THE RIMUTAKA DEVIATION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 308, 24 September 1919, Page 3

THE RIMUTAKA DEVIATION

PIGEON BUSH VERSUS THE ■-; WAINUI ' (By Coleman -Phillips.)

I have every respect for Mr. J, P. Maxwell's opinion, as 'our former General Manager..'and first Railway. Commissioner, but I'regret I-cannot agree with him upon this deviation question. The Pigeon Bush deviation (as wo called it) wa» the''one Mr.'Horiisby often used to urge upon us, but I could never see its advantages over that by AVainui. I think .1. am. right..in saying, (had. it was surveyed about tho same time as AVairtui," and Mr; Maxwell-relics'entirely upon tlie, opinion -of the. engineering..experts in the matter.

But this is just where I join issue with the-experts, to whom so many people want to leave the question. The experts nover thought of the "Jiaione," the new dredge which is going to give 40ft. of..water to. AVanganui.''.harbour.. My contention is, that direct'y 40ft. of deep-sea water is acquired at Castlecliff, and in the river there, that all the AVairurapa produce between Palliser Bay and Pahiatua, will be greatly. handicapped' in cost -of .. rail haulage as agmiist that iroih Pahiatua north to Wanganui, if it. has to bo hauled up and down grades on both sides of the divide on 1 in 35.

.it does not matter to my mind steam or oiectric traction is used, as proposed by Mr. Maxwell. Tho 'thirty mile's of now deviation line to ■ Pigeon Bush, from Upper Hutt, .at a 1 'in So .grade, on both sides of the hill is.fatal'to Wellington's,progress, as the chief port of the Dominion. AVanganui .will 'simply take, the business. For centuries past Av'angauui (during Native history, 1 • mean), has always been the "gateway of the .north," and it will become so again. That 30 miles of barron hill travelling., with .its- long series of tunnels, will damn Wellington for ever as a good passenger approach to the city. One deduction from Mr. Maxwell's proposal can be made, viz.: That ho prefers the Pigeon Bush deviation to the very objectionable. Tauhcrenikau deviation starting from Kaitokej' which does not eliminate ■ the very, dangerous section— ! Kaitbko to Upper Hutt—the most dangerous on the line—which I, being guided thereto by a very able engineer, used to place at 900 ft. fall, but which is only 821 ft., as'-between Kaitoke and Petono, at which point the AVainui deviation branches oil. , There aro really now five suggested deviations of the Kimutake line;—(1) AVainui; (2) Taiihorenikuu; (3)- Old Coach Road; (4), Pigeon Bush; and (5) coasii line; that by the AVainui-tunnels being a thousand times the best for Wellington's interests. I hope the Mayor, Mr. Luke, as tho city's chief citizen, will soon adopt the'wideness of vision to see this, and do hia utmost to got the two tunnels put iu at as low a level as possible, so as to avoid the AVainui Kesjrvoirs altogether .. , , . ; admit that the Pigeon Bush- deviation would bo a great improvement upon the present summit route. But it is not good enough for AVellington. All agree that a deviation has to bo made. But a 30-mile- deviation via Pigeon Bush, as against tho beautiful scenic journey'via the AVainui, through chiefly smiling farm country,, and the beautiful Western Lake suburb, should be relentlessly turned down-by'Wellington'people. J. wo wrongs will never make ono right. We have all suffered enough from the present Summit political railway. Surely another wrong lino will never make tho original one right. . . As to-'tunnelling: It will require as much, perhaps more, tunnel mileage by Mr. Maxwell's proposed line, I ■ think, than by AVainui. Then, as to AVellingI ton's 'high-pressure water service: The Pigeon Bubli deviation will not help AVelI lington one jot, whereas thr.t bv AVau* will simply and admirably link up the series of small dams required in the Orongorongo and AVnirongamm streams, |by affording easy communication wiih them, and so prevent Mr. Morton putting jn'that third eight .thousand million gallon dam. at the AVainui, which, in an earthqiiaky country such as ours, threatens to break away at any moment, carryin" destruction before it, and leaving the city waterless. . Moreover as Wellington grows (which, it must and will, if its rail grades are only'flattened, and not kept to one in 35),' the Wairarapa Lake is its natural great reservoir. This can be brought into Day's Bay bv n low-level tunnel at no great cost. But this great future work oan only bo controlled by the AVainui rail deviation. And this latter may be wanted sooner-than peoplo imagine. My friends tell me I look too far ahead. I do not. /In a very dry summer I dd not depend upon the AVainui, Orongorongo, or AVairongamai streams, as tliey may all shrink very greatly. The wants of a groat city liko-Wellington, in water supply, should be placed above and beyond Hint, danger. Let one of the Mr. Riddiforrts, or D. G. A. Cooper, ot Mr. Alfred Matthews frankly tell the city what they know of the shrinkage of the Orohsorongo and Wairongamai streams. AVe all know how the AVainui shrinkage yearly strikes the city with dread. So much ?o, that we are to have a third 8,000.000,000 gallon dam, which I say is a great danger.

I am quite content for ; the next 50 years to allow these three streams, with a couple of small-sized fairly snfe. dams in oaoli, to supply the citv witli water. But 50 years soon pass away. To me, it onlT appears as yesterday when 1 was talking with the engineers who were making the present summit, line. Y'A that ii over 40 yonr.-. a?o. Thereforo, I say, that Wellington must tunnel out vin *VWainui. Whether rail or water tunnel floes not much matter; hut Jthe city mupH tunnel out that way.- This argument, condemns, once and for.all, the Pigeon Bush deviation line. ' I am.sorry to hnvo to disagree with Mr. Maxwell, very sorry. His intentions are of the best in bringing his proposal forward, but it is not good enough for Wellington or Wairarapa. Th?i 40ft. of deep sea draught ■ at Wanganui f-nd _ the high-wessuro city water 'question govern' this . matter, and my urgent advice to Wellington is: "Put all your money on the Wainui deviation, and do not have another 30 miles of barren new rail line, via Pigeon Bush, imposed -upon you. Do not have it on any account. Do not damn- tho city with sucli a future approach like it has had oil through these past 40 yeaW' *s to cost. The estimated cost of tho .Wainui.deviation .in 1898 was.-.£«:3,547. It may now come to .£IOO,OOO .more. Tho interest upon that sum at <H per cent, comes to, .say, ■ .£23,000 ft year. Almost that saving can be effected by/..doing away with .the present Summit line, via Cross Creek. Mr. Maxwell's deviation via Pigeon Bush will cost'quite,as much as that by the Wainui, perhaps more. Wherein is tho advantage to the city? It i 3 no shorter in distance, and 1 in 35, either by steam or electricity, cannot be as-short invtimo as 1 in 70. "I, of course, insist that tho Wainui section must bo worked by electricity, but it will also eivo on oxpress service out of 'town, if worked fcy steam, which the Pigeon Bush doviation will never do. Tho. one great argument Mr. Maxwolt has in his favour is (and I wish'to bo perfectly fair to him) that tho Pigeon Bush deviation preserves the Wairarapa rail service "on its old route." But that Is the very thing I wish to avoid. Wellington ami Wairarapa wont to get away from that had old route, and go through the hills (not over them) to each other. I want to give Mastcrton and Featherston's meat, wool, and chee?e export as nheap a sea shipment at Welington as Palmerston will have directly at Wanganui, and that will, never be done by a deviation via Pigeon Hush; 1 in 35 will never allow it I urge upon Wellington that as a deviation has to bo made lot us hnvo the best one for the city. Let us do what Christchurch did 50 years ago, viz., tunnel through the hills to the port; hot go over them by 1 in 35. Do' not let us handicap the port against AVangnnui's 40ft. of deep sea draught. Not that I am jealous of Wanganui. Not a bit. Let it go ahead, and make ilself as good a port as Glasgow has done for itself. I shall givo myself the pleasure of a trip to Wanganui soon, and tako a look -at Cantlocliff Harbour. Wanganui is going to bo a great city, and more power, to it. If Wellington flattens its rail grades,' Wangamiii'B progress will help tho Capital City. If • it doesn't, by continuing the old'bad policy of going over the 30 milos of barren hill country, and rejecting the beautiful and attractive Wainui deviation, Wanganui Harbour will easily outstrip

Wellington, directly, in t.ie volume of its exports. For'it already has been, as I have said, the gateway of the north, and it will bo again.