UPPER WAIKATO LINE.

Waikato Times, Volume 98, Issue 16152, 29 November 1924, Page 6

UPPER WAIKATO LINE.

TJVO ALTER NATIVES * ANALYSED^ mm zmimn * •HNOrNEBR’S DETAILED REPOST, 5S ■ •’ 'I BOARD’S SCHEME *FAVOURBD. - H " ■fir- L • The has presented to. M 'i chief of tl^. : . Pjjblib' Works- ' Deßftrftntnl me'."spoola! ..report by l^teiS'^safers :> tHeTfcoMd’J? Sfifceme pr'.a. 6&-mlle rall- ■> wriy from Putaruru t<* Oruanui, observ- £ grate and standards, -« as oomparad with the proposition of « the.J)oar4 : . ta#ng oyer and .Improving 1 V* **£s*>-•- ' obtailed atthe re--2 quest- .cftaifni'an of « the DepdrtEeehta};'Gdmihi4te'e; set up by a rn'mlhter- for ‘Piddle .\?OTKs'to de- - ■ eldejfae-question, ,as.. W.; jyfflCh r Mfieme -4 wdtiid he the’ .district 4? concerned, the committee* desiring a r» detailed comparison- „.oT~ the two •5 schepw»»hß?<y«e StringIn the report Messrs. Vlttfcerman and % Lancaster..sUte thatJjjjpy llnd;t{iat the g board is aOtrve primarily because of the demand by propjiectivo timberi 1 sj dartW,’becikiSe poSkihiiilfes a 2 rmway yroulii 9 £ftu?d of : dtfening/ilp for l ° o [ “ PjatariiTU 1 along" ’uiSjief r&tisfies of ■ S this wn&atft, BHfer;'amd J'¥6 ! uha the % tf&e all T* Ehtitif !, lit otfatfe/ torttf,.. 'ffie clrcura- % S Ifn' i Tl^er 3 already, •ft lrfwlerf heid by g Hwjlcif hil^ht ! t , ihe v ji eirotfWJU'eßmb 1 s(r inflaffit light rails vC$?, u ''iminrflfeHSlop at" Putaruru and % running through the heart of the S above-mentioned'eotmtry as far souttS as has also in- &• vestlgated the possibility of extending f.fts line a further 20 miles to reach ‘.-Lake Taupo.. •)« f The New Route. ’ i The company’s railway was built to Its owners’ sawmilling business, ’S continues thereport.-and. ihe general *Dy expressed objections to the extei- ® ttg line so far as a more extended •g sendee is concerned ~arg th'e steep k grades, sharp curves, tlie' heavy haul--4 age oyer the Wawa saddle, and, also, S, thgl -Its route is not, that giving best Wi neeesa (o the-Tihoi bush'and extensive & arable lands on the west of the Wai- § katpi nor to the now remaining forests af Tutukau, Maraonui, and Oruanui. ?! Froaii Putaruru to'the i 9-mile peg the J? be easily altered so as to oveeejjele objections • and to serve the 1 purposes no\y desired, but from that % point the - board has' h&d an entirely •S new route reconnoitred, running westh| wards towards the Kopokoral stream fi and down it to the Waikato River, .and 5i thence along the Waikato to the pPe-’ sent railway bridge near Ongaroto, 1 where the nev/ llnp also crosses. At* vij this point It again diverges from the old line and runs-parallel-to the river fev until near Atiamuri, where it bends M southwards and follows the general . direction’ of (he Atlamurl-Taupo road la aa far as Oruanui,the, present proposed tqyjilnus, and some 60 miles' from the Governmentrailway at PutjM rum. The reoonnalsance Indicates tba lotlstencid of a serviceable route * with downfall! grades, including some eonslderable lengths of i In 50, prac}i MeaUy front Oruanui to the Kopoka-. rahi stream, but' with about threei « ddlM of adverse i In-50 compensated ® giiHlft in the length from there to the junction with the Taupo Totara Timber Co.’s line at the 19-mile' peg. It la thought that this length of 1 in 50 grade i’may SV eased. Between Kopo- | karahi and the Waikato River bridge thecqmpany’s line is only 17 miles as $ ai^.itj!ft;22i miles by the new route,

• 5$ aEiCtioally the whole of this por- ,•? line Is on grades, of .from fcj i, to 36 to 1 in 66, Including one '■ Jengffi 9J. miles of lln 46, whll.it a'iarfefe percentage of the length Is on • curws’d’f'three-chatn radius and less. - In , ccfh{iection with the new line, bell! ijsi existing between Putaruru *} &lB t thS ll lftmile peg,, sidings are pro- ■ • miles, Kopokarahi; at 28 m 863.' to''serve West Wakamaru and $ miles, Cox’s, to serve r South’Wjtkam a ru; at 42 miles, Ongas> ffit^Ws’erVe 1 the Taupo Totara Timli 3 at -44 miles,to ■ serve “i AHmiuyf'at 53 .miles, Waiiaukau, to is |jra?^NttMtf ! r r aiul Maraonui; and it 3j! 6d* f mldsi’'OniVi'nui, to serve Oruanul, | W&ifak'ei’ arid'^inpo. 3H .btßofl The Country Traversed. !-.*h^V.r?iUway,’ f Tuhs for "the greater reasy, light country, at „. ? the, isame class as that , aflW!r,f«Woessfully,, ; carrying dairying I fcfiPtfFni at;: Matamata, Putaruru and > Tokoraa... <Vhout : half the. district is i- easily ploughed, and 5 feivsrqall-j dairying or fattenmgfaim*whilst, fee.remainder is hilly 5 or tree planta- '%■ Cons. ,-In iife the land is I it must rei main so unless means are provided for 5 cheajj] )pff l ipk ni l re - The line ' wilt to;" a short route toWairakei and Tauna. -and with" aVood service would * be Jarg<!li?T>atroftl&!<i f! b^ ;T tourists and e fishermen. It would not clash with 3 as the Putaruru-Taupo railway .would 1 serve’ 1 different area. Both 2 lines were required:

.fn.ii Big Timber Traffic. .82 aodo-toO <7U' ■ ’ r \-The business : on tbe;Butaruru-Taupo inq/yvill-at first consist chiefly of the transport outwards ofsawntimber and spilt po,sts> ,*nd inwjfds ,Qf .manures, States the!report; but as-time goes on Ipnge fanning. and stock-carrying business i should: : deveiop- and, depend-ing-'fin circomstances, this may eventually supersede;,the. timber traffic. The approximate .amount ,;Of: timber actually kwaiting handling, amounts to 610 milllons.- is in addition the Tihol forest, vfest ,pf,the Waikato and SOfnci-nilies. distant, which would apparently :, ( j^, r most easily ..qbtgined by bringing out to the .28 piile, apd from which a further.,lSO-million feet could be obtained. Ignoring the Tahoi forest for/tjie } ,b3eftn@ei of its distance’, there is thus a.- supply of 20 million f. gyaha&ie Jar appears, or 30 million'6r “20 years! depending on the jatq pf imttoif ; *n< the, growing demand. ; an< I the vanishing resources cf suppiy': ; i»4i^..the shorter period more. fee peltry Department ’fefiQMS ,t«. % belief that the maafoif ededyiahs w® £e such that Jjtypak/in 45 yeajg. With resard fe punfeUwj*, ihoughjtbe movement , fa its „ Infancy, arrangements- ;i-fve- J airT-'dy been made for some .t7„oj6to acres to be planted, .which should fin!-some 136 years yield, about ' 68 million feet,fpr transport from the :* stations at about 23, .to 28 .miles. „

Type of Construction Recommended. Staring that It is essential to keep the cost down to a minimum, Messrs Vlekennan and Lancaster recommend adopting X lightly constructed type of line*, of the standard 3ft 6in gauge, cuttings to be minimum width of 10ft, .■rohnnt-mpnts 12ft, curves a minimum radius of five chains and located to admit of flattening later, grades not sleeper against the ‘outward load than 1 in 50, compensated and better if reasonably possible, bridges of strength suitably, for all Railway Department waggon.stock, rails 401 b per lin. yarej, to be ‘of ptpnlce. sleepers of New “ Zealand timbers on straights with alternate hardwood on curves, structures lo have New Zealand Railway clearances, stations to be of standard type, but their extent to be reduced to the minimum at present .required, rolling stock to be similar to New Zealand railway standards, and locomotives to be of the articulated type Such a railway could be used by the Railway Department rolling stock and thus could save the present transhipping costs at Putaruru. It would admit of an average speed of 20 miles per hour as against 12* miles per hour on the Taupo Totara Timber Go’s, line,' thus making the length of time of a full journey three-hours instead of “four hours as it is by tts eTaupo Totara Timber Company's line. In the report the-' estimated cost of acquiring and improving "the first 19 miles of the existing, railway and. then constructing the 40 miles of new line to Oruanui, together with the provision of the necessary rolling stock, is set down at £416,000, while the cost, of acquiring tjtie whole of the company’s line and effecting the‘minimum improvements necessary Is estimated at £330.500. Full details of estimated capital cost, revenue, expenditure, etc., are given. A sinking fund of 1 per cent, to pay for the railway over 37 years Is allowed.

Over £1,000,000 Saving In Freight*. In conclusion. Messrs Vlekerman and Lancaster state:- I —“We are in favour of adopting a route following the .Taupo, Totara Timber. Co. line for about 19 miles, and thereafter following the route described to Oruanui, as we believe it would serve the district more conveniently and more generally and would be more conducive to settlement than the Taupo Totara Timber Co.’s line. From the financial point of view the new line also shows up as the more- favourable to the extent of reducing the aggregate annual expenses -by . some £431,000 over 40 years; whilst, as compared with the present means of transport, It would efTect a saving to the district In tlmben freights alone of approximately £1,000,000

Active Polloy Necessary. “It will be realised, we trust, that though the figures given—-and we have made them, we believe, conservative — are favourable, the. success disclosed depends on the milling business being ready when the line is completed, and we are assured by members of the board that this will certainly be the case; and on the promotion of farming business by .speeding-up land settlement. To ensure this the board should arrange for the cutting up of the land Into, farming.blocks to precede the construction 1 of the line, and in this the Government’s co-operation would-be required, gs well as in providing the necessary roads. The board are fortunate in that .the work Involved will be easy and could be rapidly completed, and there is the Inducement,to the Government 1 that up' to 15,000 s people-could be settled In the district, witlr the usual corresponding quota in the main towns. We stress this point of being ready and . making certain of the business, because If .this Is not to he available the justiScafittn" for anything better than the existing line, which is* 'ia businesslike and good pioneer largely. Vantefaes b and if thd development-'is going to be very slow the best? financial arrangement might easily be to takeover the company’s'.'.llhtf,: and to gradually improve or supersede it. We capnpt help thinking, however, that if the development is properly organised and its importance fully grasped, and the matter of, getting business is made just as important as that of constructing the line, our figures will be more than realised, with the financial saving alluded ,

The. Board Confident. Commenting on the report, which they consider eminently satisfactory, members of the Railway Board point out that 20 million feet of timber per annum is the freight specified byMessrs Vickennan and Lancaster as necessary to make the new line payable. They, the members, consider this should be easily forthcoming as, besides, the additional private sawmills that would 'be operated In the territory, the Railway Department would in all probability take its supplies for its modern house-cutting factory at Frankton from its bushes in this district for the next 30 or 40 years. Moreover, an extensive commercial afforestation industry was being commenced in the district, and thus there would probably always be a very considerable timber traffic.