TRAIN SERVICES AT A STANDSTILL

Northern Advocate, 3 February 1936, Page 6

TRAIN SERVICES AT A STANDSTILL

rpHE SERVICES ON ALL NOR--1 THERN LINES ARE AT A STANDSTILL TODAY, AND ARE LIKELY TO REMAIN SO FOR SOME TIME. The following damage is reported:— -Main Northern Line. Big slip in Opua tunnel. Wash-outs on both sides of Kawakawa, including one eight chains in length between Marshall’s store and the racecourse corner. / Numerous wash-outs between Otiria and Whakapara, with many chains of line undermined and pushed out of position. Bridge approaches and ballast washed away. A small bridge at Whakapara has been washed right away, with bent lines spanning the chasm. Kaikohe Branch Line. Large slip in Okaihau tunnel, which will take two days to clear. Fillings washed out near Otiria. ; Kirikopuni Branch Line. Bridge approaches washed out, with several large slips, one two chains long by eight feet deep. All telephone wires down.

Details Of Damage On Northern Lines

Main South Line. Between Maungaturoto and Wayby on Sunday all sides of cuttings were reported to be slipping over the line. They were actually on the move. Two large wash-outs near Ranganui. Seven slips between Maungaturoto and Mararetu, a distance of seven miles. One slip is estimated to be 300 yards long, and six feet deep, and contains from 1800 to 2000 yards of spoil. At Wayby and - Hoteo the goods sheds were under water, the telegraph and telephone wires were completely submerged, and all that could be seen from the surrounding hills, was the gable roof-top of a building in the station yard. Passengers Marooned. Sixty passengers detrained from the express at Otiria on Saturday evening, and were setting out to travel up the Kaikohe branch line, when flooding necessitated the abandonment of the trip. The train put back to Otiria and raced the water, which was rapidly rising on both sides of the line, to Kawakawa, where it remained today.

Thirty of the passengers spent the night in the rail-cars, but, with the co-operation of the Kawakawa people, the stationmaster secured private billets for all last night.

Six car loads of passengers, who left the express at Otiria for Northern destinations, could get no further than Pakaraka. Here they were accommodated for the night by settlers, many of them sleeping in Mr J. W. Jones’ woolshed. The cars got away yesterday. The train which left Whangarei at 3.20 on Saturday afternoon ran right through to Auckland. Fifty-five passengers on the late train from Auckland, however, were not so fortunate, and were held up at Tahekeroa. Whether they were forced to spend the night at the isolated spot, or whether the train succeeded in returning to Helensville, where more comfortable accommodation is available, is not known. The railway telephone system to the south failed yesterday, and since then the only reports received have been by wireless. * Today’s Services. Today, the only service operating on the Northern lines are between Whakapara and Tauraroa. In previous emergencies the local railway staff has won a high reputation for its organisation, and the present situation is being handled in a very businesslike way. Repair gangs are working everywhere with the utmost speed. A repair train is Working from Opua, and relaying gangs, using trolleys, expect to effect early repairs between Kawakawa and Otiria. The horse has come to the assistance of its iron competitor, and horses are being used to draw waggons along the line from the Kawlti ballast pit. Repair trains are also running from Whangarei as far north and south as possible, and another train is working north from Maungaturoto. It is certain that nb rail communications on the Northern line will be resumed before Wednesday, and probably the comprehensive nature of the repairs necessary, will require a longer break.