Rupan.Yup to .Marnoo;
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1 1896. VICTORIA. FROM THE PAHLIAMENTARY .STANDING COMMITTEE ON RAILW·AYS ON THE PROPOSED. RAIL W A. Y l<'ROllI RUPAN.YUP TO .MARNOO; . TOGETHER WITH THE APPENDICES AND MINUTES OF }iVIDENCE. Ordered by the Legislative Assembly to be printed, 22nd July, 1896. ~ , .... ... ... .~ " ... ~ ~ BOBT. S. BRAIN, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, lItELBOURmL R.AILWAYS STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT No. 1.-[2s.] EXTRACTED FROM THE VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. THURSDAY, 13TH FEBRUARY, 1896 • .. .. .. .. .. .. ; 3. RuPAN,yup TO MUNOO R. .HLwAY.-Mr. H. R Williains, in accordance with the requirements of the Railways Standi~g Committee Acts, moved, pursuant to notice, .That the construction of a line of railway from u,upanyup to Marooo be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on.Railways for'consideration and report. Debate ensued, Question-put and resolved in the affirmative. ------- _._"--- MEMBERS OF THE PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON RAILWAYS. (Third Committee.) E. H. CAMERON,· Esq., M.L.A., Chairman; ; The Hon. J. Buchanan, M.L.C., I The H.0n. D. Melville, M.L.C. (Vice- J. B. Burton, Esq., M.L.A., . Chrurman), A. W. Craven, Esq., M.L.A., I The Hon. E. Morey, M.L.C., A. Harris, Esq., M.L.A., W. A. Trenwith, Esq., M.L.A., J. S. White, Esq., M.L.A. APPROXIM:ATE OOST OF REPORT. £, s. d. tlompllation " •• . Nil Printing (810 copies) 60 0 0 " The oompil&tion was a portion of the work of the Clerk of CO!lllllittees, who is paid by QJluUAl salary. 3 RUPANYUP TO MARNOO RAILWAYo RJEJPOR'ro THE PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON RAILWAYS, to which the Legislative Assembly referred the proposed line of railway from Rupanyup to Marnoo, have the honour to report as follows :- 1. This railway is 20' miles in length; the ruling grade is 1 in 75, and the Lengtho!line. sharpest curve 20' chains radius. Rupanyup, the proposed starting point, is the present =: :,rves. terminus of the spur line which runs in a north-easterly direction from Lubeck, a ~tation on the Melbourne and Serviceton railway, distant 175 miles from Melbourne, 156;i miles from Geelong, 101 miles from Ballarat, and 25;i miles from Stawell. The proposed extension continues in a north-easterly direction for about 1O! miles when it runs nearly due, east past the south side of the township of Banyena, which is 11'16 miles from Rupanyup. The surveyed route then turns gradually in a south-easterly direction till it reaches the proposed terminus, in the parish of Marnoo, at a point about 191 miles from the town of St. Arnaud on the l\faryborough and Donald railway. ' 2. The railway proposals submitted to Parliament in 1890' included two lines Orlginotthe to serve the northern portion of the district lying between the Ararat-Murtoa and the ~~:~~~te. Maryborough-Donald railways, viz. :- Length-Miles. Estimated Cost lu1890. Stawell, via Wallaloo, to St. Arnaud railway... 49'15 £290',425 Rupanyup, via Banyena, to Cope Cope railway 26'65 139,935 Total 75'8.0' £430,360' These two railways were referred to the first Railways Standing Committee, and s~6meslti.i1d·' remitted by that body to a Sectional Committee, which reported that there was a large ~~ne:Re~rt; agricultural district lying along the valley of the Richardson River which had strong claims to railway communication, but that the lines proposed were not the best that could be suggested under the circumstances. The Sectional Committee stated further that, in their opinion, it was not expedient to construct either the line from Stawell to St. Arnaud or the line from Rupanyup to Cope Cope, as the district could be served at a much lower cost by one line running from Rupanyup to St. Arnaud, through the parishes of Banyena, Marnoo, and Gre Gre. The Railway Department was then asked to ·h3;ve a survey made of this line, in order that an es~imate of its cost might be furnished. The Rupanyup to Mal'noo flli1W:ty now proposed forms portion of the through line suggested by the {L;:;t ()ommittee. 3. In view of the foreg-oing facts, the present Committee have made inquiries, Inquiries of not only regarding the Rupanyup to Marnoo line, but also with reference to various ~=\tee. routes now suggested to serve the country lying between the two existing railways to Murtoa and Donald. The routes which have been inspected are- . 1 Rupanyup, via Banyena, to Marnoo and' St. Arnaud. Glenorchvto Wallaloo and St. Arnaud. Avoca, via Moonambel, Navarre, and Wallaloo, to Banyena. Evidence has been taken regarding these routes, and the capabilities of the country traversed by them, at Melbourne and in the district at Stawell, Glenorchy, Wallaloo, Banyena, M~rnoo, St. Arnaud, Avoca, and several other places. The Minutes of Evidence are attached hereto. A cQPY of a report on the whole district SeeAppendixH. by the Engine~r-in-Chief, who paid a special visit to the locality in 1893, is also appended. ... .. 4: The line from Avoca would traverse the centre of the country lying between .Avooato the t wo ex IS. t"1mg raJ. ways prevIOUS. Iy mentIOne. d ,and , f rom t h at pomt. 0 f'VIew, wou Id b e Bauyeuaroute. the best to· serve the district most remote from railway facilities at present; but, between IV Moonambel and Navarre, a distance of about 16 miles, the line would pass through a lot of, poor rangy country which wo(ild furnis~l very little traffic for a line, and where raIlway building would be expensive. The population alo[w-this portion of the route is principally a mining one, there being vel'y little agricu1tur~ settlement. Descriptiono! country north 5. From Navarre northwards th~ country<g'~'eat1y. iml)roves, and it is this portion 01 Nmrre. of the district which is most in need of.r~ilway facilities,-Laving been settled for many years by farmers and graziers \"ho have to' cart 'th'eir produce: ill SOUle instances, up~ards of 20 miles to a railway station. There is a large area Df first-class agrIcultural land and good grazing land in portions of the parishes of MOl;rl Morrl, Winjallok, Bolangum, Warngar, Wallaloo, Tottington, Wirchilleba,'Marnoo, Ore Gre, Burrulll Burrum, Banyena, Rich Avon West, and H.ich Avon East. , It was with the object of serving the farmers and gmziers in these parishes and tO'maintain the local business and trade connexion with the'towns of Stawell, St. Arnaud) and Cope ,Cope that two,lines were proposed in 1890.' 'Vallaloo is the centre of the agricultural district which it was intended to serve by the Stawell to St. Arnaud line, and Banyena is the centre of the district to be served by the line from Rupanyup to Cope Cope. The one line from Rupanyup, 'l{id Mal'lloo,' to St. Arnaud, suggested by the first Committee to take the place of the other two, was designed to serve 'both the Banyena and 'Vallaloo centres. ' . Judging by the evidence of the farmers examined at Wallaloo, it is ;doubtful if that district would make full use of the Rupanynp to St. Arnaud through line if built on the surveyed route. The line ~vould not come sufficiently' close' to Wallaloo and the . parishes south of it to induce the settlers to break off their present business connexion with Stawell,. where there is a population of some 5,200 persons, and where the 'tV allalo<:,! farmers find a good market for portion oftheh- produce.' ' " ., ," It is quite certain that any line starting from 'Rupanyup, which terminated .;: " at . Marnoo, would not be used by the farmers round vVallaloo. They 'would still cart their, produce direct to Stawell, about 25 miles in a south-westerly (lir.ection, or to the railway station at Glenorchy, about 20 miles, rather than send it by road to Marnoo, in a north-easterly direction for it distance of 6 or 7 miles, then in a north~westerly direction to' Banyena and round by Rupanyup and Lubeck to Stawel1,' a distance of 55 miles by.raiL .. Annua.llossoft , 6. ,'Vere it not for the ,existence of the spur line fr0111 Lubeck to Rupanyup,' .~~~:'~~~.llne. the hest way to serve the settlers iJ;l the agricultural district which runs from "the , parish of. Morrl ¥orrl to ,the parish of Rich Avon 'Vest would be by the construction 9f a line branching offfrom the main Serviceton line ,at either Glenorchy or 'Val 'Val, running thence to a point south of Wallaloo, and thence to Banyena. ,.' The existence of the Lubeck to Hupanyup line, however, is a fact which cl}nnot be overlooked in the consideration of the question of supplying railway facilities ,to the Richardson Valley. ' This spur line is only 9i miles in length, and its capital cost stands at £45,000. At present it does not pay working expenses, and when the interest on the cost of construction is added to the loss on working there is an annual' deficit of upwards of £2,000 on this railway, which can never pay as it stands 'at present. Jlupanyup to 7. The extension of the Lubeck-Rupanyup line for 20 miles to Marnoo, which Me.ri1oo exre~sion. is the proposal submitted to the Committee, is estimated by the Engineer-in-Chief to cost £55,331, or £2,767 per mile, exclusive of land and rolling-stock. See AppendixA. The Acting Victorian Railways Commissioners bave supplied an estimate of the probable revenue and working expenses, as follows :- Working expenses ...' £1,604 Estimated revenue from the extension £1,045 Estimated revenue for carriage over existing railways of new traffic arising from the extension : .