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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 14, Issue 2 (May 1, 1939)

Modern Progress

Modern Progress.

As a member of the Railways Locomotive Staff for more than 30 years, Mr. Johnston has seen many changes in the personnel and in the rolling stock of the Service; a Service of longer trains and heavier engines that is to-day
(F. G. Fitzgerald, photo.) The Greymouth-Christchurch Express on the run down from Arthur's Pass to the Canterbury Plains. The Goldney Ridge of Mt. Rolleston, on the Main Divide, is shown in the left background.

(F. G. Fitzgerald, photo.) The Greymouth-Christchurch Express on the run down from Arthur's Pass to the Canterbury Plains. The Goldney Ridge of Mt. Rolleston, on the Main Divide, is shown in the left background.

largely mechanised by the modern system of electric signalling. Replacement of the old tablet system on the Main Trunk line has undoubtedly been a big step forward in Railway progress, while rendering the work of train crews more detailed.

With the strain of night-work at continued speed, a strain increased by the number of trains and crossings on the “road,” drivers of the “Limited” and the Expresses have attained a high standard of efficiency.

Of the thirty powerful “K” class locomotives in the North Island, ten are attached to the Auckland depot. These modern engines average 136 tons, as compared with the 84 tons of the older “AB's,” and increased power is certainly needed to handle the greater weight of the air-conditioned cars of to-day.

As New Zealanders, we have many reasons to be proud of our National Service, whose thin brown lines are the pulsating transport and commerce arteries of the Dominion's economic life. The pictured “K” locomotive inspires a parting thought of the efficient designers and builders in Railway Workshops throughout the country, who are the unseen creators of each modern engineering masterpiece that to-day worthily upholds the Service tradition: Safety First.”