The Traveston Rail Disaster: Queensland’s Deadliest Train Crash of 1925

The Traveston rail disaster on 7th June 1925 stands as one of Queensland’s most tragic railway accidents, claiming 10 lives and injuring over 50 when the Rockhampton Mail train derailed near Traveston, just 13 miles from Gympie on the North Coast line. This catastrophic event, the worst in Queensland rail history until the 1947 Camp Mountain derailment (which left 14 people dead), unfolded in the early hours of a Sunday morning, plunging carriages off the 96 Mile Bridge into Traveston Creek below.

Contemporary accounts described harrowing scenes in pitch darkness: passengers trapped in inverted carriages with wheels skyward, rescuers using engine lifting jacks to free the injured amid fears of fire. One report noted a commercial traveller calmly searching for his sample bag amid the ruins.

Gympie received word of the disaster just 30 minutes after the accident occurred.

The Traveston Railway Accident 9 June 1925: Image Queensland State Archives Digital Image ID 1086

Eyewitnesses recounted remarkable acts of bravery. Rescuers battled darkness and twisted metal, fearing fire from spilled fuel. Lifting jacks from the engines proved crucial in extricating trapped victims. Dr. Kelly from Gympie oversaw triage, with locals using available vehicles to transport the wounded. Early arrivals at the scene related how they heard screams, shrieks and cries for help coming from the wreckage. Thomas Oliver and Robert McGregor who were maintenance gang employees found passengers pinned under railway carriages and worked to lift them with a jack.

The guard’s survival via the snapped coupling was hailed as miraculous. Passengers displayed “great coolness,” aiding the injured despite their own shock. Gympie’s community rallied, providing shelter and care upon arrival.

Traveston Rail Disaster

Nearly a century on, Traveston endures as a cautionary tale. Memorials and archives ensure the 10 lost souls aren’t forgotten, reminding us of rail’s role in Queensland’s story—and its perils. Those who lost their lives in the Traveston Rail Disaster include:

• Mrs Sarah Dean (nee Druce) who had been recently married was a resident of Boggabri (NSW)
• Mr James Edward Lumley Rout
• Mr Phillip Richard Reid
• Mr Benjamin William Hill
• Mr Raphael Rosier
• Mr Victor Herbert Shadwell
• Mr Jack Wilson Gardener
• Mrs McDhagger
• Mrs Joan Edith Robertson
• Mrs McDhagger

Newspaper Report:

The mail train which left Brisbane last night for Rockhampton met with disaster at 2 o’clock Tuesday morning, when the engine left the rails while negotiating the bridge over Traveston Creek. It was followed by several carriages. One carriage toppled over and fell into the creek below. Nine passengers were killed and between 30 and 40 injured. A relief train with a doctor and ambulances has been rushed to the scene. So far, the particulars are meagre. The list of injured is: — KILLED. Raphael Rosier, believed to reside in Adelaide; Philip Reid, electrical worker, of Sydney; Mr. Rout, of Rockhampton; Mrs Mellhamizzer, travelling to Bundaberg; Jack Gardiner, identified by mother, who is injured in hospital. INJURED. Miss Ethel Page, Fred Glover; Miss Mary Williams (of Sydney) Douglas Bloomfield; Everard Prizeman, Mrs Bert Coombs (of Port Kembla, N.S.W.) Frank Poster (of Sydney), Gertrude Foster (of Sydney), Fred Kedron (of Sydney), Joseph Tawrell (of Sydney), Jack Dear, (of Boggabri), Walter Powell, Robert Edwards (of Camperdown, N.S.W.), Tom Dempsey, J. Davy; C. E. Baxter, Mrs. McLean, Mrs. Tom Moor, Mavis Gold, George Artlett, Miss Ivy Gardiner, Mrs. Kathleen Ryding, Hughie Graham, Mr. Maxwell, Mrs. Mills and infant (of Balmain, Sydney), Mr. and Mrs. Barry, (of Darlinghurst. Sydney), Fred Zommerle , A. Conrad (of Sydney), Jack Stephens (of Waverley, Sydney), William De Wheeldon, of Webb, G, Smith, H Worthington.  A late message says that included in the killed is Mrs. Dear, of Boggabri, N.S.W. (Later corrected to Mrs Dean.

Probably the fact that the train was drawn by two engines, which did not leave the rails, saved the other carriages from diving over the bridge. A second-class carriage was badly smashed in the creek, and pieces of wood, steel and glass pierced the bodies of many passengers. It was pitch dark at the time, which made the task of rescue very difficult. The accident is the worst in the history of the Queensland railways. The train which met with the disaster consisted of two engines, three first class sleepers, one second-class sleeper, two first class carriages, two second class carriages, a composite carriage, a goods wagon, a brake van, and a travelling post-office. There were no casualties among first-class passengers, the portion of the train wrecked consisting of second-class carriages.  Particulars of the accident, received from Gympie, indicate that three second-class carriages were derailed.   It is thought that one of them, became derailed just before reaching the bridge, and that after tearing over the sleepers it struck a post, with the result that the couplings of the third carriage from the guard’s van broke. Another coupling, that on the last of the three carriages which connected with the guard’s van, also broke, and the result was that three carriages toppled over, one falling on to level ground, and the other two over the bridge, about 30ft, into the riverbed. Mrs. Jackson, sister of Mr. Hugh Keys, of Bundaberg, who was also a passenger by the train, described one very pathetic incident. She said it was very sad to see a little girl left alone, with her father killed and her mother injured. The child was taken charge of at the railway refreshment rooms, Gympie.

SCENES OF SUFFERING.   In one case a lady passenger, was killed in a lavatory, and rescue workers, had to cut a passage to remove the body. This was in an overturned coach on the embankment. The chief injury and loss of life occurred in the composite coach, which was pulled from the bridge by the luggage van. Both coach and van were smashed practically to matchwood, and the scene in the darkness must have been terrible. Much damage was done to the bridge transoms and sleepers; but the break gang worked vigorously and had the line clear by the afternoon. The disaster was rendered the more terrible by the scenes of suffering that were witnessed in the fitful light of lamps.

The permanent way showed clear signs of the tram’s erratic career. For one and half miles along the route the sleepers were cut and splintered, and it is wonderful that a disaster did not happen sooner. At the ninety-six miles bridge, however, the journey came to an end. The luggage wagon at last plunged from the bridge to the ground 30 feet below, dragging with it the preceding composite coach consisting of first and second-class compartments. The guard had a wonderful escape. The coupling between the luggage van and his van breaking, the guard’s van remained on the bridge. The coupling between the composite coach; and the one immediately ahead held fast and this coach was dragged off the rails and flung on the side of the embankment. One lady passenger was, brought out from a carriage with a baby still clasped in her arms. Both were dead. It was a difficult task to shift the wreckage to release these two; for heavy beams had to be removed. It was remarkable that anyone in the car which was nearest the luggage van, escaped. Pieces of the carriage were lying about in all directions. Another dreadful sight was a mother holding her dead child in her arms, with her head badly bleeding. 

DEBRIS CHOPPED AWAY
Those who answered the first cries of the injured came upon an appalling sight. Carriages were on their heads, with the wheels in the air, and to rescue the injured beneath the debris, lifting jacks had to be used. All the time the rescuers feared that the wreckage would catch fire, but this was averted. On arrival of the Gympie breakdown train at the scene of the accident, the ambulance men had to chop the injured out of the debris. This continued until all were liberated, and the front part of the wrecked train was sent back to Gympie with the injured and other passengers. Medical men who rushed to the scene of the disaster with breakdown trains performed splendid service in alleviating sufferers, particularly those suffering from minor injuries.