ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17013, 11 April 1923, Page 4

ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES.

HAULED THROUGH OTIRA TUNNEL. (Special to the ‘“'Star.”) OTIRA, April 10. The six eleotrio locomotives which have been built at the Addington Workshops for use on the electrified section of the railway connecting the Weet Coast with Canterbury, arrived at Otira to-day and they are to undergo exhaustive trials before being used for tiie haulage of the traffic through the tunnel.

The arrival of the locomotives marked an important step towards the opening of the lirte, but the general concensus of opinion here is that the tunnel will not be opened for through passenger traffic until June at least, and possibly later. "When the Hon J. Gh Coates (Minister of Public Works), inspected the tunnel early in February, he stated that the tunnel would probably be open for urgent goods traffic in March, and for passenger' traffic in April, after the Easter holidays. Subsequently a statement, described as emanating from semi-official circles in "Wellington, was published to the effect that the opening would take place about May 5. Those prophecies are regarded by prominent officials here as being wide of the mark, and it seems quite certain that the opening date will be at least a month later than anticipated. Apart from t?ae electrical work, the line front, Arthur’s Pass to Otira is practically ready to carry traffic. About a day’s ballasting work requires to be done yet, and the station yards require finishing off. but the electrical work, which must necessarily proceed slowly, is still a fair distance behind The power house at Otira, where the electricity for the locomotives is generate 1 by a steam generating plant, is virtually oompleted, and is already running on the lighting sets. The steam turbines have been put through a number of tests, and have responded most satisfactorily so no trouble is anticipated ns far as they are concerned, but the work of installing the overhead wiring is only partially completed and it is estimated that it will be another month before all the overhead wires are ready to be used. Until that is done the electric locomotives cannot be put through their complete tests. EXHAUSTIVE TESTS. Before they will be used for the haulage of traffic through the tunnel

they will be tried out on the grades with loads ofl various weights and the drivers who have already received three week’s theoretical training will have to satisfy the engineers that they have a thorough practical knowledge. In the meantime t-he locomotives will be submitted to a number of tests in tlie power house, where they are now housed. Although the trolly wires have been installed in the tunnel no power is yet available, and the locomotives, when they were brought through to-day, “ coasted ” down the line, which has a drop of one in thirty-three from Arthur’s Pass to the Otira end. A small steam locomotive was taken through from Otira in order to supply the braking -ower for the electric locotives when coming through the tunnel. In order to minimise the smoke nuisance in the up grade to Arthur’s Pass the steam engine was hauled through by one of the small Jeffreys electric motors, which used the narrow gauge only. In the trip to Otira the Westinghouse brake from the steam engine was connected to the electric locomotives. This precaution was taken solely as an extra safeguard against mishap, and was not absolutely necessary. -Mr A. J. Jeffs, representative engineer for the contractors, the English Electric Company, Ltd., who has supervised the construction of the locomotives at Addington, made the journey from Christchurch on Monday, and, on arrival at Otira to-day, he expressed himself as thoroughly satisfied with the way they had stood up to he journey, especially as it was the first time they had been subjected to such a strain. Of the six locomotives five are for use in the haulage of trains and one, which has a battery engine and is independent of the overhead wires, will be used for shunting purposes and for repair work. The battery locomotive has not the same power as the others and could not haul more than 140 tons weight. In cases of absolute emergency it is possible that it might be used for work in the tunnel. The haulage of urgent goods through the tunnel before the line is opened for regular traffic is a matter of doubt, the authorities holding the opinion that it would lie to handle traffic before everything is completed. PUSHING ON. Although the electrical part of the work is not as far advanced as the other work in connection with the line. Mr IT. S. GreenshieJds, the sub-con-tractor in charge of the power station and overhead wiring, has been pushing it forward with all reasonable speed. The greatest drawback has been the very unfavourable weather experienced this year. Until Easter the weather

was very broken, and during the past week there was a considerable amount of rain. When inquiries are made as to the probable date of completion of any particular class of work, the usual reply received is: “It depends entirely on the weather. If it is fine rapid progress will be made, but if it is wet progress will be slow.” This applies particularly to the overhead wiring which has to be carried out comparatively slowly. At the Arthur’s Pass end hardly any overhead wiring has been done except in the tunnel, but at Otira the feeder wires have been fixed about the power house, nine of the trolley wires have been fixed at Otira, but the bracket arms are not •>1» ia position yet. The station buildings at Otira are completed, except for the drainage, and that will not take much longer. At Arthur’s Pass a start has now been made in shifting the. station buildings to the new site. In the meantime, the old station building from Springfield which has ben replaced by a- new and thoroughly up-to-date structure, is doing duty until the new line is ready. NO OPENING BEFORE JUNE. To sum the matter up, if the electrical part of the line were ready it would be possible for trains to be taken through the tunnel in a week’s time. Viewing the matter from the present stages that- the work has reached-, it is highly improbable that the openiug ceremony can be hold before June, am: it is doubtful if a regular service could be maintained until the end of June. Several officials who were approached by a “ Lyttelton Times ” reporter to - day regarding the probable date of but the more likely month is June.. A proposed timetable for the line has teen drawn up, but is being kept a departmental secret- until such time as an official announcement can be made. In the meantime the coaches that carry the passengers over the bea-uti-Ttil mountain country between the existing teVminus of the lines can safely reckon on an extra lease of life until June instead of May. as previously anticipated. Despite the Minister’s announcement that urgent goods traffic would be taken through the tunnel in March, practically nq goods except what have been required for the work ; of construction have been carried up to the present.