TEANSACTIONS OF SECTION J. 477 



any other railway, during the night, there is no reason why the 

 whole twenty-four hours should not be taken into account in- 

 stead of twelve. On this basis the full capacity of the incline 

 becomes 4,757,600 tons gross, and 2,854,560 tons nett, per 

 annum. 



These figures alone may convey very little meaning to many, 

 but by comparison the capacity of such an incline is made 

 apparent, 'and it becomes markedly so on referring to the New 

 Zealand Government returns of 1890, which show a total ton- 

 nage of 2,112,734 as the amount of traffic hauled on the whole 

 of the New Zealand Government railways. It is thus evident 

 that the incline as laid out will not be the limiting factor of 

 the traffic between the East and West Coasts ; and if such 

 figures were approached it is palpable that it would pay not 

 only to double the incline line, but also the whole system across 

 the Island. 



It is the intention of the author to use engines to work the 

 incline sufficiently powerful to take the same load over this 

 section as the ordinary adhesion engine can bring to the point 

 of interchange of loads. 



It is anticipated that the ruling gradient of the adhesion 

 line on the section between Brunnerton and Otira will be re- 

 duced from 1 in 44 to 1 in 60 ; the speed can therefore be in- 

 creased on this section over and above the speed on the l-in-50 

 grade as originally laid out on the long bank ; therefore the 

 time of transit by the introduction of the incline 'will not be 

 increased, as the loads can be carried over this section at from 

 six to eight miles an hour, the reduction of speed on the short 

 incline being made up on the long adhesion section with the 

 reduced ruling gradient. 



It has been stated that the snow during the winter season 

 on Arthur's Pass will cause stoppages of traffic. It can be 

 shown from statistics that snow only lies in small quantities 

 on the Pass, and only for a few days at a time, even during the 

 most severe seasons. On the other hand, the Hartz line passes 

 over high plateau-lands exposed to heavy falls of snow, often 

 forming deep local drifts. The author visited the Hartz Moun- 

 tain railway during very severe weather. Snow was lying on 

 the ground to the depth of between 5ft. and 6ft., the drifts 

 being in some places 10ft. and 15ft. deep. Moreover, these 

 masses of snow lay for weeks ; but during this time traffic on 

 the line was never stopped, and the entire delays amounted to 

 only a few hours, when first clearing the heavy snow on local 

 parts of the track. The amount of snowfall on Arthur's Pass 

 is therefore not at all likely to produce any delays or difficulty 

 in conveying traffic over this portion of the company's line. 



It has been questioned in the colony whether the East and 

 West Coast Eailway, as originally surveyed, could possibly be 



