Old news from Armidale and New England

Tuesday 5 April 1881, The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser

(Uralla and Walcha Times, March 30.)

The works in connection with the extension of the railway from Uralla to Glen Innes have commenced in earnest, and not the least time is being lost by the energetic contractor or his subordinates. The cuttings in Cleghorn and Carroll’s paddocks are assuming fair proportions, despite of the fact that the workmen are encountering some of the hardest of New England granite. That useful but destructive agent dynamite, is, however, making sad havoc with the rocks and boulders encountered in the cuttings, and hundreds of tons of stone have been split up during the past two or three weeks. Almost hourly during the day the terrific reports of dynamite explosions reverberate through Uralla and the surrounding country, causing “the birds of the air and the beasts of the field” to take an involuntary flight or scamper through the bush, and giving some of our quiet citizens forcible reminders that their solitude has at length been invaded by another agent of civilization. Works on the extension are now in progress at intervening distances from Uralla to Ben Lomond, in which latter locality very heavy cuttings occur. The line has been well nigh cleared of timber from Uralla to Armidale, and the the necessary earthworks are being proceeded with in many places along this section. The necessary dobbins are now to hand, and thus the progress of the work will be greatly facilitated. Bricks in large quantities for the extension are being made in the neighbourhood of Uralla.