Barry J Gobe was the first ambulance officer on the scene at the Granville Train Disaster on January 18, 1977. After 30 years he still has vivid memories of the day.

This is the first time I have opened up publicly to speak of my experiences of that fateful day some 30 years ago which is now known and referred to nationally and internationally as the Granville Train Disaster.

The morning

At the time I was a NSW Ambulance Officer stationed at Auburn Ambulance Station.  My shift starting time was 08:00am. At 08:05 we were in our vehicles starting to receive our workload. A few minutes later we were dispatched to a Train accident at Granville Railway Station and the Bold Street Bridge. 

As we were already in our vehicles with our engines warming up, our response time was minimal. Too minimal for myself and probationary officer (Noel). We were the first ambulance to arrive on the scene on the southern side of the tracks. Not knowing what really awaited us we confirmed "affirmative' that the Bold Street Bridge had come down on a train. I transmitted our code to initiate our major incident plan. This meant that all hospital medical teams and every available ambulance/police/fire and rescue team would be dispatched to the scene. 

This all happened as we drove down onto the tracks. Noel and I grabbed what we thought would be sufficient trauma, first aid and oxygen resuscitation equipment and proceeded to cross all tracks to the north side climbing over the main power lines and cable trusting that all power had been disconnected. 

Due to our intense ambulance training, and Noel and I being qualified in electrical-mechanical engineering in our previous employment, we weaved our way across the tracks to meet other ambulance officers arriving from Parramatta Ambulance Station on the south side of the Bold Street Bridge.

The experience of our lives was about to take place as we all met as a team and without any hesitation reconnoitred the situation and quickly proceeded under the bridge.

The scene

What was to greet us was a scene never witnessed by myself or others. We proceeded to work from both ends of the incident and in the centre. As far as I can remember there was a division caused by the downing of the bridge so the rescue was taking place on what I believe was a four divisional plain. Rescuers were approaching from east and west of the bridge and north and south of the carriages" as we entered under the bridge we could see that the bridge had compressed the roof of the carriage down and the whole side wall of the carriage had shattered and at one point was lying in our path.

As we entered further we could see that most did not stand a chance. You would have thought there would have been blood and body parts everywhere but this was not to be. It was an eerie feeling as we could see normal people just like our own loved ones still sitting in there seats with there heads in their laps, still reading their newspapers.

As we ventured further in we encountered screaming passengers and cries for help.  All we could do in the initial stages of the rescue was carry out basic life support and rescue. 

As more assistance arrived we moved further along the carriage. One very lucky lad who got on the train at Parramatta and could only stand at the door opened the door when the train came to its abrupt stop. With the collapsing of the bridge he was blasted out of the carriage but his foot was trapped in the wreckage leaving him daggling down with his head near the track. The Parramatta Ambulance Rescue Team freed this person and they then moved their attention to free persons trapped in the centre of the train. 

I moved on to find two passengers well trapped. There was man I just could not get to but remember talking to for sometime and eventually getting to his hand and getting a doctor to give him some pain relief. 

I was not there when he was released from the train. I later tracked him down at the Royal North Shore Hospital where I followed up his progress " I believe he survived.  His name was Ian. I would really like to meet up with him again. 

My Little Hero

Further to this I would like to see a young lady, now a woman, who I call "My Little Hero'. I spent most of the day with her but due to circumstances, was not there when she was released. Roz was only thirteen, travelling alone returning home from visiting relatives in the mountains.

Many others had stories written about themselves but this rescue of My Little Hero went un-noticed. It is only due to the memories of the courage of this little girl I have been able to survive the past thirty years. Through all the trauma and death of that day this little girl lit my heart up and all I could do was comfort her until she was released.  Wedged down on the floor between the seats she, who luckily could not see anything but my blackened face, was able to barely breathe due to the cushioning of deceased persons around and about her. If not for them she would have most definitely not been able to expand her chest to breath.

Roz survived the ordeal by the special attention given to her by the staff at the Royal North Shore Hospital. The hospital medical staff are unsung staff. I visited Roz in hospital and at her home over the following couple of years and watched her grow into a young lady.

The last I heard of her she married and moved to another state and I also believe she was carrying a child at the time. What a great ending to such a traumatic event. Now 30 years later Roz would be approximately 43 years of age and I would once again like to meet up with her. 

My life

My career over the years gave me many experiences in life but none so rewarding as being a part of a team who could give another human being another chance at life. I have encountered some very difficult and life threatening situations for myself and my patients over the years. As a non-church attending Christian I feel someone has always been there to help assist me through these moments. I have had many experiences of the presence of a hand on my shoulder assisting me only to turn around and find I was alone. We can all draw our own conclusions to this experience.

Many different stories were told about Granville, as everybody had their story to tell. Most were true but some I believe were questionable. I believe all involved were heroes and this includes all emergency services and the contributing companies which took part at this time. I must not leave out many of those passengers from the train who survived who also became rescuers. Some of those involved who were overlooked in the incident were the personnel involved in the aftermath. Through all the heat and trauma inflicted to the deceased these personnel had to cope with the removal, preservation and identification of those deceased persons.

These rescuers are only human and had loved ones in similar age groups. Counselling did not exist for Ambulance personnel and many to this day still suffer with post traumatic stress syndrome.

Granville was a team effort with some going that extra yard. I know because I was working along side them and saw their heroics. But to them and myself, it was just what we were trained for.

Only weeks before the fatal day, a combined "Disaster Simulation" was conducted at Silverwater, only kilometres away from the scene. If not for this training, I believe the scene at Granville would not have run as smooth as it did. I say smooth but really it was nothing of the sort.  But it was the best we could offer at the time as all emergency services were not really designed to handle such a case.  Many will tell you they were, however, we were far from prepared. Today it's different, with more rescue and paramedical intervention involved with many disaster plans ready to swing into action.

The gratitude

The Government struck a medal to show the public they were on top of things and to eliminate the political pressure brought upon the State Government. It was also to give rescuers recognition for outstanding service. Only so many medals were struck and many did not receive one. Then, there were selective personnel who were awarded heroic medals, with special ceremonies held for presentations. These heroic medals were awarded with the honour of colours (ribbons) to be displayed on their uniform. The mass produced Granville Medal came in a box with a mass produced certificate of thanks and no further recognition or ribbons associated with same. This does not concern me for as a Christian I am pleased to have been involved as a part of a team with the assisting of the injured and the saving of lives.

There are many stories and many trains have now passed under the bridge but if it was not for the Salvation Army on the day supplying comfort and food I would hate to think of how it would have been. A pie and drink from a passing salvo was never so rewarding as it was that day.

The ambulance service did not have any way of feeding their officers unlike the police who rolled up a full canteen and fed their staff. Ambulance Control was oblivious to what was really happening on the ground and was watching the dollars tick over as the day went on. The reason I was not there when Roz was released was due to being physically pulled from the scene at approximately 2:30pm as I had gone past my meal break time and was incurring a penalty rate. "Dollars?" I advised them I was not interested in the dollars but was returned back to my station to have a meal break and finish shift which I did. I completed shift and returned back to the scene and continued the rescue in my own time as a volunteer"

Due to questioning senior management on there disgraceful display in putting dollars before life and limb, when it came time to receive my Granville Train Medal, all was done to prevent me attending the ceremony. I am pleased that those who were all involved with bad decision making during those days have now retired or left the service" and the service is now run in a more professional manner.

The aftermath

Many changes have taken place since, within all services " disaster planning is a priority, especially as the world changes around us with international incidents happening too frequently.

Counselling and pastoral care are now available for those in the emergency services.

Debriefings are carried out on a regular basis.

Ambulance Officers are more highly trained and skilled with the training of more Paramedics. 

Better equipped rescue teams are available from Fire, Police and Ambulance.

To summarise: out of bad comes good.

If we were to have the same or similar occurrence these days we would find the survival rate would possibly be higher.

In saying all this, there are still many stories I can tell but what ever conclusion I or others involved come to, it was a team effort from all involved.

God Bless them all.