NEW WORKSHOPS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 297, 14 December 1940, Page 8

NEW WORKSHOPS.

RAILWAYS SCHEMES.

OTAHUHU EXTENSIONS.

Important extensions planned or now being carried out at the Otahuhu railway workshops were described to-day by the Minister of Railways, the Hon. D. G. Sul'ivan, on his arrival in Auckland.

"An extension, 200 ft long and 130 ft wide, of the No. 1 car shop is now well advanced, and every effort is being made to complete it without delay," said Mr. Sullivan. "This additional area of - ( ».°0() square feet of floor space will greatly relieve the present congestion in the wood wagon shop, and will expedite both the repair and manufacture of newvehicles. The extension will be equipped with special electrical wiring to enable the increased welding work required on rolling stock of the latest design to be more eflicicntlv handled.

'"Provision has also been made for an extension 200 ft long by SOft wide to No. 2 car shop. The framework of this extension has been designed to carry fivetun overhead cranes for the handling of heavy bogie vehicles. It will provide needed space for accommodating rolling stock brought into the shop for repainting. Work on this structure, however, cannot be commenced until supplies of steel and other overseas materials are made available."

For the purpose of supplying the steam requirements of the present shops, as well as the extensions under construction, it has been decided, concluded the Minister, to equip the Otahuhu shops with a double unit AA class of locomotive boilers, which will be fuelled with shavings from the woodmill. Preparatory work on the installation of these boilers is already in hand.