WEST COAST RAILWAY

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 275, 17 October 1884, Page 2

WEST COAST RAILWAY

The urortnei'u Section.

[By our Special Reporter.] [conunded.] . LeavingtheOtukibridgewo have still flat country to pass ove# and: the railway line curves prettily m an put of the busn, as it runs along d«>se to the edge of it, ' sometimes passing through a clearing, then diving ihio the bush again. Affcer a mile or) two — hpTcvcr — tko--lii»o- beoomw — a" ~"~Httl6 more hilly, the next few miles Weing the roughest that have to bej encountered. The Waitahou creek is then passed, near which is a Maori pah, and then again the Parawauhu, which is 35 miles from Longhurn. The. line here passes through some very picturesque little clearings m the bush, which are delightful to look a'. The primitive huts of, the natives standing peacefully m the*o little glens, encircled with bush, have a very charming effect. When the iron-hor.-e comes snorting along; 1 fear their charms will however be very much decreased. .; Advancing again we camu very close to ; the Pukehoii Hiif, and the line winds about m order to avoid steep ascents; the grade of 1 m 100 being strictly adhered to as a limit of steepness. The road line which was cleared of bush by the Foxton Coanty Couucil runs close by the line, and m some places crosses it- It was intended 1 believe to make a main road along this inlaud route, to avoid the beach travelling, but it has been allowed to stand m abeyance ; and wisely, lor there is very little likelihood of such a hilly route being made into a better one than that along the beach. After more travelling; onwards we run. . alongside of another block of the land that has been allocated to the Compan^,by the Crown.- The»e the Waiikawa River is crossed by a bridge with 3 40ft spans. This is at a point 30$ miles from Longburn. A Hj-tle before 1 reaching the Waikawa we came suddenly upon the. railway works, where the first operations of felliug the line 3 chains wide and removing all the logs have been completed. The track now looked more as if the hand of man had been at work. This is a portion of the contract held by Mr Seymour, which extends over 7 miles. The contract includes felling the bush, removing the logs, formation, earthworks, and bridges, m fact everything but the permanent way, and seems to be progressing very favorably indeed. When the head of the works understands his business as fully as Mr Seymour does, the rest comes smoothly enough. The first stages of the work are nearly completed, as is also the formation m mauy places, so that the contract should be easily completed during the first few months of the ensuing year. There are more straights here . and some more curves pf 80 chains radius which are very pretty, .the curve being hardly, perceptible. There is a great deal of labor m clearing', a bush line of railway, there being so many huge trees to remove. Some of these could not costless than £5 a piece to chop up and throw on one side. As we advance along the line we find settlements at intervals that is to say an odd holding ov two scattered about m different parts. There are no townships, however. The clearings belong chiefly to the Maoris,, l believe, but the improvements are made on a far more extensive 'scale than one is would expect to see m this part of the bush.. the next bridge that we come to is over the Ohau River, which will be on the same principle as the previous ones. Ohau is the centre of the works . on. this (Joutract, and ' there ik ? considerable life here m consequence. Hubh

of the material for the bridge htui been landed at the mouth of the Ohau River by small steamers. It is carU cd from thence by road. The line is about six miles from the sea, two of these being bush, the remaining four chiefly sand and sand hill". The company's block of allocated land which lies inland of Ohau appears to be a splendid, piece of country, a grwtt portion of it being quite flat. The soil appears to be jequal to any bush land, and the timber is chiefly tawa and white; pine, and the block w better than that which lies by the "Otaki; ; vhich id"rathef* incßhed to be stony. The bridge works over the Ohau are now going on. This river has' flat shallow banks/and drain* a lot of country. I noticed one feature m the style of bridges, thai the Company is adopting, which is that the piers and iudeed the whole design i are very simple ' hut strong, and the piers are to be planked up on both sides,, to prevent logs from catching m amongst the lieams and wrenching them out of place. The Ohau bmlge will comprise six 40ft. and two life, spans. The^ timber it easily procurable ? " on £he spot, there being Inrge quantities or. totara growing m the locality. . The natives own most of the best timber, but the Company have also'a good slice of it. The New Zealand timbers are utilized as much as possible, the contractors having the option of importing iroui bark from Australia or using the native wain',. for the blocks for the bridge strutu to, rest on. Advauclng again we pass through a good deal more bush, after leaving Ohau, and finally reach the W/terawhanqa clearing. This must comprise some 1000 acres r-r more of open iferji land, which is at present almost entirely unoccuprnd. Ihe only living things visible being a few sheop and horse*;. The land is rather stony certainly, but could . easily .be cultivated. The Ohau railway station will be built on this clearing, and a fine site it will make. There is, or will Ire, a road m fi-om- the Coa-st, also road lines from the bush settlements when they are taken up* Another piece of bush has now to be dived into, and then w« again come upon another and larger clearing -called the Wiiererua, comprising some 1500 acres' of 'rather stony land wirh nothing on it at all out a few wild howes. TJii« flat v covered with fern and tutu, and on it will lie built the Levin SGat&n. The site will b •■ a pretty as well as useful oue. There is also an object of some interest to travellers m this locality. At the south-west corner of the'clearing is a beautiful lake, shut in' on all sides but oue by standing bush, the inflection of 1 which upon the surface of the still water has a very beautiful appearance. It is to he hoped,' when the railway, is niad«, that many will bo tempted to explore some of th^se pictu rosque objects of natural scenery. This lake, and the: little glebes or clearings, before referred to, are well worth a day V walk to visit, and I verily believe if an. artist, could tepend a few days amongst thenr he would imagine himself man earthly para.disc.:-.., This is called the Horowhenua Lake, and there is also a large block of native- land,! of the same name close by ''comprising 50,000 .'■'<■ (To lie Continued.) ■