[6] Dairy farming and timber were other industries in the district and out to the end of the line at Dayboro, as well as the quarrying of granite at Camp Mountain, used in the foundations of Brisbane City Hall.

[3] The train was chartered by the social and recreation club for employees of the Department of Trade and Customs, who were travelling to a picnic venue at Closeburn to celebrate the Labour Day public holiday.

[7] It was one of a number of chartered trains to travel on the line on the day, conveying groups to numerous picnic locations in the scenic country area north-west of Brisbane.

Especially due to the hilly area, the speed limit on the Dayboro line at the time was 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) on straight sections of track, and 20 mph (32 km/h) through curves.

As the train descended Camp Mountain Knob, it suddenly picked up speed before the first curve, approximately 1.4 km (0.87 mi) after crossing the peak of the Samford Range.

Carriages rocked dangerously, causing luggage to fall from overhead racks, lighting fixtures rattled, and women and children began screaming.

Then there was a terrible crash, and we were showered with flying glass and flung all over the compartment.The locomotive left the rails on a left-hand curve with a radius of six chains (approximately 120 m (390 ft)) at an estimated speed of 40 mph (64 km/h).

He then took the breakdown kit, rushed back 500 yd (460 m) along the line passed and set three detonators and red flags to warn and stop the expected following train.

[9] Driver Hind was only recently transferred to the Mayne Depot, had not driven trains on the line past Ferny Grove before, and was being tutored by Fireman Knight.

At that point, as a donation to the Bungil Shire Council, it was towed to the South-Western Queensland town of Injune,[30] approximately 700 km (430 mi) north-west of Brisbane, at the end of a branch line from Roma that had recently closed on 1 January 1967.

[30][34]The accident site is commemorated with a stone cairn and plaque on the northern side of McLean Road South, erected by the Pine Rivers council in 1988.