READY FOR THE TRACK.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVI, Issue 177, 28 June 1926, Page 10

READY FOR THE TRACK.

ENGINE OF OPAPA SMASH. COMPLETE OVERHAUL. On Thursday afternoon the engine concerned in the Opapa railway accident last September, A6OO, steamed out of tho Napier railway workshops after having undergone thorough and extensive repairs. On March 19 last the remains of what had once been one of the ppides of the railroad were consigned to the workshops at Napier, ancl on Thursday, after 97 days, the shops turned out the finished job in tho form of a great gleaming monster, the exact replica of tho engine which battered itself in the To Ante cutting. Here and thero are faint scars, but only a close inspection will reveal them. Tlie wreck was a sorry one when tlie work of renovation was started, the frame being practically the only thing left intact. This was lifted, a thorough examination made of the cylinders ancl pistons, and the necessary repairs effected. Then the boiler came out of the-frame and a new lower half of the smoke box was installed. The cab was then straightened up, roofed, glassed and made to look like new. The most serious job of all, however, was tlie tender, with its bogie frames. Tire frames, together with the bogie boxes, were renewed, and all other necessary repairs made to tlie superstructure-. Even tho old lamp was repaired, the qnly addition being the aplenatic lens. A shining coat of paint completed tlie work, and the engine was set in running order | and handed over to the works foreman ready for the road. Tlie A6OO has had a somewhat honoured career, being the engine which drew the present Prince of Wales’s train during his tour of New Zealand. The late Mr Bob Telford was then driver of the engine, and at one stage of the journey, under liis supervision, the Prince actually drove it.