SERIES OF MISHAPS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22582, 10 March 1948, Page 4

SERIES OF MISHAPS

RAILCAR SERVICE REPLACEMENTS SCARCE ALL-NIGHT JOURNEY The series of mishaps which have befallen railcars operating on the Gisborne-Napier run during the past week has been phenomenal, but experts of the Railways Department believe that the mechanical difficulties encountered have been dealt with, and that normal trouble-free running can be expected for the future. Maintenance difficulties have been considerable in recent months, owing to the non-delivery of essential replacement parts which are manufactured in Britain; and mechanical parts which ordinarily would have been replaced some time ago are still serving in the cars. This was the explanation given to the Gisborne stationmaster, Mr. H. Crawford, by maintenance headquarters at Wellington, in reply to inquiries made originally by the Herald. Reached Napier at 5 a.m.

The railcar was back on schedule yesterday, after a run of several days last week on which delays occurred on the northward journey from Napier. Gisborne-bound passengers had the better of matters, however, as compared with others bound southward, for none of them suffered a delay nearly so serious as that which occurred on Thursday night’s run to Napier. On that occasion a fracture of an oilfeed pipe put one of the two units out of action, and the passengers were crowded into the forward unit and carried on at much reduced speed. So pronounced was the labouring of the Diesel motor that a number of male passengers got out to push the car up the Putorino incline, and after being left behind for a time, had to push again to get the car re-started after it had waited for them at the summit. Later again, there was a stoppage in the Putorino tunnel, lasting half an hour, and when the driver had effected temporary repairs the car limped into Putorino station and eventually was hitched on to the south-bound steam freight. The passengers who left Gisborne at 4.30 p.m. on Thursday reached Napier at 5 a.m. On Friday night the railcar trip from Gisborne to Napier finished at 11 o’clock.