DRIVING ON A MOUNTAIN

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 15

DRIVING ON A MOUNTAIN

BAILWAY.

THE RIMUTAKA INCLINE.

By Wxli. LAwsour.

It is raining at Crore .'Creek, that lonely railway outpost at the foot- of the Rimutaka Incline. Heavy vapours cling to the mountain, and out across the Valley only a cloak of mist is to be' seen. In the winter twilight the mail train from Napier arrives.. The engine which has hauled it over the plains is uncoupled. With her big driving wheels she could hardly propel herself up the 1 in IS grade which now confronts, her/. and- sher.giTes -way tp two black squat-fimnelled Felt "engines, which already are moving out ffoni' the running shed to be attaohedi to thejfcradn. ' They are followed by- a huge freight engine, which rolls along with an air oT supreme disgust, as though this business of climbing mountains were- beneath her contempt. She is not here in the capacity of a, worker, being erf foutre to the repair shop"; but she will "Work her passage, so to speak, up the hill. These grimy black-painted monsters, with never, a gleam of brass about theni, take the "mail to the summit — one Felf in the lead, and the other two ' at ; * convenient distances, sandwiched among the carriages, while three brake vans bring up the;, rear. These have powerful- brakes, which operate on a centre rail laid between the usual rails carrying "the wheels. On this rail, the Fell engines also grip with "'their bevel grip-wheels. •The carriage lamps are lighted, and the Cyclopean eye of -each steel -Goliath gleams thtough the rain. -It is two miles and a-half to "the summit; on a greasy rail, tip the side of a ,black, wet mountain. Yet . a " glance at the. hissing, steaming' engines now attached to. the train- give^ reassurance. They -have, an air of irresistibility that is^most convincing, and Jbhey apparently sporn the 1 in' '15" grade wmch rises abruptly outkidie "_ the' level _ station yard, leading engine blows her whistle ; the sound is echoed By the other two, white steam- shoots skyward, and the train glides away from the lonely settlement. - i Standing on the level, the water gaugfes appear' to ,be empty, but as the engine meets the hill,, and her bevel^ wheels slide on- to the centre rail, tb'be-*firmly clutched" thereon by a powerful lever, the water, owing to the tilt of the engine, rises in the" glass to a normal level. One reason for. riot filling the- boiler up when on the: level is that if there is too much water in the boiler, the heavy blast of the exhausting steam causes '^priming," which consists of water, instead of steam, entering the- cylinders. This is fatal to effective driving 1 . '

The bevel wheels oh« the Fell are driven by v ari engine distinct from that which drives the ordinary driving wheels, and, as both sets of wheels slip occasionally, th© exhaust from- the- Fell engines occurs with some irregularity. The effect is peculiar, suggestive.~]of an asthmatic Samson climbing a greasy .pole. In contrast, the steady tbrash 1 thrash !- of the &eight engine has dignity. Yet the Fells, bear -the brunt of the pull. The freighter is not pulling, mucn more than her own weight. The pace" .is the merest crawl, scarcely exceed- j - ing «- -walking- pace, acd the din from tKe three engines is- deafening: This is" due- to- the extremely higH" pressure 'at yrhicli the 'boilers' "aa» worked. 'The ex'•hanst steam I ,' mingled, with smoke, shoots up for a distance' of some thirty feet, and there jswirls- and. bangs in..a heavy , cloud, I ■which, dimly J seen in the coming darkness marks the progress of the- train along j the mountain side. The glare from the' funnels and) opened fire doors transforms the. cloud- of- steam. .into a. mass of wicked red -vapours, widcby with the black, foggy mountains * and -. yawning ravines, makes the. scene "almost T Mephistophelean in its luridness: The train of carriages appears as a glow worm 'crawling through a night of .foggy density.

The engines are what are known as " Tanks "-/-they have no tenders to carry coal-.- The. fuel is carried; in a prolongatioti^'of the cab^. wlifch. is sq constructed as to allow the coal to elide down to the footplate, ready, for the fireman's shovel. TEe 'fireman/toils incessantly-. On a fast express,' running on. a level 'section, the fire is f ed^ about every tw©;- minutes ; on .grades^ up^tq 1 in 30 the firing is fairly ooTietan.t; with intervals, however, for a breath of air. <On the Incline, the shovel is never idle, and in the -half hour occupied in making 'the ascent ' the fireman exerts •enough enrgy to run , her 20 miles or so on the level. t Even ,on the enclis of the .haiifof his head .drops of perspiration cling;.- "In- the cab- there is only one light — . t na * v gi^«n by a- small » copper-shielded lamp; ( so designed" that it throws its light on the water-gauge and steam-gauge. The driver's eyes are shielded from it^ as they, also' are from Jthe furnace glare. Drivers arid firemen may' elect to work on this fciaofcion.. offline or 'not,- as /they chooser 'Extra pay is given, thennj and in the busy season a great deal of- overtime is to be eacned. -_ There is one? driver, who has continued s on this run -for twenty years, aDd -there are' others who are content* to stay', cbesplte the, to the lay, 'mindj-severity of J>he ordeal to be gone.ihrough in each up^run, specially- on thick, wet nights. On^ such occasions the engine eats coal (one may almost hear 'her chewing it), and the : resulting smolicP'is suffocating in the tunnels — of ;which are three — two ' shoytkraes ojx the* way up and a long, curvingiione afc tbecSunrniit.- Best Coalbrookdale is burnt — the hottest, cleanest coal obtainable* ' *

Now, come distance ap the track looms the first tunnel, > piercing an outstanding spur. The engine whistles, there is a sound' of slamming windows, with which the engines are, fitted, and then such a pandemonium, oi sound" as'^cannot be imagined. It is an inferno. The 30-foot column of expanding steam aaid smoke is confined by the v arqh about -.two. feet above tfee fuiiriel, "arid "there follows a terrific compression which forces the hot vapours into the engine-cab in spite.. of' windows. -Each thrash of the spouting funnel" stuns like, a blow, the sulphur suffocates, the heat scorches, and on top of , all these the fireman opens the fire-door and tosses coal in. Then it seems that there is no air to breathe at all, even from the short tube carried through - the engine floor to admit air from, under theengine. The wet rail is making the pace slower than usual, though the leading engine, having a dry rail >n the tunnel, is exerting herself- to get out as quickly as possible. Still the stuttering, thrashing exhaust thuds on the tunnel's arch;, the tiny lamp in the cab gleams faintly through the smoke ; the wicked shafts of light from the air holes in the fire-door radiate their redness in the s-uffocating atmosphere. Then the clamour of the funnel quietens, the windows are shot ,open, driver and firemen lean out to breathe God's air once more. The men in the second and third engines have a worse time than those in the leader, as the tunnel becomes hotter and more foul with the passage of each engine. Onward, upward she goes, slipping and racing, sand-^ ing and swearing. When the wheels slip sand is thrown upon the rail, but before this is done steam is shut off. If the sand were thrown' under the spinning wheels while steam is on possibly every rod and j crank would be , broken owing to the^. sudden check to the revolving wheel jar*'j ring these parts and throwing undue strain "| upon them. " • ] Another tunnel is passed through, after which the pace quickens. The "long straight" is reached. Here the grade is easier and the line is straight. So the engines quicken their stroke, 'and when the last tunnel appears they are making better time. Into this horseshoe-shaped hole in the mountain crest the one-eyed, black giant of steel thunders. She crashes and rumbles .along, her crew coughing in the r smoky atmosphere. Then clang, clang ! clang, clang !— a bell swung from _ the tunnel's roof and rung by each passing vehicle, cries weirdly, "telling that the uphill fight is over, the level road is here at last. ,the engine's beat beooines more rapid, as each carriage tops the grade to the ringing of the bell. As the other engines reach level ground .the pace becomes the normal pace of a train running into a station. Ding, dong! ding, dong! A deep-toned*bell moans its message through the vaulted place. The grade is a down one now, into the Summit Station. ■ The centre "grip-rail ends abruptly, and the fajain runs into the Summit yards, where the mountain engines are replaced by a burly engine which whirls thejjain away to Wellington at a rocking, breezy pace, with the big freight engine rolling along harnessed between her and the train.