THE WAIMEA PLAINS RAILWAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5467, 27 August 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE WAIMEA PLAINS RAILWAY.

The Waimea Plains railway, whioh is now in course. Of construction by a: company uuder tbo District Railway! Act, was oommenoed on the 16th January of this year— that being the date on whioh the contractor (Mr John ;Whitt||er): sighed the oontraot, The time for itijfpompletioh! i« 12 monthe. Consequently, oi the 16th of January next, we have every, rejison for believing that the line will be opened for traffic, as ths work! are well advanced, the greater portion of the earthwork being finished, all masonry contract) built; and about half the; timber . bridges. Platelaying has obmmenoed at tbe Gore end;' and in a few days a start will ba made at the .Elbow V The following; description of therailwey may be of interest to bur readers:— The line oommenoes at the Gore station of the 'Dunedu^-Ihvercargill main line, and terminates at the Elbow (or Lumsden) sta* tion, on the lino from Invercargill to Kingston. It is 36J miles in leDgth, and forms a loop line'between the before-mentioned main lines, and is consequently of no small importance to tho inhabitants of Dnnedin, as by its means the distance between Dapedin and Lake Wakatipu ia shortened no lees than 64 milfs. The present distance frem Dunedin to Kingston via Inveroargill is 230 milea, the journey occupying the, best part of two days ■ *or, including the journey by steamer to QueenstowH^two full days. The distanoe via Waimea Plains will be 175 miles j and: there is no reason to doubt that the journey to Kkgatbnvrtll; be done in nine hours by^ a' judicious: arrangement of tnum service, and to'.Queenstown in 11 hours, or ,; one day's travelling only. It requires iio great stTOtch of imagination to comprehend the importance of tbia to tho travelling publio, and to excursionists visiting this lovely Alpine:.-". region it will be a great boon. By the pre- :: sent arrangement two days' travelling, and V the necessity for spending a night en route at./. Invercargill, debars man^ families from pay* ing a visit to this beautiful locality during ' the summer months, not to mention the additional expense entailed by the process; aa-'. that: upon the completion of, 'the Waimea "'* Plains railway wo certainly i expect to find this most charming lake visited !>y everyone who wishes change of air and eoene, especially when it oan be gtined amid surroundings not to be equalled in the Southern Hemisphere, and reoognised, by everyone V oapable of judging to ;befully equal to the most favoured dutriots' in the European ■ Alps; Nor will this route be a benefit to ex. cursionists only, as it will open up a direct oommunioation ■ with' the * extensive . goldproducing distriot surrounding Queenstown, Arrow, and Cromwell. Butto returntoourde•oription bf the railway. The gradients and curves throughout are favourable for working economically. The ruling gradient is 1 in 100, whioh only ocoure in two plaoos —viz., for 52 ohairis at the eighth mile, and for 106 chains at the twenty-seoond mile. The gradients otherwise are comparatively leveL The ourves are also extremely easy, the ruling curve being 12 chains-radius for a length of six chains only. There is also a 15-ch»in curve for a length of 18 chains, two curves of 18 obaine' radius, being together 15J chains in length. The remainder are of large radius, the principal portion of the line throughout being; straight.'.- V.VV ;*- ■ There are upwards of 20 oulverte,: varying from two to 10 feet in width, constructed of masonry and ooncrete, besides many othere in soft ground constructed of timber. There two streams of importance crossed at tenth and eleventh miles—the Otamete and the Waimea respectively; the former bye bridge of 20 spans of 20 feet each, the latter by 19 spans of 20 feet. In addition to this« there are bridges over streams of minor importance at nine different "Sihts on the line, Tbo n^maneut way consists of 521b rails, fastened at the' joints by fisbpates and four bolts, furnished with Drover's patent washeie laid lon sleepers, seven feet by seven lnohee byfivoinohes. The billast will amount to 1760 oubio yards per mile. The embank-' ments are all 12 feet in width at the formatlonlevel. The rolllng-stook at present to hand consists of two looOmbtives, whioh are erected and on the ground reedy to commence the ballasting operations on eaoh end ef - the line. They are task enginee, having lOiinchoylindere, withsix wheels conpled, of ihe same type as those generally used on the Government lines. These looomotlvee are the most econoiuioal to be proourcd, when the work they are oapable bl performing is considered in relatioarto theii* ooet.; They will, on this line, be capable of taking »load, independent*f their own weight, of 124 ton*, or 15 loaded waggons np the rotfßg*: gradient, and can travel at the speed of Mv miles per hour,' without detriment to tbemij - ■eives. The same> engines ;bri the taliisg}; gradient of 1 in 60 of the Government main fine in Otago would be only oapable ';of;;hilHU-5§ ing 73 ton', br say nine loa led waggons. ■>VS® This railway rune for Jts (whole through the estate of the New Zealand iirii;. ou.tuwd ComjWi^^ *Mted> «f ;ffhiohj;i. »ay

bo jail to form the backbone, and as this Company are now offering every facility for tho Botlloimmt of a large popnlation oh their cat.-.t; by the sals, on exceptionally easy terms, of at much land as they can find pur* clni.-urs for, wo may doubtlois look forward to the r-iih-ay doing a large loctl trade at no distait date.

Tho Switzors branch line of the Govern■mont pirs->gramme will form a junotion with the Waimea line at the station and township of RivemUlo, an important centre on the plain. This branch will doubtless bring considerable traffic to the Waimea line. The only stations whioh may be aaid to be fixed upon as yet are at the new township of Mandeville, at 10J miles; Biversdale township, at 17£ miles; Waime* township, at 24 aulas; township of St. Patrick, at 31 miles from Gore. The two last-mentioned townships-are not yet in the market. In addition to stations at theae townships, there will be rnmy others to bo fixed when it is subsequently found necessary, and the traffic warrants tbeir erection.

Lignit.) occurs close to the Hue of railway a<i ta-j twenty second mile, and in the neighbourhood of the future township of Waimev, oa tho tweaty-fourth mile, there is a valuable deposit of first-olass building stone, - This stone should come into favour for ornamental architecture, as it possesses a warm tint, on lis oaaily worked. It is a sandstone of fin) texture, aud has proved ■ itsolf to be of a most durable quality, having ; been used in tbe construction of the late residenoe of G. M. Bell, Eiq., at Waimea Station. Taking tho whole of the features of this railway into consideration, it is undoubtedly a first class oae, capable of accommodating the fattest and heavieit traffic now running upon tho Government lines, with- - out damage tn itself in any particular, which .should bo a source of satisfaction to tho shareholders. ~. The estimated oompleted oost is about £106,0f,0, and as tho work is so far advanoed, it has been pretty accurst ly determined that this sum will be sufficient. This will •—-trpre-mnt acost of £2960 per mile, whioh, considering the nature of its construction and the engineering difficulties met with, oompAred with other lines, will prove it to be one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, yet constructed in New Zialand. Another important feature of thia line is that it will participate in traflfo that will be optned up by tho construction of the railway from Lumsden to Mararoa, and the extensive area of Oiatle Rock and F.vo Rivers Plain, the lint eeotton of which has b;en lately commincari. Thut raUway commences at Vie Lumaden or Elbow Station, where the YVaimoi lino terminates, o naequently, oa it ', wore, forming n further important extension of it into the heart of tbis magaifio-mt trjtot of country, all commmioation with which . from Duntdiu must of necessity traverse the . Waimm Plains rulway. ■* Mr H P. Higgimon, M. Inat, C E , is the engineer to tbe •rt aimea Plains Railway Company, tha resident engineer in oharge of the w>rkß boing Mr A. R» VV. Fulton, Assoc. loot. C E , wita Mr Juhu Whittaker as the contractor. Tho latter having for many years carried out the conattuotion of important sections of the Government railways, both in Southland, Otago, aad Canterbury, in which hia work has always met with the approval cf the offlcers in charge, we may oonfidoctly predict that in this iostanoe bis v ok will I'jrm no exceptioa, and thtt every off >rt wiil bs mado by him to bring to a successful aud spaedy oompletion whas promises to b-3 one of the most important miin . lines in the Sou h Island.