PUBLIC WORKS

Evening Star, Issue 24919, 17 July 1943, Page 4

PUBLIC WORKS

DISTRICT ENGINEER RETIRING ' AN INTERESTING CAREER One of the pioneers of railway construction work in New Zealand, Mr Peter Keller, Chief Engineer for the Public Works Department in Otago and Southland, retires on Wednesday next after 43 years in the Public Service, 41 of which have been in the engineering field. Mr Keller was engaged on the early construction work of the Main Trunk line in the'North Island, and during his busy career has been associated with seven different Engineers-in-Chief, and worked under at least 10 Ministers of Public Works. All those who have been intimately connected with his. field of endeavour in Otago since 1936, while wishing him all health and happiness in his retirement, will miss his kindly personality and pleasant smile. v

Mr Keller was born at Ross, where be received his initial education, and later his parents moved to Paeroa, in the Auckland district, where, passing his Junior Civil Service examination, he obtained a cadetship in the Government Life 'lnsurance in June, 1900. , In 1902, however, he transferred to that field of activity in which he was most interested—civil engineering—beinir graded as a cadet with the Public Works Department. For nine months he was in the drafting office in Wellington, his first field appointment coming when he was sent to Taihape, on the Main Trunk line. Completed work at this period had only reached Mangaweka, while construction was going on from there to a point just north.of Mataroa

Mr Keller first served under Mr S. J. Raiding, the resident engineer being the late Mr G. L. Cook, well known in Otago in connection with' railway construction work in the '9o's. Mr Keller spent two years in Taihape, and was taen transferred to Raurimu, at that

time the end of the northern section, for tyhe line had only _ been handed over as far'as Taumarunui, but P.W.D. ballast trucks were running as far as Piriaka, the remainder of the journey between ;the two points being covered by horse or horse-drawn conveyance. He remained at Raurimu for four years, whefellie ; completed-'hTs n appr'enticesliip, and was'" appointed an assistant engineer, i ,

Work then was in a very interesting stage, Mr Keller said, during the course of an interview. ' Bush'f elling was still proceeding'on the railway route up to Raurimu, with cuttings in hand as the clearings opened up. The centre of interest, of course, was the Raurimu spiral, where three miles of line were developed between points little more than half a .mile apart,. though there was a 300 ft difference in level. Centring and levelling over this section was an unforgettable experience, especially as it included tunnels on the spiral. Afterwards more interesting work came along with the setting out of the Makatot'e Viaduct. During this period he was" associated with Messrs J. W. McEwen, 'the late C. J. McKenzie, and John Wood.

Iu those early days, Mr Keller said, the public works road was "blazed'" through the virgin forest. In some places it was through swampy country, the roadway being corduroyed with Punga fern trunks. These in many cases started to grow, the result being waving fern tops springing up over the water tables alongside the road. What was once an endless forest is now open hillsides and charred stumps.

In 1908 Mr'Keller was transferred to Ohakune on the trial line being' surveyed between there and Raetahi under. Mr F. W, Furkert," afterwards Public Works Engineer-in-Chief for the Dominion. , Later in that year Mr Keller was sent to Westport under Mr R. A. Young, on the Westport-Inangahua railway in the Buller Gorge, both'on construction and location surveys. His next transfer, that in 1911, took Mr Keller to Stratford once again under Mr C. J McKenzie. He was here engaged on the Stratford-Main Trunk Railway between Pohokura and Tangarakau, both on construction arid location surveys. In 1918 Mr Keller was sent up to North Auckland Railway *at Maungaturoto, working towards MeCarroll's Gap. In 1920 he was sent to Taumarurmi, as Resident Engineer with, a King Country road, a highways tistrict, and also the Stratford-Main Trunk railway to look after. It was here Mr Keller was appointed a District Engineer, and in 1928 he went to Stratford, where he had charge of the Stratford end of the Main Trunk line-as well as two highway districts covering Tara-naki-Wangaiiui and the southern portions of the King Country districts. During those early years on the Main Trunk line the P.W.D. had its'own sawmill on location, Mr Keller said. It was situated at Kakahi, and cut out all the construction timber required for the line, including sleepers, and the timbers for the station buildings. There was not a great deal of time, nor were there many facilities, he said, for sport; but they made a pumice tennis court at Raurimu, and one historic! event was the playing of a Rugby match between the men from the north end of the line and those from the south end.' The captain of the northenders was Mr C. J. McKenzie, and the skipper of the south men Mr A. D. Park, now the superintendent of the State Advances Corporation. Athletic events and chopping contests were sometimes held in the clearing, ton. Mr Keller married in 1913, his first home being at Kohuratahi, on the Strat-! ford-Main Trunk line. As engineer in ', the district he was present when the line was officially opened at Heao on November 7. 1932, by the (Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, and a relic he now possesses is a miniature sleeper constructed from the one originally spiked down by Mr Forbes. Mr Keller had four sons and two daughters. Ono son, a pilot officer, was killed early in the war; another, a ser-geant-pilot, is missing on operations;

while a third is a flight lieutenant overseas; and the fourth has 'just returned on furlough from the Middle East, where he is a lieutenant with the railway construction unit.