D.—2.

John Wilton Nixon, licensed jockey, Gisborne. Ivy Camille Nixon, married woman, Gisborne. Horace Lindsay, clerk in holy orders. Andrew Stewart, commercial traveller. Murdo Bayne McDonald, organizer for the South Seas Exhibition, Dunedin. Charles Fenton Manning, barman, Clarendon Hotel, Napier. Arthur Ernest. Renouf, company secretary, Napier. David Jones, cook, Napier. William Marven, motor-driver, Havelock North. Alfred Frank Hook, master butcher, Havelock. Huia Badger, nurse, Napier Hospital. Charles Smith, foreman, Dannevirke Power Board, Maud Edith Smith, married woman, Settlers' Arms Hotel, Ormondville. William Barnes, labourer, Ormondville. James Mackie Smith, licensee, Settlers' Arms Hotel, Ormondville. Harold Onslow Baines, farmer, Ormondville. Charles William Edward France, jockey, Palmerston North. Ida Maud Mary France, married woman, Palmerston North. David Irwin Wilson, postal cadet, Ormondville. Richard Henry Edward Stillwell, railway ganger, Kopua. Wilfred Alexander Wackrow, engine-driver, New Zealand Government Railways, Palmerston North. Albert Ernest Waters, railway surfaceman, Waipukurau. John Gardner, Borough Inspector, Waipukurau. Matthew Henry Walter Good, railway porter, Waipukurau. Frederick Joseph Arlidge, contractor for cleaning trucks, Waipukurau. John Wright, sheep-farmer, Hastings. Charles Owen Genet, railway clerk, Waipawa. Richard Knight, contract shearer, Rotorua. James Smith Gray McKenzie, Boiler Inspector for New Zealand Government Railways, North Island. Alexander Gray, surfaceman, Opapa. Oscar Richard Savage, railway ganger in charge at Opapa. George Streeter, Inspector of Permanent-way, Waipukurau. Eugene Casey, Inspecting Engineer for New Zealand Government Railways, Wellington. George John Bryce, Locomotive Foreman, Napier. James Forester Mackley, Locomotive Engineer for North Island. Robert Julian Scott, Professor of Engineering at Canterbury College. Alfred Kinsella Harris, General Superintendent of Transportation, Railway Department, Wellington. Donald Martin Robertson, Train-examiner, Railway Department, Waipukurau. Richard William Joseph Dickson, Brake Inspector, Petone. Robert Foster Laing, engine-driver on New Zealand Railways, Napier. Keith John Davidson, signal-adjuster, Hastings. Gilbert Roland Abbott, clerk. Port Ahuriri. Herbert Thomas, in charge of Opapa Station, New Zealand Railways. Wallace Edwin Yates, grocer, Waipawa. Edward Malcolm Langley, director of E. M. Langley and Co., grain-merchants. The following exhibits were also produced at the hearings : — " A " —Plan 36651, showing measurements taken on the curve after the accident. " B —Plan 36645, showing cant and slack on the curve after the accident. " C "■—Plan 36660, showing cant on the curve to the point of accident. " D "•—Plan 36646, showing track-renewals after the accident. " E " —Plan 36658, showing track and train after the accident. " F " —Plan 2395, showing alignment and longitudinal section. " G " —Two photographs showing the engine and debris after the accident. " H " —Section of rail, showing wear. " J " and " K " —Section of rail and template, showing wear allowable on a 7-chain curve. " L " —Cocks off Westinghouse brake. " M —Working time-table. " N " —Diagram No. 1, showing make-up of train. " 0 " —Gauges, showing full tire and minimum tire allowed. " P "—Professor Scott's report. Question 1 : What was the cause of the derailment of the WeUinglon-Napier express train near Opapa Station on the 22nd September, 1925 ? With regard to this question we find that when the train was descending the Opapa grade the engine left the rails at a point approaching the lower end of a curve having a radius of about 7 chains. The engine and tender were totally derailed to the outside of the curve, and eventually came to rest against the side of the cutting. The first car was also derailed to the outside of the curve. The second car appears to have kept the rails until obstructed by the derailed vehicles, when its couplings

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