THE INCLINE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 534, 5 August 1880, Page 2

THE INCLINE.

j ilThere'is'So'me very, interesting informartioii* for the Wairarapa people in the evijdence of Mr Ashcroft, the'manager of the Line of given 'before the Railway Commissioners at i Greytown in March last. We learn that 1 the two miles of the Incline costs three : times as much to work as the ordinary ' lines—or the result of the working is ! that it adds 5. miles to the; miles ! already existing, in the t words of Mr ; Ashcroft, " That is to say, the charge is ! made, *s thought the Incline was I\, miles. iinstead of 2|'miles:" ;1 But'specific as'this 1 statement: may, be,,it, does, not by any• imeanß exhaust the subject, as the chairman of the commission considered probable when he put the following question, i and received the;annexed answer That ;is, that ;is jjhfee times 'greater ; per mile ?—Yes; but tlie difficult element is simply this: that, however, small the business done, you must keep a staff to | work the Fell engine. Those men would not one-half or one quarter of their time Reemployed, but still their wages must !go on; and the only saving would be iri ithe actual wear and tear, of. the -metal, land a little saving in ! the ; coal/ That I staff would remain; pretty, constant if we ; were doing at least'five times the traffio : we are now doing.-f I- think youjmay take ' the ratio of 2§ to 7 as a fair .measure of the increased'expenditure. ; In answer to Mr Wright,- Mr Ashcroft ; states that tho present rolling'stock on the Wellington and Peatherston line would suffico to carry five times the prei sent traffic, with scarcely any additional i expenditure" perhaps a little more consumption of coal." Although''savings i may be effected on other parts of the line by reducing 1 niileage, this cannot be done i to .the same extent on the incline foi ) the reasons above pointed out. t A considerable amount of interest ii i felt in the safety of this portion of the t line, and the following extract from th< same gentleman's evidence may reassure thititooroijs ; M ] ''V j 'Mr Wright/] ■- Is thV working on thi Fell incline as safe as on the rest of thi railway ?-I think safer. < ' I ' la the wear and tear of the road greate: _ or less?— Rather greater. T&ere. an ° three miles wear and extra brake-rubbiug Ij But, apart from the centre rail, i® thi wear and tear on the running-rails greate Uor less]— Less, on account of the alov speed, I should say. Colonel;Pearce : Are you, aware, wha t l percentage the net receipts yield on th w capital spent in construction?—l thin! ,2 there was about If per cent, paid las year on the total capital, but I have no 12 the 'figures in my head. Ihavenospeois 10 j means of knowing that aspect of-the a< ,b counts. The information will be gc igl much better from : tlie : Public Wor! J Department. h. Mr Clark: What' : is the general spee ' ! and the maximum, speed-at ; which th '7 i trains are'riin atpresent I—The maximui speed on any part of the line is twent] 57 three miles an hour. $; la that the general or maximum, speed L 9; The maximum speed, but the time-tabli are made for fifteen miles-an hour. — ; If the trains were worked at a lowi 24' speed, do you consider they would 1 worked more economically T—Not-solor as the fifteen miles an hour is adhered ti sir; I do not think there would be any diffe re ence—not any perceptible difference. ■ we increased the rate of speed it wou make an enormous difference.