Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 14, Issue 5 (August 1, 1939)

“Line Survived All Blows.”

“Line Survived All Blows.”

“The line was born to trouble, and it has had a hard passage all the way,” commented Mr. Semple. “It has had kicks and blows from man and from Nature. Earthquakes, floods and other troubles have delayed the work but it has survived all blows, and today we see it as a living reality. It represents the dreams of thousands come true at last.”

The necessity of reconstruction of work undertaken before the abandonment of the line had doubled the cost of some parts, the Minister continued. That applied to part of the £5,000 spent on the line to date. There were many interesting features to which attention might be directed, these including the Mohaka viaduct, which he believed on good authority, to be one of the highest of its type in the Southern Hemisphere, and one which had been erected in record time. It had a length of 905 ft., a height of 312 ft., and contained 1,900 tons of steel.

(Rly. Publicity photo.) One of the Standard Type Rail-cars for the Wairon line.

(Rly. Publicity photo.)
One of the Standard Type Rail-cars for the Wairon line.

The engineering talent and workman-ship were almost entirely contributed by New Zealanders, said Mr. Semple, and many of the men had been trained on the job under Mr. Haskell, who had the engineering supervision of this great work. In addition, other features of the railway construction had established new records.