OPENING TO CHATTO CREEK.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13631, 28 June 1906, Page 8

OPENING TO CHATTO CREEK.

TO TllK EDITOR. Sib.—Your correspondents who so vigorously clernatid (hat the line shall be at once opened to Chatto display a want o: know-vdg-o of their subject which is excusable, but with that a spirit, of bittonioss that is inexcusable. I may say at the outset t.hat J. hold no brief for Craig and Co. or anyone else. except myself and the general ] ' ' an '.' .ti»t m.v own intent will be served if the lino is opened fo Cliatto. 1 can, however, see that Hie openin/ to Cfcwto wiU be of no benefit fo the miblie, and will delay the work of pushing on (ho Hue to Alexandra, Mr llarris is an Old railway man, and will understand what L am about to advance a? my reasons for this opinion. It is found impossible to open the line for general traffic to C'hotto because iliero is no coeds shed for storage, and consequently ail goo-d.s must remain at Omakau. X 4 et m start from that point. Iho train that arrives at Omakau in the afternoon average, say, exclusive of special 'holiday occasions, 12 tfassengere; cena-inlv not more. The iiroijo-'al is to rim those 2 passengers on and leave the Roods behind. And the idea is to save time, liven assuming that it did. what a thing to ask any Government (o do! To run a, train a distance of eisjht miles end back to save J2 people 10 minute* and about Is fxl each in fare. Moiled down, that it- what the advocates of opening ask. Comment is needless. But what about this raving of timo 1 need not point out to ,e,eu who Know what they are talking about that tho. engine cannot loaye the Omahu yard until it, ha.s shunted all the goods iuio proper position, etc., and that will certainly take quarter of a.u hour. When it reaches Chatto there will be another d«'lßy to laid the coach. At present the coach is toaded find away inside of quarter of an hour, and the road to Cliatto is some two miles shorter than the railway calculations, so that flic opening of the line to Chatto would mean that, the roach would leave Chatto at least five minutes later than it notv. doe.s. If there were no shunting is OliHiKau yard, and if the goods eouJd go right on, then it would be foolishness not to open the line as soon as possible, but whilst tilt proposal i,s to run a passenger train only, and that for a mere handful of people. and with no gain in point of time, and enormous cxi*nsp to the country, the proposal is simply ridiculous. Moreover, there is positive delay to the work, inasmuch as the ballast engine cannot come into the ballast pit at Chatto whilst the other engine and train is in the wav, so that I think, Sir. I wtt.s not far wrong when I told "Hack-blocks" lie did pot understand his subject. I have often noticed those misdirected efforts, and just now the r-p-countn- public is allowing the Government to delav the calling for tenders for the Alexandra buildings and those at Clyde. In November next the ballast will (weather line) have been . laid into the Alexandra .Station, and the opening to Alexandra will not lie possible because the sheds will not have been built, and the same difficulty will arise. The erection of these sheds could be advocated. I might also p'oini out thai it is quite as feasible to open to Galloway as to Chatio. The lallast engine is working tlrae now. Those, Sir. are the reasons why I am opposed to opening the line iu the tort ct way it is proposed to do. Alany of your readers are. doubtlefts, of opinion that it is possible to open for general traffic. If it were, the case, would bs entirely different, and your correspondents would be justified in demanding it, but under present circumstances the proposal is, as the Raikvav Department knows, absurd and impracticable.—l am, cte„

Commf.bc.iai. Max [Correspondence closed.—Ed. O.D.T.]