Ongarue Rail Accident 100 Year Memorial Unveiling

Tomorrow, on Saturday the 8th of July at 11:00am, the Ongarue Rail Accident Memorial will be unveiled to mark 100 years since the Ongarue derailment.

The derailment claimed 17 lives and seriously injured 28 others.

The memorial is sited near Ongarue on the Ongarue-Waimiha Road about 150m west of the intersection with Ongarue Village Road.

Consisting of five informative panels descending from 2.1m in height as well as a 5.2m tall totem, the memorial rests on a 15m long concrete slab and will be unveiled by the Ongarue Memorial Organising Committee.

The unveiling comes two days after the 100-year anniversary on 6 July.

Relatives of parties involved in the accident, including victims, rescuers, train staff and the New Zealand Māori Rugby Team will be present. 200 people are estimated to attend the unveiling.

The unveiling will run from 11:00am to 12:00pm. There will be finger food and hot drinks at Ongarue School from 12:00pm to 1:30pm.

This project received a $6000 contribution from KiwiRail. Other funding has come from Ruapehu District Council, RMTU, Pub Charities, Taumarunui RSA, Ongarue Saleyard Company, and the Rail Heritage Trust.

About the Ongarue Rail accident:

After being delayed awaiting news about floodwaters in the rain-soaked Waikato, Train 221, the 7.10 p.m. overnight express to Wellington finally departed Auckland at 11.25 p.m. on 5 July 1923. On board were 200 passengers, with one private carriage playing host to the 1923 New Zealand Māori Rugby Team.

While rounding a curve just south of Ongarue at 5.52 a.m. on Friday 6 July the train ran into a landslide.

A large boulder buried within the slide derailed the locomotive, AB 748, causing the second, third, and fourth carriages to telescope.

Eleven passengers were killed instantly while another six later succumbed to their injuries. A further twenty-eight people sustained serious injuries. The Ongarue derailment was New Zealand’s worst rail accident at the time.

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