FIRST TRAIN OVER

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 447, 1 June 1937, Page 5

FIRST TRAIN OVER

MOHAKA RIVER VIADUCT Unpretentious Visit Press Association —Copyright. Napier, June 1. Contact by railway between the north and south banks of the Mohaka River, which is spanned by the giant. Mohaka viaduct, the largest structure of its.' kind in :the southern hemisphere, has at. last been established. The first train 'to use the viaduct and cross the river made its run on .Saturday, but its successful passage was not the pretentious event which might have been expected as the culmination of so greajt Zin engineering accomplishment. It was, in fact, an exceedingly prosaic affair. The train consiffied of a Tighti motor-driven locomotive di.li.wing half a dozen trucks loaded with gear used in the construction of the line and! of the viladuct Itself. Supreme irony of the occasion and its circumstances is 'that the locomotive itself had in the first place been carried to the locality on the back of a motor lorry. Nevertheless, tho fact remains' ■that the Mohaka River has lat last been crossed by rail.