RAIL-CAR SERVICE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume IV, Issue 37, 23 January 1936, Page 4

RAIL-CAR SERVICE.

Wellington-New Plymouth j j Trips In May. 1 I 1 i j announcement BY RAILWAY I OFFICIAL. I The Wellington-New Plymouth rail- j car service will probably be in oper- j ation. in May, not in March as at first i expected, according to Mr P. W. Miller, district traffic manager of railways at Wanganui. At Stratford last night Mr Miller said that he had no very definite information of the progress of their construction, but he understood that the under-frames were | practically completed. The cars are being built at the Ilutt workshops. It has been decided to run rail-cars six nights a week (Sunday to Friday inclusive) in both directions. Cars will leave Wellington at 11 p.m. and arrive at New Plymouth at G. 32 a.m. —thus taking 71 hours for the journey. They will leave New’ Plymouth at 10.48 p.m., arriving at Wellington at 0.30 a.m., taking approximately 7| hours for the journey. At present the day expresses average 9:7 hours. For the Taranaki-Wel-lington run, three cars will be required. They will be heavier and of greater capacity than the cars of the Wellington - Masterton - Palmerston North service, as their construction is not subject to factors which have to be considered in operating traffic over the Rimutaka incline. Carry 56 Passengers. Each car will weigh 28 tons fully loaded and will carry 50 passengers and up to one ton of luggage. Worked by two 130-h.p. Leyland 10-litre, sixcylinder petrol engines, the cars will, it is claimed, be capable of 70 miles per hour, as the engine will drive through a fluid gear and combined bevel and spin gear, with two pairs of driving wheels at the rear. The cars have four-wheel bogies at each end. Westinghouse air brakes are fixed and at each side, at the front of the car, is an air-operated, drivercontrolled door. There are also emergency doors at the rear. Electric lighting and heating with hot air circulated by sand are installed, and special roof ventilation is arranged, The sea|:s are of a tabular framed pattern with chromium plating and foot rests. The floor is rubber covered and the exterior finish is in the New Zealand railways standard midland lake, with aluminium roof. Except for the body panelling, which is of aluminium, the whole car is of steel construction. The cars will have smoking and non-smoking compartments. The six cars on (ho other route will each seat 4fl passengers. They are six-wheeled cars and are single-en-gined.