OHAI RAILWAY BOARD.

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume XXVIII, Issue 1396, 25 October 1932, Page 4

OHAI RAILWAY BOARD.

The monthly meeting held at Wairio on Wednesday, IPth inst. t was attended by Messrs G. S. Edie (chairman), W. Excell, W. J. A. McGregor, W. Crawford, T. Fraser,. L. S. Edmond, E. Davis, D. D. Mar donald and J. B. dirties. The General Manager and Traffic Muna-" ger were al&cj ip. atteiidanoeGENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT. Three of the largest mines still remain idle, the output of coal there-' by being very materially curtailed. When I last reported tovthe Board on the 21st September the decrease- m haulag-e of coal for . the expired portion of the. financial year "was 19,125 tons ; on Saturday last, the . 15th inst., that figure had increased to 26,100 tons. Exchange of land with E. Mason. — Mr Excell accompanied Mr Donnelly and myself during an inspection of the Board's property and the Section No. 1, owned by Mr'E. Mason m the Morley Village which section he desired, as per his letter, of the sth ult. to exchange for portions of Sections 3 and 4, Morley Village, owned by the Board. After carefully considering the matter, Mr Excell and your Managers decided . that it would be detrimental to the Board's interests to accede to Mr Mason's request, j We have, therefore, no recommenda- j tion to make. | Ballasting.—^An arrangement has been entered into -with Mr James ■ Doher,ty to supply on. trucks at Nightcaps siding, 200- yards of gra-. vel. This quantity will be sufficient to carry out the work between the Mount Linton Siding and Birchwood terminus decided upon by the Board at l^s.t meeting and other necessary ballasting between Wairio and Ohai. Appro ved. ■TRAFFIC; MANAGER'S REPORT. Collision with' Lorry.— While the Leyland was crossing , the Night capSrßirchwood road at Nightcaps about 7 p.m. on Saturday, loth inst!, a light motor lorry travelling towards Nightcaps failed to stop at the Railway crossing and with the leading end' of the bogi* . carriage. .The lorry was carried round and thrown clear , just before the emergency brake brought, the train to a standstill.. Most of the damage to the carriage is confined to the under frame. The body of the car escaped with a few surface \ scratches along the outside paint work and a email hole through the outer steel cover. The driver of the lorry, called and stated that r.he did not observe the approaching train nor did he h§ar the warning whistle j the collision was due to his neglect to look for a train at -that time. Permanent Way Gang. — The gang is at present employed on No. 6 Section where, a start has been made to light ballast the bare portions of the section. Most of the gang's time has been occupied during .the v month m rensleepering the pug cutting m No. 1 Section a<nd < Jowerii^gi the track bed, as the line at this point will not stand up to heavy traffic. Sufficient ballast to- make the road secure m the pug cutting has been included m the order now loading at Nightcaps. — Approved. - The circumstances of the collision between the train and light lorry being' explained, members considered it to be a pure accident and * decided net t 0 proceed against the driver of the vehicle. It was resolved to have "compulsory stop"' Notices placed at the Morley Village Crossing. Mr E. A. F. Wilding wrote that as th© result of the recent inquiry it seemed as if the freight charges on settlers' goods were too high. For instance, 3/4 per ton as' against, 2/3 for coal p.er. ton. Both- trucks of sheep and manure were more costly than if a Government through rate operated. The writer asked that the /tariff be revised and costs lowered if possible. — The General Manager pointed out .for many years m the early stages coal was 5/3" a ton and general goods to farmers 2/6 a ton. •The bulk of the lighter goods to farmers were , how taken by lorries and the profit on such lost to the railway^, butythe heavy goods at cheap rates were given to the line, while lime wajs carried free. .Wool was actually carried at 2d a bale cheaper than on the Government line. If the farmers would club together and take- delivery m bigger lots the Board might be able to consider reducing rates. The rates from Reeds tp Birchwood because of the extra, distance were ap- ' t prbximJately YhaJf ajgain as much 'as from Wairio to Reeds. Mr Birtles said as a settler at the Birchwood end he could say he was well satisfied. The chairman' endorsed these remarks and indicated the settlers Were thankful to have the. Railway. Mr McGregor also agreed with these remarks. — Letter was received. Mr G. J. Reed, Solicitor, Invercargill, wrote on behalf of the dismissal of an employee from the staff re--1 cently. The writer?s client consider- . ed he was a permanent hand and had been jreceiving less wages than .casual employees and thought he Lad been harshly treated. — Members con- < sidered this matter had ' been fully ' discussed and received the letter, j Accounts amounting " to £734 were II