TAHAKOPA RAILWAY.

Evening Star, Issue 14628, 26 July 1911, Page 10

TAHAKOPA RAILWAY.

The report by the Executive of th Catlins-Tahakopa Railway League, to be presented at the annual meeting tomorrow afternoon, contains tho following clauses : The position of the works on the Catlins-Tahakopa railway line some 12 months ago was by no means reassuring. Local reports showed that the number of men employed was steadily decreasing, and in spite of the large sums of money voted, the protests of the league as to want, of progress, and counter protests of the Government, itwas evident that the line was making very slow headway. In August and September last your executive once more approached, the. Minister of Public Works, and strong representations wen 1 made as to the urgent needs of the district and the opportunity afforded by the favorable season for pushing on i from Papatupu. We are now very | pleased to say that since the beginning ; | of tho present year very considerable j ; energy has been infused into the work, i and substantial progress has been ae- : j complishod. It would be egotistical to j j suppose that tho representations of tho j ! league are entirely responsible for this, j I and we desire to give the Government ; ! full credit for the sincerity of their ; promises in regard to the line, and to | the engineer and local staff of the PubI lie Works Department for the very I effective manner in which a difficult and tedious section of the work is now | being handled; but we think we may j fairly claim that the Catlins-Tahakopa j Railway League has fully justified its ' existence during the past 12 months. j A year ago the rails were little past I Papatupu, and most of the work be- ' yoiid that point consisted of a series or more or less isolated cuttings and embankments. To-day the way is cleai 1 for the rails being laid up. to Puke tire I station. The formation is well advanced on the next section, and tin | track has been felled and cleared right : across the Macl.ennan River to the Papatowai station site, which is as far as the present authorisation goes. Twe verv heavy embankments at Avory's ! Creek and' .Matai Crock will delay the ' completion of the Pukotiro-Cahorfeid j section for a considerable time, and ; there will also he a bridge required : across the MaoLonnnn River on the I Caberfeid-Papatowai section. Those , are the principal works on the seven miles of the line now under construcI ti-iii, but although the rails will very , soon reach Puketiro station, very little I immediate advantage can accrue to the ; district until the line is open to Cabor- : fcid. some throe miles further on, as j Puketiro is nor conveniently situated jas regards the district roads. The next ! advance to Papatowai station will open up the country as far as the estuary ;of tho MaeLennan and Tahakojia ; Rivers, and your executive hope that ' u\ about \~ months from now the line ! to that point will be ready for traffic, i and that the Public Works Department j will by that time be able to hand over I to the .Railway Department the four ] stations known as Papatupu. Puketiro, j Cuberfeid. and Papatowai, covering I about 13 miles of track, and opening : I large extent oi partially -settled conn I tr - v - * ... | When Parliament meets it is m ; tended to ask for a further autliorisa tion in order to carry the line up the Tahakopa Valley. This is the presen ! objective of the league, and as tin: portion of the work will be througl easy country, it is hoped that be forvery long the railway will tap the onor mens supply of timber in this with valley, and that a great impetus wii be '.riven to settlement in this area. During tile year just closed variotu matters of subsidiary interest ennnoetoe with the line have been dealt with le your executive, notably the question o preserving lor the public, sundry pic turcsque areas, in which we have beer successful in interesting; the Ccenb Commissioner';, the obtaining of a i'res! vote for .snagging the JlncLotuun River, the provision of adequate con venionees for loading stock at n centra point between Honipapa and Papa towai, and the urgent necessity foi reading block 14, Rimu, in order tr give a number of new s-ettiers then access to their holdings. AM these matters were considered as dese-rvins; the supnort o( the league, and yoni executive are glad to be able to repoM that their representations have beri sympathetically received by the authorities.