NZ's Railcars

len.george(63)

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The six NZ Railcars were built in the Hutt Railway workshops between 1936 and 39, each car had two compartments, each seating 36 Second Class, or 12 First Class and 16 seats Second Class.

RM 31 Image Source

Classified as RM [Rail Motor.]

The two class cars were later altered to all second class seating.

They were powered by two diesel engines mounted on the bogies.

During their service they wore out three sets of engines, the original Leyland engines were replaced with Meadows engines, [6 cylinders, 114 HP [85 Kw] each]

The initial introduction was into the Wellington to Wairarapa line and later to provide regional service in other areas of the North Island.

From Wellington to New Plymouth, followed by Wairoa to Napier with a Sunday return service Napier to Wellington

These railcars were withdrawn in 1972, and 4 of them have been preserved in the hands of railway enthusiasts.

The record run for the railcars was 321Km from Napier to Wellington in September 1938, when RM 30 covered the distance in 4 hours and 38 minutes.

In 1967 RM 30 took a group of enthusiasts from Auckland to Wellington in 9 hours and 26 minutes, [running time 8 hours and 42 minutes]

Each of the railcars were named after the Maori canoes

RM 30 was Aotea, still operational,

RM 31 was Tokomaru, and was returned to mainline standards in 2011,

RM 32 was Pangatoru, was displayed in the Te Awamutu Railway Museum, it was moved to Te Rapa for an overhaul that never eventuated, then it was moved to Glenbrook, south of Auckland, and is being restored.

RM 33 was Takitimu, purchased by John Murphy in December 1972 for preservation, He was forced to scrap this machine as he was unable to look after it.

RM 34 was Tainui, is undergoing an overhaul at Silver Stream Railyard, Wellington

RM 35 was Tikitere, purchased by John Murphy in December 1972, due to an accident in its last few months operation the frame was bent beyond his ability to repair. It was scraped with RM 33

The original railcars were a success so a further 35 were ordered from Drewry Car Co, in England, for delivery in January 1955 to 1957.

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These were numbered RM100 to RM134

These were a larger 88 seat, articulated railcar, powered by two Fiat 700 040 6 cylinders, horizontally opposed, diesel engines producing 420 HP [310 Kw], downrated to 370 HP [280 Kw] for extended life.

The engines had an overheating problem, leaving the railcars running 20 to 30 minutes late, every 2 or 3 days, with frequent fires on surrounding farmlands and foliage.

In 1968 a refurbished railcar, with a reduced number of seats, with a two-tone blue paint job was labelled the “Blue Streak”, and offered on board “light” catering, including drinks, for the first time since dining cars had been withdrawn as a World War 1 economy measure.

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Inside the Blue Streak in 1985.

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By July 1977 the railcars had become so unreliable, and the patronage had reduced to below a sustainable level, so they were withdrawn.

Two halves of RM121 are being restored at Pahiatua,

RM 121 Image Source

with the No 1 end of RM 133 and the No 2 end of RM 115 also being under covered storage at Pahiatua.

The remainder we either scrapped or used as offices in various locations.

A night time trip

Passing from the well-lit car where the passengers were lounging, reading and playing cards as they sped towards their goal at more than a mile a minute.

They hadn't a care.

To them, travelling consisted of stepping into the car as it drew up beside a platform and making themselves comfortable until it pulled into their destination, but sitting beside me now was the man in whose care they were.

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He gave not the slightest sign of how he regarded this responsibility.

He sat in silence, his hands resting on the simple controls, his eyes glued to the track where the great white beam, turned slightly to the right to pick up the mile and chainage posts, lit it up with the brightness of day.

There was no doubting his knowledge of the line.

Long before a curve could be seen he had eased the throttle back so that that there was no need for sudden braking.

A slight sway and we were round, the throttle went forward again, and the speedometer needle crept back to 60.

As we rounded one curve a dim yellow light could be seen ahead and beyond it a green.

The guard put out the tablet, we flashed beneath the yellow light, then the green light, and clicked through the points, the new tablet clashed home, a blur of light, another set of points, and we were on the open line again.

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Behind us, the porter was ringing the next station to advise that we were
coming, but to all appearances, we were a world apart, a group of travellers rushing through the night with their safety in the hands of one man, the driver.

We were climbing now and the buzz of the engines became a whine as he switched in the converter.

Up a grade where steam trains hiss, snort and struggle, we did an easy 20 m.p.h.

Through a deep cutting and we were over the top, on our way down the other side.

There was hardly a tremor in the car as we swept round the long curves and ran roaring out across a viaduct on to the long straight beyond.

We were going faster now, as mile after mile the parallel metals ribboned into the headlamp as we hurtled through the gloom.

Far away on our left could be seen the twin lamps of a motor car and occasional pinpricks of light showed some farm-house set back from the line.

Then in the distance, there was a cluster of lights against the black of the night, with rising columns of white smoke could be dimly discerned.

Groups of red lights with our solitary green in their midst came into view, and soon we were gliding through the points to pull up alongside the platform.

The passengers gathered up their belongings and descended.

The driver sat and waited to take her back to the shed.

For me it had been a thrilling experience, for him … just another trip.

Some Info From

The first of the below posts has a list of the previous posts of Maori Myths and Legends

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/how-war-was-declared-between-tainui-and-arawa

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-curse-of-manaia-part-1

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-curse-of-manaia-part-2

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-legend-of-hatupatu-and-his-brothers

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/hatupatu-and-his-brothers-part-2

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-legend-of-the-emigration-of-turi-an-ancestor-of-wanganui

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-continuing-legend-of-turi