SPEED OF N.Z. TRAINS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 209, 3 September 1932, Page 10

SPEED OF N.Z. TRAINS.

LIMIT, 50 MILES AN HOUR. ATTCBXAND-FRANKTON RUN. AVERAGE ABOUT 40 MILES. "The speed of the Great Western Company's Cheltenham Flyer—already the fastest train in the world—is to be raised from 69.18 to 71.3 miles an hour," stated a cable in yesterday's " Star/' What is the greatest speed attained by trains in New Zealand! According to schedule, no train in the Dominion is supposed to travel faster than 50 miles an hour, not even in the South Island on the flat Canterbury Plains, where in places the line runs straight until lost in the distance. The Auckland-Wellington express is permitted to travel at 50 miles an hour, and. the number of cars which it draws is limited to eight. Between Auckland and Frankton, where the going is comTDaratively flat, the express maintains an average of 40 miles an hour. For the 87 miTes the time scheduled is two hours 14 minutes. The train has done this section of the journey in two hours, which makes the speed some 43 miles an hour. Depends On Country. The belief is fairly general that a higher speed is called for on the longer journeys; but while the average speed may be greater on a long journey, the speed permitted is just as great on the branch liries. For example, between Morrinsville and Putaruru the limit is 50 between Putaruru and Rotorua 40, and between Waihi and Taneatua 40 miles an hour. The speed depends on the country, ana the haulage load. In hilly country, where the <n-ade is steep, and where curves are frequent, the speed is naturally lower. In the King Country, south of Fir- tton. where the hills begin, the > Trunk cannot make the time which is possible north of that station. The curves are perhaps the major consideration, particularly as the railways in the Dominion are of the narrow gauge, 3ft Gin. In England the gauge is 4ft 81in, so that even if the country there were just as difficult the wider track would make a higher speed safer. All speeds of trains are governed by local considerations, and each section of all the lines has - a definite maximum Rl-! allotted to it. The engineering •' lias drawn out a time-table for

n: .tini speeds between stations, tnkim: into consideration all factors affecting trains; and the trains have to keep to that time-table to permit of the service being maintained. When a train is late a passenger, or perhaps someone waiting at the station for the arriv , of that train, is apt to be impatiei.t, and to complain. Let him but take one brief glance at the files and the charts and the mass of figures which control the running of trains in general, and he whose arrangements have been tenijx>rarily upset would be more charitable. Testing of Locomotives. The engines are capable of a much greater speed than they ever attain in everyday use. The majority of them could take 60 miles an hour in their stride, so to speak, but they are never called on to do it. When the new locomotive comes out of the workshops it is put through exhaustive, tests before being used on a passenger train. It is tested out on a goods train specially loaded to 600 tons, to try out its haulage capacity, and it is kept on goods transport for two or more months until it has "worked itself in." Though the new "K" engines at present being made in the Hutt workshops will be much more powerful than those now in use, the maximum speed is not likely to be raised. Larger loads, however, will be possible on trains at the same speed.