THE SOUTHERN TRUNK RAILWAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3863, 4 July 1874, Page 2

THE SOUTHERN TRUNK RAILWAY.

On the Ist inst., passenger trains commenced to run for the first time between. Dunedin and Green Island on the Southern. Trunk Line of Railway, and at two o'clock in the afternoon one of our reporters went up the line in company with Mr William Gonyere, the General Manager; Mr Nancarrow, Inspector of Steamers for New Zealand ; 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 Vogel, and yesterday the commencement of regular passenger traffic to Green Island was not celebrated in any formal manner. The line has been sa often described that we do not intend toweary our readers with a repetition of whafc has already been published in our columns, but will confine ourselves to a few general, observations on the railway 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 thia is what is cailed a fourth class station—one grade better than that. at Caversham. Neither of the buildings have been completed, but they are sufficiently far advanced so as not to inconvenience the public. The line has only been completed as far as Messrs Brown and Samson's Abbotsford Colliery about a mile beyond the Green IslandStalion ; but the work is being rapidly carried on towards the entrance to the Chain TfitTa tunnel. It is expected that the tunnel will be completed in about nine months, or perhaps 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 havingl been already completed, and the rails laid? All things considered, the line, so far as th& train went yesterday, appears to be a remarkably good one, and the carriages ran. with tolerable smoothness. The sleepers on some portions of the line have not become properly embedded in their places yet; but after the trains have run regularly for, some time, there will be little or nothing to complain of. No one would be likely fo complain now, but in speaking of the. excellence of a line it is necessary to compare ifc to the best that can. be brought to mind. It is said that the running of the short f pringless trucks, that bring np the earth for the reclamation works, does not tend to improve a new line; and we can easily believe this to be the case. The four-wheeled carriages a 6 present in use do not ran nearly as smoothly as those provided with six wheels, and reader any little jolting more than ordinarily perceptible. The sleepers, which are mostly cut from totara or black pine, are kid on coarse sand, obtained from some of the^cuttings through which the line passes.^ There is little else we can say about the line except that it should prove a great booh to business men, workmen, and others residinir m the localities where there' are stations" Numerous suggestions have been made to €6e manager with respect to the hours at whick tbe train should run, and we believe he has acceded to the views of'the majority of thoseinterested.. So numerous were the suggestions, that had they all been complied with, a train each way every ten inmates woold 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 abo.nt nin£ and a second leaving Dunedin about five and. returning about six. These are considered the hours best calculated to meet the wants? of the residents of Caversham and Greets Island, and those whose work takes them, fo those places. Yesterday, it maybe interesting to know, the first train left Dunedinafc twenty minutes to eight o'clock in the morning with fifteen or sixteen passengers, and returned with about twenty. The present fares are—to Caversham,-fourpence singTe, and sixpence return; and to Green Island, one shilling single, and eighteen pence return. Season tickets for a month or a year can be obtained, and of course the longer the period for which they are taken the greater the proportionate redaction in the farea. We have no doubt that the workmezt in the collieries and other places withia easy distance of the stations on the line will largely avail themselves of this cheap means of travelling. It will not be possible to raa more than two trains per day until the existing contract for the s ipply of earth forifche reclamation works has been cbmplei&d, When this has been finished, trains-will I>e ran at other hours of the day to meet the requirements of the traffic. There will, nodoubt, 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 approaching: this place, the first thing that attracts the attention of the visitor is the stage or tramway running from tie-mouth of the pit to the edge of the line- and from/which thetrueks are loaded. The end of this tramway is; afe the present time; 8p close to the rails that an uncautious engine driver might easily have half his head taken off in* passing, but w« understand that this danger wilibe removed, Messrs Brown and Samson have a side" line of their own that will soon be brought into use, and they will, we have no doubt, adopfe some better method of loading the trucks. The colliery to which "we^have alluded is » largo one, and an engine of 14-horse power, capable of workingup to 20-horse power, is used for pumping. We are informed thafr about 5000 gallons of water are raised p*r hour from this pit,; and thafe,:at the' present time, the quantity of coal raised per day ia about twenty tons. '.In a short timey when the mine has been, better opened up, it is expected that the quantity of coal raised will be between 400 and .500 tons per week. There are numbers of other coalpits that will all be benefited, more or less, by the opening of the line, and the people of Dunedinwill also have the advantage of a good supply of coal at a much, cheaper rate than it is possible" to obtain ifc for now. We are informed that the cost of carting the coal from Messrs Brown and Samson's.pit toDunedin is nine shillings per ton. The railway charge for bringing in the coal is threepence per ton per mile, and as the distance from the pit we have mentioned to Dnnedin is nearly six miles, the cost of carriage is only eighteenpence per ton. One shilling per ton. ia charged by the Railway Department, as what is called a '; terminal charge," so that the price per ton for the delivery of the, coal at the Dunedin Station is brought up to half-a-crown, a great reduction from the nine shillings per ton incurred in sending it in. carts by the road. About forty or yards above Messrs. .Brown and Samson's coal pit, Messrs Bell and Calder have a number of men at work in a cutting throigha hill, leased from Mr Brown.' There they obtain any quantity of sand which, in its rouglt state, is valuable for ballaat. !By sifting they obtain the best kind of said for buildpurposes, which commands a good price m. Dunedin, and also sand and gravel for garden walks. The carriage of this sand, o£ which there is an inexhaustible supply, will employ a great many trucks on the line. la addition to the sand, Messrs Bell and Calder have something that will prove far more valuable, namely, a large deposit of fire clay. The seam of fire clay is ten feet thick, dipping towards Dunedin. We understand that samples of this clay have beea made into-fire-bricks, and have stood the severe testa to which they have been subjected, to the satisfaction of professed judges of these things. Mr Bell informs us that he will be able to deliver this fire-clay in Dunedin at tbe rate of four shillings per cubic yard acubic yard being rather more than what is known as an ordinary load. The fire-clay generally ia use here is imported from England, and its price is about £8 per ton. Besides the fire-clay, there is also a great quantity of clay suitable for pottery, which, will n:> doubt find a good market at no distant date. The engine which yesterday afternoon, took out the gentlemen we have mentioned,, brought back half-a-dozen trucks, of coal from the Abbofcsford Colliery: each track containing seven tons of coal. It is to be hoped that the works that are to open for trafiic the whole of the line as far as Clutha, Mill be pushed on with as little delay as possible ; and in the meantime we have no doubfe that the inhabitants of Danedin, as well as the residents along that part of the country through w ich tha railway passes, will fully appreciate the advantages they derive from, the opening for regular traffic of tbe Southern 1 Irank line as far as Green island.