THE RAILWAY.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 109, 6 October 1874, Page 3

THE RAILWAY.

To the Editor of the Globe.

Sir, —It is beyond a doubt that the system of railway management here is disorganised. Further, the present provincial authorities have shown that they are incompetent to carry out the duties required in that department ; indeed, they have proved themselves incapable of their position, unless it is to play second fiddle. Witness the muddle in the time-table and fares, neither of which, in my opinion, meet the public convenience, but only the accommodation of a few. Fancy the existing confusion of divided interests between the Secretary of Public Works and railway engineer and railway manager, and the fact that the two latter have, I believe, to refer everything to the former, who is very well in his way, but all at sea in railway management, and has besides plenty of other work to engage his full attention if he attends to it. Behold the check given to traffic on the North line ! See how it paralyses this trio. When we had an experienced manager avc ought to have kept him ; he certainly Avas all there on an emergency, as Avell as Avhcn affairs ran smooth or a public luncheon Avas about. Although perhaps careless about sending

traffic returns and furnishing official bulletins on the state of the lines to the morning newspapers, yet Air Marsliman did more real work, and is to be credited with conducting the railway department ten times better than it is now being managed. Why, if one wants information, or lias a complaint, one is bandied from pillar to post, Mr Acting Alanager refers to the Secretary for Public Works, and Air Secretary, &c., passes the matter on to Air Railway Engineer, .and after being thus referred to and referred back, people are glad to do without the information or withdraw their complaint. But to come to the North line. Imagine the anomalous state of things now existing. A petty Hood—quite a miniature affair, in fact, compared with Hoods in the home country or America—simply a trilling overflow from the Waimakariri, has made its way to a sandy flat at Chainey’s, across which sand flat the engineers in their infinite wisdom made the railway. This surplus water Alls up one side of the formation, which formation is comprised of sand comixed with shingle. The flood percolates through it and forces here and there little channels till it reaches a level on the other side. Across this valley no precautions whatever have been taken to prevent the line sinking, supposing that in very Avct weather the holloAV might be filled with Avater, and after a similar stoppage last March, Avlien it was plainly evident the overfloAV of the river would come in that direction, the formation was simply made up in the usual Avay, no culverts put in, and no Auaduct made of short piles to let the Uoav escape at any future period. A Veil, this time the first and AA'orst damage is to a length of formation under twenty - tAvo sleepers, scoured away to a depth of Bft to 10ft; then comes a half-a-dozen little places, under three or four sleepers each, part of the formation at other short intervals is soft, and finally a hole under ten sleepers about 12ft in depth. This damage occurs Avitbin a distance of a mile, but put altogether Avould not extend more than a few chains. And, oh dear ! the traffic must he stopped ! and Air Maude must be sent for, and Air Warner must come, and Air Jones, then Air Cavruther’s opinion must be procured ; and, oh my! such a fuss before anything can bo done to repair damages. All these gentlemen haA*e to report and re-report, inspect, and reinspect, and heaven alone knows Avhat else they do before a harroAvful of dirt can he tipped into the gaps. The traffic has to he stopped from Tuesday night till the next Monday morning—nearly a full Aveek. The damage at Flaxton is similar, and the line there closed four days. Anyone A\ r ho has seen the damage Avill be surprised that it Avas not repaired during Tuesday night, or next day at any rate. Why elseAvhere tAvo heavy trains can meet, telescope, and pile hundreds of tons dead Aveight on the line, tear up rails, sleepers, and embankments, yet the line Avill be cleared and put in order in a few hours. In England and America it is nothing ucav for railway embankments to be damaged by floods, but Avhoever heard of five or six days’ delay over such a petty concern as this, and a single line of rail only. Directly an accident happens in the countries referred to, (probably the raihvay people may never have read of such performances) relays of men and ballast trains are telegraphed for, (here avc have plenty of trains, material, and men), and before the news of the accident reaches the nearest neAVspaper office, and I knoAV, sir, you newspaper folks can do some smart things too, the injured line is right, and traffic through. It Avould astonish you to see the little damage done, and consider Avhat a quiet lot of people there are still living to submit to the inconveniences of a drowsy raihvay management. I may as Avell give an instance of some of our existing inconveniences. During this block it costs 11s to A’isit Christchurch and return, Avhere by rail the fare was 4s, A'iz., you pay 2s Gd each Avay to Kaiapoi, 2s each Avay from Kaiapoi to Chaney’s, and 2s return ticket Chainey’s—Christchurch. In regard to this, I may say that in other countries Avlien a raihvay is stopped by accident, the company put on other coiweyauces for passengers and the mails, charging the former the usual raihvay fares ; but the Canterbury Government seem to he too far behind the rest of the world to consider these matters. A suggestion was made in your columns that a passenger trolly might have been employed conveying passengers betAveen Flaxton and Chainey’s. Certainly it could, and for a great part of the distance could have been drawn by horse, like the old dandy, accomplishing the distance in half an hour. Passengers could, by that means, have been conveyed to or from Rangiora to Christchurch Avithin lb 10m, but uoav the time taken up on the road is 2h 40m. One word in reference to the mails : 1 suppose the General Government Avill pay extra for the conveyance of the mail bags during this stoppage, and I certainly think it Avould be more to the credit of the postal officials if they had shoAvn themselves equal to an emergency, instead of allowing the mails to be pitched on an open trolly at Chainey’s, and then scrambled about at Kaiapoi ; they ought to have engaged some responsible person Avith a conveyance to take the mails at Chainey’s and forward them. I have more than once observed the exceedingly careless manner in which mails are pitched into the “boot” of coaches, and other packages throAvn on to them. Here I must conclude by asking you to excuse the length of my letter, as the subject is one of no small importance to the Northern district. Yours, &c., A. G. Rangiora, 2nd October, 1874.