RAILWAY WAGONS IN SHORT SUPPLY ON WEST COAST

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 September 1947, Page 6

RAILWAY WAGONS IN SHORT SUPPLY ON WEST COAST

The shortage of rolling stock, which periodically makes itself felt on the West Coast section of the railways system, is at present causing embarrassment to both mines and sawmills. Various factors have contributed towards the shortage and although the Railways Department is stated to be making every effort to meet the demand for trucks, the supply is well below the requirements of both industries.

Less shipping from the port of Greymouth and a greater demand for flat wagons for sawn timber and log cartage for Canterbury pinus mills and for shipping at Lyttelton have served to complicate the allocation of trucks on the West Coast and the result has been an accumulation of timber on many mill skids.

A number of West Coast mills are affected and in what is probably the worst case there is 300,000 board feet of timber on the skids, awaiting transport, mainly to the east coast. The timber is urgently required by the purchasers, but with the general shortage of rolling stock, no immediate relief is in sight. The position is similar in regard to the mines, where a short supply of wagons is almost a daily occurrence. Any hold-up of shipping or delay in securing the return of empty wagons from the east coast causes disorganisation. As mentioned in Budget, the Government has 3000 new wagons on order from Britain and it would appear that the arrival of this new rolling stock offers the only hope of permanent relief.