Overview
The trains involved were National Rail Corporation's 5SP5 intermodal Sydney to Perth freighter, and Westrail's 7025 Perth to Kalgoorlie freighter.
The National Rail train in one direction misjudged the stop, and went past the red signal, hitting the last wagons of the Westrail train. Unfortunately, these wagons were tankers containing diesel which burst into flames, destroying the train data recorders that might have explained what speed the train was travelling at. The driver and a teenage guest passenger were killed. National Rail locomotives AN10 and DL37 were written off due to being damaged beyond repair.
The accident happened at night, and there were no distance boards which might have helped the driver of the NR train judge the distance to the stop signal showing red.
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