The night X442 hauled ‘The Mountain Mail’

Press, 31 July 1986, Page 15

The night X442 hauled ‘The Mountain Mail’

ROY SINCLAIR

X 442 at Ferrymead rarely receives a glance from those who pass by the large locomotive. It has been awaiting restoration work since being moved to Ferrymead in 1978. X 442 never worked from Christchurch but it does have a Christchurch connection — it was built only a few kilometres from its present resting place. It was one of eight mountaintype 4-8-2 s specially built at the N.Z.R. Addington Workshops in 1908 and 1909 for the opening of the North Island Main Trunk railway. A further 10 were built at Addington in 1913 and 1914. They too, went to the North Island. X 442 is the only survivor. Sold to the Ohai Railway Board in 1944 to haul coal trains over its private railway between Walrio and Ohai in Southland, it made its final journey on November 21, 1964, when it was steamed for a N.Z. Railway and Locomotive excursion to Ohai. Soon after, the Ohai Railway Board gave X 442, along with its other steam locomotive, Wab 794, to the society for preservation.

We can only imagine how X 442 appeared as it worked through the central North Island in 1909. It was then new and spanking-clean. Was this the locomotive that the poet, Will Lawson, rode on through the King Country? It was a footplate ride that inspired "The Mountain Mail” with lines such as:

"The thrash of the steam and the rail-joints’ ‘purr’ Were the only sound we heard; Back in the cars, did a sleeper

stir, Or a dreamer speak a word?" Today, Will Lawson gets little attention from railway enthusiasts even though he wrote some magnificent railway verse when he lived in New Zealand during the early 1900 s. “The Mountain Mall” was the last piece of New Zealand railway verse he wrote and it recalls an X class locomotive hauling an overnight Auckland to Wellington express through the King Country between Taumarunui and Taihape. Lawson’s poems express considerable feeling for these early steam locomotives. He took every opportunity to ride on them and his footplate journey through the King Country made quite an impression on him. He

describes the big X locomotive as “the giant of all roads” and "the Lord of the Ranges.” Locomotives were changed at Taumarunui for the rugged, 145 km run through to Taihape. One could hardly mistake the atmosphere late one night as the big X (No. 442?) was coupled on to the south-bound express: “Soft as the breath of a summer’s breeze The hooks and chains were drawn; In the silent cars behind at ease, The sleepers slumbered on.” Lawson saw that the locomotives were changed with as little bustle as possible. There was no need to awake the people sleeping in the town or, indeed, those sleeping in the carriages. Within a few minutes the train was on its way again: “There was scarce a cry from her whistle’s chime — Just a muffled sound in her stack — As the grades drew near that we had to climb, And the railway yards slipped back.” South from Taumarunui the

railway climbs 635 m in just 51km. Almost one-third of that height (214 m is gained in the last 11km from Raurimu to National Park, on the edge of the Waimarino Plateau. That 11km of railway is known as the Raurimu Spiral and is still regarded internationally as a remarkable piece of railway engineering. It is also known as a testing ground for any locomotive.

From National Park it is not many kilometres to the mighty 79m-high Makatote viaduct, the highest on the Auckland to Wellington railway. Within a short distance is the next viaduct, the Manganui-o-te-au, on which the North Island Main Trunk rail heads met on August 3, 1908. The last spike, celebrating the completion of the Auckland-Welling-ton railway, was driven on a flat section of track between the two viaducts on November 6, 1908. Although the railway through the central North Island has recently been considerably upgraded for the Palmerston North-Te Rapa electrification project, it is really still as remote as it whs when Will Lawson made the trip: "For ninety miles through the mountain ways Her road lay, dark as doom, Save the narrow track that her headlights’ rays Cut out from the midnight gloom.’’ Lawson is often regarded as a New Zealand writer but he has been "adopted.” He is also thought of as an Australian writer and often confused with the great Australian poet, Henry Lawson. In fact, he was born in England and travelled to New Zealand with his parents in 1899 when he was 13. He was educated in Brisbane and spent the rest of his working life in various New Zealand and Australian newspaper offices. His spare time was spent writing verse and novels; his two loves were railways and ships. He died at Sydney on October 12, 1957, aged 81. Pat Lawlor, in "Confessions of a Journalist,” describes Will Lawson as the “restless poet of Australasia.” He also says that

wherever he went he was always sure of a job, for Will Lawson was not only a fine poet but also a capable journalist.

No doubt, Lawson had “The Mountain Mail” in mind as he rode at the head of the Welling-ton-bound express. He would have carefully watched the actions of the driver and fireman and would have been fascinated by the way the headlight picked up the gleaming track ahead as it ran over viaducts and disappeared into tunnels. On that particular night, perhaps somewhere near Ohakune, the crew were on the lookout for an unstable section of track after a week of heavy rain. They knew that if the signalman was waiting and they missed his red lantern, then their train with its load of passengers would be in peril: "The driver spoke to his fireman thus, ‘Look out by the Haunted Wood, They’re showing a red light there for us If the filling is not too good’.” However, when the big X locomotive slowly turned on to the straight by the Haunted Wood there was no signalman waiting. The driver knew that the embankment stood and he released the brakes by shutting off all the air: "From a hundred wheels the

brakes released, Gave speed down the gloomy glen; If the dreams of a restless sleeper ceased He slept the sounder then."

The X class locomotives with their 8-coupled driving wheels and large boilers were built to haul freight trains through the central North Island. They were really freight versions of the stylish A class 4-6-2 s which were also specially built for the opening of the North Island Main Trunk. However, the X locomotives were frequently seen at the head of the overnight expresses and Daylight Limited. Because of their size and power, they were known as “buck Xs” by their crews.

It has been claimed that the N.Z.R. X class was the first locomotive in the world to be built with the mountain-type 4-8-2 wheel arrangement. The 4-8-2 design was subsequently used successfully in North America

and was also used for the N.Z.R. Jas, the last steam locomotives built for New Zealand. Will Lawson was right when he described the X as "the giant of all roads.” The X class were the largest N.Z.R. locomotives until the first K class 4-8-4 s appeared in the 19305. When Lawson’s express reached Talhape there were already signs of dawn as the big X was uncoupled and exchanged for a “flier” — probably an A class — for a fast run through to Palmerston North: "A big-wheeled flier was coupled on To whirl the train to the sea; A whistle called, and she was gone, And the winds of the plains blew free." “The Mountain Mail” was discovered in a book of Lawson’s poems, “The Three Kings”, which was published in Australia in 1914. Most of them are about his sea journeys and the New Zealand railway pieces appear at random throughout the book. Ferrymead is fortunate in having X 442 for display and we can look forward to seeing it fully restored. Next time you pass by the big X, stored in the shelter outside the Hall of Wheels, think of Will Lawson’s memorable footplate ride through the King Country and his lines describing how his big X was driven to the depot to be serviced and prepared for her next assignment: "And the Lord of the Ranges backed away To the semi-dark of the sheds She does not work in the light of day, She hauls the folks in their beds."