Romance of rail leaves mother fuming

Press, 2 August 1983, Page 22

Romance of rail leaves mother fuming

By

JULIET BRODIE,

, of Christchurch

When I heard of the Government’s plans to condemn the Southerner to death, my fist was beating in the air, like those of many other South Island loyalists. I believe that a carefully nurtured rail system could be the transport of the future and so I resolved upon a course of action to show my support for this grand old means of travel. I bought tickets for myself, my daughter, and my mother-in-law to travel south from Christchurch, a rash course of action in view of the consequences. Perhaps the grandeur of rail travel remains only on the world’s continents. Certainly the blue invalid which limped into Christchurch railway station seemed only remotely related to the huge silver monster which had recently snaked me across North America. We found our reserved seats in a non-smokers’ carriage immediately behind the engine. An acrid smell was developing. While the train remained at the station the smell grew until our eyes smarted and our throats were dry: diesel fumes.

Ten minutes later, as the train pulled out of the station, the guard came by to check our tickets. “We find the fumes most uncomfortable,” I said. “Will it be like this the whole way?”

“Aw, it should clear in 10 minutes,” he said in the casual manner which astounds our overseas tourists. We decided not to make a fuss. Sure enough, when the train gathered momentum, the fumes did subside, but never completely.

Leaflets available in the pouches on the back of the seats made all sorts of extravagant claims about the service available. Apparently we could solicit a hostess to furnish us with endless food and drinks (at a price). However, the small print went on to say drinks were only to be had in the smokers’ carriages because of Government licensing laws. It seems extraordinary that smokers should have all the vices attributed to them, while those of us who are nonsmokers should be assumed to be corruption-free. The fumes returned every time the train lost speed, an event which occurred all too frequently, delaying us by 45 minutes. As the reason for this was unclear, we tried to tackle a hostess about the problem. How-

ever, the only ones we saw always whisked past us saying “Everything all right here?” and, before we could answer, “Good.” We thought that if the smokers’ carriage behind was not too full, we could try it, but it was so hot that it would have negated the benefits of exchanging diesel fumes for cigarette smoke. When I saw how drunk some of the smokers were becoming, I began to think that smokers were inherent boozers; until I realised that the poor things were so overcome by heat that they were attempting to stave off the effects of dehydration. So we carried on to the buffet car for a sloppy coffee.

At Oamaru we were held up for 20 minutes while repairs were made to windows broken by stonethrowing little savages. All the non-smokers took it in shifts to gasp at the open doorway, as nobody in charge had bothered to tell us that we could have got out and breathed cool country air for a while instead of thick diesel fumes.

“Well, at least,” consoled my mother-in-law; “there is some wonderful scenery between here and Dunedin.”

Alas no. By the time we left Oamaru, we should really have been in Dunedin. My daughter’s tolerance level had also snapped. On our eventual arrival she was sick, and I mean sick! Was it too many hot savouries from the buffet car or was it the fumes? Regardless, I have been thoroughly put off the New Zealand Railways. When the excursion tours become so popular that they replace the present passenger system, I may be wooed reluctantly back, but it will not be an easy courtship. Invited to comment on Mrs Brodie’s experiences,

the Railways’ district traffic manager in Christchurch, Mr R. Campbell, issued the following statement: “Occasionally during adverse weather conditions, it is possible that some diesel fumes may be blown back into the ventilating system of the carriage immediately behind the engine. These

conditions are beyond our control but in such circumstances passengers may on request be given seats in another carriage where this problem does not occur. “Although some old advertising pamphlets may indicate differently, drinks are available on request in any carriage, either smoking or non-smoking.”