RAILWAY DEVIATION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15320, 16 September 1920, Page 5

RAILWAY DEVIATION.

fWHY THE NGATAPA' ROUTE WAS ADOPTED. -*. DEPARTMENT WELL SATISFIED. The proposal put forward at Saturday's meeting held under the auspices of the East Coast Railway and Development League marks the second occasion ou which the suggested Waikohu route has been "sprung" upon the community. In view of the meeting which has been called for: to-morrow afternoon by the Mayor as a protest against the proposed deviation of the adopted railway route, it will doubtless be interesting to again recall the history of the present railway project. The assertion was reiterated at Saturday's meeting that Gisborne pressure had been responsible for the laying out of the present Ngatapa route. This, statement, as it was sought to be shown m a previous article, is quite contrary to fact, qjnd a persual of our early files bears out the fallacy of the assertion. With the authorisation of the GisborneNapier railway, the then Minister q£ Public Works (the Hon. R. McK^n^©) declared it was the Governments intention to adopt the Mangapoil^e toute. The reports of the Public Wo;_fc s Department engineers declared tb.^tc was tt& doubt about the- superiority 0 f {,_.« Mangapoike route froni an engineering point of view. The Minister of Public Works ; visited Gisborne m,; Marcbj 1911, and but fil6s show tha.fr a deputation representing .the Inland,,. Railway League, comprising Me^ars jy Barns Graham, F. Morice, A. CV_»teete", : J. L. Spence, H. E. Kent, and m. S. Small (secretary) waited upon the' Hon. -Mr.< McKenzie at Gisborne- The deputation asked for an investigation of all the routes, advocating m particular the white along the Hangaroa, up the Te Aroha .stream and across a low saddle through Ngatapa (which was subsequently adopted \>y the Government). The Minister -quoted 'from the Departmental f reports, ahd showed the Tiniroto route was nine miles longer and would cost £10,000 to £12,000 a mile. At this deputation Mr. A. C. Steele brought forward an alternative route from ttje Hangaroa to " Waikohu, declaring it would travel mostly level country. The Hon. JR. McKenzie pointed out this route had hbfe been mentioned before, a fact admitted by the Railway League's secretary. Tho Mayor. (Mr. W. D. Lysnar), declared that Gisborne would have something to say on the subject. The Minister said ho was not particular whether the line came into Gisborno or not. Ho Would not take notice of either aide i. he could' save 10. miles of construction. He intimated that the en-giwteer-in-chief, Mr. ' Holmes, would exaznine thb . routes and flying surveys would be made over the routes that had not previously been surveyed. Speaking on the subject' the following day, Mr. explained to a Herald representative that after deviating frbin (the Te Aloha the route would pass through Trafford's, Barker's, and his own , property ifall Government leases). Although unfavorable to Gisborne he looked upon the broject from a national aspect. Mr. J. Townley, chairman of the East Coast Railway League, declared that the Waikohu Scheme was most objectionable to Gisborne, and remarked on the new proposal having been "sprung" on the Minister. ■'•»'. The adoption df the Wkikoku route, it : was pofcatted out, would carry the East • Coast Main Trunk 23| miles from Gis- ; borne. WMkohu would form the junctioiv, and the present ■ line to % towh tfcroiild : . b& merely' a branch- line to Gisborne. On the Minister's" "return from the i Coast on that occasion he said he would ; get a flying survey made of the alterna- 1 tive inland routes from St. Leger's to Waikohu and St. Leger's to Patutahi. During the informal discussion the Minis- . ter emphasised the great objection from ' a railway working point of view to the ' Government being committed to the , haulage for all time along two sides of a • triangle ' when haulage ahnig only one ! 6i<Jfe "was neecessary. 1 The subsequent developments are a-J matter of public knowledge. Tlie Hon. 1 R. McKenzie, with his characteristic i thoroughness and practical knowledge, 1 tode over the Maii^apoike route or horse- ' back, and as a resuHSOf his observations immediately gave instructions' for ' the ] withdrawal of Mr. T. Thorpe's >urv'ey j party from Mangapoike m drjj'er to ihves-* tigate tho Hangaroa-Ngatapa aiid Hanga- _ roa-Waikohu routes as promised thp In- , land Railway League at Gisborne,.. T?be, j; engineering reports wtero* of^ : • »jach a nature that the present Haiiga- J roa-Ngatapa route, was finally adopted. c So much for Gisborne's political' "pull."' I A Gtsboni-.- deputation did not even wi-it; t upon the Minister on that occasion. ThY *« route was adopted purely on the cngin-; ] eering advifce. ■ i The suggested deviation by the aado- t tion of the Waikohu route' wafe" dfecussed* *, by a Herald representative with Mr Fur- j kett, engiheer-in-chief of the Public i Wprks Department, m Wellington recent- * ly! Mr Furkett intimated that the Department could not abandon all that expenditure oh the line to Ngatapa. Apart J from that, the NgatSpa Tine had beeu I most carefully investigated. Boriugs had -s been sunk and solid bojttom had been 1 located, and. the Department had abso- < lutely no Soubt about tbe practicability i of the safe building of the line. The only i difficult piece. of -country wasjjeyond Mr Kells' homestead and the Wharekbpae j toad crossing, which was tho section he , referred to, but the Department : w&s j quite satisfied as a result bf the investiga- t tions that had been carried out. There waa no occasion to abandon the route on this score, and kf ter passing this point (the Wharekopae road crossing) the line ; would be "m the solid" to the summit. A good deal of misconception, it would. < appear, has arisen over the route of the line beyond Ngatapa. The distance from J Ngatapa tb the summit is abo^t seven 1 miles. Various prdpbs&ls "were inyestigat- ] ed by tho several engineers, involving. ; the climbing of .tho hill sides; of tho , Maugatoetoe valley. Ultimately these ; were abandoned m favor of a np» route- , away to ttie right, cutting out practical- ( ly all tho rotten country. This -was , pegged out by the district cnginifete^ Mr. , EC. Armstrong, and after niost.exhaus- ; tivo investigations on the ground thp chief engineering experts of the yDbp&ttv - ment Mr Armstrong's rpiite wa& • finally adopted. -''^ _■§__■_