INTERESTING RAILWAY TRIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 8955, 12 August 1892, Page 3 (Supplement)

INTERESTING RAILWAY TRIP.

A phenomenal trip was made on July 19 by way of experiment on the Wellington and Manawatu line. The result was not only to establish a New Zealand record as to high speed, but also to break all previous authentic records of speed on the 3 feet 6 inch gauge in any part of the world. The actual object of the trip was merely a directors' visit of business and inspection, but occasion was taken to test the speed capabilities of the line, and particularly of the newest of the Baldwin engines (Class N) recently imported from America. It has 15-inch cylinders, 20 inch stroke, and 4-feet driving wheels, six coupled. The load was one double bogie carriage and one van, the total weight, including engine and tender, being about 70 tons. Starting from Wellington at twenty minutes past nine a.m., the special train began by maintaining speeds of 30 to 35 miles an hour up the four mile incline of 1 in 40, an extraordinary feat; next ascending the Pukerua gradient of 1 of 45, the speed never fell below 33 miles an hour. At Johnsonville a " wash-out" had unfortunately been caused by the heavy rain, and this involved a loss of three minutes. A cautious descent also had to bo made of tho falling grade approaching Paikakariki, owing to threatened iandslips, but speeds of 50 to 55 miles an hour were maintained on favourable parts of the roads, and Otaki, the first stopping station, nearly 47 miles from town, was reached in 73 minutes running time, in spite of the two steep banks. After leaving Otaki, the line is much more favourable to rapid travelling, and the run of 37£ miles thence to Longburn was done in exactly 46 minutes, or at the average rate of 48$ miles an hour, equal to that of several famous expresses on the English railways, and faster than either the Brighton or the Dover expresses, both widely celebrated. An averago speed of 60 miles an hour was maintained for 15 consecutive miles of which three were done in 59 seconds each, two in 58 seconds, and one in 56£ seconds, representing respective speeds of 61, 62, and 64 miles an hour. This has never yet been authentically equalled on the three feet six inches gauge anywhere in the world. The nearest approach to it was 59 miles an hour, once experimentally attained by a similar engine on the Dunedin-Christchurch line.

Notwithstanding the extraordinary velocity, the engine and carriages ran with admirable smoothness and steadiness, proving that both the road and rolling stock were in excellent order. The total running time from Wellington to Longburn was only one hour fifty-seven minutes for the distance of 84 miles.