THE STRATFORD LINE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4533, 6 February 1942, Page 8

THE STRATFORD LINE

REPAIRING FLOOD DAMAGE BIG BALLAST JOB More than 4000 yards of new ballast will be required for damaged portions of the Stratford-Okahukura line between Pohokura and Whangamomona, and work trains are running daily from the ballast pit at Wangaehu. The Stratford line was blocked by extensive storm damage on January 6, but is now open for through freight trains only. Though good progress is being made with the task of restoring the line to normal, train running for ordinary traffic purposes is still restricted to a 12-hour period from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. During daylight hours work trains only, under the direction of the maintenance branch, run between Pohokura and Kohuratahi, a distance of 11 miles. In this locality debris is still being cleared from the side of the permanent way, and where necessary the track is being re-ballasted. The major damage was done on the western and eastern sides of the Whangamomona tunnel, and though Xhe track has been cleared sufficiently to permit the passing of freight trains, under supervision, more work must be done before passenger traffic will be permitted. After torrential rain in the mountainous country near Whangamomona, tons of water and debris swept down the sides of the hills and carried away a retaining wall built to a height of 20ft. above the western portal of the tunnel.

The object of this retaining wall was to divert storm waters from the railroad track below, but when the wall was swept away a big slip blocked the permanent way and flood waters poured through the tunnel in a raging torrent. Some idea of the extent of the slip on the western side of the Whangamomona tunnel may be gathered from the fact that 9000 yards of spoil were removed in 10 days. On the other side of the tunnel a cutting was blocked for a distance of 15 chains.