Gaining the top of the spur, the railway continues a gentle ascent until it notches an altitude of 3,658 feet, when the descent of the western slope commences. The Lithgow valley is the objective, and the precipice tumbles down suddenly for 600 feet. To carry the line down the mountain-side appeared impossible, and when the engineer-in-chief, the late Mr. John Whitton, surveyed the scene, to say that he was perturbed fails to express his thoughts adequately. He could overcome the descent fairly easily if he were permitted to carry out tunnelling operations, whereby he would secure both easy grades and curves. But he was overruled. Tunnelling was considered too expensive and could not be countenanced; in fact, the whole conquest of the mountains provoked a long-drawn-out and bitter controversy. The general attitude towards railways, and the slight knowledge concerning their construction and operation in those early days, is afforded from the engineer-in-chief’s struggle with the Governor-General for permission to follow his own inclinations, which, as he pointed out, might entail heavy initial expenditure, but would pay in the long run. When the scheme was unfolded and the engineer admitted that the work, however accomplished, must prove costly, the Governor-General pointed out that a highroad had been built over the mountains for pedestrian and wagon traffic. Consequently he suggested that this channel should be used, that the lines should be laid in the middle of the road, and that the trains should be hauled by horses! The engineer had considerable difficulty, and had to resort to prolonged communications and lengthy explanations, to impress upon the official mind that the locomotive was the best means of hauling trains. He became so insistent, and persecuted his demands so relentlessly that the Governor-General, probably sick at heart over the whole thing, gave way at last to the engineer’s importunities, but stipulated that the constructional cost should not exceed £20,000, or $100,000, per mile. By imposing this financial drag the official possibly thought that he had discomfited the engineer. But this was by no means the case. Certainly it ruled tunnelling out of consideration as a means of overcoming difficulty, but it only served to stimulate the engineer-in-chief to something more startling. As he could not make his way from the summit to the lower level by the direct route he decided to saw his way down the precipice. The rocky wall rose up for about 470 feet so steeply as to defy a mountain goat to secure a foothold. The surveyors had to be lowered from the top by means of ropes and chains to carry out their tasks with the transit and level to plot the path for the line. Here and there were wide, deep V-shaped rifts breaking the profile of the precipice. Massive arches in masonry were thrown across these obstructions, and a path was cut in the side of the cliff to carry the track.