DAMAGES TO THE RAILWAY LINE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2436, 21 November 1900, Page 24

DAMAGES TO THE RAILWAY LINE.

TRAFFIC ON THE OTAGO CENTRAL LINE SUSPENDED. The railway officials, alive to the possibili- j ties of danger, were keenly on the alert at the ' first indication that the downfall was going to >be unusually heavy- The traffic manager was in constant receipt on Saturday of reports from the officials along the line both north and I south. The first intimation of possible interruption of traffic came, as was anticipated, from Outram and Henley. At both these j places reports were received that the Taieri ■ River was steadily rising, and about 5 o'clock • some portions of the Outram branch were j-under water to the extent of about a foot. > • The main line between Owhiro and Allanton I was, in some places, flooded, the rails being • submerged. The traffic, however, was not ; interrupted, and although the water gradually ' rose, all trains got safely through well up to time. A careful watch was kept along the north line, particularly near Purakanui, but although the rain fell heavily, the progress of the north express and the other trains was not ' interfered with. At 2 o'clock on Stmday morning, however, a very heavy flip was reported to have taken ' place on the line at about a mile and a-half beyond Purakanui. The exact time at which the fall occurred is not known, but the goods j train which leaves Oamaru at 9.10 p.m. and is j due in Dunedin at 3 a.m. was stopped near i i where the slip occurred by the signals of the j surfacemen. It was seen the fall of earth was • very considerable, and the train was ordered back to Waitati. It might be mentioned hero that, as a precautionary measure, surfacemen s in stormy weather carefully examine the line : before each train parses over, and this 'course i being pursued in this inptance, the danger ■ was immediately detected In order to get ■ the line cleared s_> soou as possible* tlifi tr—Sic

manager at Dunedin sent away ballast trains with gangs of men from both Palmerston and Dunedin a few hours after the slip occurred. It was reported that fully 2000 tons of stuff had come down, so that some idea may be gained from this of what the work of clearing the stuff away 'entailed. The line, was successfully cleared in time to let the goods trainstuck up at Waitati get through last night. All day Sunday, up to late in the afternoon, the traffic manager received intimation by wire that the Taieri River at various places was in heavy-flood, and was still rising. Slips and " washaways " were reported to have occurred at several place* along 'the line, notably at Ml. Allan and Flat Stream. Later news confirmed this, and while none of them are very serious in their e?-*«»nt, they are so numerous that three or four ys will be occupied before the line is completely restored. The result will be that traffic will be completely suspended during that period on the whole of the Otago Central, from Wingatui onwards. News continued to come in from Outram that the Taieri was still rising, and that the line was 4ft under water, while at Allanton the river was rising and floods were expected. At Henley the ganger reported at 11 o'clock yesterday morning that the Taieri River was running over the bunk at Otakia, and, although he did not anticipate any danger to the road in the meantime, the river was ptill running very fast. At 3.37 v.m. Allanton reported : "6in of water over Allanton station yard ; river still rising .... will be 2ft imder water now." The latest reports which came to hand last evening indicate a doubt as to whether trains will be able tc get further south than Mosgiel. The wtitev was over fie rails for bout a nvle batween Owhiro and Allanton, and to about a similar extent between Otakia and Henley, and there have been "wash-outs" at both place?. If the. water has subsided during the night, and an examination by daylight shows that no serious damage has resiilted, the department will make every effort compatible with safety to keep communication 023311.