The Midland Railway.
♦ The Midland Railway Company,s contracts on the West Coast are progressing satisfactorily. The Grey River Argus says :— " Messrs Jay and Co have not allowed the grass to grow under their feet in pushing on the construction of that section of the line known as the Ahaura contract. In fact they have exceeded the expectations of a great many who predictsd thay they could not possibly get done in the time. According to the terms of their coniractthey were to be finished by the 20th inst; but practically the contract was finished on the 1st — that is as far as was in their power. The first cylinder was started on 13th November. The position is this; with the exception of iron girders for the small bridges, the line is finished and ba^asfced to the southern end of the Ahaura bridge, go that the work of carrying goods might be safely gone on \nth, though objection would probaljy be taken to the carriage of passengers over a line that it would not be technically correct to say is completed." The necessary girders have to b» obtained from England, but from some unexplained cause th°y have not yet arrived, nor any ad\lce regarding them. Only the girders are required to complete the Ahaura bvidge. The Argus says all the cylinders are in position, the last being completed at 9pm. on the 2nd March. Had the girders arrived the bridge would have been completed by the Ist April. It will take three to four months to complete the work after the girders arrive. Before the sinking ot the cylinders was completed Mrs Jay, wife of one of the contractois, was lowered to the bottom of a cylinder (27ft deep ), and as a memento of her novel experience brought up a piece of the bed rock on which the cylinders rest.. Mrs Jay is probably the first lady on the coast or even in the colony, who has enjoyed so novel an experience. The line from Ahaura to Totara Flat, under contract to Jay and Co , wiU, it is expected be open for traffic in about eight months' time
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MH18900328.2.15
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Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 28 March 1890, Page 2
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357The Midland Railway. Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 28 March 1890, Page 2
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