EXPRESS DELAYED

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21648, 5 December 1935, Page 17

EXPRESS DELAYED

TO THE EDITOB OF THIS .PBEStt* Sir, —Can you inform me of the reason for yesterday's (Friday's) In-vereargill-Christchurch express arriving here more than an hour late. The train , was about six minutes behind time leaving Timarif and apart from two extra stops of two or three minutes each at Dunsandel and Burnham, there seems no reason at all why it should be as late as this-. Is it that the loads are becoming too heavy for the present type of locomotive in use? This appears to be borne out by the amount of doubleheading which is employed on the south line, especially at busy times. It seems strange that the more powerful "K" type locomotives are confined to the North Island, where they have be&n in use for a considerable time now. Surely they are needed down here as well, especially on the difficult hilly section of line between Oamaru and Dunedin, where the use of two engines on expresses is quite common. —Yours, etc., K. November 30, 1935, ["The train was a few minutes late leaving Timaru," said the District Traffic Manager of Hail ways, to whom this letter was referred, "and passenger traffic necessitated two additional stops at. Dunsandel and Buroham, These two stops occurred on a portion of the road on which fast running is regularly maintained, and consequently the stops caused much more delay than the actual times at the stations mentioned. There Is a good deal

of bridge and track relaying being done on this section of the line, and this work necessitates speed restrictions, which add to the difficulty of maintaining time with a heavilyloaded train. The bridge and track work referred to is being undertaken to permit heavier locomotives to be used at some future date."]