FORTY YEARS’ SERVICE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23500, 14 May 1938, Page 10

FORTY YEARS’ SERVICE

STATIONMASTER RETIRES EVOLUTION OF TRANSPORT SYSTEM (Special to Daily Times) WELLINGTON, May 13. Having completed 40 years’ service with the New Zealand Railways Mr E. J. Guthrie, stationmaster at Wellington since the new station was opened on June 19 last year, will retire on superannuation to-morrow. An official always popular with the public and his staff Mr Guthrie was formerly stationmaster at Thorndon and before that was in charge of several North Island stations. He retires with a long and creditable record of service. Mr Guthrie was born in New Zealand and joined the department as a cadet in the locomotive superintendent’s office in Wellington in 1898. He was first appointed stationmaster in .1910, when he was given charge of Rangataua, three miles north of Ohakune and in the heart of the King Country. In those days Mr Guthrie had under him a shift clerk and two porters. At Wellington 27 years later he was placed in charge of New Zealand’s most modern station and a staff of approximately 298, Remarkable changes have taken place in the development of New Zealand’s national transport system since Mr Guthrie joined as a cadet. His first transfer was to Greymouth, and after a short stay on the West Coast he was sent to Hawke’s Bay, still as a cadet, and then to Featherston. His first appointment as a clerk was to Stratford in 1903, and five years later he was clerk at Marton when the main trunk line was opened for through communication between Wellington and Auckland. In the same year, 1908, the Wellington-Manawatu railway was purchased by the Government. Travelling by the through express, however, it took two days to reach Auckland from Wellington and passengers were required to stay the night at Ohakune. Mr Guthrie recalls memories of Rangataua, when the timber industry was at its peak. Men of every type and race worked in the main trunk in those days, and the King Country was rugged in the extreme. .The building of the railroad through the mountains opened a new era in transport, and vast areas of magnificent native bush were felled. From Rangataua Mr Guthrie was transferred to Turakina in 1912, and three years later was appointed assistant goods clerk at New Plymouth, a post he held for five years. During the subsequent four years and.a-half he was relieving officer on the ’Wanganui section, and at various periods was acting station master at practically every station in the district. After a period as sjtationmaster at Taumaranui, Mr Guthrie was transferred on promotion to Tauranga in 1928. He was stationed there when the East Coast to Taneatua was opened, and in March, 1932, was transferred to Thorndon. Another interesting event recalled by Mr Guthrie was the opening of a new railway station at Danneyirke about 1902. Mr Guthrie was stationed there as a cadet. The opening ceremony was performed by the late Sir Joseph Ward. Mr and Mrs Guthrie will leave Wellington next week in the Awatea, and will spend the winter in Queensland. They will probably stay in Australia for 12 months befpre returning to the Dominion.