A Visit to the Central Otago Railway.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 422, 26 May 1904, Page 4

A Visit to the Central Otago Railway.

(By our Special Reporter). On Saturday imruing we left Alexandra, just as that old artist sun, rose to waken drowsy nature to the activities of life. The road did not, as usual, seem long and dreary, for observational faculties were on the alert endowing the common things by the wayside with an attractiveness not usually se. ii in them. Away in the distance, its western slopes yet in shadow, i. y with ridge bathed in rosy tints of i.uu ning light, the Hawkdun range ; to li e left, the glinting shafts of light were dispelling the gloomy shadows that lay on the Duns- an range, wh-oh, apparently, stretched away in sombre grandeur to form the i apex of a nght angled triangle with , the Hawkdun range. Here and there on the uplands the cloud caps were gradually being roiled back by the warmth of advancing day. “ These are common things," you say, “ push on to the railway.” All in good time, but first let us have a look at the poultry farm which lies by the way, and which is but a forerunner, we trust, of many such farms in the district. Cosily situated, it is in a pleas ant dell and attended to by a humorous manager who apparently, knows hie work and does it, I could not av

wondering, as I observed the tamer tw of the birds, the aristocratic strides n? the beautiful plurhaged turkeys* nfw the manager, if the owners of i* farm had an eye to the natural fitne of things, when they appointed a humorous man to manage their stock, Tt must be admitted that a good-humore man make 3 a better manager, even .of fowls, than a sulky, morose one. As this farm has been written up before, we leave it and pass on to the railway. The first signs of busy life and railway formation we met with were at Ohatto Creek. Following the Creek down for fully a mile and a half, we observed that, at least, a dozen culverts will be required in a short distance .of two miles. Five of these culverts are finished and ten cr twelve men were busily cleaning out the runlets for culvert foundations. Before earth formation is gone on with down Chatt* Creek, these culverts must all be completed. The first mile and a half down Chatto Creek is of comparatively easy formation, but from that point to the Creek's junction with the Manuherikia River the country is somewhat rough with a fair amount of rock cutting. From Chatto Creek to the top of Tigei Hill, the work is progressing satisfactorily. The big earth cutting at the top of the hill will be finished in about six weeks. The rock formation at the back of Kinney's house is the most difficult piece of the track in this section, and I hardly like to haiard a guess as to the time when this part will be finished; perhaps eighteen ; months will complete the work, but, I think, not less. •> There are approximately on the !i j between Ohatto Creek and Ophir onn hundred and twenty men working; but on this point we could get no reliable information. We got such answers as the following to our questions as to the number of men on the line between Chatto Creek and Ophir. •' Oh, a great number of men." A hundred I " Oh, far more than a hundred." A hundred and fifty 1 " Ah, well, no, not so many." A hundred and twenty? "Well, yes, perhaps a hundred and twenty." Meeting one or two men whom we slightly knew. we accosted them thus : " Hallo; what are you doing here V " Working for Dick Beddon," was invariably i. reply. "Good pay?" "You bet,," " How many men working on the are there?" -Almost without exo" tion the answers were the same •„. above stated.

Ophir, I mean the new Ophir, was a fairly busy, scene, and here more intelligent answers wen-, given to oar questions. Tht framework of the goods shed is erected and the engine shed nears completion* About twelve carpenters and painters are at work on the station building which, when completed, will be a com* modious and respectable structure for the country. This building will be finished in three weeks, Hallo I what's that, a whistle ? yes! and there's steam, by jove, there's the ballast engine: sure enough, there, was the ballast engine about sixty chains away, where the sleepers and rails were being laid at the rate of ten chains a day. Thus, by Saturday, first; the rails will be laid to Ophir Railway Station. Ballasting is completed to within one mile and sixty chains of Ophir. I, therefore, assume that, given fine weajjher, the ballasting will be finished to Ophir by the beginning of July. At the same time we cannot expect through passenger trains to be run to Ophir before the ballast has thoroughly firmed the sleepers in their placement. It must be borne in mind that, when a section is practically finished, considerab'e subsidence: often occurs in places, and this subsidence has to b» made good before passenger trains are permitted to run ©ver this part of the line,

Taking everything into consideration, I am of opinion that it will be August or September, before the line is open for passenger traffic to Ophir. As the men finish on the Ophir Section, they are drafted on to the Ghatto Creek section, consequently, we may anticipate that by next spring the work of formation will be in progress on the left bank of the Mauuherikia River.