Bathurst man Luke Jenkinson, 25, died when the excavator he was operating was hit by the XPT about 11.30am on Wednesday.

The two senior transport safety investigators from Canberra said they would retrace the XPT’s journey as part of an inquiry into an incident that could have been much worse had the train - with 71 passengers and six crew on board - derailed after the collision.

The Western Advocate yesterday assisted the investigators by offering to provide them with photographs taken at the scene soon after the crash.

The investigators said the bureau was primarily interested in public safety, finding out why the excavator was in the path of the XPT.

They also wanted to know if the passenger train from Sydney to Dubbo was running to its normal timetable, or was running early or late.

Yesterday’s re-enactment of the trip from Bathurst would allow the investigators to see what the XPT driver might have seen as he drove the train through a deep rail cutting at the start of a long, sweeping, left-hand bend that approaches the Newbridge railway station.

Both investigators had inspected the damaged XPT engine, noting the “cow catcher” at the front had been badly damaged.

They said it was fortunate for the XPT driver and his passengers that the excavator had not wedged under the engine. It had been knocked away from railway line and struck a utility in a secondary accident.

As it was, the XPT driver had done extremely well to stop the train - which comprised two motors and four carriages - in a very short distance.

The motor at the rear of the train had stopped almost adjacent to where the excavator crashed down the embankment onto the utility.