On 5 May 1947, a chartered train departed for a picnic at Closeburn on the Dayboro branch with approximately 230 passengers were on board. On the descent towards Samford Station, the engine tender derailed on a sharp bend causing the total derailment of the engine, water gin and first two carriages. The force of the derailment destroyed the first carriage and compressed the combined length of the engine to the third carriage to just over half its original length. Sixteen people were killed and 38 injured. A Court of Inquiry that found excessive speed had led to the crash.