Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Wednesday 26 January 1848, page 2


MR. WOORE'S REPORT ON THE

PROPOSED RAILWAYS IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

At length something tangible has been accomplished on the subject of Railways ; and Mr. Woore has laid before the public a Report which fully establishes the correctness of the views which he ex-pressed, on first inspecting the lines of country over which he considered it possible to drive a locomotive engine be-tween Sydney and Goulburn.

Our object in introducing this Report thus prominently to the consideration of our readers, is to call attention to the practicability of accomplishing the im-portant work of uniting the extremities of the territory alluded to.

In Mr. Woore's Report there is evi-

dence of great diligence, perseverance, and judgment ; and the sections and plans which he exhibited at the meeting on Monday last, amply satisfy us, that there is in the colony sufficient talent, knowledge, and experience, to carry on such works as these, without putting any Company that might be formed, to the

useless expense of importing its surveyors from England. We have no desire, to

sound a trumpet before Mr. Woore; but it is but due to that gentleman to state what we have the amplest authority for stating, that, though interested parties may presume to question his qualifica-tions, Her Majesty's Navy is considered, by persons most competent to form a sound opinion, to have sustained some loss by Mr. Woore's retirement from the service, and the anxiety of the Admiralty to secure his employment in the service of Government in Tasmania, which he declined, although unusual inducements were held out to him, is sufficient gua-rantee, that he is fully capable of under-taking all the minutiæ; of such a work as that which has been so long projected. Mr. Woore will, perhaps, pardon this voluntary aud unexpected reference to himself, but it is made for the purpose of justifying the confidence which we place in the Report before us, and which we now proceed to consider.

Mr. Woore's Report, after a few pre-liminary general remarks upon the geo-graphical features of the country, com-

mences with a statement of the imprac-ticable nature of the eastern line by Appin and Bargo, which persons ac-quainted with that part of the country have been long aware of ; and if there be any who doubt this, let them exa-

mine Mr. Woore's section of the Phea-

sant's Nest, where the cliff is nearly 300 feet deep. The elevation to be attained on rising into the upper country of Cam- den and Argyle being from 2000 to 2400 feet, renders it necessary that the progress should be gradual, and as little impeded as possible. But to cross the deep ra-vines of the Nepean and Cataract rivers, great expense would be necessary in the formation of bridges of great span and height, even if there were no other diffi-culties. Two instances may be quoted. The crossing at the Cataract River is 514 feet wide, and 241 deep, the sides being nearly vertical. The crossing of the Nepean, at the Pheasant's Nest, is 875 feet wide, and nearly 300 feet deep, ex-ceeding as Mr. Woore observes, the depth

at the Menai Strait. Sir Thomas Mit-

chell proposed that advantage should be taken of the water-courses by curvilinear descents, but Mr. Woore suggests that such courses are very objectionable, if not impracticable.

We can, fortunately, illustrate this diffi-culty by a reference to what occurred in the making the railroad in the neighbor-hood of Liege in Belgium.

At Ans, which stands upon a height above the Meuse, 358 feet above Liege,

and four miles nine chains from the

Meuse at the latter place, it was necessary to contrive some method of descent ; yet with all the skill of the engineers of Europe, it was not till after some years' deliberation and a variety of projects, that this descent was found pos-sible. The account of the process would detain us now too long.

It seems clear that a railway in Goulburn cannot be made by the districts of Appin and Bargo, at any rate in the present dearth of colonial capital and labour. The inclines on the western line are more gradual than on the eastern ; the greatest on each being 1 in 21 on the latter, and 1 in 30 on the former} which Mr. Woore thinks is as much as can be performed by any locomo-tive engine. The inclines at Ans are 1

in 36.

After a careful perusal of the statement of Mr. Woore, and with a complete knowledge of the country between the Razorback Ranges and the deep gulleys of the Nepean and other rivers, we fully concur with him in his opinion, that a route to Goulburn must be sought for on

the western side of the Razorback.

Under this impression, he has made that line his principal study ; and has been enabled to discover a passage from the high country between the Razorback and the Nattai river, though only 100 feet wide, by which the Mittagong can be sur-mounted. This is undoubtedly a difficult undertaking, for the incline is 1 in 30 for three miles, and there will be much cutting required.

But we are quite sure it is practicable

to engines of sufficient power.

The course of this line will be as

follows : starting from .the neighbour-hood of Vermont, where the Nepean is 128 feet above the sea, it passes through Theresa Park to the Oaks, where the ele-vation is 867 feet; thence by Turk's Head and Hughes' Creeks to Werriberri Creek, crossing the road to Burragorang

at an elevation of 1132 feet. A station is proposed to be made in Mr. Inglis' land. Hence it crosses Crocodile Creek, Blind Creek, to the Monument Range, Cedar Creek, and the Great Lagoon, where a watering station is proposed ; thence an ascent takes place to 1515 feet of elevation, and by a steep rise of 530 feet to the ridge leading over Mittagong, to the Gap, 2307 feet, passing in the way the head of Bargo River and Chalker's Flat, where another station is proposed. From the Gap the line will go through Wingecarribee, Bong Bong, Nicholson's

Creek, Midway Rivulet, Black Bob's Creek (where there is coal), Paddy's River past the Hanging Rock, crossing the Crooked Swamp, Wingello Flats, Mount Otway, Cockmai Creek, and the Wollon-dilly, at points where it is 2027 and 2044 feet above the sea, near Tourang, crossing Mulwarri Ponds, to about a quarter of amile from Goulburn, at 46 miles from Bong Bong, and 132 from Sydney, and

2103 feet above the sea.

This section from the Nepean to Bong Bong, will cost £97,784, averaging £2222 per mile; that from Bong Bong to Goulburn £73,009, averaging £1587 per

mile.

From Sydney to the Nepean, the dis-tance is 40 miles, starting from the head of Darling Harbour to O'Connell Town, Petersham, Iron Creek, Baron's Creek, Haslem Creek, Rope's Creek, Bailey Park, South Creek, Greendale, Bringelly, and Vermont ; the cost will be £74,942, averaging £1873 per mile, exclusive of unforeseen contingencies.

Branch roads are to start to Parramatta and Liverpool, from Haslem Creek Station ; to Windsor, from Eastern Creek ; to Penrith, from Rope's Creek ; and to Camden, from Bellevue.

The Penrith branch will be the most considerable, as it leads to the Bathurstroad. For details of these branches we

must refer the reader to the Report itself.

Mr. Woore gives a list of the average amounts of cutting per mile, on the whole line, which reduced, give about 21 050 cubic yards per mile. Supposing that wooden rails can be used, the total cost of the whole line will be an average cost of £2100 per mile, or a gross amount of £364,000.

The grounds upon which Mr. Woore

advocates the commencement of a rail-road in the first instance at the Nepean, appear important enough. They are such as naturally suggest them-selves, and will probably be presented by the different speakers at the adjourned Committee meeting, to be held on Thurs-day.

Mr. Woore is prepared to show that the profit to be derived from a railroad con-structed according to the above-mentioned plans, will realize ten per cent, as a divi-dend on the whole estimated outlay. As this, however, is a question for discussion, we merely mention it without comment, confining ourselves now to an appeal to the influential gentlemen and proprietors of Sydney and the country generally,

who, we trust, for the honóur of the colony, will not let the subject sleep. There are many moral and commercial advantages to be derived from a railway,

but these will never be realised if meet-

ings of but a few, such as took place on Monday, be all that shall result.

We feel it our duty to the community to call upon all those who ought to be present to attend to-morrow at Mr. Lyons's rooms, according to advertisement of the adjourned meeting, at two o'clock precisely, when the able and instructive sectious and plans of Mr. Woore will be laid before the meeting.

We have not space now for illustration of any of the points alluded to by Mr. Woore, but as offering somewhat of a guide on a particular topic, we think it well to give the following item of work dene on the Belgian railroad between Louvain and Vertryck, the inclination being 1 in 250.

There are nine locomotives on this in-cline, all with wheels 14 inches cylinder, with coupled driving wheels of 4½ feet, dragging on the average twenty carriages each, of upwards of 137 tons weight. These engines, though in ordinary wea-ther they ascend the incline with diffi-culty with from 137¾ to 147½ tons, and in times of snow with only 69 tons, yet ascend the slope regularly with trains of 73¾ and 108¼ tons, including the weight of the locomotives, from 12½ to 15½ miles per hour.

Taking into account the dry state of this country, it is supposed the engines

could do more than this on a line of si-milar inclination.

In our article on the Victoria yesterday,

we took the assumed fact of Mr. Ken-

nedy having obtained latitude 27.56 on the Victoria, from the statement commu-nicated to us, and which we published on Saturday. It appears, by Mr. Kennedy's despatch, that he did not reach that point ; but that is more a matter of curiosity than of importance, for the able details of his journey leave no doubt whatever of the identity of the Victoria and Cooper's

Creek.

It is impossible to speak too highly of Mr. Kennedy's perseverance, patience, and judgment.