General news

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32700, 1 September 1971, Page 16

General news

Return to service After being laid up for its annual overhaul, the Kitson , steam tram is back in service ' at Ferrymead. It passed its ' Marine Department boiler inspection with flying colours. On Sunday, the Tramway Historical Society will be celebrating the tram’s nine-' tieth anniversary, and members spent last week-end decorating it for the occasion. A special birthday cake has been made, decorated with a model of the tram, and the cake will be raffled at Ferrymead. The last survivor of Christchurch’s fleet of nine steam trams, the Kitson has carried more than 42,000 passengers since it started running at Ferrymead in 1967. Rail-car halted A boulder on the track between Otira and Aickens abruptly halted the 1.50 a.m. rail-car from Christchurch to the West Coast at 4.5 a.m. yesterday. No-one was hurt, but the cow-catcher and some of the electrical wiring of the rail-car were damaged. A locomotive was. used to take the rail-car back to Otira, from where its passengers were taken to their destinations by coach. The rail-car was brought back to Christchurch yesterday afternoon for repairs. A Railways Department spokesman said yesterday that rock falls were not uncommon and that at the point where the boulder lay on the line the track followed the hillside very closely. Pavement artists A pavement artist competition organised by the Rangiora Businessmen’s Asociation, attracted about 80 young artists yesterday afternoon. The competition was divided into two sections—up to standard two and from standard three to form 11. The Standard 3 to Form II section was won by Neil Douglas, aged 12, from the Ashgrove School, with a mountain scene, and the junior section was won by Victoria Murray, aged eight, from Christchurch with a pixie scene. The winner of each section received a box of games given by the New Zealand Fanners and each contestant in the competition received an ice-block from the Rangiora Tea-rooms. The judge was Mr G. Simpson.

Hei Hei trek

The Dean of Christchurch, the Very Rev. M. L. Underhill, the vicar of the Hornby parish, the Rev. M. M. Warren, and the curate, the Rev. P. Shields, will take part in a sponsored trek today organised by the St Aidan’s Sunday School, Hei Hei, to raise funds for the Red Cross and C.0.R.5.0. The trek is part of a series of school holiday projects organised by the parish every afternoon this week to emphasise the theme of service to others. Kumara attraction More than 2000 exhibits are included in a new tourist attraction, Gold Town, which has been opened in the main street of Kumara. One of the organisers of the project has spent 17 years gathering material for it He said that virtually everything used in the Kumara district since 1850 was in the museum which is in a building which was one of the township’s stores.'An additional project, a gold claim, will open on the Taramakau River later this month.—(F.O.O.R.)