230
68
saucer with a very steep rim. All this timber, estimated on the basis of Sir D. E. Hutchins's figures at 6,000,000 tons of commercial timber, would come by gravity on to the Nakuru Eldalat alignment. Nearly all of it would have to be hauled up almost impracticable inclines to the Mau Summit alignment. The extra cost would be at least £1 per ton, representing a loss to the community of £6,000,000.
·
At the present time the cost of bringing this timber by road to the Railway is Rs. 18 per ton from the saw mill, and the logging cost up hill to the saw mill is very heavy.
It is impossible to work the forest on a large scale unless it is traversed by a railway so that the logs can be brought by short trolley lines to the Railway and concentrated by the Railway at a big central mill whence despatch to markets can also be done by railway.
If the present heavy haulage cost could be eliminated, cedar, olive and podocarpus could all be profitably exported if the cut exceeds the local needs.
I sent my representative recently to South Africa to study that market, and his report coupled with my own detailed knowledge of other markets shows that an export of £500,000 per annum could easily be assured if the rail transport and the logging oxen can be procured. The greater proportion of the available oxen are now on the mad hauling.
I have spent over £100,000 on the development of the timber industry, largely in more or less futile attempts to overcome the transport difficulty,
The cutting capacity of my present plant is well over 20,000 tons per annum, and my yards, sheds, terminals, manufacturing and other complementary plant are complete for a much larger turnover, but so far I have been defeated by the transport problem and have lost large sums of money annually until last year, when I turned the corner.
If the surveyed and pegged route is now discarded the whole of my plans fall to the ground, and the bulk of my capital expenditure will be wasted. It will be impossible to carry out any large operation. The country will be starved for timber and the price will steadily rise as the few patches which can be brought to the other alignment are cut out.
Fuel. The fuel problem on the Naivasha-Lake section is becoming acute.
The Nakuru route will provide an assured supply of cheap fuel for an indefinite period. The Mau route passes above all the fuel supply, and haulage to the railway will be very expensive.
Traffic. The Nakuru route traverses the best and most highly developed agricultural area in the country before it enters the forest.
The existing wattle plantations on a 600 acre rotation will give 2,500 tons per annum. The maize lands of the Lower Moto, Sageri and Rongai Valleys extend to 200,000 acres, capable of yielding à ton to the scre; this area should easily produce 30,000 tons per annum.
I can guarantee to place on rail 20,000 tons from my forest so soon as the railway reaches me and to instal additional machinery to cut up to the carrying capacity of the railway.
The Mau route cannot produce any traffic except butter and perhaps a little flax, as the land is generally unsuitable for agriculture.
General. The Nakuru route is a section in the main East to West Trunk Line of Africa. It involves a lower climb from the Plateau than the Mau route and is probably 20 miles shorter. It is surveyed to a 11 per cent. maximum grade and wide curves so as to reduce the cost of the trunk haul. Adoption of the Mau route would permanently saddle an additional 28. per ton on all through traffic coming from the West.
The Nakuru route would generate sufficient traffic to make each section pay as soon as constructed, and by assuring a cheap fuel supply would reduce the working cost of the whole section from Naivasha to the Lake.
The estimated cost of the heavy portion of this fine could be enormously reduced by building it as a
"light line" to the ideal alignment. By reducing the radius and steepening the grade nearly all the heavy cuts and banks can be deferred till the volume of traffic generated by the line justifies and pays for the improvement.
69
(3) My plans provide for the erection of one big central mill at the log-pond site on the Naraaura River. It is my intention to concentrate all conversion at this point, and to log by short trolley lines to the main railway. These trolley lines will connect with the log-loading sites on the Main Line and follow the form lines of the country North and South. They will, of course, enable fuelling to be carried on at the same time as the logging, thereby providing an inexhaustible supply of fuel.
The output of such a central mill is unlimited, subject to the limitations of the logging end of the operation and the markets available.
With the facilities provided by the railway and the existing through rate for export, there is an unlimited export market for hardwood sleepers, cedar and big dimension podocarpus.
(4) To summarise, the immediate traffic arising from the forest section in the form of (1) fuel, (2) logs and (3) sawn timber will certainly be 20,000 tons.
B. Guarantee.
As was recognised by your Committee it is difficult to make precise proposals in this con- nection, but I hereby commit myself to the following principles:-
(1) If and for as long as the financial exigencies of the time necessitate the imposition of specially high railway rates over the Nakuru-Soi sertion to enable the monies for its construc- tion to be provided: I am prepared to pay Rs. 0.50 per timber ton of 600 sq. ft. per mile for the transport of all sawn timber from any of my sawmills on the new line to Nakuru Junction, provided that (a) ordinary rates only are charged on logs consigned from the terminals of my logging lines to my mills, and (b) that the through export rate only is charged on timber consigned from my mills to Mombasa or Kisumu for export.
(2) I am prepared to enter into any reasonable financial guarantee based on either (a) an undertaking to put on rail 20,000 tons of wood per annum (this to include wood sold to the railway) if trucks are available, or (b) to expend an additional £20,000 in machinery, trolley lines and general development of the timber industry along the new railway within a period of two years.
The Chairman,
SIR,
The Empire Development Committee.
No. 6.
I am, &c.,
EWART S. GROGAK.
MAJOR E. S. GROGAN to THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE.
UASIN GISHU RAILWAY ALTERNATIVE ROUTES.
28th January, 1920.
In accordance with my promise at yesterday's meeting of your Committee, I send you herewith five copies of the Minutes of the interview granted by Sir Charles Bowring to repre- sentatives of the Nairobi Chamber of Commerce.
The reason given by His Excellency for his advocacy of the Mau Summit route, namely, that the Mau Route would avoid the very heavy traffic that will arise on the first two sections of the alternative Nakuru Route, could I think be obviated by the provision of sufficient rolling stock and the necessary passing stations on the forest section.
Even if, as he fears, this section of the line has to be doubled to cope with the traffic, such doubling of the line would be less expensive than the construction of two distinct railways, and the freight that he anticipates would render it more than a profitable venture.
SIR,
No. 5.
MAJOR E. 8. GROGAN to THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE.
28th January, 1920.
UASIN GISHU Railway Alternative RouteS.
The Chairman,
The Empire Development Committee.
I am, &c.,
EWART 8. GROGAN.
In pursuance of your request at yesterday's meeting of your Committee, I trust that the following notes will provide the particulars your Committee requires :—
A. Traffic.
(1) I have a saw mill on the river Bissoi at the entrance to the Eldalat Pass. The normal output of this mill should be 200 tons of sawn timber per month, the destination of which would be Nairobi. I have ordered supplementary machinery for this mill to prepare cedar for export. The total output might be reduced, but the destination would be altered to Mombasa. As the railway proceeds beyond Bisso, there will be a large short-distance log traffic to supply this mill, and with the resultant increased logging facilities the output can be enlarged to the extent of the available logs by increasing the machine units.
(2) I have a double unit mill near the Eldana Ravine and have ordered an additional unit, The cutting capacity of the three units is 1,250 tons per month, provided that the log supply can be maintained.
".
SIB,
Enclosure in No. 6.
DEPUTATION re UASIN GISHU RAILWAY.
20th December, 1919.
I HAVE the honour to submit for His Excellency's perusal my Report of the interview graciously granted by him to the above deputation yesterday. Subject to His Excellency's approval and such alteration, if any, as may seem to him desirable, it is proposed to allow the Press to have this Report for publication on Monday, if possible.
At yesterday's resumed Special Meeting of the Chamber, following upon the interview and
the report of the deputation, the following resolutions were carried:-
26790
1. That this Chamber is unanimously of opinion that the Uasin Gishu Railway is an
urgent and immediate necessity to the advancement of the whole country.
E 3
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
ITCO
885/26
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO