THE RAIL-CAR

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 134, 8 June 1936, Page 10

THE RAIL-CAR

* a A LONG HOUND TRIP * h PARTY THOROUGHLY J ' PLEASED I The Railway Department's -new g petrol-driven rail-car "Maahunui" j made an official trial trip yesterday to i Palmerston North via Manawatu and t back through Woodville and the Wairarapa. It was a great success. A The party included the Prime Min- i ister (the Rt. Hon."M. J. Savage), the I Minister of Railways (the Hon. D. G. l Sullivan), the Attorney-General (the t Hon. H. G. R. Mason), the Minister 2 of Internal Affairs (the Hon. vf. E. Parry), the Postmaster-General - (the \ Hon. F. Jones), the Minister of Agri- i culture (the Hon. W. Lee Martin), the , Minister of Lands (the Hon. F. Lang- ] stone), the Speaker of the House of ( Representatives (the Hon. W. E. Bar- - nard), Mr. J. Robertson, M.P., Mr. B. ; Roberts, M.P., the General Manager of i the Railways (Mr. G. H. Mackley), j and a number of railway officials. t Pit Woodville, where a stop was made ■ for lunch, the car was joined by the ; Mayors of Wairarapa towns, who pro- ■ ceeded to their home towns and were ■ thus able to test the vehicle in their ] own territories. These were Messrs. ; D. Wilson (Pahiatua), W. H. Simpson ( (Eketahuna), W. Fisher (Carterton), ] and J. W. Card (Featherston). , A TRIUMPHAL PROGRESS. j The Wairarapa portion of the jour- , ney developed into a triumphal progress. Each town provided its rhulti- . tude, and speeches being obviously in order, the Prime Minister and Mr. Sullivan spoke briefly at each stop in reply to the welcome. At some places Mr. Mackley was also called upon to speak about the vehicle, in which the liveliest interest was taken everywhere. The time-table had not been calculated to include prolonged stops, so that the' running schedule was "shot to pieces," and in southern Wairarapa the car was nearly two hours late. This, one would have expected, would have exhausted most people's patience in the chill air of a winter evening; but the people waited and were warmly enthusiastic. The travellers were all greatly , pleased with the car—its luxurious comfort, ventilation, and lighting and fine running qualities; and its performance was regarded as wonderful. On the trip to Palmerston North, the running time was 21 minutes less than that of the Limited express. A maximum speed of 58 miles an hour was reached on one stretch. Even faster spurts were made in the Wairarapa run. FINE CLIMBING PERFORMANCE. The high spot in the trip was the climb up the Rimutaka Incline. Owing to the delays on the way this was made in the dark, so that the only evidence was that of the stop-watch; but it was convincing. Steam trains climb the three-mile grade of 1 in 14 at about five miles an hour. The rail-car went up at twelve miles an hour, and from the start at Cross Creek to Summit Station took 16 minutes 8 seconds. This, it was stated, represents a saving of nearly three-quarters of an hour, counting the time occupied in changing the engines. I ; OPTIMISTIC SPEECHES. | . The speeches made en route were I all in an enthusiastic key. Mr. Savage expressed his pleasure at the welcomes ' extended to the party, and was high J in his praise of those responsible for the introduction of the rail-car, especially Mr. Mackley. Mr. Sullivan i referred ,to the prospect of providing a vastly-improved service on many lines, and declared that the only ma- * chine that could travel faster than the rail-car was an aeroplane. Mr. Mackley, for his part, emphasised that the car was a team-work job, in which the technical staff and the workmen had worked together to produce a splendid result. ,