One overlooked benefit of rain is the increased employment opportunities it brings.
Somebody will have to fix this washout at Charters Towers.
Good thing that the train crew had confidence that the track rails had sufficient strength to hold weight for crossing.
I'd have thought that if the rails dropped that much with the weight of the sleepers, then the engine/s extra weight would collapse the span. Dumb thoughts apparently! Hate to be the driver though.
Reminds me of the Irish mine detector carton where the mine clearer puts his hands over his ears and taps around in front with his foot as he moves forward.
Have a look at image 017.
The rails have dropped further and there's no sign of a driver!
He'd have a bit of explaining to do?
Images can be deceiving.
I'd say that it happened in reverse sequence.
I'd say that the driver nudged up to bridge approaches which looked ok.
Went up towards bridge slowly and approaches suddenly sunk under the extra weight.
Then used second engine to tow the first one back.
Had a good look AFTER the near miss.
Scary while it was happening though.
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