"BEST OF BAD JOB"

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 202, 27 August 1935, Page 8

"BEST OF BAD JOB"

DELAYED EXPRESS. PASSENGERS IN AUCKLAND. DEPARTMENTAL EFFICIENCY. Passengers of the combined Kew Plymouth and early Wellington express who arrived at Auckland at 1.15 this afternoon, paid a tribute to the efficiency | of the Railway Department officials, who made the beet of a bad job to see that the passengers had only a minimum of discomfort. There were jtbout 300 passengers on the combined train. Mr. A. Osten, of Mar ton, who was coming to Auckland with his sou, said that the guards did all that they could to facilitate the transfer of passengers from one train to the other. The night was fine, fortunately, and the soil was of a kind that did not readily turn to mud. All the passengers had to do was to walk the length of the train, cross the slip, and then get on the other train. It was possible to make the crossing without getting very muddy. All the passengers made the best of their experience, and (here was some good-natured badinage, particularly among members of the secondary schools' representative Soccer team. The passengers carried as much of their own luggage as they could, and the rest was brought over by the guards and others of the railway staff on the scene. Mr. Osten said that the train was detained at Taumarunui from 1.20 to about 3.15. Third Slip Comes Down. It was stated by other passengers that the slip had almost been cleared when a third slip came down, burying lamps and shovels, so that the men had not only to work in the dark but had few | tools. In two instances, men of the repair gang were caught up to their waists in the spoil when the slip came, while the third man was injured. At Taumarunui the guard's van of the north-bound train was transferred from the rear of the train to a position immediately behind the engine, while the train from" Auckland was detained at Ongaruo and backed down to the slip, so that there would bo a minimum of distance to transfer the , luggage. All the mails were transferred.