A train was travelling from Auckland to Wellington in heavy rain when it derailed after striking a landslide across the tracks.

The North Island Main Trunk express with 70 passengers on board was travelling at 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph) when it struck a slip 400 metres (1⁄4 mi) south of the Paraparaumu Railway Station at 6:25 a.m. on 30 August 1936.

[2][3] The train fell down a three-metre (10 ft) embankment onto its side, coming to rest a few metres from the road running alongside the railway line.

After Howell raised the alarm at the railway station, a relief train and ambulances came from Wellington.

Four passengers were admitted to Wellington Hospital, and one of them, Arthur Frederick Bush, died there a week later as a result of his injuries.