THE RAILWAY DEVIATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8148, 4 July 1906, Page 2

THE RAILWAY DEVIATION.

j PROGRESS OF THE WORK. " Yes, I believe they are going right ahead in earnest now," said a genlle- ! man reputed to bo 'in the know' concerning the railway deviation at New Plymouth, " and your death traps will be taken out of the town in a much shorter period than a number of folk seem to think." From the activity shown at different points along the route of the deviation, it is reasonable to infer that the above statement is correct. Operations have been commenced at four different points, aud tho excavation work is proceeding at a fair rate of progress.

A ganK of eight men have almost completed a very large cuttmf between Mr J. B. Connctt's residence and the soi. This was cut from either end, the spoil b ;in? tipped towards the Hcnui on the one side, and up towards Devon road on thejither. The work of shifti lg has been done by means of hand-carts towards the sea, and on tip trolleys at the other end, the latter being by far the mojo expeditious. The filling is now being carried on through the swamp botween Ronald street and Nobbs' Line, striking the Devon road at a point about four feet below the present level of the roadway. Here a subway is to be made, and the street will" be raised and graded in order to preserve an even gradient. It is on the south side of Devon road, between that and the present railway system, that there seems to be the most to show for the time expended. Here the going has been much easier, a few cuttings being made and the earth used in filling up the marsh known as " the tannery swamp." The men are now hewing at a face about 23 feet in height, and this big cutting, increasing to a depth of about 27 feet, will take quite three months to complete. The spoil is being used in filling up a raupo swamp to get a short temporary approach to the main line, which is only a couple of chains dis-1 tant. By the end of another week Mr Rolf, the ganger, hopes to have the Public Works engine down tins temporary line and at work in the cutting. At iresent there are two trolleys at work, one man beingengagedin spreiding at the tip, three in taking the tnlleys to and fro, and four in exeaval ing and filling the trucks. When t' e en 'ine arrives, the earth will be taken dow i to Devon road for the big filling required there to g-ade the road above the sub-way. Wiih the e lgme and a string of trucks the work of completing the cutting, and of making the " b-1 ers " will go on speedily. At the town end six men are hewing cutting through the Sash and Door 0 >mpany's ti-nber depot, wheeling the clay out to the present railway yard. From the of the work it seems that the incline will start here, but of cou'se the bottom of the cutting

"ay be lower -d yet. Hand-carts are bung used, and the going is sloppy. Two men, w tk wheelbarrows, are removing the surface sanl at Gorer street—a s >rt of preliminary work. As stated previously in these columns, the line will run along the bark of tho scctiuis fronting Mo'osworth sfreo . and mid-way betwom Buller and Moles worth streels. O.ttlinuses all along the route have to be shitted, and several residences are to he removed. In most cases, it is reported, the authorities have purchased the whole of the sections to be traversed bthe railway, and will offer these for sale of lease. Four l-ou-es stand in the line the work. The first of these is occupied by Mr Crann, in Eliot street, who expects fo be called on to move at any time. C Ihe opposite of the street r "inpty cottage belonging to Mr Hashiek, will have to make way for tbe iron horse In Hnbson street, Mr Barro \ will be called upon to shift quarters, as the Government will require the land upon which his house I -stands, and a little further on Mrs Knight's house will have to be shifted. This brings the line tn Ihe hollow in which is situated «the lily pon 1," an-1 it- then traverses portion of what was once the beautiful estate "The Pines," cutting off the lower cnl of the old s court, The pinus insi'fnis trees ire already lving felled along the ■■oule at this point. From the bottom of Aulcre street, the line travels in a straight line to meet the big cutting now yawning out of the Strandon Estate.

The c-instruction of the line presents no great engineering difficulties, though ir necessitates n goodly amount of cutting and the erection of several bridges to carrv street traffic, at a fonsidernb'e altitude above the railway. The deviation will entirely do ■lway with the steep gradient of tho nresent entrance to the town, and with the danger Io life and limb at the level ■rossings m busy streets.