Great Northern Coal Company’s Railway Act of 1908 (NSW)

Act, 1908. Great Northern Coal Company's Railway, Cr An Act to enable the Great Northern Coal nest sonrnens Company (Limited), a joint stock company duly incorporated under the Companies Acts, 1862 to 1900, in the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to construct a railway from the WKalingo Estate, in the parish of Aellalong, and county of Northumberland, to a line constructed by the Aberdare Col- lierics of New South Wales (Limited), under the provisions of the Aberdare Collieries Railway Act of 1901. [25th November, 1908. ] Coat Company's Rartway. HEREAS the Great Northern Coal Company (Limited), a joint Preamble. stock company duly incorporated under the Companies Acts, 1862 to 1900, in the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, herein- after called the company, is opening coal-mines upon the Kalingo estate, situated in the parish of Aellalong, in the county of Northumberland, near Ellalong, and in order to facilitate communication between the said coal-mines and the Great Northern Tailway the said company is desirous of constructing a railway from its said coal-mines to a line hereinafter called the Aberdare Collieries Railway, constructed by the Aberdare Collicries of New South Wales (Limited), under the provisions of the Aberdare Collieries Railway Act of 1901: but as part of such proposed railway is intended to be made upon and pass through land believed to be the property of the Crown, bodies cor- porate, and private persons respectively, the same cannot be made without legislative authority: And whereas the said coal-mines are likely to prove beneficial to the State, and the public are concerned in promoting such an increase in and facilities for the supply of coal for local consumption, steam navigation, and export, as would result from the construction of the said proposed railway, and traffic on the Great Northern railway would be increased thereby: It is therefore desirable to authorise by legislative enactment the construction of the said railway, subject to the provisions hereinafter contained, upon payment of compensaticn to the several parties through whose land the same shall pass for such portion of their respective lands as may be required to be taken and occupied thereby : Be it therefore enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent Authority to construct railway and connect same with Aberdare Collieries railway, Act, 1908. Great Northern Coal Company's Raiiway. consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of New South Wales in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows :—- 1. It shall be lawful for the said company or its assigns to make and construct a railway which shall be of the same gauge as the Government railways, namely, four feet eight and a half inches, commencing at a point on the north boundary of portion sixty-seven in the parish of Aellalong, and bearing thence northerly through portions mineral lease three and mineral lease two in the parish of Cessnock, of which the Ietton Coal Company (Limited) is the lessee, and also along part of the Wollombi-road to the north boundary of the latter portion; thenec casterly and north-casterly through part of portion two, the property of Messrs. Rouse and Barry, to its castern boundary; thence north-casterly through portion mining permit seventy of three hundred and eighty- tliree acres one rood five perches, held by the Caledonian Coal Company (Limited), to the southern boundary of Henry Style's one hundred acre grant; thence north-easterly and easterly through that portion the occupier of which is Peter Smith (owner unknown), to its eastern boundary; thence casterly and south-easterly through portion mining permit seventy aforesaid; thence across the Mount Vineent to Cessnock-road ; thence south- easterly and north-easterly through portion mining permit twenty of fifty-one acres and thirty perehes, also occupied by the Caledonian Coal Comp any (Limited), to its eastern boundary ; thence across parts of the urban area of the town of Aberdare and intersecting in a north-casteriy direction portions thirty-six, thirty-five, thirty-four, sixty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, and thirty-nine, and Railway-strect, to a point on the Aberdare Collieries railway, distant between fifty and sixty chains from its terminus, the whole of the land so deseribed being in the parish and shire of Cessnock, such railway to be in the direction described in the schedule, and to make and construct such loop-lines, stations, and sidings as may be necessary for the safe and convenient use of the railway to be constructed as aforesaid, and connecting with the said railway, and to take and use so much of the said Crown lands, and so much of the lands of private persons through which the said railways shall pass, as the company may require for its said vailw ay, loop-lines, stations, and sidings: Provided always that any land 'taken for the purpose of the said railway through mineral lense fifteen, dam site lease se venty-six, shall not fora length of twenty chains southerly from the northern boundary of the said last- -mentioned le sas, Measure 'd from the north-west eorner of such lease direct to the second angle souther.y of the Wollombi- road, and thence along part of the western boundary of the said lease, exceed thirty-three feet in width from the lines of twenty chains hereinbefore: Act, 1908. Greal Norlhern Coal Company's Railway. hereinbefore deseribed. The said railway shall be constructed in a proper and workmanlike manner, to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer for Railway and Tramway Construction and the Chief Comnnissioner for Railways and Tramways. 2. The said railway shall be deemed to be a branch railway apptication of within the meaning of the sixth seetion of the Aberdare Collicries section 6 of perdare Colleries Railway Act of 1901, and the company and its assigns shall be deemed Railway Act. to be owners and occupiers of the lands in the said section mentioned ; but nothing in ihe said seetion shall be construed to prohibit or prevent the construction of the said railway in the direction mentioned in the Sehedule hereto. 3. The ground and soil of so much of the site of the railway site of railway shall and sidings as passes over ov includes the lands of the said owners of! de vested in the promoters without lands and over Crown lands respectively, together with such rights of conveyance. ingress, egress, and regress upon the adjacent land as may be necessary for the making and repair of such railway, shail, so far as is necessary for the purpose of this Act, be vested, by virtue of this Act and without the necessity of any conveyance, in the company and its assigns in feo-simple: Provided that no lands vested in the Chict Comunissioner for Railways and Pramways shall by virtue of this Act be vested in the company, and nothing herein contained shall prevent the said owners from carrying on any mining operations beneath the said railway which shall not interfere with the safety of the said railway and the traflic thereon, and the company shall have no further right to the soil of the said lands beneath the surface than shall be requisite for the formation and repairs of the said road by cutting, embanking, sinking wells, or otherwise: Provided that the said railway, or a portion of the said railway not less than three miles in length, shall be constructed and brought into use within three years after the passing of this Act, and that in default thereof, or if after its completion the railway or the portion so constructed shall cease to be used for two years continuously, all the said lands, ineluding Crown lands, and all the said company's interest and estate therein, shall revert without any conveyance to the Crown and original owners thereof, their heirs and assigns, respectively; and if such portion only is so constructed within three years, so much of the said Jands, including Crown tands hereby vested in the said company, as are not used for the purposes of the portion so constructed, and the company's interest and estate in such last-mentioned lands, shall revert in manner aforesaid: Provided also that. if in the exercise of the powers hereby granted it be found necessary to cross-cut through, sink, raise, or use any part of any read so as to render it impassable for, or dangerous or inconvenient to the persons entitled to the use thereof, the company shall, before the commencement of any such operations, cause a sufficient road to be made instead of any voad intertiered with, and shall Railway open to the public. Act, 1908. Great Nor (her Coat Company' s Ruilway. shall at its own expense maintain such substituted road in a state as convenient as the road interfered with, or as nearly as may be. And the company, before it uses the said lands of the owners of land and the said Crown lands respectively, for the purposes aforesaid, shall, if required so to do, separate the same by a sufficient fence from the land adjoining thereto, with such gates or cattle stops as may he necessary for the convenient occupation of such land, and shall also, to all private roads used hy it as aforesaid, put up fences, gates, or cattle stops in like manner in all cases where the same may be necessary to prevent the straying of cattle from or upon the lands traversed by such roads, or upon the said railway line; and in ease of any difference between the owners or oceupicrs of such roads and fands and the company as to the necessity for such fences, gates, or cattle stops, then the said company shall put upand erect or construct such fences, gates, or cattle stops as any two justices of the peace, after inquiry, shall deem necessary for the purposes aforesaid on application being made to them. 4. The railway shall be open to the public use for the conveyance of coal and goods upon payment of a toll to the company for the conveyance of coal of a sum of not exceeding one penny per ton per mile, with a minimum charge of three pence per ton in respect of every ton of coal for every transit, the person secking transit supplying and loading his own trucks or on Government waggons, and the company or Government supplying locomotive power; and all trueks when emptied shall be conveyed on their return free of charge: Vrovided always that it shall not be compulsory on the company to supply locomotive power unless the party seeking the transit guarantee and bring one hundred tons at least during the twelve w orking hours, and give notice of the same at least twenty-four hours previously. The railway shall at all times be open to the public for the conveyance of coal and goods upon payment of a toll to the company for the conveyance of coal of a sum not exceeding one half-penny per ton per mile, with a minimum charge of two pence per ton in respeet of every ton of coal for every transit, and for goods of a sum not exceeding one penny half-penny per ton per mile in respect of every ton of goods for every transit, if the party secking transit supply the locomotive power as well as the trucks and waggons: Provided that, so long as the company shall he willing to supply locomotive power, no other person shall use locomotive power on the line other than the Chief Commissioner for Railways and 'Tramways: Provided that, if the railway shall be damaged by partics who shall themselves use the railway for transit, and supply locomotive power, the company shall be entitled to compensation for such damage, to be recovered cither by action in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, or, if such damage do not exceed the sum of thirty pounds, swnmarily before two Act, 1908. two justices; and, in estimating such damage, the company shall he entitled not only to compensation for the cost of repairing and restoring the railway, but to the consequential damage (if any) sustained by reason of the suspension of transit or otherwise. It. shall be lawful for the owners or occupiers of the Jands adjoining thercto or traversed by the said railway to lay down upon their own lands any collateral branches of railway, to communicate with the said railway, for the purpose of bringing carriages, trucks, and waggons to or from or upon the said railway, and the company shall, if required, at the expense of such owners or occupiers, make openings in the rails and such additional lines of railway as may be necessary for effecting such communication in' places where the communication can be made with safety to the pabhe and without injury to the said railway, and without inconvenience to the traffic thereupon ; and the company shall not take any rate or toll or other moneys for the passing of any passengers, coal, and goods, or other things alone any branch so to be made by any such owner or occupier or other person. The company shall not be bound to make any sitcl openings in any place which it shall have set apart for any specific purpose with which such communication would interfere, nor upon any inclined plane or bridge, nor in any tunnel. The person making or using such branch railways shall be subject to all by-laws and reguations of the company from time to time made with respect to passing upon or crossing the railway and otherwise ; and the persons making or using such branch railway shall be bound to construct and, from time to time as need may reqitire, to renew the offset plates and switches, according to the most approved plan adopted by the company under the direction of its engineer, and to prov ide all necessary signalmen, switchmen, and all other persons necessary to prevent accidents on such branch railway or the junction thereof with the railway line hereby authorised. 6. For the purposes and subject to the provisions hereinafter contained, it shall be lawful for the company, its deputies, agents, servants, and workmen, and all other persons by it authorised and empowered, to divert or alter the course of any road or way crossing the railway, or to raise or sink any road or way, in order the more conveniently to carry the same over or under or by the side of the railway : Provided always that any such works shall he carried out to the satisfaction of the Cessnock shire eouncil, and all such diversions, alterations, and crossings, and the approaches thereto, shall thereafter be maintained and repaired by the company at its own expense and to the satisfaction of the said Cessnock shire council. 7. If the company does not cause another sufficient road to Le so made before it interferes with any such existing road as aforesaid, or, if it fail to maintain all such diversions, alterations, crossings, and P the Branch railways. Power to divert or alter roads, Penalty for nov substituting a read Right to carry passengers. Road repairs. Act, 1908. Great Northern Cont Company' s ailuay. the approaches thereto, it shall forfeit twenty pounds for every day during which such substituted road shall not be made after the existing road shall have been interrupted, or diwring which such diversions, alterations, crossings, or approaches shall remain in a state of disrepair, and such penalties shall be paid to the Cessnock shire council, if a public road, wand shall be applied for the purposes thereof, or in case of a private road, the same shall be paid to the owner thereof: and every such penalty shall be recoverable, with costs, by action in any of the superior courts. 8. It shall he lawful for, and at the request of the Chief Commissioner for Railways and 'Tramways compulsory upon, the said company, from time to time and at all times, to carry passengers, goods, and live stock upon the said railway or any part thereof, and the said company may make, demand, take, receive, aad recover such tolls or dues for carrying the same at such rates per mile or other scale of charges as shall be established from time to time by the company for or in respect of all such passengers, goods, and live stock which shall be conveyed or transported upon such railway or any part thereof respectively ; and the company is hereby authorised to make such by-laws and regulations, vot inconsistent with this Act and subject to the approval of the Chicf Commissioner for Railways and Tramways as may be necessary for the regulation of such traflic, and such by-laws or regulations shall be binding upon all persons using or travelling upon the said railway, and any persons offending against such by-laws or regulations shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds for each offence, to be recovered in a summary way before any two justices: Provided always, that if the rates, tolls, or dues that may be established as aforesaid under and by virtue of this Act shall be found excessive, it shall be lawful for the Executive Council on the petition of any person to reduce the said rates, tolls, or dues, and to revise them in such a manner as may scem most proper and advisable : Provided further that the charges made for the carriage of merchandise, passengers, and live stock shall not exceed the rates charged on the Government railways of this State. 9. If, in the course of making the railway, the company shall use or interfere wit!) any road, it shall from time to time make good all damage done by it to such road to the satisfaction of the Cessnock shire council; and if any question shall arise as to the damage done to any such road by the company, or as to the repair thereof by it, such questions shall be referred to the determination of two justices, a and such justices may direct such repairs to be made in the state of such road in respect of damage done by the company, and within such period as the xy may think reasonable, and may impose on the company for not carrying into effect sueh repairs any penalty not exceeding ten pounds per 'day as to such justices shall scem fit, andany such penalty shall Act, 1908 "Great Vor thern Coal Company's Railioay. shall be paid to the said Cessnock shire council, if a publie road, and be applied for the purposes of saeh road, or if a private road, the same shall be paid to the owner thereof, 10. Until the company shall have made the bridges or other proper conununications which it shall, under the provisions herein contained, have been required to make between lands intersected and the railway, and no longer, the owners and occupiers of such lands, and any other person whose right-of-way shall be affeeted by the want of such communications, and their respective servants, may at all times freely pass and re-pass with carriages, horses, and other animals directly but not otherwise across any part of the railway made in or through their respective Innds sole 'ly for the purpose of oceupying the saine lands, or for the exercise of such right-of-way, and so as not to obstruct the passage alone the vailway, or to damage the same. Nevertheless, if the owner or occupier of any such lands have, in his arrangements with the company, received or agreed to receive compensation for or on account of any such communications instead of the same being formed, stich owner or occupier, or those claiming under him, shall not be entitled so to eross the railway. 11, If the railway cross any public highway or parish road, or if a road crossing or meeting the railway line he provided at any future date, under the powers contained in the Acts relating to the establishment of public roads on a level, the company shall erect and at. all times maintain to the satisfaction of the said Cessnock shire council good and sufficient gates across such road on each side of the railway where the same shall communicate therewith, and shall employ proper persons to open and shut such gates, and such gates shall be kept constantly closed across such roads on 'oth sides of the railw ay, except during the time when horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, carts, or carriages passing along the same shall have to cross such railway ; and such gates shall be of such dimensions and so constructed as when closed to fence in the railway and prevent cattle or horses passing along the road from entering upon the railway; and the person entrusted with the care of such gates shall cause the same to be closed as soon as such hor SeS, cattle, carts, or carriages shall have passed through the same, under a penalty not exceeding forty shillings for every default therein, to be recoverable before any two justices in a summary way: Provided always that it shall be lawful for the Cessnock shire council, in any vase In which it shall be satislied that it will be more conducive to the public safety that the gates or any level crossing over any such road shall be kept closed across the railway, to order that such gates shall be kept so closed instead of across the road, and in such case such gates shall be kept constantly closed across the railway, except when engines or carriages passing along the railway shall have occasion to cross such road in the same manner and under the like penalty as above Owner's crossing. Provisions in cases where roads are crossed on a level. Power to enter upon adjoining lands to repair accidents, subject to certain restrictions, Construction of bridges over roads. Act, 1908. Great Northern Coal Company's Raiiway. above directed with respect to the gates heing kept closed across the road: Provided also that on the application of the company the Cessnock shire council may at discretion authorise the construction of cattle stops across the railway in lieu of gates across the road, and such cattle stops shall be constructed and maittained to the satisfaction of the said Cessnock shire council. The Cessnock shire council may, however, at any future time, if it considers it necessary for the publie safety, withdraw such permission and order the erection of gates and the provision of persons to open and shut them as hereinbefore provided, and such gates and persons shall be provided by the company without compensation for any loss or expense caused by the alteration. 12. In case of accidents or slips happening or being apprehended to the cuttings, embankments, or other works of the said railway, it shall be lawful for the company and its workmen and servants to enter upon the land adjoining thereto at any time whatsoever for the purpose of repairing or preventing such accidents, and to do such works as may be necessary for the purpose; but in every such case the company shall, within forty-eight hours after such entry, make a report to the Secretary for Public W orks, specifying the nature of such accident or apprehended accident, and of the works necessary to be done, and such powers shall cease and determine if the said Scerctary shall, after considering the said report, certify that their exercise is not necessary for the public safety, or for the repair or maintenance of the line: Provided also that such works shall be as little injurious to the said adjoining lands as the nature of the accident or apprehended accident will admit of, and shall be executed with all possible despatch, and full compensation shall be made to the owners and occupiers of such lands for the loss, or injury, or inconvenience sustained by them respectively by reason of such works, the amount of which compensation, in case of any dispute about the same, shall be settled by arbitration in the manner hereinafter mentioned: And provided, also, that no land shall be taken permanently for any such works otherwise than is herein provided with respect to the lands originally taken for the purpose of making the said railway. 13. Every bridge to be erected for 'the purpose of carrying the railway over any yoad shall be built in conformity with the following regulations (that is to say) :— (a) The width of the arch shail be such as to leave thereunder a clear space not exceeding twenty-five fect, or such less space as may be approved by the Cessnock shire council, if the arch be over a public read 'or highway, and of fourteen feet over a private road. (b) The clear height of the arch from the surface of the road shall not be less than sixteen fect for a space of twelve feet if the arch Act, 1908. Great Nor ther Coal Company' 8 Railway. arch be over a public road or highway: and the clear height at the springing of the arch shall not be less than twelve feet: the clear height of the arch for a space of nine feet shall not be less than fourteen fect over a private road. (c) The deseent made in the road in order to carry the same under the bridge shall not be more than one foot. in twenty-five feet: if the bridge be over a public road or highway ; and one foot in sixteen fect if over a private road, not being a tramroad or railroad, and provision for the drainage of such road shall be made to the satisfaction of the Cessnock shire council; or if the same be a tramroad or railroad, the descent shall not be greater than the ruling gradient of such tramroad or railroad : Provided always that every such bridge shall be erected to the satisfaction of the Chief Commissioner for Railw ays and Tramways and the Chief Engineer for Railway and Tramway Construction. 14, Every bridge crectcd for carrying any road over the railway Construction of bri ges over shall be built in conformity with the following regulations (that is to r say) :— (a) There shall be a good and sufficient fence on each side of the bridge of not less height than four fect, and on each side of the immediate approaches of such bridge of not less than three feet six inches. (b) The road over the bridge shall have a clear space between the fences thercof of thirty-five fect if the road be a public high- way, and twelve feet if a private road. (c) The ascent shall not be more than one foot in thirty feet if the road be a public road or highway, and one foot in sixteen if a private road, not being a tramroad or railroad: or if the same be a tramroad or railroad, the ascent shall not be greater than the ruling gradient of such tramroad or railroad : Provided always that every such bridge shall be erected to the satisfaction of the said Cessnock shire council and the said Chief Engineer for Railway and Tramway Construction : ailways, Provided always that in all cases where the average available The width of the width for the passing of carriages of any existing road within filty bridges need not excead the width of yards of the point of crossing the same is less than the width hercin- the road in certain before prescribed for bridges over or under the railway, the width of such bridges need not be greater than such average available width of such roads; but so, nevertheless, that such bridges be not of less width in case of a public highway or parish road than twenty feet Provided also, that if at any time after the construction of the railway, the average available width of any such road shaJl be increased beyond the width of such bridge on either side thereof, the company shall be bound at its own expense to increase the width of the said bridge 6 CASC 5, 14 Act, 1908. Gr eat Northern Coal Company's 8 Railay. bridge to such extent as they may be vequired by the said Cessnock shire council, not exceeding the width of such road as so widened, or the maximum width herein preseribed for a bridge in the like case over or under the railway : Existing inclination Provided also, that if the mean inclination of any road within of rosy crossed oF two hundred and fifty yards of the point of crossing the same, or improved the inclination of such portion of any road as may be preserved to be altered, or for which another road shall be substituted, shall be steeper than the inclination hereinbefore required to be preserved by the company, then the company may carry any such road over or under the railway, or may construct such altered or substituted road at an inclination not steeper than the said mean inclination of the road so to be crossed, or of the road so requiring to be altered, or for which another road shall he' substituted. Works for benefits 15. The company shall make, and at all times thereafter of owners, maintain, the following works for the accommodation of the owners and oeeupiers of lands adjoining the railway (that is to say) :— Gates, bridges, &e. (a) Such and so many convenient eates, bridges, arches, culverts, and passages over, under, or by the sides of or leading to or from the railway as shall be necessary for the purpose of making good any interruptions caused 'by the railw ay to the use of the lands through which the railway shall be made : And such works shall be made forthwith after the part of the railway passing over such lands shall have been laid out or formed, or during the formation thereof. Fences. (b) All sufficient posts, rails, hedges, ditches, mounds, or other fences for separating the land taken for the use of the railway from the adjoining lands not taken, and protecting such lands from trespass, or the cattle of the owners or occupiers thereof from straving thereon by reason of the railway, together with all necessary gates made to open towards such adjoining lands and not towards the railway. And all necessary stiles and such posts, rails, and other fences shall be made forthwith after the taking of any such lands if the owners thereof shall so require, and the said other works as soon as conveniently may be. Drains. (c) Also, all necessary arches, tunnels, culverts, drains, or other passages, cither over or under, or by the sides of the railway, of such dimensions as will be sufficient at all times to convey the water as clearly from the lands lying near or affected by the railway as hefore the making of 'the' railway, or as nearly so as may 'be, and such works shall be made from time to time as the railway works proceed. Watering-places. (d) Also, proper watering-places for cattle, or compensation in lieu 'thereof, where by reason of the railway the cattle of any person Act, 1908. Great Northern Coal Company's Railway. person occupying any lands lying near thereto shall be deprived of access to their former watering-places : And such watering-places shall be so made as to be at all times sufficiently supplied with water as theretofore, and as if the railway had not been made, or as nearly so as may be. And the said company shall make all necessary watercourses and drains for the purpose of conveying water to the said watering-places : Provided always that the company shall not be required to make such accommodation works in such a manner as would prevent or obstruct the working or using of the railway, nor to make any accommodation works with respect to which the owners and occupiers of the land shall have agreed to receive, and shall have been paid compensation instead of the making them. 16, If any person omit to shut and fasten any gate set up at either side of the railway for the accommodation of the owners or oceupiers of the adjoining lands, so soon as he, and the carriage, cattle, or other animals under his care have passed through the same, he shall forfeit for every such offence a sum not exceeding five pounds, to be recoverable in a summary way before any two justices. 17. The company shall not be entitled to any minerals under any land whereof the surface is vested in it by virtue of this Act, except only such parts thereof as shail be necessary to be dug or carried away in the construction of the works hereby authorised. And such mines shall not be deemed to vest in the said company. 18. If, within ninety days after the passing of this Act, the said persons through whose lands the railway shall pass, or any of them, and the company shall not agree as to the amount. of compen- sation to be paid by it for the said lands belonging to the said parties, or any of them, or for any damage that may be sustained by them or him, by reason of the exceution of the works, or if any other mestion as to compensation shall arise under this Act, the amount of such compensation shall he settled by arbitrators in manner hereinafter mentioned (that is to say) :—Unless both parties shall concur in the appointment of asingle arbitrator, each party on the request of the other party shall nominate and appoint an arbitrator to whom such dispute or other matter shall be referred. And every appointment of an arbitrator shall be under the hand of such party. And such appointment shall be delivered to the arbitrator or arbitrators, and shall be deemed a submission to arbitration on the part of the party by whom the same shall be made. And after any such appointment shall have been made, neither party shall have power to revoke the