APPEAL OF STEAM.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20541, 16 February 1935, Page 11

APPEAL OF STEAM.

Children Insist on “ Puffing Billy.” SUNDAY SCHOOL PICNICS. Nothing so commonplace as an electric tram would do the children of the Beckenham Methodist and Rugby Street Methodist Sunday Schools for their annual picnic. They wanted something far more impressive and they had their own way. This morning they travelled on old topdeck trailers hauled by a “ puffing billy ” which, despite its 56 years of service on the Christchurch tramways, swept them along as fast as ever it went. The old engine, which has been relegated to quarry and maintenance work for many years, was resplendent in bright green paint and polished metal work as it slipped through the Square this morning. It was far more dignified than any modern steam engine. There was not puffing and snorting—it glided without any apparent effort. The Beckenham Methodists went to Riccarton and although the morning was overcast and chilly, nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of the children. And the Rugby Street children were just as happy. They laughed unrestrainedly as they sped through the Square on their way to the foot of the hills. It was the first time for many years that a steam engine had travelled on the Papanui line, yet it was on that line that, half a century ago, the same engine, then described as “ the best tramway engine in the world ” made its first run. The children of the Somerfield School were not nearly so fortunate. They required eleven electric trams to take them to the Riccarton Racecourse and apparently the bright idea of resuscitating the old steam engine did not occur to them. The children from the Edgeware Road Methodise Sunday School also held a picnic, blit their travelling was done in electric cars, three loads being taken to New Brighton.