Blaauwkrantz Bridge disaster
The Blaauwkrantz Bridge disaster occurred on 22 April 1911. A mixed train from Port Alfred travelling to Grahamstown, made up of six goods trucks, three passenger carriages and a guard's van, came to grief when one of the goods trucks derailed on the Blaauwkrantz Bridge over the Blaauwkrantz Pass and, with the three carriages and the guard's van, plunged into the ravine below. Of the 55 passengers, 28 were killed and 22 seriously injured. Some before reaching the bridge a truck left the rails, near the centre of the bridge the truck, which was carrying stone to build the Grahamstown Cathedral, turned over and broke the necks of the buffers which detached it from the front of the train. The sudden impact of the rear coaches against the overturned truck caused them to topple over the side of the bridge and turn somersault before being dashed to pieces on the rocks below. A carriage roof, a door and a lampholder were detached in the fall and were found hanging on the side of the bridge. The locomotive had made it to the other side of the bridge without damage, and so the engine driver raced the locomotive to Grahamstown to