[2] A temporary mortuary was set up at Melbourne's Spencer Street Station to deal with the dead and wounded, who were transported from Sunshine by special relief trains.

[4] The subsequent coronial inquiry found that the two drivers of the Bendigo train as well as the Sunshine stationmaster had a manslaughter case to answer, although all three were later acquitted by the Supreme Court of Victoria.

[5][page needed] At 6:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. on 20 April, two heavily loaded passenger trains left the regional cities of Ballarat and Bendigo respectively.

Fine weather had encouraged large numbers of people to leave Melbourne by train on the Saturday,[6] and many were returning on the Monday evening.

[13][note 1] Milburn stated the following day that when he sighted the distant signal set to danger, he applied the brakes, but they did not have any effect.

The impact destroyed the guard's van and four rearmost carriages of the Ballarat train, but only caused minor damage to the front of the Bendigo locomotive.

[24][3] When casualty trains arrived at Spencer Street, most of the badly injured were taken to the Melbourne Hospital,[26] while the dead were placed in waiting rooms for identification.

It was given in evidence that a report had been made the previous January that the siting of the home signal (protecting a train standing at the platform) was poor.

Realising that his train was not going to stop prior to reaching the Home signal, the driver put the locomotive into reverse and opened the steam regulator to apply as much power as possible.

In his summing up, the judge addressed the Court to the effect that the Crown case was that the driver of the lead locomotive had deliberately run past the distant signal at too great a pace and, expecting that the passage through the station would be clear, he found the home signal at danger and a train at the platform too late to stop clear.

In addition, there was another £50,000 damage to rolling stock and tracks, plus the costs of the inquest and subsequent legal proceedings, which were borne by the State.