PRE-FLOOD SCHEDULES

Northern Advocate, 26 July 1935, Page 8

PRE-FLOOD SCHEDULES

> 7RAIL TIMETABLES EXTRAS TO MAKE UP LEEWAY ROADS STILL BLOCKED. : • r DOME VALLEY MAY REOPEN SOON. J While the railway services today are .■ running to pre-flood schedule in the ■ North, there are still holds-up on the roads, and the Mangakahia route was the only way open to the Far North. ' To catch up on the leeway caused ■ by , the three-day gap in the services, the Railway Department is running a ‘ Series of special goods trains to the ,> North. At Helensville over 700 tons P' were awaiting transference yesterday. Included in the consignment were a large number of meat waggons required at the Moerewa freezing works for \ goading the Port Huon, which arrived Kk at Opua yesterday morning. k ■ The waggons were urgently needed K and yesterday the work of loading m commenced with a skeleton service of Bk 'ls trucks.

Special Trains.

f The first special train leaving Helens- ;, ville yesterday afternoon took through 'f the ,meat waggons required and also u large amount of general freight. So heavy was the load than an extra engine was added at Whangarei, and the train arrived at Opua at 4 a.m.

- Another special, taking the balance 1 of the Helensville cargo, ran through

today. : 1 Owing to the risks of night travel,

the goods train usually leaving Auck- , land at 10.40 p.m., was not despatched -' until daylight this morning. Thatmade it necessary to run a special from

Whangarei to pick up school children at Portland.

The Expresses,

The express from Auckland yesterday

•! was slightly delayed;—2o minutes at the seat of the flood area, Hoteo—and again at a dozen .places between Kalpara Flats and Whangarei,, where a reduction in speed to between 4 and 10 ■ miles per hour was necessary. The train did not leave Whangarei until• 3.40.

Today all expresses raiTright through without any hold-up. The subsidence On . the Southern side of Portland is larger than at first thought and a huge amount of metal both from Tauraroa and Kawiti pits is being poured into the gap. Working until late last night, a gang tipped in 50 Waggon loads and more were sent forward today. Generally, immediately the magnitude of the flooding became known, loading of perishable goods and livestock was stopped by the department, but in’the early stages of the trouble it was necessary to return a consignment of meat from Maungaturoto to Moerewa, and a truck of livestock to Whangarei. /

On the Roads.

• The Mangakahia route from Whangarei to the North was , the only means by which traffic could get through today.

At KawakaWa this morning ithere was still fwo : feet of water, which was going down slowly. It is expected that the road will be free for traffic tomorrow morning.

The A.A. did not advise the direct route "between Whangarei and Dargaville, three feet of water at Taylor's Flat being the obstruction. , It is still necessary for Auckland traffic to deviate through Helensville. This morning there was Said to be a chance that the Dome Valley might be open.

Clearing Up Dome Valley,

- Early this , week Mr A. J. Murdoch, M.P., accompanied by Mr T. M. Wright, assistant Public Works engineer, went through the Dome Valley, which, at that stage, was just passable. A washout of considerable magnitude has occurred on the hillside at the top of the Dome, and, as Mr Murdoch returned by this route last night, he was pleased to see the activity of the Highways Board in remedying the trouble. By the use of empty tar drums, stringers and filling, a temporary bridge, which will make a slight deviation in the road, is now nearly constructed. West Coast Route. One who has travelled the West Coast route to Auckland regularly for the past 15 years, and who came through yesterday, said that he had never seen' it in better condition. Turning off at Wellsford he travelled via Port Albert, Wharehine, Glorit, Kaukapakapa and White Hills, thence joining the main highway at Silverdale. The good state of this section of road, be said, showed up the atrocious travelling conditions on the unbitumenised portions of the main highway between Topuni and Whangarei. UNEXPECTED HOLIDAY HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS. RETURNED LAST NIGHT. HOSPITALITY OF PEOPLE. After an unexpected four-day hoi'.- ' day in Auckland, the High School Rugby, hockey and basketball teams, which took part in matches against the Takapuna Grammar School during the week-end, returned last night by the first through train from Auckland since Saturday. About 40 pupils were involved. They left Auckland by the express on Monday, but were sent back when the train struck the floods at Hoteo and Whyby. 1

The principal, Mr A. R. Ryder, today paid a tribute to the hospitality of the Takapuna people, who had billeted the pupils during their long stay. The majority of the teams were accommodated by those with whom they had stayed over the week-end. Some however, had gone to stay with friends. Mr Ryder said that when the news that the train was turned back reached Auckland, all who had billeted Whangarei pupils arrived at the station to.meet them. OTAMATEA ROADS SEVERAL BLOCKAGES. In common with other parts of the North, the Otamatea county has experienced a succession of heavy downpours, with the result that various roads have suffered severely from slips and subsidences. The Ararua-Waiotira Road is still blocked and a further subsidence during the recent floods has made the reopening date indefinite. Between Mareretu andPaparoa a portion of .two chains of roadway showed signs of subsiding, but the portion has been fenced off and the road is still open to traffic.

The Wairere Road, a side road two miles on Whangarei side of the Paparoa-Mareretu road, is completely blocked. Over two chains of the road have slipped away and it will be some time before repairs can be r effected.

About half a chain of the Pahi Road subsided on Tuesday, but the road is still open to traffic. Mr R. J. Baff, engineer to the Otamatea County Council, is doing all in his power to effect the necessary repairs with a minimum of delay to the travelling public FEW STOCK LOSSES. HIKURANGI SWAMP FLOOD. Few stock losses are reported to have occurred as a result of the flooding of the Hikurangi Swamp. The water did not rise quickly and the majority of the farmers had time to remove their beasts to safer ground. Mr R. S. Forsyth lost a cow and a calf. PILOT COMES ABOARD AND ONLY JUST IN TIME. A FLOOD EPISODE. Quite a thrill of transportation was enacted yesterday. The motor vessel Port Huon was scheduled to arrive at Opua to ship 26,000 carcases, but the man who was to pilot her in to her anchorage had been marooned in Auckland. There was considerable perturbation among the officials of the meat work and the Freezing Company lest, for want of a pilot, the vessel would miss a tide, and her loading be delayed for 24 hours unnecessarily. However, the pilot succeeded in reaching Whangarei by car, and boarded the train leaving for Opua at 9 a.m. yesterday. Had the train run a few minutes late he would have missed the connection and the tide, but it arrived in time, a launch was waiting at the wharf, and within a short time the pilot was on the bridge of the Port Huon.

Loading commenced immediately upon her berthage, but for the first few shifts was hampered by the scarcity of freezing waggons, held up at Helensville since Monday.