the southbound Auckland-to-Wellington express slammed into a massive, rain-induced landslide, resulting in 17 deaths and dozens of serious injuries. While the physical crash occurred in the neighbouring King Country, the tragedy left a profound mark on the Taranaki region through the loss and injury of local residents travelling on the train.
The overnight express had departed Auckland late at 11:25 pm after officials held the service due to flooding concerns further down the track. Carrying roughly 200 passengers, the train was travelling downhill under its own weight at approximately 40 to 50 kilometres per hour when it rounded a sharp bend at 5:52 am. Embedded within a fresh mudslide was a large boulder measuring 1.5 metres in diameter, which instantly derailed the locomotive and caused the forward wooden carriages to violently telescope into one another.
Train driver Alexander Stewart later explained to the official board of inquiry that the engine ploughed through the slip before he had any chance to apply the brakes. He noted that the train could have cleared the mud safely if the huge boulder had not thrown the locomotive off the tracks. Stewart survived the impact but sustained severe scalds to his arm along with head injuries, while his fireman was also badly burnt.
Guard Henry Percy Hopkins reported that the sudden stop threw the carriages into darkness and chaos, prompting uninjured passengers from the rear sleeping cars to donate their bedding for the victims. Relief teams from Taumarunui arrived within two hours to assist local settlers and railway workers who were already using saws and axes to free passengers trapped in the crushed second-class carriages.
Historical archives show the disaster carried a heavy toll for Taranaki, claiming the life of Thomas John Billing, a 77-year-old retired farmer who lived on Hine Street in New Plymouth. Billing was a well-known identity in the coastal community of Rahotu, where he had previously buried his wife and endured the loss of two sons, Frederick and Ernest, who were killed in action in France during the First World War.
Travelling alongside him was his son, Lawrence Edward Victor Billing of Rahotu, who survived the crash but suffered severe injuries to his head and face. Another local passenger, Mrs Myra Smith of Toko in the Stratford District, was also listed among the injured after sustaining head wounds in the wreckage.
An official board of inquiry released its findings in August 1923, clearing railway staff of neglect and concluding that the landslide fell immediately before the train arrived. The disaster forced widespread safety overhauls across New Zealand Railways, accelerating the replacement of hazardous Pintsch gas cylinders with electric lighting to eliminate post-crash fire risks and leading to stronger carriage designs.
