IMPROVEMENTS ON THE WELLINGTON AND MASTERTON RAILWAY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 103, 8 March 1879, Page 2

IMPROVEMENTS ON THE WELLINGTON AND MASTERTON RAILWAY.

(From tho Evening Post.) An important experiment in the working of our railways is about to be tried on the Wellington and Masterton line, which, if it prove as successful as is hoped and expected, vrill inaugurate a great improvement in tho way of facilitating the conduct of the general traffic, increasing the convenience to the travelling public, and materially reducing wear and tear and other working expenses. We mentioned yesterday that an order bad been sent by the North Island Railway Department to Messrs Kitson and Co., of' Leeds, for an engine of two cars to work the short traffic. on our local railway. A brief description of the intended plan of ' operations

will bo of general interest, as the system, if successful, will be applied to. all tlio principal railways of Now Zealand, It is notorious that the slow average speed at which our railways are timed, and which is' a matter of such frequent complaint—not to Bay grunibiiiig, is rendered una* voidableby the delays caused by the numerous stoppages at way side stations to tako up or sot down perhaps only one or two passengers. These frequent stoppages are a serious matter for heavy through trains. In addition to the actual loss of time while standing at stations, the further loss in slackening and getting up speed respectively before and eac\ stoppage is very considerable. On the English lines it is generally calculated that four minutes is the average time actually lost in starting and stopping heavy express trains. Even allowing for the difference in the weight and speed of trains in New Zealand, half this loss, or two minutes, certainly must be counted on as the expense in time of each stoppage, exclusive of the actual delay while striding at stations, This will give some idea of the waste of time caused by stopping the heavy through trains bound to and from the Wairarapa, at every little wayside stations for two or three passcn ;ors. Of the 30 minutes allowed for i): ■ 7i miles between Wellington and Lwer Hutt fully 12 minutes must be accredited to these delays, leaving 18 as a respectable rate of speed, and as a matter of fact that is the time usually occupied in travelling over the distance, which has been covered in even one or two minutes les3 on special occasions. Nor is the loss of time the only disadvantage. The extra expense involved in wear and tear of rolling stock and in consumption of fuel is very large. Moreover several trains are run daily to and from Lower Hutt and intermediate stations only, the same heavy engines and carriages having to be used as those em(lloyed in the main Wairarapa traffic. Precisely the same observations apply to the suburban and other short traffic linesof Ohristehurch, Dunedin, Auckland, and Invercargill. It is obvious that an immense waste of power is involved in this mode of working besides the loss of time, and yet with the pattern of rollingstock at present in use it is not easy to see how this can be avoided. Clearly tho only way of overcoming the difficulty is to tako an entirely fresh departure. This is the view which suggested usolf to Mr Lawson, the Commissioner of Railways for the North Island, and he accordingly has initiated a plan which, as we have said, promises to inaugurate a complete revelation in the system of short-traffic-cess of the Wellington tramway, with its light handy little engines, its spacious and comfortable cars—so strong yet so trifling in weight, its quickness in getting up speed and in stopping has induced Mr Lawson to try the cxpiriment of working the railway between Wellington and Lower Huttwith similar engineswhichhaveshown themselves capable of attaining a speed over twenty mile an hour, and yet of stopping within a few yards, The gauge is precisely the same as that of tho railway, were the wheel flanges deeper the tramway engines and cars might run right through to the Hutt. It is throught, however, that a deeper flange would be necessary for safe running on the railway, while that would be impracticable on the tramway as reqnired a deeper groove in the rails, which would interfere with the ordinary road traffic. Thus special engines and cars would be needed on the railway. The former of course need not be" boxed in" as for the tramway work, and would not require the cumbersome condensing tanks, which add so much to the weight of the tramway so much to tho weight of the tramway engines. The cars tliemwould be very similar, differing only in being divided midway into first and second class compartments, in having wheels with deeper flanges, and in being carried on two bogie (or swivel) trucks, to facilitate passing round curves, The working expenses, . consumption of fuel, and wear and tear are found to be remarkably small. The. plan of working under the new system will be somewhat as follows The new engines and cars will be kept running almost constantly to and fro between Wellington and Lower Hutt, doing at least six or eight trips daily, making brief stoppages at all stations, and performing the journey in 25 minutes each way. The tramway cars probably would be arranged to meet eacli train, and would run alongside the railway cars, so that passengers would have merely just to step from one into tho other. Parcel could be conveyed with equal facility by the tramway and transferred to the railway cars, which will have a compartment for light goods, so that Wellington tradesmen could send out stores, Ac., to Kaiwarra, Ngahauranga, Petoni, and Hutt as easily as to any place in this city. This, of course, will increase to an almost infinite extent the facilities for residence out of town, and consequently will prove an immense boon to the Wellington citizens. On the other hand, the trains bound to Featherston and ultimately beyond, will not stop anywhere between Wellington and Lower Hutt, running through at full speed in about 15 minutes instead of 30, as at present, and with vastly less wear and tear and coal consumption. No doubt, if the plan is found to answer, it will be extended, and tho through trains relieved —as we pointed out frequently to be so desirable—of the necessity of stopping anywhere between Wellington and Upper Hutt, which distance then could be run easily in 35 minutes, instead of the 05 now occupied in transit. Thus the journey to Featherston could be done in 2i hours, and a proportionate reduction in time would bo practicable on the Christchurch, Dunedin, Auckland, and Inver- j cargill suburban and port lines, The experiment is a most important one, and its success, of which Mr Lawson is sanguine, will mark quite a new era in railway management. ■ I