THE MAIN TRUNK LINE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9159, 5 August 1908, Page 5

THE MAIN TRUNK LINE.

RAILHEADS JOINED.

A REVIEW OP THE WORK,

For weary years the North Island Main Trunk Railway has been a twoheaded monster, but on Monday, says the "Post," the two heads were knocked together so that Parliamentarians may see S'ars and Stripes in plenty, at Auckland next week. The joyful collision happened on the Manganui-o-te-ao Bridge, which is nearly 114 miles from Te Awamutu, or about 215 miles from Auckland, and 96 miles from Marton, or 212 miles from Wellington; the bridge is almost exactly half-way between Auckland and Wellington, which are 426 miles apart by rail. During the session of 1884 the central route for the railway was adopted. At that time there was a railway from Wellington to Marton (116 miles), and from Auckland to Te Awamutu (100 miles). It was estimated that the gap would require 216 miles of rail, but the connection has been made wi'.h 210. The permanent surveys were commenced at the end of 1884, and the first sod was turned by Sir Robert Stout early m 1885, on the south bank of the Punui River, near Te Awamutu. Construction work was begun straight away, and has continued intermittently to the present day. At one time an army of 2,500 men earned their living on this great track. Last June the number had shrunk to 1900, and has been gradually dwindling as the work advanced.

Bridges, viaducts, embankments, tunnels, spirals give the line abundance of variety. The train will whirl over ravines, climb over great hills, dart through mountains. From the huge and lofty viaducts of Makatote, Makohine, Hapuwhenua, Mangaweka, Waiteti, and others, the passengers will be able to safely have a sensation of giddiness if they care to look down upon the torrents far below. Among the biggest bridges are those over the Toitoi, the Mangaturuturu, the Manganui-o-tt-ao, and the Wanganui. The tunnels total eighteen. The principal ones are at Poro-o-tarao (63 chains—about three-quarters of a mile), Mataroa (30 chains), Taihape (21 chains), Powhakaroa (21 chains). Between Utiku and Mangaweka there are two tunnels, one 20 chains, and the other 27 chains. Formidable embankments include one at Mangaweka (96 feet deep),.one at Raurimu "(112 feet) and one near Waiouru (90 feet).

A "star turn" of the line is the "corkscrew" or spiral, near Raurimu, where the train climbs a mountain in serpentine style. The line ascends gradually all the way from Marton to Waiouru, with the exception of a few slight drops over three or four stretches. The metalled way is about 2,660 feet above sea level at Waiouru (a gain of 2,200 feet in the run from Marton). The line then falls about 600 feet to Ohakune, and rises again to Waimarino till it is, 2,660 feet above the sea. On?e more'the rails descend, till by the time Taumarar.ui is reached, the drop is 2,000 feet. From this station the track mounts about 550 feet to the Porotatarao tunnel, and again slopes down till it is at an elevation of only about 18 feet at Te Kuiti, and remains approximately on that level to Te Awamutu. "Very great difficulty," says Mr R. W. Holmes, Eugineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department, "was experienced in locating the line southward from Waiouru, and northward from Waimarino, became the country falls away very rapidly from those points. This necessitated special artifices to obtain sufficient length of line for the required grades. The loop at Turangarere and the spiral at Raurimu were required for those purposes." About thirty-five miles of the line were constructed by contract years ago; the Makatote viaduct, and the Wanganui bridge, and two smaller 1 bridges were built by contract; the superstructures of about twentybridges were done by contract and erected by the Public Works Department. All the other work, including foundations for all bridges, was done by the department, mostly under the co-operative contract system. Whether that was the best possible.. system for the construction and lor the taxpayer is still open to argutrient. Up to the 31st March last the permanent way had cost £2,500,000, which included the expenditure on station buildings up to that date. There are many thousands of pounds yet to be spent on buildings and in trimming up the line before the construction can be said to be finished, and there is rolling stock to be added to the bill. There is still a great deal of work to be done before the through service can be established. At Waiouru a couple of miles of the line are only half-ballasted, and further stretches at Ohakune and Horopito are in the< same condition. Several cuttings have also to be "finished off,'' some station buildings have yet to be completed, and the erection of work men's cottages will take some time. The line, however, is sufficiently forward to allow a sprcial train (that will take the Parliamentary party to Auckland for the reception to the American fleet) to run over it. In an interview with a "Post" reporter, the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. W. Hall-Jones) said his promise to have (he rails connected this year had been realised five months earlier than anticipated. Mr Hall-Jones was not in a position to say when the. through express service would be inaugurated, but arrangements to run passengers through without coaching would be completed promptly. The line would be handed over to the Railway Department on November Ist, and in the interval a public works train over the more-recenlly constructed portion of the line and the ordinary service over the northern and southern section would give a two-days' -journey between Auckland and the capital. Ballast trains are now running across the Manganui-o-te-ao viaduct (where the rails were joined) and the work of ballasting will be vigorously pushed ahead to get the tiack in the best possible state for the Parliamentary "specia'," which will leave Wellington at about 11 p.m.on Friday next and reach Auckland about o'clock the next evening.