DESCRIPTION OF THE LINE.

Southland Times, Issue 3779, 2 August 1880, Page 2

DESCRIPTION OF THE LINE.

in the course of which description, however, it will be necessary to refer to things that perhaps should come under separate headings, but which, to save room and preserve continuity, we place under that given above The line, which was begun on the lOth January, 187'J, commences ;it the Gore station of the Dunedin-Invereurgill main line, and terminates at the Elbow station, on the line from Invercargill to Kingston. It is thirty-six and a-half miles in length, and forms a loop line between the before-mentioned main lines. It shortens the distance between Dunedin and Lake Wakatipu by 54 miles, the distance from Dunedin to Kingston via Invercargill being 230 miles, and via the Waimea Plains 175 miles. It requires no great stretch of imagination therefore to comprehend that this line is of considerable importance to the travelling public of Dunedin, who, provided judicious arrangements for transit are made, will, by leaving a call at Invercargill out of their programme, be able to reach Queenstown iv one day instead of two as heretofore. There can be no doubt that the majority of those visiting the lakes will, for want of time, not favor InvercargiU with a call, and thus our hotels at any rate will be deprived of <i little trade they have enjoyed in days gone by. There is one point, however, in connection with this Waimea Plains line that is of serious import to the merchants and business men of Invercargill— that is, Is this town to be deprived of the trade with Queenstown and the surrounding gold-producing country she has hitherto enjoyed. It behoves our merchants to see that she is not, but they should, and doubtless will, bear in mind that Duuedin can more easily bid for that trade now than before, because, as was pointed out in un Otagan paper the other flay, the goodstariff rate on our railways is very low after the first seventy-five miles. luvercargill is 88 miles from Kingston, and Dunediu via Waimea Plains, 175 miles, consequently Invercargill has distance mightily in her favor, and all that is needed to keep the trade in its present channel is that our local merchants should be up and doing. But this is a digression — to return to our description of the line. The gradients and curves throughout are favorable for economical working. The maximum gradient is 1 in 100, which only occurs in two places, the gradients otherwise being comparatively level. The curves are also extremely easy, the principal portion of the line throughout being straight. There are upwards of twenty culverts, varying from two to tcu feet in width, and constructed of masonry and concrete, besides many others in soft ground constructed of timber. There are two streams of importance crossed at tenth and eleventh miles — the Otamete and the Waimea respectively; the former by a bridge of 20 spans of 20 feet each, and the latter by nineteen spans of twenty feet each. In addition to these there are bridges over streams of minor importance at nine different points on tho line. The permanent way consists of 521 b rails fastened atthe joints by fishplates and four bolts, furnished with Graver's patent washers, and laid on sleepers seven feet by seven inches by five inches. The ballast amounts to 1760 cubic yards per mile, and the embankments are all 12 ft. in width at the formation level. The rolling stock at present consists only of a couple of locomotives of the Bam c type as those generally used ou the Government lines. They

will be o-ipab! - on |V--!!h- o*'t -Vug a !o. ! '■ i:idi-p-iid'-nt of their own w -r-7t of VP'. ; tons, "f 15 loaded waggons, up i 'v- st up -r- : j gra-ii- nts, and ran travel at !.-•• i.e.- 1 ol PP, mil.-s m hour, wilhuui detriment to thein-r-elv.-. The same engines on iii : maximum gradi nt oi' ] in 50 on the ' ioveriiui'rjnf main iim-s in Otago would le: '-uly -apaba- i of hauling 775 ton.s, o-- -.-iy nine 10-id-d wag- , go-! ■. The only station-, wliich may b; said to be ;ixcd upon as 3'et are at the new tu.vii- , ship of Mandeville, 10 1 . miles from Gyp- : j Rivers, laic township, 1 7^ miles ; Waimea; township (siding), 'M miies; township ol ; St. Patiick (siding), 'PA miles from Gore. The two last mentioned townsiiips are not | yet in the market, and at none of the phi- es j named is any station yet erected. The. i cost of construction of the line was j about £108.000, reprcs.-nting a cost of .£2'JGO per mile, which will prove it to be about the cheapest line yet constructed in the colony. Tho railway runs for its whole length through the estate of the New Zealand Agricultural Company, of which it may be said to form the backbone, and as settlement progresses we may look forward to the line doing a considerable 10--al trade. Su soon as trallie increases Other stations besides tho-- • named above svill be erected, aud townsiiips laid oil ami thrown opeu for settlement oi easy terms. In addition to the produce, &c, the railway will be the medium for conveying to large centres of population, it wiii probably be the means of opening up a lignite pit that exists near the line, and of bringing Waimea stone into the market. There is a valuable deposit of building stone near the present head-quarters of the company, the residence of Mr Chaplin, which should come into favor for ornamental architecture, as it possesses a warm tint and is easily worked. Mr 11. P. Higginson, M. Inst. (J.E., was the engiueer to the Waimea Plains Railway Company, the resident engineer in charge of the works being Mr A. R. W. Fulton, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., witn Mr John Whittaker as tiie contractor. The names of these gentlemen are sufficient guarantee that the work has beeu faithfully executed. the trip from Gore to Elbow was in many respects a most pleasant one, and afforded the excursionists ample opportunity for " spying out the land." The line runs through by no means uninteresting country, the objects to relieve the eye being the occasional townships, the station homesteads, the 'distant snow-capped mountains. and the verdure-clad hills abutting on the /kins. The townships, which by a distinguished legislator would be called " handmaids to civilization," are only two in number — Mandeville and Riversdale; but in time we may hope to see many flourishing settlements on the lands at present held by the Agricultural Company, one of the objects of which, as stated by Mr Bastings, is to promote settlement on its expansive and fertile domain. It is a noticeable and commendable fact in connection with the tewnships that ample reserves for various purposes have been made. The magnilicent stretch of country through which this line passes was keenly viewed by those ou board the train, many of whom were in a large degree interested in the development of the district's resources. All agreed that the only thing required to make the line a thorough success was abundance of settlement, and this of course must, ancl will, be promoted by the railway, which will bring land of the highest fertility, wellwatered, and it is said not destitute of good timber, into the market. The excursion train reached Elbow at 2 p.m., and after a short stay there proceeded to Kingston, where the steamer was in readiness to convey passengers to Queenstown. A cold lunch was laid out in one of the cars just before Elbow was reached, and partaken of by the passengers. At the junction some of the Invercargill passengers- -amongst them our reporter — left the excursion train and proceeded to town by the ordinary down train from Elbow, having thus travelled by a circular route — namely, from Invercargill to Gore, Gore to Elbow, and Elbow to Inveicargiil. REGULAR TRAFFIC. It is understood that for the present trains will leave Gore for Elbow daily at 3.50 p.m., and Elbow for Gore at 10.35 a.m. The Government have provided the necessary rolling-stock, and the fares will ba the same as on the General Government