Historical information

17th April 1919 a stock train travelling north crashed head-on with a goods train coming in the opposite direction. The driver thought he had been given the all-clear to proceed into Sunbury and it was only when the train was approaching the Macedon Street bridge that he saw the red light and it was too late. The accident caused damage to rolling stack and disruption on the Bendigo and Maryborough lines. The train coming from Bendigo smashed onto the platform at Sunbury. The driver of the stock train was thrown under the van and suffered a broken arm and facial injuries. The fireman was thrown clear of the tracks. A local Sunbury doctor treated them before they were taken by a casualty train to hospital. A crew from Melbourne came to Sunbury to repair the damage. The track was cleared by that afternoon. This photograph shows the crane lifting steam engine off the platform at Sunbury Station.

Significance

This rail crash was one of many that has occurred in and near Sunbury and further on the tracks on the Bendigo Line over the years.

Physical description

A black and white photograph with a cream border of a steam train engine on its side with a crane lifting it back onto the rails. Two workmen are standing by the tracks.