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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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ITTICO. 882

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

4 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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12. I.-Level Crossings. The absence of fencing of course renders gates and stues likewise unnecessary, and this item in consequence shows a reduction of Rs. 4,000.

13. J.-Metalling Roads. At Ambawella and Idulgashena stations, which are remote from any existing roads, and to which from their position with regard to the estates they will serve, as well as on account of the small amount of traffic expected thereat, it is I think unlikely, for some time at any rate, metalled roads will be made, I have substituted gravelling 3 inches in thickness, for which I have entered 50 cents per superficial yard in lieu of the metalled approaches at Rs. 2 per superficial yard to the passenger and goods stations formerly scheduled.

It is of course evident that it would be waste of money to provide at any station for the accommodation of heavy wheeled traffic if there be no means of vehicles approaching it, and in the event hereafter of roads to these stations being made, the metalling can be easily provided without inconvenience.

The result of this alteration has been a saving of Rs. 8,846 in this item.

44. K.-Stations. As it would have been manifestly useless for me to suggest alterations in this item, which might hereafter be rejected as impracticable by the authorities upon whom the working of the railway, when made, will devolve, I addressed to the general manager of the railway my letters Nos. 92 and 106 of 7th and 13th March last, copies of which together with the replies of that officer thereto, Nos. 48 and 54 of 12th and 17th of that month, are annexed, and I have also had conversations with the general manager upon the general question of the class of buildings to be erected as stations and for the accommodation of the working staff. From the annexed correspondence it will be observed that the general manager generally approves of the extent and nature of the accommodation proposed, and in the few cases where our views differ, and I have adhered to my own, I will state the reasons which have induced me to follow this course, which I trust may be deemed sufficient.

45. The following are the more important alterations in the original plans and designs.

At Ambawella and Idulgashena stations I have omitted the carriage dock and siding. Horses and cattle can be loaded and unloaded at the goods platform without incon- venience, and with the same ease as at a carriage dock.

At both these stations I have omitted the goods siding, still, however, retaining sufficient width between the inain line and the goods platform siding to permit of its insertion without the necessity of making alterations in the buildings and other sidings.

As the passenger portion of the trains will probably not exceed three carriages in length, I have reduced the length of the passenger platform to 140 feet, still, however, retaining the original distance between the tank-house and water column so as to permit of the platform being lengthened at any time without inconvenience to 200 feet, the length originally proposed.

The watering arrangements and signals at both these stations remain unaltered. I have, however, reduced the length of the goods sheds to 30 feet, adopting the same type of building, subject to certain modifications in details proposed by the general manager, as that used on the Nánu-oya railway; this class of buiding presents ready facilities for extension at any time without interference with the traffic. The height of goods plat- form walls has been fixed at 3 feet 6 inches instead of 4 feet above rails, that height being the more convenient.

For the passenger station and closets I have made fresh designs, which are herewith submitted. In tliese buildings it is proposed that everything below platform level shall be of masonry, and for this masonry, which is not of course exposed to the same strains as that in bridges, I have set down the price of Rs. 10 per cubic yard, being that scheduled by Messrs. Nowell & Co. for underground work in stations on this railway, the superstructure being that known as "wattle and doub," or weather-boarded walling covered with roofing of corrugated zinc. In these designs all "wattle and daub" walls exposed to the weather are protected with weather boarding.

This class of buildings, if carefully erected and with a comparatively small annual expenditure upon repairs after the first three or four years, may be expected, I think, to last from 12 to 15 years, and their duration is increased by the fact that the life of the posts, the most important parts of the structure, is increased owing to their not being exposed to the rapid decay which sets in when posts are merely bedded in earth, while the substructure being of masonry in mortar affords a good and permanent foundation

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for the building when it requires renewal, and also admits, should the finances of the railway then permit, of the replacement of these--to a certain extent-temporary buildings by permanent structures of masonry.

I have set down for weather boarding walling, excluding the timber in the posts to which it is nailed, the price of Rs. 2 per superficial yard; and for wattle and daub walling, including all timber in posts and battens or "reepers" for retaining the "daub,” the price of Rs. I per superficial yard; both these prices are, I think, liberal.

46. At Pattupola summit station I have, with the concurrence of the general manager, reduced the size of the engine-house so as to provide for the accommodation of two instead of four engines. The design is also simplified, and economy is thus effected in its erection; ready means of extension, if it be required, without inconvenience are given by the arches in the back wall, which I have estimated for as being temporarily filled in with weather boarding up to springing.

I have allowed for the erection of a turn-table 50 feet in diameter, and for the watering arrangements originally proposed.

I would here remark that if the general manager can modify his working arrangements so as to allow of the engine-house ashpits, one of the residences, and turn-table provided here being omitted, which I think is practicable, and to which therefore his attention might be invited, a further reduction in my estimate of Rs. 25,858 may be effected. The tank and other watering arrangements are essential and cannot be dispensed with.

47. At Haputalé station I have provided for a passenger platform 200 feet in length, with an iron roof over it and the passenger platform siding, which thus affords protection to the carriages at night. This iron roof projects over and covers the passenger station, which in other respects although slightly larger is of the same general design as that proposed for Idulgashena. If, in the first instance, the general manager could dispense with the roof over the passenger platform and siding, a further reduction of Rs. 20,230 in the present estimate can be effected, and to this point, therefore, I suggest his attention might be invited; and, if also, in view of the experience in working the line between Hatton and Talawakelé for the last six months, and of the very low rate of speed proposed to be adopted on the Haputalé Extension, the general manager could consent to the engines running in one direction tender fore most, the turn-table provided at this station might also be omitted, and a further reduction of Rs. 12,000 effected thereby.

48. At this station the general manager desired that for convenience in working the design should be altered, the offices being at the end of the platforms as at Colombo and Kandy, instead of at the side, also that there should be two platforms and three lines of way, the whole being under cover. Apart from the much larger cost of a station on this type, which would I think absorb nearly, if not quite, all the savings in other respects effected under the headings of stations, I felt that as no one can be in a position to definitely state that any extension of a railway can be viewed as final, it would be better to face the inconvenience, which cannot I think be considerable, as the offices of all roadside and many termina! stations in England are thus built, and to retain these offices on the side of the platforms as heretofore. In the soundness of this view I am, I think, confirmed by the expense incurred and alterations which were Decessary at Colombo, Kandy, and Nawalapitiya, where the offices were at the ends of the platforms, owing to the extensions of the railway which were not foreseen when the stations were built.

49. In other respects the arrangements originally proposed for Haputalé station are in all important points unaltered.

50. I have dispensed with separate nameboards at all stations, as the names can easily be painted on the walls of the buildings.

51. As regards accommodation for the working staff at the various stations, I felt that residences and cooly lines of masonry, as designed for this railway at the prices set down for them by Messrs. Nowell & Co. involved so large a cost that an extensive reduction in this itera was essential.

52. At Messrs. Nowell & Co.'s prices the small and large residence as designed for this railway cost respectively Rs. 11'07 and Rs. 11:34 per square foot of area measured above plinth level, while the cost of the cooly lines is Rs. 400 per room.

53. The bungalow erected in 1880 for the residence of the district engineer for this railway upon Galkandawatta estate cost Rs. 1.92 per superficial foot, while the contract price for the bungalow in which I live, which was erected on Cragie Lea estate in the early part of 1881, was Rs. 2:06 per square foot of area covered.

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