HELP FROM RAILWAY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 18918, 21 January 1936, Page 9

HELP FROM RAILWAY

SOFT FRUIT PROSPECTS EXAMPLE FOR GISBORNE HAWKE’S BAY SERVICE A splendid example ot how Poverty Bay might benefit from the dispatch of soft fruits to outside markets when the railway is completed is given by the success of a night train service instituted recently in Hawke’s Bay. Frequent. reference has been made to the possibilities there are for developing a trade >vith quickly perishable products with outside districts, if a fast service oould be |arranged. but no actual example which could he applied lo Gisborne has been given, until an article describing Hawke’s Bay’s success was noticed.

Although Hawke’s Ray is 150 miles closer to Wellington and Taranaki centres than Gisborne, there is no reason why a fast goods service, could not link up with the night trains from Ilawko’s Bay and be equally effective for the growers of both districts. Hawke’s Bay picking for the night trains is done in the afternoon; Gisborne’s would have to tie done during the morning. The manner in which Hawke’s Bay is being served is described in the following article taken from the rUelegraph :

Large quantities of peaches and other stone fruit, and a proportion of Gravenstein apples are being sent on to outside markets in the Dominion by Hawke’s Bay fruitgrowers at the present stage, which is actually the busiest point in the stone fruit season. In this connection the evening freight service instituted by the Railway Department. is proving u great boon to the stone fruit industry in this district. Growers can now pick peaches in tlie afternoon, place them on the evening train, and they will he sold on the Wellington market before noon on the following day.

Figures supplied by the Railway Department, Hastings, provide a striking illustration of the quantity of fruit which leaves Hastings by these evening trains for the Manawaiu, Wellington, Wanganui. Taranaki and centres on tlie main trunk lines as far north as Liuinarumii. A proportion of the fruit leaves on the train at 5.9 and a heavier quantity on the 7.30 train in the evening. This latter train connects at Palmerston North with trains from Wanganui, New Plymouth and tlie main trunk stations, the west coast districts in particular being heavy consumers of Hawke's Bay fruit.

The fruit reaches Wanganui in the early morning, and ran actually lie on sale' in the shops within sixteen hours of picking. Consignments of fruit for the northern Taranaki points reach their destination during the afternoon. Tlie later train is found of great advantage by Hawke’s Bay fruit merchants, since they ran receive outside orders by the afternoon mail train and dispatch tlie fruit by tlie evening train. SUNDAY NIGHT SERVICE A Sunday night- service was inaugurated two' weeks ago, four tons of fruit being dispatched on the inaugural train. On the second Sunday, however, the quantity of fruit loaded had risen to no less than 25 tons. The fruit reaches Wellington in time for the market on Monday morning, and a prominent Hawke’s Bay peach grower stated, in the course of conversation, that, it was possible to pick peaches in ihe late afternoon, dispatch them by this train, and ring Wellington at noon tlie following day to find out. how they had sold.

As an indication of the quantities of fruit carried on the evening trains it is interesting to note that on Monday week no less than tons were carried —l4i tons on the 5.9 train and 50 tons on the 7.20 train.