"THE WILD CAT"

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 142, 20 June 1927, Page 4

"THE WILD CAT"

miiSj-.-r-r —VWILWAY TRAVELLING "DE i LUXE" '■I v-; : ...:..__:. 'A «Nl&aP^ THE GUARD'S VAN $'Wba.t are the chances of a ear on ■ lifin 999 tonight from 'X' to 'V'?" at|«d a party of three recently of a syfcpathetiie railway foreman at an important North Island junction. All three were many miles Jfrom home (two approximately a hundred and one fifty), anil ifc wa» late on a Saturday night.; Al4 paMienger trains had gone, and the last recourse was the "wild cat or the '"i|y-by-night V goods "train, aptly nam-, ed»by soiie railway official in the forgoiften past. ■' •'■ "'■''v-:'- . , ■'.■".;.-. _ ■„ . ■■■ we will see what we can do,'" sa^ the foreman. Several mysterious messages over a telephone and a search of ihe yard revealed no "V" cars, and tha verdict was "No luck, but you can -go£n a stove-van." A stove-van, by th,^ way, is one with a fireplace,* which. ottim emits more smoke'than heat. neit step was signing an indemnity form, a seemingly needless precawion on the part of the Department uritfil one has travelled on a"'wild cat." Thfongh it the traveller undertakes to m«|te tbe journey at his. own risk. It all* appears quite unnecessary until lattr, except by those with long experieniJß. "Now,' the train is due to leave at £10.35 p.m.," warns the foreman. "IJ can leave at 10.20, but it is more lik«ly to; be 11.20 before she is made np.f It was.'' ■r : , '•■ ■ ■ ... • \ JCAXINO UP THE "BEDS." . Sext came the arrangement of a littje comfort. A goodly collection of returned empties in the shape of mailbajp and hampers, the property of the Postal Department, graced one ■ end of thfevan, in which a fire burned brightly. 'Evidently tho flues had.been cleaned, foj|jtheT9 was no smoke, but a comfort-, ingnwarmth.' Two hampers placed end--wisi, and a plentiful supply of mailbajp provided an acceptable couch until ihe train started. The the rollers on Jthe bottom of the hampers come int« play, especially when the driver, in wye playful manner of tho drivers of gooSs trains, decided to stop when going 2 at Nscemingly 60 miles per hour. Thare is little need to labour the point th« a couch which parts in the middle triti a resounding crash''is not:exactly a haven of test. ; ','A'" of the party, wMlj. n»ay be described as of generous proportions, had decided. ideas 'on the subject. '"'■ So much so that, half-way,, throngh the journey, he abandoned thePowal DepariE»ent's property for the ambulance stretchdr. This seamed to provided an adequate amount of epmJortjudging by the noises that emanated; {therefrom. "B" departed quietly at his home station, a. much-relieved ma^J, afia "C" succeeded in anchoring twei; fcapijers so that they stayed togewer.s * They provided hardly the •ejM of comfort, however, and the phy■lolOgic'aT fact was impressed oh him thai .the bones in the human body are ill ra£>gs places poorly protected. |^h|'i TOE AND DOWNS. larth« early stages of the journey it se««Md obvious that the engine-driver: T«gWite«U Ms late start and determined Jo. make amends. The travellerV impfcea»ioa was that no "Limited" travelled faster for twenty-odd miles, andmthen came the sudden stop beforemen'iioned. When one is alert and »»W« there is a warning on a goods trais, for the bang-bang-bang as fortyofld^trucks take the impact, is heard w»JK in advance in the van. When' dreiining of feather bods it is another master. Waits at stations while shunting Operations were in progress wore peaceful times comparatively, the only jor^l! being the decided manner in which the engine joined the train. Somewllieiie about half-way' on the journey thetguard was relieved, and the newco»qr appeared glad to see a family pwiy, even* if they were only recumbeßty ilguree. The next impression was % pajjtwg engine in the distance and a craving tram on an incline. It was bo tfood, and the incline won. Back weii(| tho train, at what seemed an ajtoniihinff speed, and one had visions I Howibyer, the backward rush stopped, and\w»c« again, with ?.1I possible haste, theljise was attacked. The run was snee^isful, and tho apex of trouble PMtfd. Fewer stops and a number of hiH»im»«e travelling si little more bearabl<, but on the revurse sides of the hilWJthtre were tfirilling moments. No doub*, theoretically, goods trains should •tjWJpn the rails at a given number of >B*'<HJ P*l hour, but to inexperienced ocQOoants of goods vans this appears » abatable point. At last the supremwjtwit in hills arrived. "If she gets pasfeishe distance signal it will be all right*" volunteered the guard to "C.,»' whojhaa abandoned tho hospitality of tho <}J».O, for a scat by the fire. "If sh« «o««n' : t, we will have to go back and divide,." Well, she did, after much pufflag voA straining, and tho pinnacle was waehed at a crawl, made up for by the ribw cuttomary toboggan-slide down th« ijiiTwse side. Round about 6 o'clock on a cold and t*l?* morning "Y." was reached in satetif. Two weary travellers deserted the jftrfag van are with regre« to face w«> ify Wasts ia quest of a telephone ooowto call the service of a taxicab. And Ihen home to bed—real bed, ■.-..