Progress of Pukemiro.

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume 4, 19 February 1915, Page 3

Progress of Pukemiro.

A quiet walk along the new railway line leading from the Huntly station to the Pukemiro Collieries reveals the extent of construction .work in the shqpe ot roading, culvert building, cutting and filling which enables the colliery locomotive with its burden of trucks to get within one mile of the junction leading to the mine, whence the main line, now authorised to the Burnt Bridge, proceeds westward, and the branch line heads off to the left. About two chains east of the junction two elaborate and substantial cottages are in process of erection —residences for the railway staff —while an amount of excavation work is being done in order to make room for the commodious and up-to-date railway station offices. The owner of the property on which these buildings are being erected is making preparations for .the building of a residence in the vicinity, so that the nucleus of a new township is in sight. As the coal mine is only 39 chains distant it is probable that this neighbourhood will be dotted with miners’ homes, and that the usual stores, etc., necessary for an embryonic town; hip will shortly be in evidence. The road from Huntly to the mine is level and in fairly good condition, while the creek road, branching off as it does from the main thoroughfare leading to Waikokowai, and winding its way up the valley on the bottom side of the railway, through a picturesque stretch of magnificent native bush and ferns can safely be recommended as a beauty drive. At the present time this road is being used as a means cf access to the quarry from which the Public Works Department is obtaining metal for the several concrete formations in connection with the railway. Further west, about 100 men are busy with the construction work, which, competent authorities assert, will be finished by next June, and thus allow the mine to boeome a remunerative proposition. •