‘Grass grubs’ ready to go

Press, 4 October 1977, Page 10

‘Grass grubs’ ready to go

Parliamentary reporter The end of the Railway’s bone • shaking. stop - gap passenger rail service to Picton is in sight. The new ChristchurchPicton passenger train would start service on December 5. said the member of Parliament for Marlborough (Mr E. G. Latter). The Minister of Railways (Mr McLachlan) had advised that the new tram — the first of the train sets convened from railcars — would be ready by the first week of December.

“The railcars have been converted to a good standard, with new lighting and heating, improved seating, and carpet on the floor.” said Mr Latter.

The newly converted vehicles were designated Ac and would be painted green.

“Patronage improved even while using the present old carriage stock and I know that this trend will continue with the introduction of this modern comfortable rolling stock.” The bright green livery of the carriages has given them the name “grass grubs” from the Railway staff.

They will replace what, for the Railways, has been very much a stop-gap service, introduced when the abrupt withdrawal of the railcars left the line without any really suitable replacement.

It was a matter of pressing into service whatever passenger carriage was available and, as a result, the department has received a steady stream of complaints about the standard of the service. The converted railcars have been designated Ac class, and will be hauled by a locomotive. They are 88-seaters, with the smaller 36-seat compartment for smokers.

The ordering of 10 new Canadian diesel freight engines, worth S3SM for the line—announced on Thursday — has raised doubts in some quarters about the line’s capacity to handle bigger loads. The new engines would raise load-hauling capacity from 780 tonnes to 1000 tonnes.

However, the line should have no problem handling the much bigger trains, planned for early 1979, say Railways Department officials.

The acting district mechanical engineer in Christ-

church (Mr K. C. Thornhill) said that axle loading, rather than the all-up weight of a train, was the important factor in the track’s load-bearing capacity.

The weight at any one point would remain much the same—the trains would simply be much longer, said Mr Thornhill.

The new engines, designated Df, together with the Da engines being rebuilt in Australia, will be able to haul 1000-tonne trains over sections of the line now restricted to 780 tonnes because of steep inclines and curves.

“The basic problem facing rail services in New Zealand is the need to run bigger and bigger trains to handle the ever-growing freight tonnages,” said Mr Thornhill. “This is the main reason for the urgency in electrifying the North Island Main Trunk line. Electric locomotives can haul much bigger loads up inclines,” he said.