NEW ZEALAND'S NATIONAL RAILWAYS

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 33, 8 February 1935, Page 31 (Supplement)

NEW ZEALAND'S NATIONAL RAILWAYS

£'. TVr ET 2ealand may well be proud of C '' JL% *Jf ?ailwa7 system, traversing some of Z. -the finest scenery in the world, overV - coming tremendous natural difficulties, and hay- ? mg the greatest record of all State cony - cerns in the promotion of national developX ' ment, rural or urban. Faced by intricate engineering problems raised by natural obstacles of frequently stupendous and often sublime nature, catering for a small population scattered'over two/long, hilly, and narrow islands, the New Zealand railways have nevertheless kept well up to the rapid national progress, following the, axe, fire, and plough of the pioneers. They have contributed to the develop, ment of .the country in an amazing fashion, affording refrigerated carriage for meat exports irom the works almost from the inception of ttSs process which, more than any other discovery, enabled New Zealand to proffer her chief products on the world's markets. Political enthusiasms have, produced, a few instances of branch lines which later experience proved could have been well left alone, but the great ' bulk of lines now in operation is as much needed today as when it was laid, in most districts even Hi ore so.' The length of main line is 3320 miles, covering probably as wide a range of steep and awkward engineering country as could be found anywhere in the world. About half the total milage is .constructed on grades steeper than 1 in 200. One mile in every eleven is on a grade steeper than lin 50. Of the total milage, nearly 6 per cent, consists of curves of 10 chains radius and under, nearly 12 per cent.has curves ,ofs 15 chains radius and under, and a total of 26 per cent, of the 3000-odd miles is curved track. The total length of bridges is 54J miles. When the nature of the country traversed is taken into account, it is evident, although these figures reveal a most astonishing percentage of Curves and grades, that wonderful engineering alone has obviated even greater obstacles to speed. One of the main functions of the New Zealand railways has always been the development of the country as it was settled, and, though caution has been exercised in the laying of new lines until-there was sufficient produce and other traffic to warrant, the expenditure, the growth of the districts pierced by this cheap means of transport has in most cases been remarkable. Naturally, as new lines added their quota to the stimulation of production, and to the traffic of the railways, the tonnage hauled has increased. The milage of rail in 1880 was 1166, and the tonnage of goods hauled was 1,377,783. Increased production invariably followed the advent of the rail, until comparatively recently, as the following figures of milage laid and tonnage hauled show:—lßßs, 1528 miles, 1,749,856 tons; 1895, 1993 miles, 2,048,391 tons; 1905, 2734 miles,

-4,185y467 tons; 1915, .2945; miles, ,6,453,472 tons. The rate of increase during.the next decade showed a diminution, owing, no doubt, to the gradually increasing competition of the road motor services, but the figures, 3085 miles, 7,033,459 tons, still showed an increase over the tonnage hauled during the previous period. The tonnage for 1934 showed the combined effect of motor competition and trade depression, despite the fact that the milage of rail in use had been increased to 3315. It showed the first decrease •in comparison with the previous period, 5,642,199 tons being carried. RAILWAY, FINANCES. The total capital cost of the.open lines of the New Zealand railway system at the present time is £53,909,347. The capital cost of the open and unopened lines is £59,337,917. In 1931, £10,000,000 was written off the capital as an adjustmentl of railway accounts on account of previous surpluses from railway revenue which had been converted to capital account through a long succession of years. This amount, in ordinary modern accountancy practice, would not have been charged to capital account in the first place, but owing to the fact that present accountancy methods were not in use then, surpluses were used for further capital works on the railways instead of being used, as they would be at the present time, for reserves and depreciation accounts. > The New Zealand Railways Board was formed m 1931, and it brought into effect a large number of economies. Some indication of this is seen, in the fact that the railway working expenses amounted to £6,882,810 in 1931, but were reduced to £5,247,153 by 1934, while the earnings, which in 1931 amounted to £7,571,537 had only.decreased to £6,332_711 in 1934, with the result that the net earnings, which amounted to £688,727 in 1931, had increased to £1,085,558 in 1934. Another interesting fact is that the percentage of net earnings to capital invested has increased from 1.16 per cent, in 1931 to 2.05 per cent, in 1934. Whatever criticisms the board may have been subjected to, it is evident that the result of the depoliticalisation of the railways has permitted a sounder business management of this huge concern. ' 'ASSISTING. INDUSTRY. Favourable freight ratings for bulk commodities,essential to the prosecution of rural industries have assisted in a greater development of the country than would otherwise have been possible, and if the railways have for tills and other nationally important economic reasons not returned the maximum of profit necessary to allow of writing off the Government's undertaking at the close of its first half-century, the country has still benefited. To what an extent the larger construction works in touch with the rail, such as the Waitaßi hydro-electric power plant, have saved money by cheap rail freights,

is realised by few, and the same thing applies to many large private enterprises which, had they relied upon road transport alone, would probably never have appeared. _ The.fact that there are many localities where important activities, pastoral or industrial, are not actually within touch of the rails, has made it necessary for the railway authorities to consider road transport of their own in order to feed both the freight and passenger sides of their business. While so far it is chiefly the passenger side of the business that has thus been provided for, it is probable that in the future the railways will increase the number of short road hauls to its lines for freight purposes, but this is a development regarding which no official pronouncement has yet been made. UNIVERSAL GAUGE. The gauge in use on the New Zealand railways is 3ft 6in, but prior to 1870 provincial railways '• varied in this respect. Otago once used 4ft 8-Jin, while the gauge of Canterbury's first line was sft 3in. Sir Julius Vogel, who fathered the new gauge policy, maintained that cheaper construction was imperative for a small community. It is certain-that with the wider gauges New Zealand today would not have been able to pay for the railway milage which it now has. The 3ft 6in gauge permits considerable speeds under favourable conditions, the 14-hour run of the "Limited" between Auckland and Wellington, over 400 miles, being a good example. On level runs, however, really extraordinary speeds been safely maintained. The Christchurch express, with 13 coaches of a total weight of 335 tons, has covered the 35.5 miles between Rakaia and Christchurch in 48min lOsec, from stop to stop, but as a 20 m.p.h. speed limit over the Rakaia viaduct caused the first 1.9' miles of the run to be slowed down, the average speed is misleading. Over a 25-mile run there was an average of 56.5 m.p.h., but the maximum speed reached was 60.9 m.p.h. FIRST SECTIONS LAID. The first section of railway line laid in New Zealand was that between Christchurch and Ferrymead (Heathcote), a short stretch of sft 3in gauge line afterwards incorporated in the Christchurch-Lytfelton line. The ChristchurchFerrymead line, opened in 1863, was in reality the commencement of the South Island Main Trunk line, of which, when its gauge was altered to the standard now in use, it formed the first section, though progress from Christchurch southwards was first made when the ten-mile Christchurch-Rolleston section was opened on October 13, 1866. Gradually the South Island Main Trunk was extended by sections in both directions north and south, and had it not been for the depression it is possible that its extension to a port on Cook Strait, at one time con-

Wellington-Auckland line by 2$ miles. It has meant the piercing of two tunnels, threequarters of a mile and 2$ miles long, which give a steepest grade of 1 in 110 as against 1 in 36 on part of the existing route; the reclamation of 68 acres by building a sea wall, to provide room for the new station yard; and last, but not least from a Wellington point of view, the building of a central railway station to cost over £300,000. There will be 1\ miles of double track, and the line will be electrified to Paekakariki, largely because of the Pukerua Bay grade of 1 in 57, which, with electric traction, there will be no necessity to ease. Work on the tunnel was commenced in 1927, and it has been completed for some time. Wellington is unique in New Zealand for the haphazard way its railway stations have been scattered about. The closely-settled Te Aro and Newtown flats, with a business population

fidently expected, would have been carried out. The Otago Central line, the first section of which was opened in October, 1889, and which was completed in July, 1921, is one of the best instances of the successful building of a railway in staggeringly precipitous country. Though there are no special engineering feats in the way of viaducts, and no lengthy tunnels, the long upgrade and. the fearsomely rocky ground traversed always make passengers marvel how a railway ever, came to be put there. In many places one has to put his head far out of the window looking upwards to see the rims of almost overhanging crags, while whole districts through which the railway passes are strewn with boulders the size of dwellings. Far below creamy torrents foam through gloomy gorges. REMARKABLE ENGINEERING FEATS. .It is significant of the hilly nature of the country, and the difficulties of establishing railway transport between the available harbours and the sources of production that, the first contract let for the construction of a railway line,, in 1860, twenty years after the establishment of British sovereignty in New Zealand, included a tunnel a mile and a half long. The line .was built to connect Christchurch with its .port, Lyttelton, and this work, carried through by the Provincial Government of Canterbury, was completed in 1867. This line has now been electrified for some years. ■ Among the following big railway engineer-, ing works, there are some which impress visitors as.being marvels of ingenuity in surmounting problems found elsewhere with similar frequency only in such mountainous and closelypopulated countries as Switzerland. One of the most intriguing features of successful railways through very difficult inountainous country, much of it with little system in the lay-out of its spurs and valleys, is' the Raurimu Spiral. One of the things which puzzles passengers new to it, is the way in which Raurimu Station is in view from a number of points. It seems impossible to get far away from it, as the train climbs the steep curves, and one is never sure how it came to be where it is seen next time, as it may appear to be actually being approached, while last time it was receding in the distance. Between two points only a quarter of a mile apart as the crow flies there is a climb of 200 feet, and in one place a 1 in 50 gradient. This • is not the only steep grade, or the steepest, on the Main Trunk line, as, until the Tawa Flat Deviation is finished, when the grade there will be 1 in 100, there is still a climb of 1 in 36 out of Wellington, so that steep though the Raurimu Spiral grade is, there is no need for special ■ locomotive power there. • The Tawa Flat Deviation, which should be operating within three years, was commenced chiefly to overcome, by piercing the hills, the haulage problems occasioned by the grade of the present line, though it will also shorten the

between Te Aro and the northern end of the city, was the reason for the Te Aro station, on the reclamation near Cable Street, where at one time a great deal of milk was delivered for distribution to city residents, of that day. It was the terminus of the Wairarapa line, and was in use long before the Manawatu line was formed. Lambton and Te Aro were then the only *two stations in Wellington. Te Aro Station, centra^ though it would still be today, had not room round it for the yards which increased traffic needs, and it was as well that it disappeared in the 1900's.

To^make possible the efficient working of the Tawa*Flat scheme a new central railway station doing away with the inconveniences of separate stations at Lambton and Thorndon was necessary. Why there should ever have been two stations puzzles most people whose memory goes back only twenty years or so, but the explanation is simple. Formerly the Manawatu section of the Main Trunk was owned by a private company till it was taken over by the Government in 1908, and each railway system had its own station and yards. Very little alteration was made in the lay-out after the Government assumed control, and for over half a century these separate unsightly edifices have confused strangers and unnecessarily annoyed residents. Lambton , station was

built in 1880 and Thorndon station, in 1884,

With the centralisation of terminal railway activities in one station, it was necessary to remodel the station yard and other' facilities. The new yards, still in course of construction, involve the ultimate laying of fifteen miles of sidings, as they are required by developing traffic. It is estimated that the total cost of the Tawa Flat scheme, including the railway station, will be £3,000,000 by the time that the trains are running through the tunnels on the Main Trunk. The reduction of the gradients will result in a large annual saving in running costs.

When the Napier-Wellington line was being undertaken there was a population en route of not more than 40,000, and when the surveyors after many attempts, stated that the only means of getting a line through the Rimutakas was by a tunnel of several miles in length, the expense

Springfield to Brunnerton, and thence by way of Reefton to Belgrove in Nelson. The entire line was divided into sections, with the object of distributing the cost of construction of the sections, the Crown land along the 235 miles of total route, about 6,000,000 acres,' was also cut up into blocks, and the company, upon the completion of a section, was to be enabled to select blocks of land in the proportion of 10s worth of land for every £1 spent on the construction of the railway. The company had completed 82 miles of construction up till 1894, spread over the three provincial districts, realising some 35 per cent, on the schedule value when it sold the lands, and finally the Governmen took over the company's interest and completed the West Coast-Canterbury connection with the Arthur's Pass tunnel.

The Otira tunnel is the longest in the British Empire, excluding the London "tubes," arid the

was, at the time, unthinkable. The engineers therefore took the line over the range, and this section is now one of the most remarkable of railways. The length of this portion of the line is three miles, and in that it rises well over 1000 feet with a grade of 1 in 15. This is not a record in railway climbing, but it must be remembered that the line is operated by adhesipn locomotives. These are of the "Fell" type, having horizontal gripping wheels besides the normal mechanism and driving wheels. _ These gripping wheels work' on a centre rail, enabling ordinary trains to be worked over the incline. Guards' vans have

seventh longest in the world, 5 miles 554 yards. It is beaten for sixth place by only 57 yards. It is a perfectly straight bore, which cost, including the station yards at each end, £1,545,000, and has a ruling gradient of 1 in 33. The Canterbury entrance is 2435 ft, and the Westland entrance 1586 ft above sea level. The tunnel section, between Arthur's Pass and Otira stations, is ejectrified, power being generated -from 1200 k.w. steam-driven turbine sets at Otira. Piercingthe magnificent range of the Southern Alps, the Otira tunnel gave immediate heavy traffic .land connection between Canterbury and

special brakes to grip the centre rail- when Westland for the"first time, the hilly, tortuous makrng the descent and passengers may assess Otira Gorge road having been lame y resSSed the tremendous stram on the brakes when they to passenger traffic by th^pictoesau^ coach look out rounding the curves, and see the sparks route, now done afoolbXeS 4e To t™l streaming from the grippmg surfaces. As the stations by those who S £> aPpredatTns grade commences in the Summit tunnel, an beauties. Forty-four yeTs after ißTscWry automatic signal gong warns drivers that they of the pass (1864) the rXay iJaT^oSS are approaching it. Occasionally four "Fell" in 1908,/ the tunnel pierced L 1918 and the ST neCeSS' ary t0 '^ UP hCaVy PaSSenger Hne WaS °Pened in 1923- hefght "n Z centre of the tunnel is 16ft 6in, and the greatest The Rimutakas are noted for their winds Wldtn is 15ft- Coal, stock, and timber were Following the blowing of a passenger carriage taPPed by.'this tunnel. Today the goods completely off the rails and into a gully, camed sometimes exceed 2000 tons a day. breakwinds were erected along exposed portions RAILWAY WORKSHOPS of this line, and even now, when a gale is blow- New Zealand has as up-to-date railway work ing empty horse boxes, vans, or cattle wagons shops of their size as co&d-^oSKjwS are not allowed on passenger trains in the in the world, especially as regards rSinerv more exposed portions. Trains take an hour and convenience in handlinJfe work S isSo'to S 'andthemaXimUml°ad'r dy devel °P^nt of Aay bSess had is J.W tons. . trought the old workshops to the stage where . EARLY SOUTH ISLAND LINE. rebuilding was the only way possible to permit tv • c .i tJle necessary work required. Renlarpmpn^ the New Zealand Midland Railway Co., Ltd., with reasonable' afficiency^and economy tnv The .company, was to construct a railway, f rom du V >;bpfli^pr&.a n d.SouASd^EiS

Hutt and Hillside), and on car and other stock repairing in another shop in eacli island (Otahuhu and Addington). In building the new shops advantage was taken of the latest practice in workshops management to provide for the comfort of the workers. Lighting, the modern lay-out, overhead lifting by cranes installed throughout, and the placing of all machines in accordance with the latest labour-saving methods, did away with much unnecessary manual work, and helped to make conditions much pleasanter than in the older works. At the time the shops were built some apprehension was expressed lest their size might be too great for the needs of, the railways for many years, but this has proved unfounded, because already at some of them the full capacity has been taxed on occasions to meet the immediate needs of the re- . pair and construction programmes for maintaining the condition of the rolling stock and to meet growing needs. 'SAFETY APPLIANCES. The provision of safety appliances on the New Zealand Railways dates from about-1900, previous to which there were no interlockings. In 1901 the first complete interlocking was installed and brought into operation at Wellington, and the system of mechanical inter- ; locking was gradually extended until .1920, when it was decided to commence the installation of automatic signalling. In 1900 it was decided to install the tablet system for single-line working, and this system was extended until it was used over practically the whole of the main lines. The double lines at the main centres were equipped with Syke's lock and block system, but this has now been superseded by the installation of automatic signallihgj and the only two sections remaining are at present being superseded by automatic signalling. Previous to 1929, the communication services of the railway were carried out largely by means of single line' iron telephone circuits and by morse. In that year it was decided to take advantage of the modern developments in communications, and progress has been made from that date-to the extent that the whole of the main lines are now equipped with the most modern forms of telephone communications; and the running of trains is .controlled by means of the train control system. : A development in recent years has been the installation of electric traction through the Otira Tunnel and between Christchurch and Lyttelton. Again, electric power is being-made use of in. the installation of electric traction between Wellington, and Paekakariki, which is now in pro- . gress. •;'■• ~' .' ; '■" ';. \K- ■ - NEW ZEALAND LOCOMOTIVES. When the "bush tramway" type of railway; became unsuitable for the conditions the task of evolving from the disconnected units a railway system that would meet the transport of the Dominion was undertaken. The sequent increase in the speed and weight of trains called for more powerful locomotives, and particularly for locomotives with increased steam capacity. The evolution of the "Pacific" type locomotive (so called because i the type had been evolved in New! Zealand)? arid* the adoption of super-heating enabled this to- be met. The first provided a locomotive with six driving wheels and six: carrying- wheels, thus giving better adhesion and allowing a heavier boiler to be carried, and the second gave a more efficient method of developing power from heat. The unification of the railway system aiso made it more important that standardisation of locomotive and rolling stock should be carried out in order to simplify operation and cheaper repairs. The work of the last thirty years has been along these lines. Whereas at the beginning of the century there were thirty classes comprising 300 locomotives with an average hauling force of 18,000 pounds, today the main line working is virtually restricted to about 15 classes, the others being relegated to shunting yards and unimportant branch lines. And many of these older classes are represented by only one or two locomotives restricted to certain defined and unimportant services. ' • FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS. t The same tendency will undoubtedly be the predominating feature of locomotive design for the next twenty or thirty years. Various railway systems throughout the world are experimenting with new locomotive designs, such as high-speed, stream-lined locomotives, and small mobile oil-driven units. These, however; are only freak designs that have a very restricted held of operation, and their influence on general railway working is and will be negligible. > The vasr bulk of railway traffic will certainly be handled by the present normal design of powerful steam, locomotive for years, perhaps- centunes, to come. As and when traffic density increases to a figure roughly ten times greater than at present exists in New Zealand, electrification will become an economical procedure, but the traffic density, figure at which electrification becomes economically justifiable is yearly" in- • creasing, since the relative cost of electrification and electric operation is virtually stationary, and there is no prospect of any increased efficiency, while the relative cost of steam operation is decreasing and there is every prospect'of greatly increased efficiency being attained. ' , The-trend; of .Tolling stock design has been (for the last thirty years,-and will be for the next_ thirty) along parallel lines. Special carriages have been made more luxurious and, let us hope, more comfortable, but the main problem has been the necessarily gradual" and costly renovation ans Improvement of existing stock. The average passenger journey is,still in the neighbourhood of 30 miles, and while luxurious travelling can be made possible for long-distance through journeys of, say, 200 miles' it is obvious that a more reasonable standard must be aimed at for the great bulk of railway passengers. The unrestricted competition of the motor-yehjcle that existed until a few years ago led many railway executives into an illadvised and rjiinously costly programme of building luxurious vehicles, but a saler outlook ZTL STr- c °Utbreak i" America and on the Continent of stream-lined silvermounted trains appears to contradict this conclusion, but tins was only a sporadic disease . The fact that such a train of four carria-es costs about £250,000, and can only run Kts ad! vertised speed on tracks on which a fortune has been spent to make them safe for such endemic" 111 PreVent diSCaSe beC°min S - In New. Zealand progress has been, and will be, along the lines of standardising design reducing the number of types of vehicles, and improving the constructional details so tha safety is increased and repair. costs minimised. Car stock w.ll be gradually made more comfortable and wagon stock made to standardised, more econoimcal designs, but no revolutionary change