Removing dead from Spencer Street railway station, Melbourne

Abstract

Photograph that shows two men carrying a coffin on a railway platform. Others on the platform include four men in metal helmets and two in dark helmets with insignia. There are a large number of chairs ranged along the walls of the station building. The building's walls are timber and the roof is of corrugated iron. The gable features exposed beams in the Tudor style. Signs painted on the two sets of glass doors indicate that the station has both a smoking and a waiting room. There are two conflicting hand-written captions associated with this picture. One places the scene at Coledale on the NSW coast, while that on the back of the print suggests that the image is connected with the accident at Sunshine, on the outskirts of Melbourne. If the latter is correct, then the coffin is likely to be that of one of the accident victims. The Sunshine accident occurred when the Easter Monday special train from Bendigo passed stop signals and collided with the rear of a train from Ballarat that was standing at the station. 44 people died and 431 were injured in what until 1956 was Australia's worst railway accident.