DESERT RAILWAY.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 April 1926, Page 1

DESERT RAILWAY.

TRANS-CONTINENTAL LINE IN* AUSTR A L'l A. SYDNEY, March 2G. A strong appeal is made by the East. West Australian transcontinental railway to the imagination of oversea visi- ** tors who travel by it. Invariably roL manco clings to the long railways of -- any country, such as the Canadians’ Pacific, and in the East-West line there is also romance, not only of coni. struction. but also of a fight against, monetary loss. Although Australians who have never travelled on the line 1 have hazy ideas of it, they all seem 5 to know that along the whole 1051 s miles, it- does not cross a single per- - inanent. stream of water, and that the 1 population of the region is extraordiui arily sparse, f’he task set the Common- , wealth Government, the owner of the line, would have daunted the strongest 1 combination of capitalists, but with a - capital expenditure of over £0.000.000 ■ the Commonwealth Railway Department set itself doggedly to the solution oi the problem. Much more of a romance than the actual construction ol tin' line i.s the persevering organisation which lias lifted tbe revenue, pound bv pound, till it is on tbe point of balancing expenditure. There is every indication that for the twelve months ending .Tune 30th next revenue will at least equal expenses. The interest and sinking fund have still, to be paid as tbe price of linking the west to tbe east overland. It is part of the insurance premium on the defence of Australia and a subsidyalso forwards the encouragement of migration, settlement, prospecting, and complete nationhood. Tlie lino is tbe Nile of the lingo tract of country, partly unexplored, that separates Port, Augusta and Kalgoorlie. Inevitably it is developing a region that Nature, niggard in her supplies of water, seemed to have thrown contcmp ■ tuonsly to the black fellow and the dingo. Sheep are being increasingly run on the land bordering tbe railway, with tbe aid of artesian Imres and dingo-proof fences. From Lake Hart near the lino, thousands of tons of excellent- salt are now marketed yearly. A manganese mine i.s operating near one station, and goldmining is carried on at another station. Then there is a region of red sandhills, which i.s onlyin Habited by the dingoes, and no freight- and no passengers eome from this quarter. NULLA BOR PLAIN. At 127 miles from Port Augusta the lino enters upon a groat limestone plain which surprises travellers with its treeless. sea-like expanse—the Xnllabor Plain. It is here that the railway- runs straight a.s an arrow for 300 miles through the frosted bluebush and the grev-green saltbush. "Wonderfully easy haulage, railway-men say, but from a revenue point of view they would prefer a more difficult country a.s long as it gave freight- and passengers to tbe line. The Nullnbor Plain gives none of either. As there is no run-off, dams cannot he constructed with any- hope of impounding water, and the artesian boro water is not good for the locomotives. This is a problem that is being closelystudied. A special plant is being installed at one plare to treat water chemically so that it- will he better for the engines. Experiments in England with a turbo-condensing typo of locomotive. which uses little water, are being closely- watched. There is also a possibility that a Diesel oil engine may meet the requirements of the plain. No railway service in Australia or New Zealand is faced with such difficulties. Rainfall is lost in caverns under- the limestone and escapes into tbe sea. Once across the border into Western Australia the country improves, and south of tbe line it had been taken up for sheep runs. Put the whole traffic of the line is spoilt by the troublesome break of gauge, caused by the narrow a gauge of South Australia, compared with the standard Break of gauge on Iho transcontinental. Even with that it is interesting to note that all the potatoes used in Kalgoorlie come from a Victorian town. Special consideration litis to be given to the needs of the railway employees on tire long stretches where they nre isolated from civilisation. They receive their supplies j twice a week from a goods train, which j has.a butcher’s shop, grocery, chemist’s dispensary, and other utilities, goods from which are sold at Adelaide prices. ] Owing to competition of sea transport, freights tire cheaper on the line than those charged by tbe Canadian Pacific. >