In Service
The EC class handled all duties from Christchurch to Lyttelton. They were capable of handling 600-ton freight trains and the famous Boat Train, known colloquially as the 'Jackaroo', which regularly loaded up to 400 tons. Early problems with motor flashover and armature shaft fractures during transition from series to parallel meant that the parallel connections were removed, halving the voltage to the motors and reducing the running speed to 42km/h.
Read more about this topic: NZR EC Class
Famous quotes containing the word service:
“Old books that have ceased to be of service should no more be abandoned than should old friends who have ceased to give pleasure.”
—Peregrine, Sir Worsthorne (b. 1923)
“In the early forties and fifties almost everybody “had about enough to live on,” and young ladies dressed well on a hundred dollars a year. The daughters of the richest man in Boston were dressed with scrupulous plainness, and the wife and mother owned one brocade, which did service for several years. Display was considered vulgar. Now, alas! only Queen Victoria dares to go shabby.”
—M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)