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OPENING OF THE RAILWAY TO
CRESWICK.
[BY OUR SPECIAL REPORTER.]
The extension opened yesterday, which
is the first section of the railway between
Ballarat and Maryborough, is eleven miles
and a quarter long, and connects Ballarat
with Creswick. The contract was taken in
the early part of last year by the firm of
Young and McGuigan, for the sum of
£37,481, the line having been laid out by
Mr. H. Wrixon, the resident engineer being
Mr. Wills, and Mr. Payton Jones being the
officer in charge. The work was commenced
in March, 1873, and the whole of the perma
nent way was laid by the 5th May, 1874. The
line is ballasted throughout with tailings,
which suit tho purpose extremely well, and
sleepers used are of red gum, and have the
been procured from the neighborhood of
Seymour, on the North-eastern railway,
some of them having been brought from as
distant a locality as Wangnratta, The rails
laid down are 50 lb. in weight, but the opi
nion of all the persons with whom our re
porter was brought into contact, engineers
and contractors, confirmed the opinion ex
pressed by the officials connected with the
Maryborough line, that rails of 60 lb. to the
yard would in the long run ho more econo
mical.
The extension, in leaving the Ballarat sta
tion, crosses Lydiard-street upon the level,
and after ascending a steep gradient of one in
45, passes under Armstrong and Doveton
streets, and reaches the junction at Mac-
arthur-street, where the Creswick line leaves
that which is to connect Ballarat with
Ararat. Messrs. Young and McGuigan's
contract, which commences at that point, is
11 miles 51 chains in length, and extends up
to the bridge which spans Creswick Creek,
51 chains beyond Creswick station. From
the junction, which is 1448 feet above
the level of the sea at Hobson's
Bay, the railway runs alongside the
Creswick-road to the neighborhood of
Sulky Gully, where it diverges to the
left, crosses the main road, and after passing
Cobbler's Gully by a brick bridge of three
openings enters Creswick. The steepest
gradient on the line, one in 40, is ascending
the hill coming out of Cobbler's Gully, and
there are several of one in 50, while the
worst curves are those leading into Cobbler's,
which has a radius of 28 chains, and that at
the Creswick railway station, which has a
radius of only 20 chains, and is the sharpest
in the whole colony. The Dividing Range,
which separates the waters which find their
way direct on to the southern ocean from
those which run into the River Murray and its
affluents, is crossed at an altitude of 1506
feet above Hobson's Bay, the Creswick
station between 1443 feet above the
sea, or five feet lower than the
starting point at Ballarat. None of
the earthworks are very heavy. The
deepest cutting on the line, which is through
solid rock, is 22 feet in depth, and the
heaviest excavation has a depth of 19 feet,
and contains 14,797 cubic yards of earth.
The railway is constructed according to
modern ideas, and follows as nearly as pos
sible the contour of the earth's surface,
heavier and more frequent gradients occur-
ring than would have been thought advisable
a few years ago, when all railway engineers
imagined that it was better to expend
enormous sums in earthworks and
tunnels than to attempt a gradient
of more than one in a hundred.
The bridge over Creswick Creek is built
upon the same principle as those on the
North-Eastern line, the permanent way
being carried upon hollow cylinders filled
with concrete. The cylinders, which are
2 feet in diameter at the top and 4 feet 3
inches at the bottom, are sunk 50 feet in the
bed of the creek, which is composed of
shingle and gravel, and the railway will be
40 feet above the ordinary level of the
stream, which yesterday was a watercourse
of very respectable dimensions. There are
three openings of 42 feet and two of 30, the
total length of the bridge being 226 feet.
The extension was opened yesterday with
as little apparent excitement as if the people
of Ballarat and Creswick were blase, with
new railways. At ten a.m. a train, consist
ing of four carriages and break, left Cres
wick, drawn by engine No. 107, which was
made at the Phoenix Foundry, Ballarat,
after the designs of Mr. Meikle. The loco
motive, which is constructed upon a novel
principle, combining the advantages of the
English and American modes of engine-
making, weighs 28 tons. The train,
which was very full, arrived at Bal-
larat at 10.44 a.m., and started upon its
return journey at 10.50. A large number of
the old identities were assembled upon the
platform to welcome the first arrival of the
iron horse from Creswick. There were mem-
bers of Parliament and ex-members — men who
knew Ballarat when it was a village of can-
vas tents, who had followed its fortunes
through good and through evil repute, and
were not cast down by the thickness
and density of the gloomy fog-bank through
which it is now passing, because they
knew that to every cloud, and espe
cially to Ballarat clouds, there is always a
silver lining. The train passed slowly
through the pretty villas and snug cottages
with which Ballarat is begirt, and gave the
passengers a glimpse of Webster-street,
where the rich alluvial mine which bears its
name was worked so successfully until one
fine day it was found that the houses were
rapidly sinking into the region below. Re
course was had to the Supreme Court,
but it was soon discovered that the com
pany, having divided the last ounce
of gold among its shareholders, had no
longer a local habitation, and that its
name was not of much value. A large sum
was expended in costs, hut, with the excep
tion of the lawyers, no one else derived much
benefit from the lengthy litigation which
arose out of the Webster-street freehold.
The next object is the cemetery, where,
amidst the remains of the founders of the
city, lie the bones of the unfortunates who
fell during the riots which culminated in
the capture of the Eureka stockade at the
sacrifice of more valuable lives, both on the
side of the diggers and of the troops, than
have sufficed to drive King Koffee from his
stronghold, and to crush the power of the
Ashantees. There were men in the train
who could recollect how, less than twenty
years ago, the Ballarat men sent delegates
along the road beside which we were dashing
literally at railroad speed, to seek the as
sistance of the diggers at Creswick, where
20,000 men were at work. But they,
knowing nothing about the merits of the
quarrel, and caring less, declined to
interfere, and the turbulent spirits of
Eureka were left to fight out the quarrel
upon which they had embarked. After
getting clear of Ballarat, the railway runs
through a fine agricultural country. To the
right are the Dead Horse Ranges, a line of
low hills, once covered with timber, which
has been cut away, leaving an undergrowth
of shrub-like vegetation, which in due
time will become fine large stringy-
bark and box trees. To the left is
the rich country with which all visitors to
the Ballarat racecourse are familiar. For
mile after mile the eye rests upon bald hill
after bald hill, each a perfect billow of ver-
dure. All doubt as to the future of Ballarnt
should be dispelled by a glance at the fat
ness of the country near which the railway
passes. Far in the distance is Mount Beck-
with, which surmounts that remarkable
series of fertile mammeloid hills, treeless but
covered with grass, which induced Sir Thos.
Mitchell upon his return journey from Port
land to the Murray to confer upon Victoria
the name of Australia Felix. The principal
object of interest near the line is the
Great Northern Junction Mine, which
was worked successfully for some years,
until it was flooded out. After cross
ing the Creswick-road near Sulky Gully, the
country becomes rangey ; and the rich agri
cultural land is succeeded by slate hills covered
with saplings. Two or three old gold sink-
ings are passed, the most important being
those of Sulky and Cobbler's gullies ; the
Dividing Range is crossed, and at last, ten
miles from Ballarat, the train begins to
descend by an easy gradient into the pic
turesque valley in which the pretty
town of Creswick is situated. In the
back ground towers Spring Hill, while
nearer at hand are the turrets of the An
glican church, and the spire of the Catholic
chapel. But perhaps the must striking
looking public building in the town is the
hospital, bright with its cheery gables looking
all the brighter for the dark forest which is
behind them. As the station is approached
building after building stands out in promin
ence, and the visitors are made aware that
they are in a charmingly-placed town, which
contains several excellent buildings, well-
made streets, and well-stocked shops.
The station is nothing to boost of architec
turally, and does not long attract the admi
ration of the passengers, most of whom dis
perse into the main street, where they met
with a most hospitable reception, while
others inspect the bridge over the creek,
which is the engineering lion of the line.
After lunching at Anthony's Hotel, and
quaffing a glass of champagne in
honor of the town, in which, I am glad
to say, the inhabitants are well satis-
fied with their mining prospects, I left by
the train which started at 2.51 — why such a
peculiar time was fixed no one could under
stand— and in due course arrived at Mel
bourne, much pleased with the day I had
spent in assisting at the opening of the ex
tension from Ballarat to Creswick.
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