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Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 68, 22 March 1935, Page 9

Railway Freights. Mr. F. W. Aickin, counsel for the New Zealand Railways Board, in his submission during the appeals before the Transport Co-ordination Board, said that coal formed 25 per cent, of the railway tonnage, and was distributed in fairly regular volume throughout the year. Back loading was available for only a portion of the vehicles, and train loads of empty trucks were regularly worked to the mines. The manure traffic formed 10 per cent, of the total tonnage, and, as a considerable portion was landed in large cargoes at irregular intervals, it caused acute peaks of short duration. The distribution of the finished product .was also subject to, wide fluctuations. In 1933-34 the quantity of raw material and fertiliser carried varied between 18,000 tons in November and 54,000 tons in March in the North Island, and between 4800 tons in January and 29,000 tons in November in the South Island. Large live stock was the third largest itbm of freight on the railways. Shipping traffic was a source of widely unbalanced and fluctuating demand, and it was not uncommon for several vessels to work the same port one day and none on the following day.