L>.—2b.

Lumsdbn to Athol (19 Miles). 2 Bails are 401b. iron, with good fish-plates. They are in very fair condition, and with present traffic good for many years. Ballast is very good, though the line looks untidy from the number of sheep walking over and scattering the ballast. Sleepers are fairly good, and. the line is kept in first-rate running order. 3. Six of these bridges are rebuilt and new All have been provided with new ironbark beams. The matai piles and caps are what remain of the original structure, and of these the bridge at 67 miles 26 chains has a few piles going, but good for some years yet. All the rest are very good. A few open culverts have back-lining a bit gone. There are some box-culverts fairly good, and some have been replaced by concrete pipes. 4. There is no fencing, except a patch or two, and four cattle-stops are good. 5. At the Lowther, cattle-pen, platform, and shelter-shed, all very good. At Five Rivers, platform a little decayed, shelter-shed good, but floor old and worn. At Porawa, loading-bank, front piles decayed, as are front piles of platform , shelter-shed good. At Athol, goods-shed very good platform, shelter-shed, and privies and urinals in good order , platelayers' cottage good and neat. 6. Mile-posts of wood, in good order Athol to Kingston (18 Miles) 1. Formation is clean and well drained; cuttings trim and neat. 2. Rails are 401b. iron, with good fish-plates for the most part, but with the objectionable Ibbotson joints in places. These rails are fairly good, most of the bad ones having been picked out. In a few places they have not been picked out, and there many scaled a,nd battered rails are seen in the road. The sleepers have been renewed in several places. It other parts there is a considerable proportion of dosed half-rotten sleepers. On the whole they are not bad. The ballast is good, and the line is in fine running condition. 3. The bridges have all been provided with new ironbark beams and rail-beams. Three are entirely rebuilt in ironbark, the originals having been washed away Three are in masonry and ironbark. One has entirely new piles. Two have the original piles and caps in good condition. 4. There is no fencing, and only two cattle-stops, in good condition. 5. At Nokomai, platform and shelter-shed good , loading-bank under construction new siding being put in. At Garston, ballast-siding in good order, loading-bank, platform, shelter-shed, goodsshed, all in good order At Fairlight, loading-bank, platform, and shelter-shed very good. At Kingston, platform, concrete front, station-building and Stationmaster's house good and well kept, privies and urinals good and clean, tank-stand, coal store, and engine-shed very good, turntable out of repair, and decayed a little in the sleepers, loading-bank good, cattle-pen, with new iron rails, good, wharf piles, beams, and bracing and wales in good preservation, planking under repair. 6. Mile-posts of timber, in good condition. Waimba Plains.—Lumsdbn to Goeb (37 Miles) 1. Formation good. All banks widened, line clean, level plain. 2. Rails are 521b iron, in very good condition, very few being seen which are worn or scaled. The line-repairers have been recently at work, and great numbers of rotten sleepers are thrown out of the road and replaced by new, so that generally the sleepers are very good. The ballast also is good, and the line in excellent running condition. 3. Three of the bridges are entirely new in ironbark. Nearly all have ironbark beams, put in in 1891 and 1893. Bridge at 10 miles 27 chains has one or two matai beams going, but good for a year or two yet, at 11 miles 40 chains three or four matai piles are much decayed, and must be taken out as soon as possible, at 14 miles 34 chains two piles are getting done, at 16 miles 12 chains some piles are dosed, but good for some years yet, at 26 miles four or five matai piles are much decayed, and should be taken out very soon. All the rest are sound, and good for many years yet. Piles are at Gore for the repair of defective bridges. 4. There|are no fences except such as are private, and only six cattle-stops, which are all right. 5. Balfour Station has platform, of concrete, station-house, goods-shed, and loading-bank, all good. Kingston Crossing, good platform and good shelter-shed. Waimea goods-shed and loadingbank all right. Riversdale tank-stand and windmill all right. Cattle-pen being rebuilt. Loading-bank and goods-shed very good, platform, front a bit decayed. Station-house and Stationmaster's house very good. Pyramid, platform and shelter-shed good. Loading-bank repaired and good. Ballastsiding in good order Mandeville shelter-shed, platform, goods-shed, and cattle-pen, all in good order. Otamita, platform in concrete, and shelter-shed very good. Goods-shed good. 6. Mile-posts of timber, very good. Picton to Blenheim and Extension (21 Miles) 1. The formation is fairly good. Banks have been widened, grades cut down, and deviations made to straighten curves. Line is weedy in many places. The extension is not used, and is buried in tall weeds, and impassable. 2. The rails are fifteen miles of 401b. iron, with Ibbotson joints, three miles of 401b. steel, and, extension, two miles and three quarters of 531b. steel. They are in poor condition, and fit neither for fast running nor heavier engines. The permanent-way needs a good deal of overhauling. A large number of worn rails might be taken out with advantage, and if that were done the rails would be good for many years yet. The line also in many parts wants lifting, straightening, and

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