Within living memory . . .

Locomotive driver Murray Smith, of Ranfurly, "didn't have time to get scared" when his engine pulling 20 wagons ploughed into a rock fall just north of Hyde early on July 23, 1981.

Murray and his assistant and guard escaped with "a couple of knocks’’, but the resulting mess  took  about three days to clear.

Twelve wagons were derailed, seven of which jack-knifed behind the engine.

Railways staff spent a day digging away part of the rock fall from round the engine and putting several of the less damaged wagons back on the rails.