CLEARING RAILWAY

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 112, 5 February 1935, Page 10

CLEARING RAILWAY

Slips Following Cloudburst in Otago

PROMPT ARRANGEMENTS Dominion Special Service. Dunedin, February 4. Although the cloudburst in Cromwell Gorge on Sunday afternoon caused a number of big slips to come down on to the railway line, the work of clearing the debris has been pushed ahead so rapidly that the train from Dunedin will get through the gorge to Cromwell to-morrow- afternoon.. When word was received in Dunedin on Sunday that the line had been blocked the engineering staff made prompt arrangements for dealing with the situation. A special breakdown train was dispatched at midnight with all the necessary equipment for the job in hand and this reached the first slip just at the entrance to the gorge at 7 a.m. to-day. Since then the work has been pushed on without a break and all available men from the line gangs in that district have been called to the spot, with the result that somewhere about 50 men are engaged on the job. Altogether there are three large slips of approximately from five to six chains in length and a number of smaller ones. In some places the line has been covered to a depth of from seven to eight feet. Fortunately at this spot the Molyneux River runs close to the line and this makes a convenient dump for- much of the spoil. The largest slips are about three or four miles from Clyde, the smaller ones being further along the line toward Cromwell. Motorists Get Through.

To-day the train which leaves Dunedin at 7.52 a.m. was able to get only as far as Clyde and passengers for points beyond that were taken on by motor-bus. The down train started from Clyde, and this will be the case again to-morrow morning, passengers from Cromwell being brought to Clyde by bus. The engineering staff is confident, however, that the train from Dunedin to-morrow morning will be able to get through to Cromwell in the afternoon. A fair amount of material has also come down on to the road through the gorge, but motorists were able to get through to-day by driving carefully over these, and the motor services were able to maintain their timetables with little, delay.