THE MAIN TRUNK SLIPS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15125, 16 October 1912, Page 6

THE MAIN TRUNK SLIPS.

DELAYS DECREASING 7, DOWN TRAINS ONLY AN Holl-1 * LATE. LATE. |1 RAPIDLY CLEARING THE 1' Si The position regarding the i nteni! || communication on the Main Trust V*' -fff caused through the heavy landslips, fc - ~ l| not as serious as at the beginning oiu*?- If week. The espress which left AucklJ If at 9.10 last night will reach ' Si only an' hour late to-day, that is aiV - pi p.m., and connection with If ferry boat to Lyttelton will be establish ' ft This has been made possible by the» n -fl nificerit work by the engineers of the TUn s l'll way Department. The break « l| through connection has now been re< j u •' s '• IP to so short a distance that passengers"- f?| able to walk from the down train to B ' connecting one on the other ride; |P coaches will, therefore, be dispensed""B The "trains from Wellington, howt"-§§' suffer from more delay, and they *51 |ff be able to reach Auckland till 6.45 ® evening for a day or two, at 'any'cfc- f|l The Wellington- 'express ' |§j day arrived at 6.47 p.m.—l2 hours lai fc z ' fS The cause of delay in the running of B the up trains is that they, arrive at Ofif ® kune at nine o'clock at night, at a 1®! iff when the Railway Department consider Hi too dangerous 'to transfer the passn^f® and mails to the connecting train.V-Sj-'ff& v the Auckland to Wellington train' §lf Oliakuno shortly before seven ait day, it is possible' to transfer. from : o B 4|§ train to the other with rafety, and t!i> 111 operation takes little over an hour." ' -'h fff| When complete communication. will restored is not certain, but the : ,ment's men tire working at high pmsnw 111 to get the line through. It is that it -will be a matter of only, a dsy.£ r SS two before the through service is resta^-||| A Night in the Carriages/ li||H Many passengers coming north bv fa fjffi Main Trunk train which left' I on Monday, undertook the journey in jj, }ll hope that the line would be cleared gg traffic ill time to permit the train , toj^|!S| through. It was almost impossible.!^® tain information from the railway ties at Wellington, said one ffi they stated that as far as they knew'pi" ® sengerss would have to stay at Otafekffilfg night, but there was a possibility tt&tj&'jsl train might get through. On Ohakune on Monday night the pamaifea IB} were informed that the train . could'at ; ® get through, and that if they bo der,rti ;jfi ■they could sleep in the train, or. if $fj' ISI spent the night at the adjacent bradlyj|l| houses they would be called in tiibe train, which was likely to; leave'; f<gfl&BfS slip about five o'clock. Most of sengers decided to sleep in the ttt&i&SMß as the sleeping-bertha were j||| number, rough beds were impro?isi?i 111 short pieces of timber—commandewd from a neighbouring sawuvHl—cosbicßi, ||| rugs, overcoats, and other; articles, railway authorities kept ' tl&ffeyjfcflß attached to the train all night, aivd tte steam and heating apparatus war&|||| available. . ',<^ll® The Work at , the SUp.^lM^g" • ' The scene at the slip .on continued the passenger-, was gang of about 60 men were- hard on the deviation. The big slip came djisa ||j| into what is called a breast cutting.. ||| tills case a cutting was made in a-'ra3fr' J |l|l[ sloping wooded spur, ..the- coqnt'ty'"'t«-aM characteristic of that part of the, jam, M| the composition being slipping papV'mt lip mense boulders, and volcanic rains of the past summer.. are cbnaM:Jlßj'primarily responsible for the the last straw which—figuratively sptaiat'jliS broke the camel's back, was 16 ||| continuous rain on Thursday f||| mass of soil contained many some weighing as much as 20 'tons,' : aiia| |j|| this mass were buried and 'eriiwrnmaß trunks and branches of forest. giarit«.AiJi® Monday evening ' the gang was 1 bird -.il ip. work, acetelyne gas lamps aiid flare fcfl&a |||| giving a picturesque touch to 'the £»• |k| They had completed the earthwbrk;.of,& K deviation, and were laying the raife'on & If new road. Owing to the newrieasjjijfitii 1 formation it was not deemed ; ad risffig# j M run a full trainband engine'oyeriUf|j| j || was the intention of the authorities $•. B evening to either have the carriages s |||| over, by a light engine or else .'wiilEßl carriages across the deviation to.vttcjlt alt locomotive. ■ : ' " 'MflS' The failure of the train to get t&w&| || on Monday evening spoiled two red"!!? parties to a certain extent Although the principal parties.' IMwS affected, yet in. one case a best .unable to get to Auckland in at the ceremony, and in the pfofojjgSsjsK parent, who was hurrying north- )i> his daughter awav, arrived too The traffic on the Main Trunk train? at present noticeably small. Last effe* jp| only some 40 passengers left for tfo'§||p9K whereas there are often three, four, times this number.