VITAL WAR SUPPLIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 March 1942, Page 4

VITAL WAR SUPPLIES

LOCOMOTIVES AND WAGGONS FOR RUSSIA. Shipments of vital war supplies to Russia are being speeded up by railway and road transport equipment sent to Iran from Britain. Since the beginning of September, a total of 142 locomotives and 1000 waggons have been or are being sent to Iran to strengthen transport facilities, especially on the Trans-Iranian railway. A number of lorries have also been sent, and will be operated by the United Kingdom Commercial Corporation. One of the most remarkable railways in the world, the Trans-Iranian line pierces mountain ranges in a barren, wild, earthquake-stricken country, almost inaccessible to most other forms of transport. Many gradients are as steep as 1 in 36, against the normal 1 in 200, and almost every known form of tunnelling is used. The building of the 1000 railway wagons was a great feat for those concerned. Standard gauge 12-ton steel framed, open waggons, their construction was divided among the various British railway companies. One works cut out the timber parts from logs, another stamped out the metal parts and furnished additional timber, while the Southern Railway were responsible for the assembly. With a staff of 130 men, 19 boys and 22 women, working in shifts night and day, 50 waggons were completed in 14 days, and the whole order of 1000 in 10 weeks. One waggon, consisting of 1800 separate parts, was completed every 37 minutes.