TRAIN SPEEDS

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 129, 2 June 1936, Page 11

TRAIN SPEEDS

BRITISH AND N.Z. GRADES GENERAL MANAGER'S STATEMENT

Replying to a correspondent's remarks in yesterday's "Post" with reference to railway grades, Mr. G. H. Mackley, General Manager of Railways, made the following statement today:—

"In a statement upon train speeds! last week, following a detailed analysis, of the run of the Limited from Auckland to Wellington, I mentioned that 'whereas in Great Britain grades as steep as 1 in 100 on main lines are practically unknown, the Limited has to contend with grades as steep as 1 in 36.' There are, of course, a few exceptions in Great Britain, where grades steeper than 1 in 100 are met, hence the qualification made in my statement which was condensed by 'The Post.' Your correspondent on 'British Kailway Grades' has been kind enough to specify four of these exceptions which call for some amplification of my remarks. He mentions Shap Fell •wJfere there are some miles of 1 in 70.' In New Zealand the Limited has to contend with short grades as steep as 1 in 48 between Frankton Junction and Te Kuiti; 20 miles of practically continuous 1 in 70 grades to Taumarunui; 5 miles of 1 in 60 to 1 in 80, and 9 miles of 1 in 50 to 1 in 70 grades to Oio; and then a continuous grade of 1 in 50 for ten miles, and 1 in 60 to 1 in 106 for five miles through the Spiral section to Horopito. Then comes five miles of 1 in 60 (downgrade) to Ohakune, twelve miles of 1 in 60 practically continuous upgrade, and 21 miles of down grades 1 in 60 to 1 in 70 to Taihape. There are also grades of 1 in 60 and 1 in 70 between Taihape and Marton, besides a further three miles of 7 in 70 grade running on towards Feilding. Between Paekakariki and Porirua there are three miles of 1 in 66; and in the 13 miles to Wellington there are five miles of 1 in 56 to 1 in 70 continuous upgrade, and down grades of 1 in 36 and 1 in 40 for 5 miles. (The grades mentioned as 'down grades' are of course 'up grades' for main trunk trains travelling towards Auckland). These are the grades merely between Auckland and Wellington. There are, of course, even stiffer grades on other New Zealand lines, to the extreme of 1 in 15 on the 3 miles between Cross Creek and Summit. • "It is, of course, well known that comparatively easy gradients and large radius curves are common in countries where the capital cost in relation to the traffic to be handled justifiies the heavy expenditure frequently necessary to achieve these objects and these are among the important controlling factors in the matter of train speeds—which my statement served to illustrate. "I have to thank your correspondent for this opportunity to amplify the recent published statement regarding train speeds. Had the analysed details of the run of the Limited, as supplied to the Press at the time, been published, the matter would doubtless have been clearer to your correspondent."