TAUPO TOTARA TIMBER CO.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 304, 22 December 1903, Page 2

TAUPO TOTARA TIMBER CO.

PliOUKL'tiS OF THE RAILWAY.

Excelleni [jrogresa is being made in the uoiwl niL-liou of the Tuupo Totara 'limber Company's railway line from the Company's mill to Putaruru, a disLunee <>i ■>■> miles. Messrs. John McI.evil iiiul Suns are contractors, Mr .Murdoch .McLean supervising the work. Mi- LlatcliilV, who is employed in coniifctkvj wiih the works, informed a •\sur'' reporter to-day that work was c,ii.-nonce.l in June last at the further end of the line in the Mokai-te-ure forest, where the mill is situated, and the formation works have now readied liie Waikato River, a total distance of liueen miles. A suspension bridge across the river, of a length of about 20011., has been practically completed, ami is now available. Tins bridge, which curries a weight of about 30 tons, will not be used for the heavy traffic, fur which a substantial pier bridge is in lie erected. The rails have been laid for a distance of about live miles,

j.ini the furination works to the river will be covered in about, six. weeks. The sleepei'd tire being cut from totara l>.. the Company, who will also supply the wood for the bridge. Formation v.'iiks hat- been started on this side i.i i hi! Waikato. and the work will be vigorously prosecuted after the holivdaya. A camp has been established between i lie river and Putaruru at a 1 hi.c called Kopokorahi, where a smaller mill has been established for the cutting of sleepers, etc., for the works at that end. in order to save the expense cf carriage from the larger bush. About a mile of formation has been completed here, and a distance of three miles from the Waikato has also been covered.

The line is being built in the same gauge a.s the Government lines, so that

trucks may be hauled direct from the, mill to whatever district the timber is required. No very serious engineering ilitljoultiea are to be overcome, though several deep cuttings will have iii be made, and a number of creeks bridged. About a hundred men are at pre.-sent engaged on the work, the monthly pay-sheet running into about *.'llOO. The men !i\ c in tents, unil Bhift ciiiup on completion of about three miles of work. Ir is anticipated that the line will reach Putaruru by September ; xt. and the output of tlin mill will then In , immediately available.