EMERGENCY TRAINS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21449, 24 March 1933, Page 10

EMERGENCY TRAINS

TIME-TABLES ARRANGED

TRANSFER ACROSS THE GAP

SOME DELAY INEVITABLE

Temporary time-tables for Main Trunk express passenger and mail traffic for the duration of repairs to tlio line in the central district have been completed. Under tho temporary arrangement the ordinary Main Trunk expresses leaving Auckland and Wellington in tho afternoons have been suspended. Tho limited expresses, with the usual complement of sleeping cars, will leave Auckland at 7 p.m. and Wellington at 7.15 p.m. as usual for Taumarunui and Kakahi respectively, which will be reached some time after 3.30 a.m., the south-bound train arriving first owing to tho shorter distance to bo covered.

Passengers will bo transferred across the gap of nine miles between the two stations in motor-buses, and the mails will bo conveyed on motor-lorries. Travellers are advised to take light luggage only, and they will be required to pay tho bus fare of 3s.

Checking of the Mails

How long tho transfer will occupy when a routine has been established is still uncertain, but it is likely to take well over two hours, depending upon the number of passengers. It will be necessary to check each consignment of mails when it is loaded on to the lorries, and again when it is put into the waiting train, and this will take some time.

Although both expresses will run to time-table until they reach the zone of flood damage, speed will have to bo much reduced thereafter over some sections. The second half of each journey will involve delays for tho same reason, and on account of non-schedule crossings with other trains all the way to both destinations. j

Passengers are unlikely to reach Auckland or Wellington until the afternoon, and most of the mails will not be delivered until the following morning. There will, of course, be a good margin of time for connecting at Wellington with tho Lytte'lton ferry. The relief express carrying passengers, •who left Wellington by the ordinary and limited expresses on Tuesday, reached Auckland from Taumarunui at 7.30 a.m. yesterday with 135 people'. It was provided with sleeping cars, and a number of tho passengers were able to enjoy a good night's rest after the discomfort of the long hold-up.

Repairing Damaged Coaches

The combined express which connected with Wednesday evening's train from Wellington arrived at 7.45 p.m. in time to connect with the steamer Monowai, the departure of which for Sydney had been held back from 3 p.m. until 9.20 p.m. in orde'r that she might embark passengers and mails from the south. The train on reaching Auckland had 103 passengers. The passengers who left Auckland on Tuesday reached Wellington at 7.27 a.m. yesterday. So far it has not been necessary to transfer peTmanent-way men and others from the Auckland railway district, which ends at Frankton, to the Ohakune district for the purpose of restoring the damaged line. A pile-driver and a donkeyengine, however, have been sent south from Frankton for use in the work. Two clerks have been despatched from Auckland to assist the Taumarunui office staff, which has had a great deal of extra work thrown upon it. It was not known yesterday whether it would be necessary to send the express carriages, which were damaged near Okahukura on Tuesday night, to the Otahuhu workshops for repair.

"THOUGHT WE WERE OVER"

CRICKETERS' EXPERIENCE

[By TELEGRAPH —OWN CORRESPONDENT] "WELLINGTON, Thursday

Although there was no suggestion of panic among the passengers by the limited express which left Auckland on Tuesday night, they consider themselves very fortunate to have come out of the mishap unscathed. The derailment occurred a fewminutes after midnight, when most of the passengers were dozing. The three New Zealand representative cricketers from Auckland, Messrs. Weir, Vivian and Whitelaw were on the train on their way .to Christchurch for the cricket test to-morrow, and their experience is one that they will not easily forget. ''We felt the bumps getting stronger and stronger, and then she rocked," said Mr. Vivian. "We thought we were over. You have only to see tho spot to realise how lucky we were. I never want to go through anything like it again." These three travellers said that when it reached the washout the train was gathering speed after slowing down to pick up a tablet. It just got over and that was all. All the couplings broke and the engine left the rails. Anxious to get to Wellington on their way to Christchurch. the cricketers spent a worrying day at Taumarunui yesterday. It was not until about four o'clock in tho afternoon that they left in another train for Ohakune. A slip between Mananui and Piriaka made it necessary to tranship once again, and they left Ohakune on tbe final stago of their eventful journey about 8 p.m. yesterday.

WORKERS' LONG HOURS

REPAIRS AT OKAHUKURA

[By TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] TAU.WAItUNUI. Thursday

A tribute is due to the railway men who worked so willingly and so hard to effect repairs to the line at Okahukura. Men were called to the scene from as far north as Ohnupo arid early yesterday morning 60 men were concentrated On tho job. They were on duty from one o'clock in tho morning until 9.30 p.m. They had little food. The resources of Ongaruo and Okahukura were soon exhausted, ull the bread and butter to spare being purchased. The men did exceptionally well and finished the job by seven o'clock last evening.

The work was directed by Mr. J. Dow, district engineer, Ohakune, and Mr. A. W. Carr, foreman of works.

DELIVERY OF FILMS AIR TRANSPORT USED [by telegraph—own correspondent] HAMILTON, Thursday

The regular delivery of cinema films between Wellington and Auckland, which was interrupted by the dislocation of the train service, is being carried on by aeroplane. Squadron-Leader G. L. Stedman arrived at Hamilton at six o'clock this evening in a Wellington Aero Club machine with films for centres in Hamilton and Auckland, the films for Auckland being sent on by train. The aeroplane will leave again for Wellington at 6.30 to-morrow morning, carrying bulky programmes from Hamilt°n and Auckland. These will bo shown in Wellington theatres io-morrow evening.