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Thomas McGahan was born in Louth, Ireland and married Mary Dromgold in New Orleans, USA, before coming to Victoria. Thomas worked as a platelayer for the Victorian Railways and the family lived at Railway Gate No 10 on the Keilor Plains.
In the dark, early morning hours of 17 June 1871, Thomas and a co-worker set out to work on the line, pushing a trolley before them. They had travelled about a mile when they heard a train coming and tried to throw the trolley off the tracks. The body of the trolley was pushed into a drain, but the wheels became stuck. Thomas, valiantly trying to clear the tracks to prevent a derailment, was struck by the train's engine. In the darkness, the driver was unable to see him, though he did hear a noise. Stopping the train, he took his hand lamp and inspected the track, but finding nothing untoward, proceeded on to Sunbury. There he was informed that a man had been struck near the No 11 Gate. Thomas McGahan is buried in Grave 3K in the Roman Catholic Section of Keilor Cemetery. |
