OPENED AT LAST

Waipa Post, Volume 45, Issue 3252, 8 November 1932, Page 5

OPENED AT LAST

THE STRATFORD-WAIKATO RAILWAY.

PRIME MINISTER DRIVES LAST

SPIKE.

(By Telegraph. Press Association.) STRATFORD, Monday. The Stratford-Main Trunk railway is completed after over 30 years of effort on the part of the settlers in the district and the Public Works Department. The ceremony of driving the last spike took place at Haeo today, be»*g performed by the Prime Minister"(P.t. Hon. G. W. Forbes), with whom were associated the Rt. Hon. J; G. Coates and the Hon. R. Master?;, The Hon. A. Hamilton, Postmaster General, was also m attendance, as were Mr W. J. Poison, M.P., the member for the district, and several other members of Parliament, who made the journey through from Wellington last night .The majority of the parliamentarians spent the night at Taumarunui. This morning a special train, the first to make the through journey, left Taumarunui. It was well filled with citizens and represensatives of local bodies and other organisations. As the journey progressed public men and others joined the train at various points, particularly at Ohura and Matiere. Another train carrying the Taranaki delegation left Stratford at 8 a.m. with people from Stratford, New Plymouth, Hawera, Eltham and other towns, and the total was swelled at the intermediate stations. The two trains met at Haeo, where the last spike was driven by the Prime Minister. From a beflagged dais erected beside the line, Mr G. Denison, chairman of the Ohura County Council, and Mr F. Langstone, M.P. for Waimarmo, welcomed the Ministerial party. Mr Forbes, in reply, said the opening of the railway represented a milestone in the history of Taranaki and was an important event in the annals of the New Zealand railways. He drew an analogy between the problems which the engineers had to overcome in carrying the lien to completion through 89 miles of treacherous country and the difficulties facing the country during the present period of economic depression. Just as the engineers had won through so would New Zealand see light at the end of the long tunnel of depression. Great changes had taken place since the first sod was turned at the Stratford end by Sir William Hall Jones in 1901. He was still actively connected with the administration of the country's affairs as a member of the Legislative Council, and but for il-health would have been present to see the completion of the work whose great advantages he had visualised a generation ago. Sir Joseph Ward, who had turned the first sod at the Main Trunk end in 1911, had also a vision of the future of the country through which the line went. Unf orunately he had not lived to see his dream come true.

After paying a tribute to surveyors and engineers, Mr Forbes remarked that the public works policy of New Zealand had always been to provide means whereby settlers could get their produce to market as easily as possible. The work undertaken years ago in providing these facilities was now revealing its true value. Competition in the world's markets was becoming keener, and it was essential that everything possible should be done to bring the producers closer to ports of export, to help them in their fight to capture trade. To the accompaniment of cheers, Mr Forbes then drove home the spike, receiving at the same time a silver spike presented by the Mayoress of Stratford, Mrs P. Thomson, and a silver mounted hammer presented by the Mayoress of Taumarunui, Mrs C. A. Boles, as mementoes of the occasion. Mr Coates entered the engine cab of a locomotive drawing 14 carriages, comprising the official train, and drove the train over the finished tracks, severing a ribbon held by the two Mayoresses. Thus was the new Stratford railway officially declared open. To those who travelled by train the magnitude of the task that lay before the engineers was made apparent. •Most of the country is wild and rugged and covered with thick forest. There are huge hills through which tunnels have been bored, deep cuttings and ravines spanned by high bridges. Although work of railway construction has been going on for over 30 years from the Stratford end, it was not until 1911 that it was begun from the eastern end at Okahukura and gradually the line progressed to Ohura. Haeo, where the spike driving ceremony took place to-day, is not the spot at which the two ends of the line actually met, but it is near where the last of the big tunnels was pierced, and is near the boundary of the Ohura county, and the nearest spot where it was possible to stage a halfway gathering. It is 31 miles from Okahukura and 58 miles from Stratford. It is also in the section where the most difficult part of the construction work was carried out. The country in this area is very difficult, and much time and trouble had to be expended in finding the most suitable route. In 22£ miles there are no fewer than 14" tunnels and in the five miles between Tahora and Tangarakau there are four, in addition to every kind of railway feature except a viaduct.' From a scenic point of view ths.line passes through really magcountry, and it thought that tfHftrip, will have much attraction foWtourists. lifter the spike-driving ceremony both trains came to Tangarakau, where luncheon was partaken of, and several addresses delivered., Many of those present from the eastern end then left on their return to Taumarunui and /stations en route; while the remainder joined the' Stratford train to take part in the official opening of the- motor road to tne Plateau on the Stratford side of Mount Egmont, which runs to a height of 4000 feet, providing one of the finest motor drives in the Dominion. This ceremoney will be performed late in the afternoon by Hon. R. Masters. A- banquet is to'be held at Stratford this evening.