FRONT PAGE NEWS FROM YALLOURN
The following news article, related to a serious incident in Yallourn, hit the headlines on page one of a leading Melbourne newspaper (‘The Argus’) in 1952.
The report told of a terrifying situation when a railway truck broke its shackles and went careering through Yallourn.
This story shared the front page of ‘The Argus’ with such important news items as: State Aid for Church Schools, the Korean War peace talks, an increase in cigarette prices, Sir Otto Niemeyer (Director of the Bank of England) and the leading article of that day which related to industrial action by maintenance men at the SEC.
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March 1st 1952 ‘THE ARGUS’ Page: 1
Runaway truck crashes: 3 hurt
A runaway 40-ton railway truck caused damage estimated at £3,000 and injured three people when it raced at 60 miles an hour through Yallourn yesterday.
While nearby housewives did their midday shopping: the railway truck, which was being shunted, broke loose in the railway yard, gathered speed, and within four minutes was hurtling through the S.E.C. transport workshops, where employees hurriedly jumped clear to avoid injury.
At a level crossing half a mile down the line the truck hit a semi-trailer and smashed a utility truck, injuring three people.
Hit trucks
A mile farther on it was smashed itself when it hit 13 trucks each loaded with I6 tons of coal.
Mr. Ed Whelan, a local shunter, jumped on the truck to try to stop it, but he was thrown off as it gathered more speed. The injured were three S.E.C. Yallourn employees: Messrs. Hubert McKenna, Gerald Fogarty and Ian McArthur.
Fogarty, who was admitted with McKenna to the Yallourn Hospital, said: "The railway truck roared down on us like a mad bull.”
”I remember it coming to-wards us making a terrific noise. The next I knew was when I woke up in hospital here."
Busloads of shift workers were warned not to attempt to cross Yallourn level crossings while the truck was "loose."
Footnotes:
1. For younger readers, 60 mph is 100kph and £3000 (pounds) equates to approximately $103,000 (as at Jan’ 2015).
2. Despite an extensive search, no further information could be found regarding Mr Ed Whelan’s heroic act on that day.
This article has been reprinted in good faith. The only changes, from the original copy, were in regard to font size, font style, bullet points and spacing so as to enhance the presentation of the story on the Virtual Yallourn website.
