RAIL-CAR ON INCLINE

Evening Post, Issue 29, 3 August 1936, Page 8

RAIL-CAR ON INCLINE

SEVERE TESTS MADE

BRAKES EFFICIENT

The initial rail-car service on the Wellington-Masterton-Palmerston route will be inaugurated as soon as the first car is finished, which is expected to be in .a week. A final trial of the Maahunui on the three-mile grade : of % in 14 on the Rimutaka incline was made yesterday under exceptionally bad conditions/There was plenty of snow, and it was an excellent test of the braking equipment, to test which the run was chiefly made. Three types of brake are fitted to this car, the first of seven for. the Wairarapa run, and it was found that each of the three gave the driver perfect control when running down the snow-covered incline.

There are two hand brakes, one consisting of clasp brakes operating with brake-blocks on the driving wheels, the other being applied on the drum brakes of the bogie wheels, being similar to those used on heavy-duty road motor, vehicles. . ' ,

A standard Westinghouse air-brake system is fitted, controlled by a constant lap valve in the driver's cabin. It operates- on the drum brakes of the leading bogie as well as on. the rear, or driving, wheels. .. ...

The centre-rail grip brake is for use only on the Rimutaka incline. This is a hydraulic-pressure brake which applies pressure at 25001b to the square inch through cylinders to a pair of cast-iron brake-shoes fitted with vertical arms. These brake-shoes are applied with equal pressure on each side of the centre rail. This powerful brake was tested for efficiency at the Hutt Valley Workshops, at a pressure exceeding 80001b to the square inch. Each set of wheels is equipped with sanding appliances, supplied; by the Westinghouse Brake Co., and the vehicle has available for immediate use, if required, 4cwt of sand, specially sifted and dried, as is customary for •locomotives.

The N test yesterday proved that on the Rimutaka incline, any one of the brakes could hold the car, or stop it if desired, at any point on the incline, and that with all brakes on, perfect control in any conditions was assured.

The rail-car reducesthe time for the run from Cross Creek to the Summit by from 25 to 30 minutes as compared with express train services, taking only 15 minutes for the uphill run, and has a further gain on the train services. In these the changing to the Fell engine and back to the ordinary locomotive, added to travelling time, takes the times from arrival at Cross Ci-eek to departure from the Summit about an hour. Thus over this run the car saves some 45 minutes. Yesterday the rail-car took 47 minutes less for the journey from Cross Creek to Petone than the fastest express on this route.