MR THORNTON ON THE WEST COAST RAILWAY.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2231, 31 May 1881, Page 3

MR THORNTON ON THE WEST COAST RAILWAY.

The Chairman of Promoters of the Canterbury

and Westland railway. Sir, —I am gratified to find that Mr C. T. O’Connor’s report on onr proposed ronte for a line of railway to the West Coast has confirmed our report to the promoters in its essential features. There are, however, one or two points in it upon which I wish to offer a few remarks. The appendices and maps accompanying Mr O’Connor’s report are attached I presume as furnishing all the evidence in the possession of the Government with reference to the Ada Saddle. If such be the case the evidence may be summed up as nil. For neither in the maps nor reports is there any information to show that any Government officer of the Works Department has ever been over the Ada Pass, or knew anything of it, except from hearsay. The papers, therefore, forming appendices to Mr O’Connor’s reports fail to show that the Ada Pass was known to the officers af the Public Works department, and might refer to any other Pass. I will here quote from Mr O’Connor’s report on this question of the knowledge possessed by the Public Works department of the Ada p aSB : —“ The subject (meaning, I presume, the Ada Pass) having been already fully dealt with in Mr Blair’s report,” Ac., Ac. Now, after the moat careful perusal of Mr Blair’s report, I fail to find any reference whatever to the Ada Pass ; in point of fact, the report is conspicuous by its absence. This is of itself not surprising, were not a knowledge of it claimed by the Public Works Department. If any stronger proof of my assertion was wanting it is to be found in the sketch map prepared purposely to accompany Mr Blair’s report on the proposed railways in the northern part of this island and attached to Mr O’Connor’s report. In this map the Ada Pass is not shown as a pass at all ; but a dotted line is shown to be carried over the top of the Spencer range of mountains, which has an elevation of between 8000 and 9000 feet. Surely if the Government bad been in the possession of valuable information, the Pass would have been properly indicated on this map. Mr O’Connor then proceeds in his report of the ronte to say, ” That there is nothing absolutely new in the so-called New Koute.” On what information this statement is based I will leave the promoters and the public to decide. With reference to the comparative merits of the several routes by the Ada, Lewis, and Arthur’s Passes, I affirm that Mr O’Connor has incontestibly furnished evidence most strongly in favor of the promoters’ route by the Ada Pass for the object they (the promoters) have in view, namely, the development of the mineral resources of the country to be traversed, and the settlement of a population upon it. Taking the Ada Saddle first into consideration, wo find from the section accompanying Mr O’Connor’s report, and starting from the Hurunni River, that for twelve miles there is a grade of 1 in 203; for the next twenty-one miles to near the Henry Creek there is a grade of 1 in 103 ; thence to the Ada Saddle,' a distance of about eight and a half miles, a grade of 1 in 53. Thence descending on the!west side of the Ada Saddle there is a grade of 1 in 50 for about sixteen and a half miles, whilst the remainder of the distance to |Eeofton shows grades varying from 1 in 50 to 1 in 660. Turning now for 1 comparison to the Lewis Pass route, we find that, starting from the junction of ithe Boyle and Doubtful rivets, there is a grade of 1 in 181 for a distance of three and a half miles ; thence to the junction of the Lswis and Boyle a grade of 1 in 40 for five miles ; thence to the summit of the Lewis Saddle, a distance of three miles, we have a grade of 1 in 60; thence level across the Saddle for half a mile; thence descending on the west side to Derbyshire Creek for five miles there is a grade of 1 in 25; thence down the Moruia river for four miles a grade of 1 in 40; thence across the Marnia Plains over four miles it is level; thence to the crossing of the Ahaura river by grades varying from 1 in 58 to 1 in 99. A comparison of the grades over these two routes will speak for themselves. We must

bear in mind that the traffic would not be a through traffic simply from coast to coast, but tkat it would be a heavy mineral and timber one, spread over a large extent of country, between the Cannibal Gorge and the West Coast, a distance of about seventy-five miles In this extensive district are large coal and gold deposits, as also heavy and valuable timber, which would be reached within 140 miles of Christchurch. It will therefore be apparent that no other route is so well adapted to the purpose, or possesses gradients so favorable as the Ada route.

Now, with reference to the route advocated first by Mr Blair, and more recently by Mr O’Connor, namely, the Arthur’s Pass, I propose to make a few remarks. Assuming for argument’s sake that tho line via Arthur’s Pass and Brnnnerton is 142 miles long as against the Christchurch to Keefton route, via the Lewis Saddle, 1C I miles long, there are strong reasons against tho adoption of the former (Arthur’s Pass) route, notwithstanding its shorter distance. A groat part of tho country is unfit for settlement, whilst there are no coal deposits along the route short of the Greymouth district, and the timber is inferior in size and extent, as Mr O’Connor admits, compared with that on tho Ada route. Again, the adoption of this lino (Arthur’s Pass) would involve the traffic being hauled from the Reefton and Greymouth districts over tho whole length of the lino to Christchurch, and with little or no prospects of any intermediate traffic either now or in the future. But these considerations, weighty as they are from the promoters’ point of view (and it is they who should be the beat judges of their own interests in the matter) are as nothing when compared with tho disadvantage of conveying a heavy mineral and timber traffic over a grade of 1 lin 7 fjr a distance of one mile thirty-four chains by means of a stationary engine. What other grades on this route can bo obtained we are not informed, but we have sufficient information already to enable us to form a decided opinion upon it, to warrant tho promoters in not entertaining the route for one moment We have still a f urthor and fatal objection to its adoption in the long and costly tunnel of three miles and ten chains, which would entail an expenditure of .£'220,000 at the lowest calculation, and probably more, and the construction of which would delay tho opening of the through line for some years, even were it practicable at all, of which lamby no means sure. The advantages claimed for this (Arthur’s Pass) route on account of its shorter length, are far more than conntcrbalanced, in my mind, by the enormous difficulties and disadvantages named ; to say nothing of tho cost of construction, which, t think, will equal tho cost of the Ada route mile for mile, exclusive of the cost of the Arthur’s Pass tunnel. But it must not be forgotten that, in addition to these disadvantages, there must be superadded the difficulties of working a large mineral and timber traffic over Mr Blair’s exceptionally heavy grade of 1 in 7. Blocks in the traffic must occur, as it will be apparent that tho coal and other minerals can be brought to the foot of 1 in 7 grade at a much greater rate than can be passed over it, so that this part of the line would be in a chronic state of block, to the serious injury (financially) of the promoters. As, there'ore, this grade would practically rule tho traffic of the whole line, it is evident that any interruption of it would disorganise the traffic throughout. One remark permit me to add with reference to the estimated cost of our proposed line via the Ada Saddle, as submitted by Mr O’Connor, namely, £11,500,000. It will be found, on reading that gentleman’s report, that he states that the most costly part of the Ada ronte is on a portion of the 1 in 50 grade, from the Ada saddle westward, and that the lino “ would have to be kept continuously along hill sides which are in places very steep, and would involve costly works, but not more so than have been already undertaken on New Zealand railways.” Aathisportionof the workis admittedly the most costly on the line, and as it is pronounced by Mr O’Connor to bo not more so than has been already undertaken on New Zealand railways, and as the New Zealand railways have been constructed for an average cost of .£7OOO per mile, I am at a loss to understand how his estimate of £9560 per mile can have been arrived at for tho line via the Ada route. Adopting this view of an average of the cost of the New Zealand railways per mile—which no doubt is the correct one —in tho absence of details for an approximate estimate of the cost of line via the Ada saddle to Brnnnerton, I find that it would represent it at £1,099,000, instead of 1,500,000, as stated by Mr O’Connor. I am strongly of opinion, however, that from tho facilities afforded along the route for obtaining timber for sleepers and bridge construction, stone, ballast, &c., and from the fact that many descriptions of work are at present constructed for half the cost for which they were undertaken in 1870 and 1871, the actual cost will be found considerably under the sum I have named above. Just a word or two with refer ence to the concluding remarks in Mr O’Connor’s report, in which he refers to the discrepancies between the length of the proposed line by the Ada Pass, the height of the saddle, and the estimated cost of construction as famished by myself and Mr Browne, compared with what ho arrives at, Ist, As regards the length of the line via the Ada Saddle, we have never contended for the accuracy of the length, as the only map accessible was Mr Blair’s sketch map, before referred to, which accompanied tho report on the proposed railways to the northern part of the Middle Island, and which is on a scale of 8 miles to 1 inch, and I cannot think that gentleman will claim for it any marked degree of accuracy. 2nd, With reference to the height of the Ada Pass, if Mr O’Connor will refer to onr report to the promoters on the route, he will find that we specially guarded ourselves on this point. I will here quote from onr report on this subject—- “ Before going farther we would wish it to be distinctly understood that we cannot pledge ourselves to accuracy as to the actual height of the Pass in reference to high water mark, as the weather was very changeable, and in the absence of referring bench marks through the country, which the time and means at onr disposal did not allow ns to establish, but so far as heights locally concerned in relation to one another, and which determine the gradients, we are thoroughly satisfied.” Comments on Mr O’Connor’s remarks after this I think unnecessary. 3rd. The estimate of the cost of the line. I have already commented upon this subject elsewhere in this report. In conclusion, bearing in mind that Government officials are debarred from making any replies to reports reflecting upon them in the public newspapers, I have endeavored to avoid the introdn' tion of any personal feeling when commenting on the reports of Messrs Blair and O’Connor, and trust that I have succeeded as much to these gentlemen’s satisfaction as to my own. Tours, &c., G. Thornton, M. Inst. C.E.