RAILWAY DUPLICATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19142, 7 October 1925, Page 14

RAILWAY DUPLICATION.

FEW ROSE TO OTAHUHU. - —* - PROGRESS OF THE WORC. TRAINS RUNNING -N1 -XT EASTER. Excellent progress is h * the Railway Department v nth the *or* of duplicating the main line between I enrose and Otahuha. Althonfl. i the supply of equipment has not always been satisfactory the work is being p« ahead at £0 unusually rapid rate. have been practically no delays, am 1 although it is a little less than four mo* ths since the task was undertaken, there is abundant evidence of the vigour wiA H which it is being carried out along tha s whole length of line between Penrose and Otahuhu. ~ Between Penrose and Southdow tfte formation work has been completes! for some time and the laying of the new main line will commence shortly. The necessary banking up on this portion , has haen done with scoria from Mount Snu rt which makes a solid embankment at 0r.% e and does not require time to conso.l - date. At present the chief centre of activityis at "Wftstfield station where a fussy j steam shovel is rapidly wiping out of ex- j istehce what was once quite a substan- J tiahbank of earth. The shovel is a remarkably efficient worker, and it does not behave in allowing the fact to be forgotten. It advertises its presence for a lone wav in all directions, and it completely dominates its immediate neighbourhood. To the layman it is easily the most interesting feature of the whole work. It is mounted or. a truck and turns constantly in a circle. It lowers the big scoop, bites into the embankment, raises a great "mouthful' of earth., and swings round in a half circle nntu the scoop is over a small truck. The back of the scoop opens, anu the earth is tipped out. Then the clumsy scoop shakes itself vigorously, and the heavy door slams back and forth, shaking out the last of the load Puffine and hissing deafeningly oyer each operation the shovel completes its circle, and the process is repeated. It has not long been on this jo 'in but it has already made its presence felt most effectively. With two men to drive it, and seven men and a horse to manage the trucks and distribute the spoil, it moves come 300 yds. of earth a day. As soon as it has finished its present task it will be moved nearer Otahuhu, where it will reduce anothe? hillock between Canal Creek and Wast field station. More Yards at Otahuhu. So far no work is being done on the southern side of Canal Creek, but the department's plans provide for considerable additions; to the yards at Otahuha. Three new sidings are to be laid down on the west side of the station, and on the east the present sidings are to be extended south as far as tb« overhead bridge. In orde'* "to make room for the uew sidings on the west the department is taking *ov«.t a strip of land a chain wide from the Agricultural and Pastoral Association. A certain amount of filling will be done north o! Otahuhu in order to extend the present yards on the level for a further five chains. About ten or twelve chains north of the present footbridge a new overhead road bridge is to b* built. Although none of this work_ has yet bifen begun it is expected that it will not taJce long to complete when once started, and trains should be running on the double track as far as Otahuhu shortly after next Easter. Just aortb of the Otahuhu yards the work of widening the embankment ovc Canal Creek has been begun. A large amount of filling will be required at this spot, as the embankment will have t<> earry five sets of rails. The culver* through which the creeks runs wiil have to fee extended, and the embankment wiP be carried out on the western side to a point at present marked by a low stono wall. Some 20,000 yards of spoil will be needed for this filling, which will swallow up all the excess of earth removed from cuttings on other portions of the line, and a good deal mere. Between the creek and Westfield station the department has taken over all the land on the seaward side of the line. Although the whole of the land, which has an area of about 20 acres, will not be required, there are at present two private crossings over the main line giving access to these sections. It was much more economical for the department to take over the whole of the land and eliminate the crossings, rather than build an overbridge for the owners. The lowering of the ground to the level of the main line is well under way here and gangs of men are at work on practically the whole of this strip. It is here that the steam shovel will be given its next task. The soil is exceptionally easy to remove, and even during-the wet weather of the past few weeks there has been practically no delay. The work has, however, bi!«n hampered by "red tape" in the Post and Telegraph Department. Before the work could proceed it was . necessary for the telegraph lines to be movnd further to the west. It was almost three montiis before permission tor the expenditure of the money required could be obtained from Wellington by the local offi ."ft. Air Drills and Explosives. Just north of Westfield the embank-" ment over St. Anne's Creek is being widened, and this work is already almost complete. Li laying out the lines here allowance is being made for the fact that the new eastern deviation will rejoin thfi old line at this point. Westfield will not, however, be made an officered station, and the real junction is to be Otahuhu. Westfield station is to be moved a little further north than its present position, but the distance between it "and Otahuhu will be practically one big railway yard. A short distance further north the monotonous rattle of compressed l air drills announces that the nature of the country has changed, and instead of soft earth that can be bitten away by steam shovels there is hard rock that can be moved only by explosives. It will take two or three months to ms&e ready for the laying of the track between Westfield and Southdown, and if there is to be any delay in the completion of the duplication it will probably be on this stretch that it will occur. 1 he osiiy other work in connection with duplication not so far mentioned includes the construction of an overbridge at Southdown, on the northern side of the station, and slight alterations to the yards at Penrose. All work between Penrose and Westfield should be completed in a few months, and it is expected that trains will be running on this portion of the new line by the end of the year. The department is for the present concentrating on the Penrose to Otahuhu section of the line, and no work beyond this will be undertaken until the beginning of .the next financial year. But it is probable that the- next section will be begun inimediatelv after next April, and by the end of the year the duplication will probably be extended as far as Papatoetoc. The final stage when the double line will be continued to Papakura should then be uear at hand.