THE SOUTHERN TRUNK RAILWAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3861, 2 July 1874, Page 2

THE SOUTHERN TRUNK RAILWAY.

Yesterday passenger trains commenced to rua for the first time between Dunedin and Greea Island on the Southern Trunk Line of Railway, and at two o'clock in. the aftecnoon one of- our reporters went up the line in company with Mr William Coayers, the General Manager; Mr Nancarrow, Inspector of Steamers for New Zealand j Mr J. Turton, of the Mechanical Engineering Department, and several other gentlemen. The formal opening of the line took place several months ago, in the presence of the Hon. Julius Yogel, and yesterday the commencement of. regular passenger traffic to Green Island was not celebrated in any formal manner. The line has been so of ten. described that we do not, intend io weary our readers with a repetition of what has-already been published in our columns; but will confine ourselves to a few general observations on thera:lwayj as far as it has been completed. The first stopping., place after leaving Duuedin is Caversham, and here has been erected: what we are informed is called a fifth-class station. The structure is of wood, neat in appearance, and quite commodious enough for the traffic. The next station is at Green Island, and this is what is cailed a fourth class station—one grade better than that at Caversham. Neither of the buildings have beeu completed, but th«y are sufficiently far advanced so as not to inconvenience the publicl The line has only been completed as far as Messrs Brown and Samson's Abbotsford Colliery about a mile beyond the Green Island Station j but the work is Joeing rapidly, ea^fedon towards the entrance to the. Chain"'Sills tunnel. It is expected that the tunnel will be completed in about nine months, or per-: haps a little over this time ; and'-when, this: has been done, and the rails laid, the line will be clear'right through to the Clutha,; the permanent way in: this direction having been already completed, and the rails laid! ■All things considered, the line, so far as the train went yesterday, appears to be a remarkably good one, and the carriages run with-tolerable smoothness. The sleepers on some portions of the line have not become properly embedded in their places yet; bat after, the. trains have run regularly for some time, there will be little or nothing to complain of. No one would be likely to complain now, but in speaking of the excellence of a line it is necessary to compare it |to the best that can be brought to mind. It I .is said that the running of rthe short springless trucks, that bring up tbe. earth for the reclamation works, does not tend,.to improve .anew line, and we can easily believe this to be the case. The four-wheeled carriages at present in use do not run nearly as smoothly as those provided with six wheels/ and ren- ; der any little jolting more than ordinarily: ■perceptible. Thesleepers, which are mostly: cut from totara or. black pine, are laid on . coarse sand, obtained from some of the cuttings through which the line passes: There^ is little else -we can say about, the line,ex- rcept that'it should prove a 'great boon;to: businessmen, workmen, and others residing in the localities where there are stations. Numerous suggestions have been made to the I manager with respect to the hours at which the train should run, and we believe.,be has acceded to the views of the majority of those interested. So numerous were the sugsestions| that had they all been complied with a train each way every ten min-ites would scarcely have satisfied all demands. .: At the present time only two trains per day can be run, one leaving Dunedin at about twenty minutes to eight and returning at about nine, and a second, leaving Dunedin about five, and returning about six. These are considered the hours be3t to meet the'wanis of the residents of Caversham and Green - Island, and those whose work takes them to those places. Yesterday, it may be interesting to know, the first train left Danedin at twenty minutes to eight o'clock in the morning with fifteen or sixteen passengers,Vand returned with about twenty. Trie present fares are—to Caversham, fourpence single, and sixpence return; and to Green Island, one shilling single, and eighteen pence return. Season tickets fo? a month or a year can be obtained, and of course the longer the period for which they.are taken the greater the: proportionate reduction in the. fares. We have no doubt that the- workmen i:i the collieries and other places within ! easy distance of the stations on the line-will largely avail themselves of this cheap means of travelling. :It will not be possible to run ] more than two trains per day until the existing contract for the s -pply of earih for the reclamation works has been completed. When this has been finished, traius,will be run at other hours of the day to meet the J requirements of the traffic. There will, no doubt, be considerable passenger traffic on the line so far as it is opened, but its chief support will, of course, be the traffic in coal and produce. As we before stated,, the permanent way ends at Messrs Brown and Samson's Coalpit,-and^.on.--approa;hing this place, the first thing that attracts the attention of the visitor is the stage or tramway running from the mouth of the pit to the edge 6f the line, and from which the trucks arc loaded. The end of this tramway is at the present time, so close to the rails that an uncautious engine driver might easily have half his head taken off in passing, but we understand that this danger will be removed. Messrs Brown and Samson have a side line of th-ir own that will soon be brought into use, and they will, we have no doubt, adopt some better method of loading the trucks. The colliery to which we have alluded is a large one, and an engine of 14-horse power, capable of working up to 20-horse power, is used for pumping. We are informed that: about 5000 gallons of water are raised per hour from tin*pit, and that, at the present time, the quantity of coal raised per day is about twenty tons. In a short time, when the mine has been better opened up, it is I expected that the quantity of coal raised will be between 400 and 500 tons per week. Theie are numbers of other coalpits that will all be benefited, more or less, by the opening of the line, and the people of Dunedin will also have the advan-

t-ige of a good supply of coal at a muc&. cheaper rate thaiPit;.;is possible to obtain ifc for now. Weare: informed that the cos* of carting the-coal from' Messrs Brown and Samson s pit to Punedin is nine shillings per ton The railway charge for bringing m the coal is threepence per ton per milefandat Sned' r% fro? c Pit We ha™ men" the on«f Une- 1S -nearly 8« ma^« half-a-crown, a great reduction from the X shjings per ton^mcurred in sending,ititt carte by the road. About forty or fifty yards above Messns Brown and Samson^ coal pit, Messrs Bell and Calder havV a nnm« ber of men at work-in a;cuttingjjhroiebi a. hill, leased from Mr Brown. There theyol>tain any quantity of sand which, in its roucht state, is valuable for ballast.^ By "Sffe they obtain the best kind 'of sand=for: buildpurposes, .which.,commands^ good tmceh* Duaedm, 'and also sand and gVavelWfcr g3^-tn^alk^' Th^ carriage of this sSnXof which there is an inexhaustible supply, will employ a great many trucks on the line!' la i addition toiihe sand, Messrs Bell and Calderhave something that will pr ov e : far SL valuableftnamely, a large deposit of fireSlr! Xheseam of fire clayis ten feet thick, dipping ' ■ towardsDunedm. We understand thatla^ * pies or this day have -been' made S * fire-bncks,-and have: stood the severe tests ** to_ which they have been subjected^ ttfthe things. - _Mr Bell informs us that he will he S Jl dt iP T in Dunedin al the rate of *our shillings per fcdbicyard^a. cubic yard, being rather?^morei than;^h a t^ known^^s^ an t ordinaryjloaii^^he -fire^cW generally muse were is imported frohvEn'£ land, anduts pnce;is about £B:peFton.fTßesides the fire-clay, there is> also a%reat tf oin- - no doubt find a gqod^arket <t no diatanfr ?* t hl engine n wh^yest?rd ay aiternooa ' WcZ ?e^t -^c Wye mehtipned, brought back-half-a-dozen- trucks'of'-^&ai." from the Abbotsford-Colliery: ■ each truck containing jseven tons, o£- coal. It is to be- * hoped the works^hat are to open.^or traffic the whole of the lin^as-far-asSuthr, ' will be pushed on with as little delay®*o*"™f- n4 ™ .«*« mearitim.e:Ve,hav e So doubfc' that the inhabifents of.Dunedini-^weSas : the residents, alojg that part of %eli^&^ through which the railway passes, wS^^ appreciate the advantagei they deriS'SS* the opening for regular traffic of the Southffln. T Irunk line as far as Green Island. *■ * * ; ■ » $£' •'*