A derailment killed a freight train driver on 7 August 1991. At around 3 a.m. a freight train passed through Manson's Siding, at Oio, 27 km south-east of Taumarunui. The train careered off the storm-damaged tracks, killing the driver. Six of the wagons it was pulling went over in the derailment.

Heavy rain in the area over the previous 12 hours washed out a section of ground under the track after a culvert was blocked. The drains and streams were swollen, with large amounts of pumice coming down in the run-off.