478 REPOET— 1891. 



remunerative, owing to the first cost of construction and the 

 heavy charges for maintenance on a Hne located on the shifting 

 hillsides of the Otira and Teremakau ; but the author ventures 

 to think that, in the face of the demonstrated saving in the 

 cost of construction, and also in the cost of maintaining the line 

 on the permanent ground now chosen, the most sceptical must 

 now form a different estimate of the prospects of the East and 

 West Coast Eailway. 



The advantage of adopting the system of locating mountain 

 railways on the low ground of the valleys or plains as long as 

 possible, and concentrating the difficulties of construction and 

 heavy grades on special sections, is fully appreciated by 

 engineers whose practice has given them experience in con- 

 structing and working mountain railways. Their convictions 

 as to the advantage of inclines in mountain locations have been 

 many times forcibly expressed ; and in evidence the following 

 extract is given from a work of the well-known American 

 engineer, and member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 

 London, Mr. A. W. Wellington. Writing on the subject of steep 

 inclines and low approach-gi'ades, his conclusions are, that " by 

 this method of location we get the cheapest line, we get the 

 lowest through grades, and, more than all else, we concentrate 

 the resistance into the remaining more difficult sections, so that 

 the motive-power on the line can be accurately adapted to the 

 work required, and kept fully at work over the distance where it 

 is used ; thus making it almost a matter of indifference what rate 

 of ascent we adopt on our more difficult sections — a fact which 

 powerfully tends to still further reduce the cost of construction 

 for these more difficult sections." 



Again, quoting from a paper on the Abt system of railway 

 on steep inclines by another well-known American engineer, 

 the late Mr. Walton W. Evans, he states: "The lower the 

 gradient to which the engineer is limited the longer will be the 

 line, the greater the call for artificial structures, the deeper the 

 cuttings, the higher and costlier the embankments, the more 

 numerous the bridges, and the longer and more frequent the 

 tunnels. Any system which admits an extension of the limit 

 of gradients will greatly reduce the cost of construction of new 

 roads. But a system, like that of Mr. Abt, which combines 

 at once an extensive range of gradients with perfect safety and 

 economy of operation, will prove a perfect boon — one of the 

 most valuable gifts to our modern means of transportation. A 

 very important point in favour of this new system, wdien com- 

 pared with mountain lines of usual gradients, is the materially- 

 increased safety in working the line. The general operating 

 expenses are lower with the Abt system than with the equiva- 

 lent adhesion system." 



These quotations prove that the advantages of inclines on 



