EAST COAST LINE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22404, 28 April 1936, Page 10

EAST COAST LINE

RESUMPTION OF WOBK START MADE NEAR NAPIER GANG OF 30 MEN ENGAGED [BY TELEGRAPH—OWN CORRESPONDENT] NAP/lER, Monday Activities upon the abandoned East Coast railway line were re-commenced this morning, when a gang of 30 men took the initial step in the reconditioning of the existing work on the outskirts of Napier. It, was a small start—the clearing of weeds and patches o long grass —but a start indeed. In response to notices which had been despatched to them by the Public Works Department, a large number of men assembled at' the department s offices in Napier this morning, and from them were selected the 30 men, who are to comprise the advance guard of the railway army. Tho choice having been made, the men were transported to the Taradalo Road crossing, and there set to the task of clearing away the weeds which had accumulated on the line and on the banks adjoining the sleepers. Steps have been taken periodically during the past five years to keep these weeds in check, at least at the Napier end of tbe line, but on each occasion they have advanced again to assume charge of the disused track. Examination of the lines, which are soon to carry a train running between Napier and Putorino —a statement which has emanated from Wellington quotes a reliable authority to indicatethat such a train will be running within three to four months, provided the weather is sufficiently favourable to permit present expectations being realised—was also commenced this morning. Officials of the Public Works and Railways Departments visited Hawke s Bay during the week-end for the purpose of* dealing with essential details connected with the resumption of work, and they returned South yesterday. " It is not the intention of the department to establish camps on the railway immediately," an official stated. " In the meantime, it is proposed to secure the services of a railway engine and a rake of trucks, on which the men will be transported to work each morning and returned to town each evening."