Branch Railway to Outram

Bruce Herald, Volume VII, Issue 649, 13 November 1874, Page 7

Branch Rail way to Outram

A public meeting was held at the Drillshed, Mosgiel, on Tuesday night, to consider the desirability of having a branch line of railway from Mosgiel to Outram, Tia North Taieri. The Dunedin •■■• Evening Stair ' gives -the following 'aiccount of tie proceedings:— j-.-,i : ■.;• .•■.•-■• Mr^WiUiaui Thompson was called to the^Kiiiyn '■>-' // ; - : ■■-.■■'■ ; fi/; -; f - : : : jtfr 'Donald Eeid gate the meeting his Yiejp fon|t|ie proposal route versus thati thought ; the .people of Outram would be | studying ; ;their? interest best by uniting with the Mosgiel residents in this matter. As far .as'beWuhd from railway statistics side lines seldom paid or gave satisfaction, whereas regular brancbTlines with regular passenger strains at stated hours were

generally remunerative and were a sue cess, i Here: it was proposed to give a Biding at the cos* of £8000, or a regular line at d820;60d. His remarks were eitoply as „tbeJr representative and a resident—not as a member of the Pro viricial GoferhnfenfcV l " f Asa "representative for the district he fejt quite coufident that the Government would construct the branch line, but that through the action of the Legislative Council the proposed branch lines were delayed. Mr C. Findlay was of opinion that the route via North Taieri had claims on the railway system which was being inaugurated superior to any other branch line in the Province; that, it would pass through lOfiOO acres of cultivated land of as good a quality as any in the Province, and that in the event of the line not beiDg constructed 4,000 tons of produce would be pfcst to the main trunk line. He quoted from data that had' been carefuliy pre pared, and moved—

That the proposed branch railway from Horgiel toOutram, viaNonh Taieri. already •anctinned by the Pronacial Government. ii, in the opinion of this meeting, the best line for the district, and the line that will secure tbe greatest amount of traffi : to the railway tystem of the Province, and that a deviation from said route will be a great injury to the district.

Mr John Shaw seconded the resolution, which was carried. Mr Shand, M.P.C., hoped that he would Hot be charged with lukewarmnese, atter taking an interest in the Greytown and Outram route. He did not blame the residents of the North Taieri for desiring to push the railway in their direction. He would like to see railways running wherever they were required, for if the farmers wished to compete fairly with their neighbors they must get despatch ia conveying -their produce to market ; but he feared they would have to wait too long if they only relied on the Government. The people of West Taieri required immediate communication, for they were farther back from Dunedin than the other Taieri folks, and the Grey town route promised to be the shortest, and therefore hj far the -quickest for them; but he would be willing to assist and urge the proposed route, as he was interested in the welfare of the district. Mr Peter Day moved, and Mr J Brown l@eonded —

Tn"*fc a deputation consistin? of Messrs H-M ' A , M *n,^haud, Pindlay, Shaw. Thompson, Srt Bn7^» E " B Cargil1 ' Younff ' _hi 8 Honor the Superin.^f*' and v^ re .! he of proceeding wi^ the construction of said line as soon as practicable. • This resolation was si so carried nC' m eon. A vote of thanks was accorded to Messrs Reid and Shard, as district representatives, and to the chairman, after Which the meeting dispersed.