EXPRESS TRAIN LATE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 148, 21 June 1912, Page 5

EXPRESS TRAIN LATE.

SLIPS ON MAIN TKUHK. PASSENGERS TKAXSHIFPED. VATT/S LEFT BEHIND. Aj= the result of slips on the Main Trunk line, announced in yesterday's issue, the Main Trunk train from Wellington, -which, should have readied Auckland at. seven o'clock this morning, did not arrive till a quarter to one. The very muddy appearance of the and the muddy appearance of the be--draggled passengers who left the train, told a. story of an unpleasant experience for those who had to tranship and wallc round the obstacles on the line in order to get through to Auckland. Owing to the unavoidable delay consequent upon the traffic being held up, the express did not leave Te Kuiti until half-past 8 this morning, six and a-half hours late. The mails -were left behind, and it i≤ a-nnouirced that theee are not expected to reach Auckland before midnight. The passengers transhipped at. the slip at Poro-o-tarao, and before thai passengers from the Wellington side transhipped at a slip at Horopito. A message received from Te Kuiti during the day states -that the flood is subsiding;, and that there has been no sexiI ona damage. Oar correspondent at Taumajuaui advises that all goods trains have been suspended. The passenger trains were worked, as close as possible up to the slips, and the travellers had to make their way as best fcbey could over the intervening obstacle. No through service, it is eaid, may-be expected this week, but the .KalrTOiy Department is sparing no effort to clear the track. fetendin-g passengers by the express which, left Auckland last nighi were warned of -the state of affairs, but in spite of this the bookings were quite up to tie average, and the passengers included a fair proportion of women and children. The -work of repairing the damage at Poro-o-taiao -will be carried out continuously by gangs of men in shifts, and adequate supplies of food and tents for the workmen have been sent down from Tβ Kuiti. The place is .particularly bleak and exposed, and the 70 or so passengers who had to negotiate the slip in order to join the waiting train on the Taumarumii aide had a particularly uncomfortable experience. They speak in high terms of the civility and consideration shown them by" the guard and other railway officials on duty. The line near Poro-o-tarao runs through light country, and is liable to washouts. It is constantly and vigilantly guarded by railway gangs, and is under continuous observation during wet weather.-