By Richard W. Heine

From Autumn 1979 Edition of N.Z. Railway Observer

The author describes the changed scene that he found in 1977, with special reference to the changes in the signalling and interlocking arrangements.

Part 3

ONE’s first impression on returning to Paekakariki after 27 years is how little the actual station buildings have changed. The railway houses along the western sidings have gone and left an unformed expanse of gravel where commuters from north of Paekakariki can park their cars. The locomotive shed is still there – or is it? A closer inspection shows that it is in fact a reincarnation, remarkably similar, but shifted a neat one locomotive road to the west, while the water tank has wandered from a position south of the shed to one adjacent to the turntable at the north end ( both events the work of a preservation society, Steam Incorporated ). The refreshment room doors have been shut for ten years, and now it is "coffee, orange juice, or beefsteak tea" 35000 feet above, at the end of the vapour trails.

I walk with my two young children, Victoria and James, from the road crossing towards the South signal box. Crossover 12 ( see Fig 3 ) has been removed, as has the "dog leg" from the east loop. Signals 10A and 10B have gone, and signal 5-18 moved to the station side of Beach Road on the eastern side of the loop. The banner signals 13B and 21B have been replaced by two-aspect colour-light ground signals, and 13A has vanished. At North Box, crossover 6 has been lifted – although the overhead catenary still gives the show away – along with crossover 14, and trains can now enter the former north backshunt directly from the down main via a new turnout 17 under low-speed light 13 ( 17 and 13 levers were not in use in 1950 ). The Down Home "B" unit is now a fixed red, like the Up Home.

For the first time we climb the steps of the South Box – the inner sanctum – and meet one of the signalmen, Colin Lock, who has been here since the early 1960’s. Of the 24 levers, 10 are now painted white, indicating that they are not in use. The equipment reflects the ravages of successive modifications since the frame was first installed, probably about 1910, and the same comment applies to North Box. The use of key switches for some signals, such as the Up Advanced Starting signal 47, reflects the difficulties of updating relatively inflexible ( in so far as their interlocking is concerned ) mechanical frames, which after all were originally installed for a single main line and crossing loop, and for trains drawn only by steam locomotives. A somewhat gross example of this inflexibility is the sight of lever 11 ( the former facing points lock – F.P.L. – on the now defunct crossover 12 ) welded permanently in its reverse position. It must be mildly irritating to be unable to have a nice neat row of upright levers any more!

Levers 14, 15 and 17 all control motor points, and have done so since the line was duplicated in 1940. These levers have about 300mm cut off them to prevent an over-enthusiastic signalman applying a mechanical-points sized pull and finishing up in a heap on the opposite side of the cabin. Lever 8 is unusual in that it has recently been modified to control motor points while at the same time continuing to directly operate the associated trap points mechanically.

The Home signals 2, 19A and 23A have clockwork time releases fitted to them. These are activated by twisting a projecting knob in order to release the interlocking 1 ½ minutes after a deliberate cancelling of any "proceed" indication. The Starting signals 3, 5 and 7A are approach-locked through mechanical time locks in the frame, but signal 22 is not approach-locked. An "approach lock" prevents the signal lever from being returned to the full normal position in the face of a train approaching the signal until a 1 ½ minute time delay has elapsed, and prevents the interlocking being freed during that period. In both situations the signal lever can only be restored to the half-cocked position ( known technically as the normal checklock position ) during the 1 ½ minutes. While the lever is in the normal checklock position, the signal itself remains at red but the frame remains locked. In the normal course of events, the approach locking is automatically released when the train enters on to the section of track beyond the signal. At Paekakariki, the clearing of the Down Starting signal also actuates the road crossing warning bells and barrier arms when the approach track is occupied.

Colin moves to the frame and pulls over levers 14 and 19 to allow the 4:00 p.m. "Ew" hauled suburban train from Wellington to come in to berth on track A2 at the Down platform, using the low-speed light 19A. Bringing this train to the Down platform is necessary in order to keep the Up Main clear for the two following trains to Paraparaumu. We walk along the platform to where the "Ew" ( the "Ed’s" have all but gone from this line ) has stopped in front of ground signal 1A. The shunter releases the North Box frame, a 20-lever frame with six levers painted white and only one, 17, controlling motor points. The only way to get this locomotive around its train is to take it forward on to the Up Main beyond ground signal 2. From there it will run back along the Up Main to track A3, and then forward again through crossover 14. The shunter throws lever 11 over and clears ground signal 1A with the key switch referred to earlier. It is interesting to note that the F.P.L. is not reversed to lock the points for this movement, so that while the blades are individually detected, they are not locked.

"Would the children like a ride ? " says the driver, and of course we all climb into the cab. The locomotive moves ahead with literally finger-tip control, the triple bogies riding ever so smoothly, and we stop beyond signal 2. Presumably, I suppose, we all now troop to the other end, but not a bit of it. Looking nonchalantly ahead, we reverse southwards along the Up Main, accelerating at a great rate ( reflecting the power of this class of locomotive ), and shoot past signal 7A and across the road with the bells ringing to stop finally in front of signal 54L on the Down Main. This signal is under the control of the CTC operator in Wellington. Well I wonder how on earth that driver knew 7A was clear for him, and why he was so confident that the line was clear, until eventually I release that it was all done by mirrors – two large ones on each side – but I swear he never turned his head! Colin restores crossover 15 to normal and pulls lever 19 to give us a low-speed light on 19B, and we move forward to couple up to the south end of the train.

The 4:27 p.m. from Wellington, first stop Porirua, is a "Da" hauled carriage train arriving at 5:16. After a brief stop it continues on to Paraparaumu to arrive there at 5:27. The "Da" banking locomotive stationed at Paekakariki, which has been standing in front of signal 5 all this while on track C2, must now be positioned for the next train, so it retraces the route we followed a few minutes previously and comes to a halt just beyond the Up Starting signal 22. Twenty minutes later the 4:50 p.m. from Wellington ( a six-coach EMU, first stop Paremata, after Kaiwharawhara ) arrives, and we now witness the changing of locomotion 1977 style. The "Da" moves back under a hand signal and couples to the three leading coaches of the EMU, whose electrical auxiliaries, lights, doors, etc., must now be powered from batteries during the run to Paraparaumu and back. As it is about to depart, a deep gong sounds in the South Box signifying that the "Da" hauled carriage train, on its return journey from Paraparaumu to Paekakariki, has entered the single-line section of track south of Paraparaumu.

The "Da-EMU" combination departs to arrive at its destination 14 minutes after its arrival at Paekakariki, and presently the carriage train arrives back at platform 2, the "Ew" carriage train having left meanwhile, at 5:30 p.m., for Wellington. It is shunted on to the west sidings which, in my experience, have always been used for suburban car storage, and the "Da" remains overnight. After a brief five-minute turn-round at Paraparaumu, back comes the "Da-EMU" combination as a scheduled service, the EMU coaches are placed on the west sidings along with the three that had been left behind, and the banker "Da" is repositioned to repeat the performance with the 5:27 p.m. Wellington-Paekakariki EMU due in at 6:18.

Non-suburban trains don’t stop at Paekakariki now, except when required for passengers, crew changes, or goods shunting. For most travellers, Paekakariki is just a reduction in train speed and the clanking of yet another set of road crossing bells, unnoticed by people in a hurry. New welded rail lies alongside the Up platform, waiting to replace the existing rail.

Inevitably South Box and North Box – both so modified already that they need restoration as museum pieces – must be pushed into rubble and replaced by a small black panel in the station office. Then only memories will remain. Eventually electrification of the Main Trunk, perhaps not until the next century, will obviate locomotive changes, or will it ? When the Main Trunk is finally electrified, the present 1,5kV d.c. system is unlikely to be used, because it is economically obsolescent. The new system in all probability will be 25kV or 50kV a.c. Will it then become a case of exchanging one electric locomotive for another at Paekakariki ?