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THE EAST-WEST RAILWAY.
A MINISTERIAL INSPECTION.
MR. ARCHIBALD ON THE SPOT.
I The Hon. W. 0 Archibald (Minister of
Home Affairs), accompanied by Mr. N. G.
Bell, Engineer-in-Chief for Commonwealth
Railways, and Mr. W. D. Single, Acting
Secretary for Home Affairs, has ' just
visited the eastern section of the Kalgoorlie-Port
Augusta railway. The party arrived
by steamer at Port Augusta on Mon-
day'- evening, and the Minister was entertained
that evening by the local Progress
Association. Tuesday morning was devoted
to interviews with local bodies and
to an inspection of the arrangements at
the Port Augusta wharf, which is under
the control of the department, and at
which some improvements are contemplated.
Leaving Port Augusta at mid
j day on Tuesday the party inspected va
; rious works along the line, notably the
dam at Moolooloo, which is approaching
completion, and when full will hold six
million gallons of water; and the ballast
crushing plant at Woocalla. Breakfast
was taken at the camp train at 158 miles,
being one of the depots for rails, sleepers,
and other material. An inspection was
made of some wells which the department
boa put down, a considerable quantity of
water having been obtained, thus saving
the expenses of bringing water from a distance.
The party then left for the head
of the road, inspecting two other places
where wells have been successfully sunk.
The rails are now out to 217 miles. Some
little time was occupied watching the
track-laying machine, by which a mile and
a half per day can be laid. The party
then motored on to look at the earthworks
past the end of the rails, where some 400
men, 278 horses, and 120 camels are employed.
The clearing gang is further out,
having reached 229 'shires. On the return
journey Lake Hart, a salt lake in men
long with white salt glistening like snow
in the sun, was passed. From this lake
a company is proposing to send large quantities
of salt to market. The Ericolo Valley,
in which numerous bridges and cul-
verts are being constructed, was then
crossed, and at the end of it a dam is being
excavated to store five million gallons of
water. After leaving the valley the line
rises to a tableland, where very heavy
earthworks are entailed. To avoid the
stoppage of platelaying the line was temporarily
deviated for some distance at
least six months being saved by this course,
A large number of men are employed taking
out the cuttings and making up the
I embankments to form the permanent line,
After a stop at Pimba, where there is a
large depot for railway material the party
proceeded to Port Augusta, reaching
there late on Thursday night.
The Minister said that, as a South
Australian familiar with the country, he
realised before this visit that his officers
had an unenviable task before them, but
it was not until he had personally been
over the line that he had fully appreciated
the magnitude and difficulties of the
operations which were now proceeding,
he thought the Engineer-in-Chief and his
officers were to be congratulated upon
the way in which they were surmount-
ing the enormous difficulties consequent
upon the unprecedented drought and the
practically unpopulated condition of the
country through which the line was passing.
It was an extremely anxious time
for the officers in these times of short-
age of water to know that some 2,000
persons and a large number of animals
were dependent upon their efforts to run
trains being successful for their food and
water, in addition to their difficulties in
keeping up to date the necessary supplies
of sleepers, rails, c, to keep the various
gangs going. Even at the base. Port
Augusta, water could only be obtained in
very moderate quantities. He was not
a railway engineer, but he thought he
had a commonsense idea of the class of
work being done. He asked himself was
the work being well done, and could see
it was, but that was only what was to
be expected from a man like Mr. Bell,
who had built successfully some 2,500
miles of railway. He asked himself was
the work being economically done, and
judging by the cost, as compared with
prices named when tenders were called,
it was decidedly economical. Lastly, he
asked himself was the construction Dro
needing expeditiously, and he found that
Australian records for track laying were
being eclipsed, some 80 miles having been
laid in the last two months. If the
water difficulty continued it would be ne-
cessary to consider the replacing of some
of the horses by camels, which were not
so heavy on water and feed. During his
stay he had looked into the hospital and
medical arrangements for the men employed
upon the line and approved of the
expenditure for effecting improvements in
the system. The prospects of traffic along
the line when the seasons improved vere
good. Several mining shows were even
now forwarding 100-ton consignments for
treatment, and he felt confident that
there would be further prospecting and
development of the country as the line
went farther inland.
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