THE WELLINGTON AND MASTERTON, RAILWAY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4901, 6 December 1876, Page 3

THE WELLINGTON AND MASTERTON, RAILWAY.

(BT OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) The line passes over a curious formation after leaving the locality at which Mr. Mason's ■house is situated. It turns to the right, and runs over a peculiar, looking terrace, in-which masses of boulders, like those in a moraine, alternate with swdmp. At the,end of‘this it strikes right into the mountains, and the traveller finds himself literally in . the. heart of the Eimutaka. , At 32 miles 63 chains a stupendous piece'of work is'encountered, hut one the construction of which saved that of a much heavier. -The line as laid out involved a retaining wall at the river, which would have required'some 1700 cubic jards. of masonry; but a diversion of the river was effected by cutting through the rock 1 forming its bed, and the bottom of the embankment for the: line is how situated on the former course of the stream. The embankment is a very heavy one, and is some three chains in height. It may be mentioned that at 32 miles 55 chains a tunnel was avoided, and again at’32 miles 69 chains, in both 'cases' by Substituting open cuttings for the work as originally planned. There is a tunnel at 33 iniles 42 chains, of 44yds. in', length, and shortly after this, at 33 miles 46 chains, Mr. Oakes’ contract terminates, and;that of ‘ MESSRS. COLLIE, SCOTT, AND WILKINSON begins. It is from the Upper Hutt to about this point that the Fairlie, or bogie engines will be used ; the Fell engine, as will be presently seen, being intended for, the other side. I write the other side because Messrs. Collie, Scott, and Wilkinson have undertaken the’work that is.to connect the point we have now, arrived at with the other side of the main range, or with the line to descend into the Wairarapa Valley, - This is done by what is called the summit tunnel, through a saddle of the Eimutaka, in which the contractors have made very good progress, being now in on the Wellington side! 22 chains, and on the other side 3J chains, leaving only 3J ’ chains to be done. This will be finished in a couple of months, but there will still remain, the lining of the tunnel, which is not in the' present contract, and which will take no 1 inconsiderable time. The tunnel is situated at a height of 900 ft. above sea level. From what I saw of it, and I walked up to the workings on each side, I may say that the sooner it is lined after, it is pierced the better. There is not much- timbering done in it, and the rock . seems to be of a character that gets quite rotten on its exposure to the air. The walk from the tunnel’s mouth to. the top of the saddle is a very stiff climb, but on accomplishing it thefirstviewof the Wairarapa plain comes upon you. Here is situated the hut in which one of the engineering staff, Mr. Park, has resided, almost without intermission, for three years; and it must have been almost as exciting an existence as that which the father ’recommended to his son, namely, the .top of the monument, in order that he might be kept out ■of harm’s, way. Descending to the tunnel’s mouth on the Wairarapa side, we almost immediately come upon

MR. M‘KIRDY’B SECOND CONTRACT, and that portion of the line about the working of' which no little controversy exists. For some two or three miles the line descends'at a gradient of 1 in 15, and it is here that the iFell engine is to be used. -I need scarcely state that the Fell engine is that which works on a central rail, in addition to the two ordinarily in use, and the grip it thus possesses enables it to creep up very stiff gradients. The curves on that part of the line which is to be worked by it are very frequent and very sharp, and it is evident that the possibility of the descent being too much for it has entered into the calculations of the engineers, for at the bottom, of the steep incline is a siding running up the hill, on to which it is proposed to turn the Fell engine, should she run,away, by. means of a pointsman to whom the engine driver can signal, . .But; should the engine commence to run away a couple of miles above this siding, I fancy that, with the curves that have to be rounded, there would be little chance of her ever getting down the line far enough to enable the safety siding to be - used. Mr. McKirdy’s contract commences at 34 miles 68 chains from Wellington, and as in the case of Mr. Oakes’, he has, with the consent of the Government, made several diversions, to the undoubted advantage of the railway.. With the exception of the stiffer gradient, his work is all of the same heavy and difficult nature as that upon the upper portion of Mr. Oakes’ contract. At 35 miles 2 chains it attains its heaviest part. Here a party of Italians are putting in a tunnel of 6 chains, of which they have got in nearly 3J, and they have done their work in the most admirable manner. Of these, as also of several parties of Chinamen at work for Mr. Oakes, X shall have occasion to write subsequently in the course of some general remarks on the line, but I may say at the present that the completely safe , way in which the Italians have timbered the tunnel under notice as they went on with it is a lesion to many British workmen; whose disregard of safety in this respect only too often entails very serious con-, sequences.' ; At the entrance to the tunnel on the Wairarapa ; side is the. heaviest embankment on this portion of the' line.' The stream which it crosses is not carried through the embankment by a culvert, but‘is taken by tunnel through the solid rock at the,side of the hill." The bank is 4, chains in length and is 100 ft; deep. QmcklyF’ucoeeffingitisa viaduct of 80ft;, At 35 miles 15 chains had,been planned, but this ig how.Bnperseded.by an open; and at 35 miles 40' chains there is a tunnel of 121 yards. At 37 miles 2 chains is the safety or runaway siding which, I havepreviously mentioned, and shortly after this the line emerges upon the . Wairarapa plains, and, turning to the left, runs over a country almost dead level, and not involving the necessity for any heavy works until the Abbot’s creek bridge is reached, which is, one of timber, braced in places with . iron, both the timber and the iron being of-nnusnal strength. , 'Then, on the outskirts of Featherston, at 43 miles 68 chains from Wellington, Mr. jMcKirdy’s contract and the. Wellington and Mastertqn railway works;terminate;.-for: the present. In my next letter I purpose to deal more generally with several matters of. interest in connection with the railway and; the .works, as also the probable date at which it may. be opened. I shall therefore defer returning; thank's for! the.extreme courtesy and kindness I metiwith from. everyone■ connected: with the line,/.whether,‘ .engineers’: or edn*' tractors, and the extreme readiness evinced to afford .me-information;/ ;I may say that- only five'bwnl«! waqt finishing on Mr, McKirdy’s contract, and that he expects to be through With his work-in six months, and-Mr. Oakes hopes to;hand his over in about the same time. But it will'be many months more before the 1 engine runs from the Upper Hutt to Featherston. ‘ ..... I ' .-