THE NELSON RAILWAY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXX, Issue 180, 1 August 1896, Page 2

THE NELSON RAILWAY.

THE MOTUPIKO EXTENSION. "HOW NOT TO DOIT." A PROTEST ON BEHALF OF POSTERITY. [By our Special Reporter]. 111. In concluding this account of the prospects of the Midland Railway, prominence must be given to Che opinion of settlers that, for the present at least, the larger project of extending the line towards the Coast should be set aside till times improve, and that all energy and available money should be devoted to the completion of the works already undertaken to a point which would best serve the districts concerned. Accepting this as the most practicable proposition, and one likely to be carried out if the errors being perpetrated in Norris' Gully are rectified in time, the- conclusion to be drawn is that the line must not stop either at its present terminus or even nearer Bromell's. It must pass Bromell's and the Motupiko bridge to a terminus either in the Tadmor Valley at its junction with ttfe Motueke Valley, or on this side of the river, to serve Stanley Brook. Of course Bromell'a is a centre which will suit all the districts if the line can be taken no further ; but there is abundant evidence that a light narrow gauge railway— or rather, tramway—extended lo or near the point named, would be well need. It is said that the birch bark carrying trade of several of the valleys would alone pay the working expenses of such a light line, and one can hardly have a conception of the immense areas of birch forest in these districts till he sees them for himself. The arable flats of the Baton, Wangapeka, Sherry, and Stanley Brook, and the grazing country near and around Bromell's would be alike served by a light railway ; but the question of uniformity of gauge from Nelson to the Coast is likely to be a great hindrance to this otherwise teasible project. The broad lines are 'suited to large populations, but they are not profitable in the sparsely-peopled regions through which they have to pass to reach the centres. Consequently, it is often the casu that a whole length of broad gauge line does not pay, though sections of ic are remunerative. Obviously, tben, over country suob as that to be traversed by nor midland railway, it might be better to construct a narrow gauge line, providing for a broad guage when the spread of population warranted it. One of the most payable little lines in New South Wales is a narrow gauge tramway from Campbelltown to Camden. Ic acts as a feeder to the Southern Trunk Railway, and it is in marked contrast with a broad gauge feeder-line from Wallerawang to lUudgee, oft the Great Western Trunk Railway— than which no line in Australia is mure trouolesome or loss entailing. The reason is that while both tap districts with only moderate populations, the Camden-Campbelltown line, though only a tramway, has actually a larger population than Che Wallerawaug-Mudgee broad gauge railway. This is an object lesson the railway construction branch of the Public Works Department should take to heart. To sum up. The Nelson Railway League should be revived as soon as possible, lot, apart from the question of future rail *ay extension, such extension from Belgrove sis has been already undertaken is likely to prove a bnngle fur the following reasons : — (1) Instead of following an obviously safe traok on the weat side of the creek in Norris'a Gully, and using formations already to hand, the route of the line has been needlessly deviated to the flood bad of the creek, and along the shoulders of a steep shiogl; bill. At frequent intervals along this hill there are runs of shingle which no human energy or device can keep from sliding once they start moving, If these runs had the scope they would form a series of Boulder Banks like that most curious and most prominent feature of Nelson Haven. The material and the oauses «re the same, with the exception that the shingle runs in Nome's Gully are inland. To oonduot the shingle over the trains by 3ft Humes would be only to court danger, yet the wiseacres of the department have made provision for at least one such flume between the two unnecessary Biations at the hea j and at the end of Morris's Gully. The most unpraotised eye can tell that the Midland Kailway Company's route through the gully is tha safest nod best, and the Nelson Kailway League should not permit it to be deviated from without strong protest. Why the deviations have teen made no one oau tell ; and the members , for the districts concerned should make the Btriotesb inquiries into the matter, and the progress of the work in No ris'a Gully should be watobed henceforward with the most zealous eye. As yet the .Railway League, which we presume is not def unet, has made no sign; but if after the disclosures in these articles from personal observation ic continues supine, posterity may have cause to ouree it. Far from its functions having ceased, they have only just begun. (2) The waste of time and money on the two stations to be erected, one at the head and the other at the end of Nonis's Gully should be stopped ac once. The siding, or whatever u is, at the Belgrove end of the Gully will be perfectly useless, for, as we have named it, it is to all iutents and purposes a Desolation Point, with neither trees nor grazing ground nor inhabitants near it. No one will use the station, even if it be merely a temporary terminus, for Belgrove is more handy to teams on this side of the Gully, and if the Buller teama come as far from the Motupiko side, they also will go on to Belgrove or even Foxhill. In regaid to the proposed permanent terminus at the Motupiko end of the Gully, it is of no earthly use, for it is near neither Motupiko nor Bromell's. To make the line of any value, even as a mere continuation of the Nelson railway, the terminal site must be extended further along towards the Motupiko bridge. By a consensus of opinion the termiuus should be nearer Bromell's by at lea9t a mile, and a question of tunnelling near Murupiko or of carrying the line beyond Bromell's into the Tadmor-Motueka Valley might be decided later. The representative business men of Nelson should visit the locality as soon as possible and verify for themselves the statements made ia these articles. They would then realise that the so-called Belgrove-Motu-piko extension is likely to be & line to nuwhere, and calculated rather to arrest than to promote railway development. (3) Having provided for the immediate present by ensuring if possible the best and safest route through Norris's Gully, and the most convenient temporary terminal station on the Motupiko side, the Nelson Railway League would do its duty, justify its existence or revival, and earn the gratitude of the people by watching the interests of the settlers of the Waogapeka, the Sherry, the Baton, and of Stanley Brook. They may be well served temporarily by a terminus at or near Bromell's ; but they would be better served for all time by a continuation of the railway on the light line system from Bromell's into the Tadmor valley at its junction with the Motueka Valloy. This is of course in direct op. position to the proposal for a tunnel into the Tadmor, Valley in the vicinity of Motupiko, and opinion greatly differs on the subject. Buc in the view of at least one civil engineer with varied experience of railway construction, a light line costing for construction not more than £1400 a mile would bring a rich and extensive district into touch with Nelson and pay expenses with the first train run. Little more need be said. Those who have read the three articles now concluding must admit that the questions treated are of vital importance to the province and city of Nelson. Aa a newspaper we have done what wo can to »rouse the people to assert their own interests, The rest is in the hands of leading and representative citizens who have all to gain and nothing to lose by insisting that the work of railway extension shall be carried out well. [In a sentence in yesterday's article referring lo_ the old abandoned formation in :he Wai-iti Valley, whioh was inteudftd jo touch Tophouse, Weld's Pass, and lollie's Pass, and thence go on to Wai-au, jy a printer's error the name " Wai-au " ippeared in yesterday's issue as " Waiti."]