NEW RAILWAY STATION

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18582, 17 December 1934, Page 13

NEW RAILWAY STATION

WELLINGTON'S FACILITIES FOUNDATION STONE LAID DUKE PERFORMS CEREMONY * ~" (Per iprea'S Association.; WELLINGTON, this day. The weather was brilliantly fine for the Duke of Gloucester's third day in Wellington. His first official act of the morning was the laying of the foundation stone of the new Wellington railway station at 11 a.m. f In anticipation of the Duke s passage 'through the streets, crowds, necessarily smaller than those of Saturday, congregated at different points to .cheor the occupant of the Royal car as he passed. There was a dense concourse, of people in the vicinity of the railway station site, the crowd extending back into Bunny street and to the. slopes and grounds of"'Parliament House. _ On his arrival, His Royal Highness was given another magnificent reception. ' In 'the presence of a . distinguished gathering, the Prince declared the •foundations well and truly laid. A feature, of the ceremony was the presentation on behalf of the Government of an exquisitely executed ink ■stand, with a top of greenstone, inset into a stand of New Zealand honeyWtckle. On the back, surmounted by TWe Royal arms, is a complete nine carat gold model to scale of a K locomotive. In front of the stand is a gold inkwell. Encasing the stand was a casket of New Zealand woods. Before proceeding to Parliament House for the State luncheon, His Royal Highness visited the Returned Soldiers' Association, the United Service, Commercial. Travellers, and Wellesley clubs. A* rousing reception was accorded the Duke at the Returned Soldiers' Club, the ex-service men standing on the steps of the Farmers' Institute and lustily cheering him. At Hie four clubs he visited, in addition to cheering (-{is Royal Highness, members sang "For lie's a Jolly Good Fellow." The State luncheon at Parliament House was most impressive, the decorations, which were purely floral, being exceedingly beautiful. AN UP-TO-DATE STATION At the railway station, the Et. Hon. G. W. Forbes stated that the building had been designed on most modem lines, embodying every feature of railway station construction that had been developed to facilitate the working of traffic. The building itself rested on 1700 concrete piles of varying length, and would be of steel frame construction with reinforced concrete floors and brick walls. It would be entirely fireproof, and was designed to allow a continuous flow of suburban and main lino traffic to move without hindrance to one another. The whole rearrangement of railway facilities vat Wedlingtoii; had been so designed as to bring tiio station as near the city as possible, and from the location in which the building was being erected it would be seen that Wellington citizens were to be congratulated on the proximity of this great facility to. the centre of the city. The f tract price ftfr the building was 9,173, and this was the largest buildcontract which so far had been let in the history of the Dominion. In addition to the building itself, there would be platforms and verandahs which would cost £30,0C0. Mr. Forbes mentioned that; associated with the erection of the. building was the construction of the new railway outlet from Wellington, joining up with .the present line at Tawa Flat, and the electrification of the- i,ino between Wellington and Paekakariki. When the whole of the works were completed, Wellington would be very favorably situated in regard to railway, facilities. In the construction of tho building, materials of New Zealand manufacture were being used to the greatest possible extent, and where suitable materials of Dominion manufacture were not available, Empire products were being used. The building would be, entirely constructed of materials manufactured within the Empire, and besides providing all facilities for the railway station, the building would also include new administrative offices.

-33 YEARS,' PROGRESS

. Mr. Forbes referred to the fact that the foundation stone of the present administrative was laid 55 years ago by the Duke of Cornwall and York, » the present King. The great development which had taken place in connec- ; tion wjtb, railway business since that ! foundation stone was laid resulted in | the building becoming totally inadequate for the requirements, and the opportunity had' heen taken of the erection of the station to provide administrative offices which would enable all the various branches of the railway administration to be located in one building. present building would be taken over by the Government for the housing of other Government departments. ■j In laying the foundation stone, the *flKHke said: "I am very pleased to have Ixfen invited, to lay the foundation stone of'the new railway station for the capital city of New Zealand. It is in the nature of things that the growing population and increasing demands made upon the railways by a busy port should have rendered necessary an up-to-date station with fully equipped sidings and yards. After many years of service, the old station is no longer adequate for the present-day requirements, hut the sentimental may well sigh over the passing of such a landmark of the history of Wellington. "The site of this station has been won from the sea Ivy reclamation, a form of enterprise, which has besides added much to the area available for the building, and has been of great value to this city. In these altered circumstances, T imagine that tho harbor master may now become the station master, and the pilots engine drivers, while it would not have been unfitting if f bad been given a bottle- of champagne with which (o launch this new concern. "But tn any case, vl sincerely trust that the skill and enterprise shown in the construction of Ibis station will be rewarded bv surveys' fulfilling the bones and the people of Wellington."