Special train carriage for kids arranged

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 606, 3 October 1995, Page 4

Special train carriage for kids arranged

"A generous late offer from a business has allowed Main Trunk Rail Ohakune (MTRO) to add a special carriage to this weekend' s special train," MTRO president Bob Norling said last week. The carriage, named "Taupo", will be reserved for families and all children 1 0 and under accOmpanied by an adult will travel free. Recreating rail history, the "MTRO Twin-Peak Rail Explorer" train on 8 October, will be stopping at Heao on the Stratford-Okahukura branch line to mark 63 years since the line was officially opened in 1932 by the Rt Hon G W Forbes. The train will be stopping in close proximity to the Mangatete Tunnel where the two rail heads actually met. A photo-stop has been planned to commemorate the occasion — the driving of the "Silver Spike". The train will then travel to Tangarakau to view where the public works construction township was built, which serviced the enormous construction of railway cuttings, tunnels and bridges through this difficult and inaccessible country. A lunch stop is planned for Whangamomona, the train will then move through Taranaki, stopping at Patea and Marton before returning to Ohakune. The night before, on Saturday 7 October, official speeches and presentations mark the end of the train control office in Taumarunui. From 8 October train control will be operated from Wellington. The opening of Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) on the Main Trunk took place at Taihape on 31 March, 1963, and then to Taumarunui from Ohakune in 1977. MTRO will make a stop at T aumarunui to recognise and commemorate some of the history associated with the closing of these Train Control offices.