THE STRATFORD-ONGARUE RAILWAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1054, 17 February 1911, Page 6

THE STRATFORD-ONGARUE RAILWAY.

t ' ■ r « PROGRESS OP THE WORK. . iDjf Tclecraph.—R(veela.l Correspondent.^ Now Plymouth, February IG. There aro now some- four, hundred uien working on tho Stratford-On'garue railway line, and this' number is being gradu-ally-increased. Tho. new station and yards aro well on the way towards completion* at Pohokuro, .seven miles paU To Wera, and -it .is, expected that this ssoUon will bo 'opeivat in'about > six weeks' or two months' timo. • Thirtythrco miles of the lino will then havo been finished. Tho Whangamomona tunnel, which will be 3.1 chains in length, will engage operators for the next eighteen months, but it should bo pierced by tho end of April when' work near. Whangamomona will bo greatly facilitated. .There is an •opinion that when Whangamomona is reached 'work^willn-proteed^ffr<mboth ends of the lino in order turn, Hie joo may bo. quickly finished, but Tongar'aka tunnel, • which is to be 60 chains long, will -take considerable 1 timo ■to excavate and fa up: -Incidentally it may bo"mentioned that all the tunnels aro being constructed wider and deeper than those on the Main Trunk line. Traffic is .already very heavy on tho Stratford-Te Wera section, and.it is said that tho whole- lino will bo a splendid payablo proposition when completed, while at ■ the saino time it will relievo the Main Trunk line of considerable traffic, From Stratford to Whaneamo ; irona tho' areas ■ aro mainly suitable for sheep; north-cast to Ojigaruo for dairying. Tho sehfeon is' about nix weeks later than that south of., the province, hud even now with little water feed is fairly green. The country between' Stratford and .Whangamomona is very much like that between Jlasterton and Pongaroa, which statement appears to bo a very good argument in favour of the installation of this latter line.. ■ ■ Touching on the methods by which tho< Stratford-Ongaruo lino has been constructed it is • interesting to noto that the section between Stratford and Douglas, which has not been down more than nino years, and Which carries 401b. rails is being rolaid with tho old Jlanawatn 561b. rails; and'-that a rimu and kauri bridge, which has also been down only, nino years, is being pulled down in order to bo replactd with a structure of stronger timber. '