R 3
Fencing.
Between Kowloon Ferry and Hung Hom Mile 14, the line has been fenced with a steel pale fence and thereafter along the banked portion with a five-wire fence. Fencing has been provided in all Station Yards, and Level Crossings put in where required. At these, lift gates and cattle guards have been provided.
Telegraph.
All poles and lines and instruments for a complete telephone service have been installed throughout the section.
Ballast and Permanent Way.
The work of laying the Permanent Way was carried out under considerable difficulties owing to there being no broad gauge stock available for transport in the usual way. Material was therefore sent round by sea to Taipo during the North East Monsoon, which occasioned unavoidable delays. From Taipo towards Beacon Hill, materials were spread on a two-foot gauge line, and afterwards by material trolley, while North of Taipo the Permanent Way was first laid to a Metre Gauge and afterwards relayed out to Standard. The sending out of a metre gauge engine and trucks to Taipo enabled this to be done, and ballasting to be undertaken, instead of waiting for the standard gauge engines and trucks to arrive. The plate-laying began in March and was finished early in May, and as soon as the Main Line Engines and trucks could be got ready, ballasting was proceeded with.
Stations and Buildings.
Pending the opening of the Railway through to Canton and until a special ferry service to the terminus of the Railway at Hung Hom is justified by the amount of traffic, a portion of one of the Godowns belonging to the Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company has been rented and converted into a Passenger Station, the Railway thereto being laid down the Salisbury Road. At Hung Hom, a wooden structure has been constructed which will serve well enough until such time as events necessitate the building of a terminal station. At Shatin and Taipo, Permanent Stations were built during the year, and all quarters for station masters and staff provided at Yaumati and Taipo. At Lowu, a temporary station was built to serve until the Chinese Section is open for traffic, when all trains will run to the Junction Station at Sam Chun on the Frontier. Temporary Staff Quarters only have been erected at Shatin and Lowu, and a Temporary Flag Station at Taipo Market, which however will soon have to be converted into a permanent one.
On the Reclamation, the lines laid are sufficient for requirements for some time to come. They can be added to as required without any difficulty, and are laid with slight modifications in accordance with the plans submitted to the Secretary of State for the Terminus at Hung Hom. At Blackheads, a Goods Shed has been erected, and a part of the old sheds re-roofed, and sidings and a loading bank...