11:45 in the evening
Had the guard , by an unpardonable oversight , omitted to close it for the passage of the train , so that the train , coming on at full speed , was precipitated into the Loddon ? This hypothesis seemed very admissible ; for although one-half of the bridge lay beneath the ruins of the train , the other half , drawn up to the opposite shore , hung , still unharmed , by its chains . No one could doubt that an oversight on the part of the guard had caused the catastrophe . The accident had occurred in the night , to the express train which left Melbourne at 11:45 in the evening . About a quarter past three in the morning , twenty-five minutes after leaving Castlemaine , it arrived at Camden Bridge , where the terrible disaster befell . The passengers and guards of the last and only remaining carriage at once tried to obtain help . But the telegraph , whose posts were lying on the ground , could not be worked .