To saveourrailnorthland@gmail.com
2024-09-27
My name is Monique Olivier. I am a recent Dutch immigrant. While doing some ancestry research with my second cousin we came across this letter home (to the Netherlands) dated 1951, describing a rail trip from Auckland to Wellsford, which I have translated from Dutch. I have edited out names for privacy at this stage, except that of my grandfather who was an engineer/director with Dutch Rail. I think the letter, which is quite entertaining, might have some historical value.
Kind Regards
Monique
New Lynn, Auckland, 9 February 1951
Dear boys!
At 10 o’clock there will be a train leaving for Welsford, according to the phone information. On the schedule notice board, which hangs in the quiet station of Auckland, this train does not exist, but that schedule is from 1947 and in the course of time things sometimes change in trains schedules, but it is not worth it to print a new schedule.
Arriving at the indicated platform there was indeed a train ready to go, a freight train with two carriages at the end. The whole thing is miniature; small tracks, small freight wagons and ditto the people carriages. All on two axles. At the right time a kind of alarm clock is
ringing on the platform, probably to wake the conductor and machinist driver. We board and we find ourselves with another 3 passengers spread over the 2 carriages. When the alarm clock stops, a type of ship’s bell rings, followed by the conductor’s whistle, answered by the locomotive with a deep sound. Now the conductor boards and extends his arm and hand with a green handkerchief outside. This gesture is once again answered with a blast of the steam whistle and the whole contraption starts moving. After 50 metres the arm with the green handkerchief is extended again and answered again with the deep blast of the steam whistle, and now the motion seriously takes off. No less than 25km/hr! To our fright we went through all the ‘unsafe’ signs until we discovered that ‘unsafe’ actually means ‘safe’, like everything that is back to front in this land, from sun and moon to signposts.
We have 75km ahead to Welsford and estimate that we will arrive around midday. In answer to our question as to what time we will arrive in Welsford the conductor answers with a friendly smile that he doesn’t know. It could be 5.30 or even 6 o’clock! First we thought that the joker was having us on, but after having gone through the first stations, we were wiser. The first station was on another line. After we stopped there to either let out or pick up nobody, we reversed a few miles until we were back on the right track, to, after half an hour delay, resume the journey full of courage. The whole ceremony of bell, whistle, toot, hanky, toot, hanky, toot was dutifully repeated at each station. Slowly the scenery became more mountainous and we rode through long tunnels (perhaps they weren’t that long, but we stayed inside a very long time) and sometimes we didn’t make the rise and would come, after a lot of huffing and puffing, to a standstill. After having made a lot more steam the train would struggle on at a snail pace, to then helter skelter, swinging and hopping, run down a slope, so we couldn’t stop at the next station in time. So we overshot it by several miles, but no panic, in reverse we went again!
After a few hours we arrived at a station with a double track. Here we had to wait for an oncoming train, because, by the way, the entire line is single track. Where the other train was, was still a mystery, so we just had to wait. And for how long! Exactly an hour. But we managed to get a cup of tea and biscuits in the small station. Meanwhile it looked like the other passengers had reached their destination or maybe they had come to the conclusion that walking might be faster. In any case, they were no longer there, so the rail people uncoupled one of the carriages, which possibly could benefit speed and save on fuel and materials.
Finally after this rest hour it was again bell, whistle, toot, hanky, toot, hanky, toot and off we went. It also sometimes happened that the bell, whistle and hanky didn’t work. Toot didn’t answer and locomotive didn’t move. That was because the machinist-driver knew a nice girl and would only respond to her sweet whistle! So a question of patience again!
Anyway, we finally arrived in one piece. It was 5 o’clock so that wasn’t too bad. We had covered a distance of 50 miles in 6 hours and 51 minutes; quite an achievement! Then the conductor told is this wasn’t an express train. That one only goes twice a week and is 2 hours faster. That must be frightening!
Anyway, by chance there was a return train at 7 o’clock that was amazingly fast, even beyond the expectation of the conductor, because we arrived back in Auckland at 1 o’clock at night. But that was because the conductor would ask the passengers (me and a young lady) before each station if someone needed to get off. Given all the passengers were headed for Auckland, the conductor’s aide would stick his hand out with the green handkerchief at each station, so we would race past. Hence we were home early that night.
I think the Netherlands Rail could take a page out of this rational rail transport. Perhaps Ir.(Engineer) Olivier can learn from this and apply it. Would it be an idea to do a study trip for the N.S. (Netherlands Rail)? Also they don’t have any outside signal posts, but a cunning system with small disks and clamps, suspended on racks along the track and which the machinist grabs and takes when passing. If there isn’t such a disk, then the next train can’t pass, because there will be a train in the next section; smart thinking!
OK, to the next letter. A firm paw shake
From your Father.
(Handwritten note: “My dad sent us this when we as boys were still living in the Netherlands. Classic, don’t you think? Not much has changed here, there are no longer any trains! I found this document when I was sorting old paperwork. )