BLOCKED IN A TUNNEL

Otago Witness, Issue 3149, 22 July 1914, Page 74

BLOCKED IN A TUNNEL

FIREMAN UNCONSCIOUS ON FLOOR OF CAB. AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY. “I myself have seen men engaged on the engine emerge from the tunnel practically unconscious, bleeding at the ears and nostrils.” This startling statement was contained in a correspondent’s letter, of which a summary appeared in the Otago Daily Times of the 4tn inst. It referred to a condition of affairs alleged to exist within a few miles of Dunedin, in connection with the Mihiwaka tunnel, near Port Chalmers, and the letter was directed to a condemnation of the practice of utilising two engines to draw a train through the uinnel. A reporter who made inquiries into the matter on the Bth was given to understand that ino statement was only a strong way of describing a state of affairs which existed up till about a fortnight ago. A number of en-gino-drivers who were spoken to stated that for months, and even years, this tunnel has been dreaded by drivers and firemen. Every traveller on the north line knows how long it is and how steep the grade of it is. To leave a window open in a comfortable well-aired carriage is to admit a dense stream of heavy, poisonous, sulphur-laden smoke, which fills the compartment with its acrid prer sence, and, makes the atmosphere unbearable, and the rush of sunshine and oxygen at the end a relief from a tension that becomes almost unbearable. This result is brought about through one small window. It can readily be imagined, then, that the drivers were not overstating the . position when they described the uassago through the tunnel on tho narrow and exposed footboard of tho engine as a nasty ordeal. With a single engine, they said, it was pretty bad, sometimes. But when two locomotives belchcd thoir poisonous fumes into the air the result was sometimes appalling. During the passage through the tunnel the men in the cab covered themselves as well as thov could with coats, and succeeded., at the" expense of a stuffy five minutes of rebreathing their own vitiated breath time after time in keeping out the worse fumes of tho coal gas. The fireman could nearly always manage to keep out the sulphur. He had little to do in the tunnel for stoking was hardly ever performed during the passage, and he was able to keep his head well covered. But with the driver it was different. He had to attend to the mechanism, and, it was necessary for his hands to bo free. He could not keep himself covered. So he just held on and “breathed small.” When an occasional heaven-sent gust drove a small lane for a moment in tho solid wall of rushing, blinding smoke he thrust his head into it and filled his lungs with purer air. Then he held his breath, and looked through his smarting eyes for the dim speck at tho ° lld ' A DRIVER'S NARRATIVE. “I have bc'on through Mihiwaka with a two-engino train,” said one driver, with a rueful grin. “ Sometimes it. has been all right. But the tunnel roof is low and the walls are just sufficiently wide to allow for the passage of the train. The smoke rushes from the stack, and striking the roof is diverted downwards, and hits the cab. Fifty yards into the tunnel, and the driver’s eyes begin to smart. Then the fumes get into his" throat, and he coughs and begins to wish for the end. But there is still xhe worst to come. He sees the regulator through the watery mist in front of his stinging eyes, and hangs on, hoping .or the daylight. If it is very bad his head becomes dull, and ho does not feel it so much, for his perceptions are not so acute then. Sometimes the coal is bad, and fi ora the ‘ green ’ fire there comes a heavy white smoke, which is particularly trying. It has been so close that at times I myself have been nearly stupid at the worst stage. Then there appears the little pin-point of light at the end, and the driver holds Ids breath and hangs on. The rush into daylight brings relief, and the fresh air soon drives away everything save the tickling m the throat, which persists for many miles. But it is bad at the time-very bad!” ’ “ £ Bleeding at the cars and nostrils? quoted the reporter, sceptically. that sounds*like the harrowing tale of trie downtrodden pearl-diver!” . “ Well, I have never seen anything so bad as that, I admit,” confessed the driver interviewed. “ But a while ago one driving team was so affected at tho end of the trip that the matter was brought home to the authorities very forcibly A fortnight ago the mandate went forth that tiams w,th two engines attached were not to go through tho tunnel, So if that rule 'to" hercd°to the trouble is at an end. A GOODS TRAIN BLOCKED. An extraordinary story was elicited concerning the incident which had directly led to the new rule, and was vouched for by several persons in a position to know. It was that some weeks ago a heavy goods train, with two engines, was going through the tunnel at night. When near the Airthcr end the atmosphere became so insupportable that the stoker in the rear engine was lying on the floor of the cab unconsci-

ous, while the stoker in the front engine was in nearly as bad a condition. 3 The engines began to slacken, and, owing to the condition of the stokers, it was impossible to get up speed again. The driver of the foremost engine felt his senses going, and, fearful lost he might also become unconscious and the train rush backwards into Sawyers’ Bay, ho jammed on the brakes, and, leaving his engine, sought the driver of the second locomotive. Together they abandoned the train, and walked to the end of the tunnel. Recuperating in the fresh they returned, and were able to get the tram out of the tunnel after it had been m for a total period of 45 minutes. In the meantime it had been standing without drivers and with its firemen in the condition described. One of tho firemen did not recover consciousness until after ho had been brought to the open air. In justice to the department it had, on a report being made concerning this incident, immediately decreed that trains with two engines should not be taken through the tunnel. For come considerable time, it was added, the Engine-drivers, Firemens, and Cleaners’ Union had been agitating for this reform, and the last case had brought matters to a head. Mihiwaka, with its steep grade and confined space, was the worst tunnel in iNc-w Zealand —much worse than the Lyttelton tunnel, of which so much fuss was made, for tho latter was more commodious, and was level all through. Nothing could be done further than prohibiting the passage of such heavy trains as would necessitate two engines, and if, this rule which had been made were adhered to all would now be well. -

With reference to interviews with enginedrivers with regard to the Mihiwaka tunnel, Mr W, Maloney, in responding to the toast of Engine-drivers, Firemen, and Cleaners” at the annual smoke concert of the New Zealand Railway Officers’ Institute on the 9th, said: “I would like to refer to a certain matter in the paper dealing with what is taking place on the north road. 1 have done my share of the north road and the tunnel, and I have had as good a time as anyone else. I .think that what appeared in the paper to day is not an actual fact, and I hope the party who was foolish enough to give thac information to the press will be brought to book. The public of New Zealand has been led to look upon the service as an ideal one, and it is an ideal one, from officers downwards. For some time the rule has been successfully carried out that a single engine shall be used on the north road. I felt very much concerned, and, I think that every member of the service of any standing will feel the same. I must say to any young member of the service that, if he has a grievance, and will take it to his superior officer; he will have it remedied.”