Surveyor-General.
32
4. In paragraph 3 of their report of 1894 the Black River Railway Commis- sion stated that Mr. E. Pitot, General Manager of the Railways, estimated the net annual revenue of the proposed line at Rs. 32,100; the annual charge on my revised estimate would be for interest and sinking fund, i.e., 5 per cent. on Rs. 625,157, Rs. 31,257. The line would therefore be self-supporting. I have always held that the Black River line would be a paying one. Under the present circumstances created by the surra epidemic, the construction of that line is, I consider, a work which cannot be delayed. There is, besides, no reason for delaying it since it is proved, beyond any possible doubt, that the line will not only be self-supporting but will increase the traffic, and consequently the revenue of the Midland line.
G. DE CORIOLIS,
Surveyor-General.
93
Adding the English and Mauritius payments together, the total estimated cost is, therefore, £36,317, say, £36,300 in round figures.
4. The rails are 30 lbs. per lineal yard flat-bottomed steel rails, laid on wooden cross-sleepers (half round 7 feet by 4 inches by 8 inches), 2,112 per mile, without chairs, with fish-plates, fish-bolts, and nuts and dog-spikes. The engines are four wheels coupled (for the standard gauge), with side tanks and a four-wheeled bogie in front, and weigh, in working order, about 15 tons. A full description of those engines is to be found at page 261 of the Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Vol. CXLV. (August, 1901). They will answer the requirements of the line on account of the sharp curves of the estates' sidings. The estimated cost of the permanent way materials and of the engines is based on an offer received from the agent in Mauritius of Messrs. Colley & Co. (41, Seething Lane, London, E.C.).
G. DE CORIOLIS,
「 ༄། ། ། །
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
19
Enclosure 5 in No. 77.
SURVEYOR-GENERAL to COLONIAL SECRETARY.
}
His Excellency the Governor has asked me to send in a detailed revised estimate
of the Black River proposed railway.
2. The revised estimate is as follows:-
(a) English payments (vide paragraph IX. of my printed report of the 21st
September, 1894, and my report D/85 of the 16th February, 1903 :-
Amount required..
Item.
1. Permanent way (12 miles for the line and 2 miles for
stations and estates sidings)
£9,040
2. Points and crossings
720
840
4. Tramway crossings
150
72
480
360
2,100
1,440
£15,202
9. Iron work for bridges
3. Fencing
5. Signal-post fittings
6. Telegraph and station fittings
7. Water tanks for stations
8. Equipment: two bogie 15-ton engines
Total (the whole delivered in the harbour of Mauritius)
3. (b). Mauritius payments.-The estimated total amount of the Mauritius payments is Rs. 316,727, or at is. 4d. to the pound, £21,115, the details of which are as follows:-
Enclosure 6 in No. 77.
ACTING GENERAL MANAGER OF RAILWAYS to COLONIAL SECRETARY.
(No. G.M. 391/165.)
SIR,
April 9, 1903. WITH reference to your letter, No. 1913/03, of the 6th instant, I beg to report that, according to information obtained from the several planters of Black River, and principally from Messrs. P. E. Carcenac and Pepin, who have large interests in the district, I have estimated, as follows, the receipts of the proposed railway line.
According to the last census, 1901, the population of Black River district is 14,063 inhabitants.
Admitting that each of these persons travels to and from Central twice a year
(as an average), and taking the length of the trip as the distance from Central to
a point half-way distant between Petite Rivière Station and the terminal station of the proposed line, we get 28,126 trips of 10 miles and back, or 562,520 passenger miles at .04c. per mile
Parcels, say
Sugar from Medine, Albion and Tamarin
Other produce of the district (this includes aloe fibres, molasses, charcoal,
firewood, guano)
Manure
Cane traffic
Provisions
Rs. 22,500
500 15,000
42,000
12,600 18,000
3,600
Reference :-
C.O. 882
8
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
Item.
Cost,
1. Earthwork
Rs. 112,000
2. Ballast
3. Permanent way
4. Fencing
5. Bridges and culverts
6. Telegraph
33,000
The working expenses would be about 40 per cent., or ...
19,450
9,102
46,000
3,300
7. Road crossings
4,875
8. Road diversions
10,000
9. Stations
30,000
10. Land and compensation (small proprietors only)
5,000
11. Engineering
18,000
12. Committee
2,000
13. Miscellaneous
14. Contingencies
4,000
leaving
as net revenue, which is the interest at 9 per cent. of a capital of Rs. 761,333.
The above estimate includes the transport, which would be supplied by estates and planters, not by shopkeepers and other private individuals.
All planters, I am informed, have declared that they would increase in a large measure their produce in the case of the opening of a railway line.
R. W. DowsON,
Acting General Manager of Railways.
Rs. 114,200
45,680
Rs. 68,520
20,000
Rs. 316,727
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.