THE MAKING OF A RAILWAY.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10870, 21 January 1901, Page 6

THE MAKING OF A RAILWAY.

A VISIT TO WAIPARA. (BT OCR SPECtAX, nErOHTER.) It is more thun t«n months now ;iince the Srst sod w.w turued of the Cheviot railway 'inc. On ISaturdivy morniiig the Hon. W. H;»!!-Jow-s, together with Mr W. H. Hitler, <_»f tin . Public Works IX- ,- ]■ .u-tiiii'iit, left Christ church fr>r Waipara, to ice what progress has been mud*. At Kangiora they w<tp nit-t l»y Messrs Buddo and MV-ifdith. M.H.K.'s. "ilr It. Allan also fornu-d n. inrinlitT of the party, but nut for tin , ;•■:.»mi , object, and he d/d not follow to its very nul. At Waipara t.iey were met by Mr Jack, engineer of the railway; and, at :i n>l.ll t<-r to eleven, the juity started hi a i injjilo (if waggonettes to view the line.

-\i hiNt wi« <li(l nut vit-w tnu-'h of it. We w< iv on tin* high road to Cheviot—-and a v(iv j;<>(.(l roa<l. too—-while , the 1 Ane ran now on <>ur left and afterwards on our right. Jint there was plenty to .st-e. It w.is a splendid morning, and tho country was pli'.t-Hantly exhilarating. Wide tussock elope* on either hand vrere pleasar. tly relieved by tielda of golden coin, or cowgrass or led clover. ']litre was little t/am'c. Someb:>isy pu>sfcd us by, driving a mob of &)u'>:\> I Wore him, with all his household ;,">o'!< piled round him in his trap. A nixijniy lumbered by us. carrying cement for slit! culverts. Houses were far apart. On i,iir left, lay the well-known Klenmark ♦•MtJle. and th« marsh wan pointed out wh'ie the famous niou bonrs were found. At Oinihi an txi- edinglv tunall schoolhou.se em-t s illi>o in ai> >Mt otiice.

-\llir ti.tvelling ten or twelve miles we rcn litil what is known ; ( * the Saddle. The land *i<>|. t M upward to this ridge, and then d:cjis again. Hero the party got out to view the railway couiw it.«tdf. Most of the fiiriiiatK.ii made Sl> f:tr lias )>uen of a fairly cui-y ( liamctfr. One or tun cuttings, and Hevei.il of the culverts, have bt*n put in; Imt at, intervals gullies and water-courses, r+'<niirmg bridges, fuiin breaks in the tine «»f furination, and spoil tank*. The largest or the culvert* has a ten-feet arch, and cost JL\ISO. ' it was facetiously dubbed "The -Mervdith Culvert." The estimated cost of a I'l-idge. v.iis £-100. Heic and tht-re a number of tents mark the teinpi.i.iry homes of workmen. These M-t: •■Hγ itinigi'd to bring their wives with them; bur, do not generally do so. We sit mid watch them working at a cutting. The i» un interesting one. A hollow !■- iirst Mooped into the hill.iide, and a v,oi•iti-'i platform erected above. Below tin-*, a couple of trucks are placed. On top thr iiit'ii art , working with their picks, and ilin debris sinks down into the trucks i!iii>i]gh two large holes constructed in the pinttoiin. When Hie first of these is tilled <* horse jy attached by a'single chain, and ]»■■! along the line a few yards by a workman. The grade is slightly downhill. He rum for a few momenta < with the horse, w!)j>s ii, deftly from tlie truck, flings himHclt' astrido it, and leaves the truck to iriindlo on by itself. It does so, gathering velocity at every yard, until it reaches the KjH.i wlitTo the debris is wunted. Here un--I,<!.■■!■ '.vorkman stands with his pick, and i|iii. Ulv knocks up tho pin that holds in the Imi k of thti trutje. The gravel shoots out, .•lid .-i iiiwh piece, nailed across the line, sto|w tlm vehicle itself with v jerk. The lei-!, in harnessed again, taken buck the 11 iv li. and, placing himself on his own iiceoi'd before the other, w-hich him been alnii.Ht iillfd in tho meantime, waits there to repeat tlio performance.

Tli'Ti> iri a 1 iik 70 uphill grade from Wai-I>u-:i !<> the Saddle. The land in this distri'l i* splendidly fertile. Tlie cuuntry >.;«>tii'litily ulnmt Waipara arwl Omibi has a jitut future before it. But much money n ill t>'i I.iid out Hint, and scarcity of water is in in.my jiliiTOH a drawback. Many coml>l.titit« have been made of the slownexe with v. hi> U the railroad bus been prosecuted. All w> \k is ]>,iid for on measurement. If a, reiiuires levelling, it is measured, and t!w spoil removed estimated, and where a hollow linn to bo filled a bank has so many y.triU of .noil measured out of it, and a« a i hfi k ih« sjxcil bunk is also measured. The nun} t-Uey tako is no object, everything bem>: (!f>.iit(Ml on tins quantity spaded and }i.irniWf(l from jilwo to plaw, anu the harduurkir and the shirlwr are constantly having Aα tlie line goee slowly fun , . Hid in formation only, it i» seen that it cum in.triy of the tactions of land in such v iii.viint'r iia will raise questions of compenKitii.ii fur eeveranoe, fencing, gates, and i ■;<rr>tiiKi. It Is also evident there will be iiimiv »trips of wa*te land along the line <ii vvhich the Railway Department can carry out ii>i phiiiting operations, with a view of fheltfriiiij tin? trains and tli« drivers from the wind<, and, of course, *hut outthe views of tln< country, as i.n sr> distinctly charac-tsii-tii , mi som« of tJie colonial lines.

But i-ujuj-livinta wvre not mentioned at \V,(i[r;Uii, <>v ''Saturday. Everywhere Mr ,Ij« k >;ot fvill cmlit for his work. It is ex- ]>(»' -t.'d I ii.it til* hVst section of the railway will lii> <ij>.-n by about the end of the year. Tiiw will exU'mt ifor about 15 miles from WV'jMiM. Kven the temporary completion, to t 'in'vii>t only, is still a matter of three nr Jmir yc;irs. "All t'lie ballast <i.i far as the S.tdtlW' must bo carried from Waipara, and .-ifti m ,inK from the Hurunui. It is dUlo hear tlKit even when the whole linn is tinwhwli. it will take quite 14 hours to i»i> In- mil from Chmtcburch to Picton, <iti<l one might get to Wellington in less tJM.ii t!ut time. Still, the rail will render uH!)iv<'xs;iry v loni; ccii journey, and will fijitii iti* a sp'Hiiliii country. It, w.i.s U'tweon 2 an<l 3 o'clock when we left ilu . Saddle, after a twelve miles' ride, iii! 1 v lengthy walk, to return to Mr Jack's lmu<<« at \V;iijia!%i. A hearty meal was uMiiiu; fur us, and we returned to Christ-cliiin-h, «t-!l (ileuKtsd with country air and tuuntty htis|iu,tlity.