THE MAIN TRUNK

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 22, 26 July 1927, Page 10

THE MAIN TRUNK

EXPRESSES DELAYED

TREE ACROSS LINE

Traffic on the Main Trunk railway at Otaki, whero tho south-bound express was derailed yesterday, is being carried on over a loop lino put in yesterday. No definite statement as to when the.main line would bo repaired was made by the Railway Department to-day. Tho permanent way was considerably torn about, and tho Teplacoment of the engine and the repair of the lino aro expected to tako some time. Tho engine, a postal v a n, and a second-class passenger coach left the rails at the level crossing just north o± Otaki, fortunately when the train, which was travelling slowly owing to repairs to tho line in the vicinity, was slowing down still more to enter the Otaki station. Had it been moving at the usual rato between stations, injury to the passengers in the forward portion of the express would have been inevitable. Good work was dono by the breakdown train which left yesterday morning on receipt of the news of tho accident Tho express left the rails at J. 0.50 a.m., and tho loop lino was ready at 5.30 p.m., enabling tho New Plymouth express to pass by tho loop and to arrive in Wellington at 8 p.m All passenger trains after 5.30 p.m. wero able to uso the loop, and further transhipments were unnecessary. Another breakdown train was dispatched from Wanganui, and both gangs wcer engaged yesterday afternoon and through the ANOTHER OBSTRUCTION. A bluegum tree fell across the line this morning between Ohau and Levin but the obstruction was noted, and the down "Limited" was held at Levin until the tree was removed. The "Lim in"™' did "".V 6110'1 WellinSton until IO.dO a.m., thirty minutes late, and the 1 almerstpn North passenger train following was also slightly lato. The time-table should now be maintained by. working trains through the loop line, pending the removal of the derailed rolling stock. fI.P-V^T- o*-**? dcraJT raent is not definitely known. Level crossings present problems that have. not been simplified by the advent of the heavy motor-lorry, the transverse passage of which, with a load of several tons wears down the ballast below the rails' and makes constant packing up by the railway gangers necessary. The prcsenco of loose metal at crossings is said by experts almost unavoidable There seems_ to bo a considerable divergence oi opinion regarding the use of check rails at crossings. Some engineers aro of the opinion that they aro essential to the safety of trains, as tho single rails, when subjected to the heaVy pounding of modern road traffic, are apt to be put out of line. Others look on the presence of the check rail with the possibility of tho flanges of the engine wheels riding on road metal thrown between the rails by cross traffic, a ° an undesirable factor, the benefits of which, are more than counterbalanced by its disadvantages. Generally, when a heavy engine has left the rails the resulting mess tells very little