WAIRARAPA RAILWAY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 June 1938, Page 8

WAIRARAPA RAILWAY

STEAM TRAINS & RAIL-CARS. (To the Editor.) Sir,—As one who wishes to view the Coronation robes, I was interested in the special train that the Railways Department is running on Friday, but now the time-table is out I see that the train leaves at 7.23 a.m. and I want to know why so early. I have been informed that the special stands at Cross Creek for close on thirty minutes to allow the rail-car to go ahead. Now why cannot the special leave, say, five minutes after the rail-car, at 7.55 a.m., and I am quite sure that the train could still leave Cross Creek at 9 a.m. I am an old train traveller in Masterton and I believe in the good old steam train and I would like to know why the railways heads are making a chopping block of the steam train in favour of the new toy known as rail-cars. As anyone knows who travels on the Wairarapa railway, the steam train is every bit as fast and more comfortable to ride in, but, due to some mismanagement of the time-table, too much time is allowed at stations. This standing is the sole cause of trains taking four hours to reach Wellington. I have travelled on the rail-cars and to be sure of a seat you have to pay an extra shilling, but this does not mean that you have the sole comfort of the seat, as the Department, in their race for revenue, allow ten or a dozen passengers to stand and, due to the jerky riding of the cars, it means that these passengers are forced to sit on the arm rests and hang on the best way possible and the Department still charge full fare for this privilege, a thing that is not allowed on any service car. When the Trentham races are on, the Department put on a race special and it leaves at 7.23 a.m., so it seems that the makers of the timetables for the Wairarapa do not bother to find out the possibilities of speeding up the steam train, but still stick to the habit of copying year in and year out and it appears that the men engaged in compiling timetables do not know anything about train running or the speed of steam trains.— Thanking you, I am etc., STEAM TRAIN. Masterton, June 1.