The Callander extension.

How the work is being proceeded with.

The chief engineer's observations.

The track laid to the bridge at Huntsville.

Rapid progress of the work.

Mr. J. C. Bailey, Chief Engineer of the Northern and Pacific Junction Railway, has just returned from a trip over the whole road, from Gravenhurst to La Vase. From Gravenhust to Huntsville he travelled on a hand car, but from that point north he walked the whole distance. The trip took about eleven days, in which time he was enabled to carefully examine the work done. He stated on his return to a reporter for The Globe that every part of the work was being done in the most substantial and, at the same time, most expeditious manner. On Saturday night last [June 20, 1885] the track as laid to within half a mile of Huntsville, thirty-four miles north of Gravenhurst, and would be finished to that place as soon as the centre span over the river there was completed. This has been somewhat delayed through the contractors having to wait for timber, but it will not be many days now before the whole work is done at that point. From there north the track can be laid very quickly to the

First crossing of the Maganettawan,

All the bridges and viaducts to that point having been built. The foundations for the four Maganettawan bridges are now being laid and they will shortly be ready for the stone work, which will rest on piles which have been drive into the river bed. The bridge over La Vase River close to the junction with the Canadian Pacific, has been completed and track laid over it. The track will also be complete in a few days to South East Bay and two miles south, when a big fill will delay them for a short time. The foundations of the

Bridge over the Wistawasing River

Has been laid, and the stone for the abutments is all on the ground, and the mason work will be rapidly proceeded with. The stone work for the viaduct over Little East River and for the bridge over the Big East has been finished and the remainder of the work at these points is well under way. The mason work for the big viaduct 82 miles north of Gravenhurst is also completed. This viaduct is 750 feet long and 90 feet high, and has been selected as the point where the tracks from the north and south will be joined in November or December next. Splendid ballast has been found at the north end, where three or four gravel pits, affording an ample supply, have been opened. Mr. Bailey states that settlement along the line of the railway is going on very fast, and many new clearings are being made. A number of saw mills are also being built along the road, most of them being run by the water power which abounds through that section, while some portable steam mills are also being erected right in the heart of the bush. The cattle throughout the country are in good condition, and some very fine stock is found on the farms, while the country generally appears prosperous.

Railways: N. & P.J.Ry.

Results