BALCLUTHA TO CLINTON RAILWAY.

Clutha Leader, Volume V, Issue 235, 10 January 1879, Page 5

BALCLUTHA TO CLINTON RAILWAY.

On Tuesday last Mr Blair, Engineer-in* charge, Middle Island, accompanied by Mr Ussher, Resident Engineer, and others, made an official inspection of the line of railway, Baiclutha to Clinton — Prondfoot and M'Kav's contract. The party started from the Baiclutha Station at 8 a. m. , and proceeded at a slow rate of speed to Clinton, making various stoppages to examine several points by the.' way. The return trip was performed at a smart pace» Mr. Blair pointed out several minor improvements that required to he" carried out, and in particular a lowering o&the putting, and a consequent reduction pi the. steep .g^ade -ab t^e Toiro. Station (iat Mr v yalconer*s, : Warepa). TJpori the whole, however, the line was found, in a very satisfactory con-dition—-much more so than could reasonably hay© been expected.: : <»nsideringyfche

■ ""'""._''? large quantity of ballast that has been hauled over it. The jolting is not so much as upon the. main line, .and we believe it is more smooth than any line in the Middle island has been found on the opening dg,y. Some packing is of course still required, and will be attended to before the opening. This would have been done before now but for the holidays interfering with the progress of the works. The fencing is far behind, but will at once be carried out. Tbe material is now being distributed along the line. This portion of the contract has been delayed by the difficulty and expense of getting the maj terial on the ground until the line and engine were available for the purpose. The whole alterations and improvements we have referred to as req\iired will be completed by this day week, when we believe the line will be formally handed over by the constructive department to the railway department. The opening ceremony will then in all likelihood take place about the following Tuesday, but the day has not yet been definitely fixed. We shall be able to give full particulars in next issue. We may mention that between Clinton and Baiclutha there will be five stations, and we must say they seem placed at the points most convenient for the general public, although we are aware there' are some localities, such as the front and back of Warepa bush, where the settlers will still be a considerable distance from the nearest station. The stations on the line are Waiwera, 6 miles from Ciinton ; Kaihiku, 9 miles ; Warepa, 12 miles ; Toiro, 15£ miles ; and Waitepeka, 18^ miles, all from Clinton. Goods Sheds will be erected at the Waitepeka and Warepa stations, and cattle pens at Waiwera. < As to the portion of the Baiclutha section washed away, the repair of which was completed before Christmas, we may mention that the break extended 26 chains in length, and the whole work was accomplished in 10 days. During this time they had removed and placed in position 5000 cubic yards of earthwork, being at the rate of 300 yards per day. About 1300 lineal feet of piling for the flood opening was driven, the greater portion in onehalf the time the whole work took to complete. In addition to this the superstructure of the bridging was built, and the permanent way laid and partly ballasted by the same men. Other work which occupied time does not appear on the face, such as removing the rails and sleepers from the bed of the river, straightening bent rails with a press for further use, laying in a siding to the cutting from which the earth was removed, &c. The work, however, was completed in tlie short time mentioned, and that too without the slightest disturbance or dissatisfaction. This portion of the Balclutlia section, and the whole of the Toiro section was ballasted with metal, and the line is very straight and smooth throughout, of which the public will shortly have an opportunity of judging for themselves. Throughout Mr Proudfoot's contract the ballast used is gravel but of a very superior quality, brought all the way from Gore. The rails are heavy steel rails, and no doubt will stand many years.