RAILWAY ENGINES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 31 December 1924, Page 8

RAILWAY ENGINES.

TOO OFTEN IX WORKSHOPS. SERVICES OF 900 RAILWAYMEN. COULD BE DISPENSED WITH. Reference to tlie fact that railway locomotives- are in the workshops more frequently than is necessary is made in the Railway Commission’s report, which states: In considering the mileage run by the locomotives—which is the only indication where there is no gross tonmileage basis of the work performed—as the factor in deciding when it is necessary to bring engines in for a thorough overhaul, ft is clearly indicated that the engines are in the shops too frequently. It is only possible to give a definite opinion with regard to this by comparison with - what is done by other railways, and experience shows that at least twice as much mileage should be done by the locomotives on the New Zealand railways before they enter the shops. Information lias-been furnished showing that repairs to engines in New Zealand average a little more than one per engine per annum, while on the North Eastern Railway of England'the engines, including heavy and-light repairs, did not average through the shops more than once in two years, and this .without taking into consideration the difference in the. character of the traffic working required. If this irractice had been carried out in New Zealand it would mean that not more than 328 engines should have passed through the shops during the 12 months ended March 31, 1924, whereas in actual fact 677 engines were dealt with.

Carrying this still further, it would appear that the shops at Petone and Addington could deal with the whole of the necessary repairs in the two islands, and, assuming this to he so, it would he possible to dispense with the services of some 900 men, representing a saving of'about £200,000 per annum.

The stock of engines was increased by 98 during the financial years 1915 to 1924 —an increase of 17.59 per cent —while the miles of line open for traffic increased by 3.32 per cent only, and the engine-miles actually showed' a decrease of .195,791, or 1.55 per cent. This shows that if the number of engines was at all satisfactory- in 1915 the additional stock was entirely unnecessary, and this is borne out by the fact that in New average' miles per engine per annum is 19,009, while in Great Britain it i5'22,498. The utility life basis of a locomotive is generally regarded as 35 years, and, as the statement set out Below’ will show, 172 locomotives should have been renewed in the period 1915 to 1924; instead of this only 67 engines were renewed, and this must have had a considerable “bearing on the maintenance costs. In addition,. although 17.59 per cent extra engines have been constructed since 1915, the average age of the total stock as at March 31, 1924, was 22.72 years. ■' The age of the boilers is far ’higher than any experience on English or American railways, the average age of those- condemned being .27£ years in New Zealand as compared with 16 in England. At the same time it was stated by the chief mechanical engineer in evidence that the water is bad, and that, other than jratting a composition into the boiler, no steps to combat this are taken. The only reason that can be given for this great age is that the engines are not getting the same amount of work in t-heir lifetime as those in England or America; : hut, whatever the cause, the effect should be a lower maintenance cost per. year and a speedier output for the locomotive. .

Steel fireboxes are used, and these apparently also have an unusually long life as compared with copper boxes, and, under these conditions, the costs should compare favourably with railways using copper boxes. In the chief mechanical engineer’s evidence he slated that Welsh coal was far better than any he could get either in Australia, or in New Zealand, and that his experience showed that there would be a saving of 30 per cent in coal consumption. As it would appear that Welsh coal could he procured at practically, the same price as Newcastle coal, and if the reduction anticipated by the chief mechanical engineer is realised, there would he a saving of some £200,000 per annum on the purchase of Welsh coal.

As shown by the chief mechauical engineer in his evidence, he is responsible for selecting and recommending the coal that should be used. No doubt he will give due consideration after careful trials to what extent it is possible economically to use the New Zealand coal'.

As far as practicable the work of all enginemen is arranged on an eighthour day basis, with, a maximum of 12 hours for any one shift. In the‘event of any delay occurring to cause the hours of any shift to exceed 12 the driver must advise his locomotive foreman by wire so that arrangements may be made to relieve such enginemen of the putting-away of their engines on arrival at the home station, or to send out a relieving set of -men to ensure that the working .of the excessively long hours is rediiced to ’ a minimum.

On an examination of the drivers’ tickets it is observed that numerous occasions' occur of engine-drivers filling up their day in washing out, cleaning of engines, etc., and, having regard to the rate of wages applicable to engine-drivers, this appears to us as _ being an expensive matter. It is quite obvious that drivers are not worked to the best possible advantage, and a revision of the time-table is necessary.

It would he an advantage to design a powerful type of shunting-engine with three cylinders, also a main-line-express engine, having' sft. 6in. driv-ing-wheels and three cylinders. The great advantage" of three cylinders is that a quicker and a. more even start is secured, as with the cranks set at 120 degrees there is less chance of being on a dead centre in starting; also to get the same power the cylinders are. much smaller, -and conseqnentlv all the moving parts of the motion proportionately lighter and more easily handled.

For taking goods-trains of heavier weight over steep gradients, such as the spiral on the. Main Trunk line and where the load per axle i.s restricted, a suitable Garratt engine might lie designe'd and used with great saving. After having specified tlie work required it would be advisable to ask the makers of this type of locomotive to submit a design together with estimate of cost.

So far as carriages are concerned they are of very varying types, numbering sixty-six classes of passengercoaches and five classes of postal vans. These should be reduced so far as the working arrangements will allow. The method adopted should be to standardise the length of 'carriages over •heads'lock, and these ought not to exceed, say, three, or at the outside four, different types. The umlevframes should likewise he standardised. So far as the bodies are concerned,' these and the various lengths should be fixed b\- the

Mechanical and Operating Departments in consultation, and submitted to the General Manager for agreement. With, regard to wagon stock, there are seventy-four different types now in service, and we are of the opinion that steps should he taken, to reduce the number or classes. As is pointed out in this section of the report, our view is that with the existing stock there should he ao shortage of wagons, and concentration should be given to the renewal of the stock, at the same time reducing the number of types, rather thau in the direction of increasing the capital stock of wagons. All new types of stock should he designed t-o suit .the traders, and they should have an opportunity of making suggestions during the time these are in hand. The most suitable and" economical method of dealing with the repairs and renewals of rolling-stock would be to have works built—one for the North and_ one foi; the South Island—in a convenient position, with ample yard accommodation, and laid out so- as to pass the stock through when being repaired or built without ■ twice handling it. These shops should also be arranged on a. site and in such-a way as to be able to he enlarged without undue expense when necessity arises. As this, however, would mean a large expenditure in money and take a .considerable time in selecting suitable positions and designing the best layout, it does not appear a. reasonable proposal without a recommendation as to how the repairs and renewals should be, at once dealt with so as. to bring the . costs down to a more reasonable basis. ' •^- n .. the -Nbcth Island the shops at a a pier, Whangarei, and East Town, so far as locomotive work is concerned, might be closed - down, the necessary repairs being carried out at Petone and bewmarket. In the South Island iTreymouth .and Invercargill should be closed for lcomotive work, repairs being undertaken at Addington and Hillside. While the present methods of carrying out repair work ip the “shops are very antiquated, they could not be dealt with here in any detail. As regal ds the four shops which. *it is recommended should, be retained for dealing u ith such work,' the only course to take would be to get some one thoroughly conversant with up-to-date practice to advise generally, after having carefully considered the present lay-out and methods adopted in the shops Un!ess this is done, there is little hope of being able to deal with work as suggested.

A_t present it would be well to com centrate on repairs and to purchase locomotives rather than build in the existing shops, which are not laid out tor doing this economically ; and we should judge--there is no saving or advantage in building jf they can- be bought outside at an equal or lower cost.

The methods of bringing in the en gmes for repairs ■ should" be revised and they ought not -to he put through a heavy repair, or thorough overhaul unless the ivork they- have done warlants this. Better methods for getting them through the shops should be arranged . as the average time for heavv and thorough overhaul in . 1924 was about twelve weeks/' This, considering the long hfe of boiler and firebox* and the comparatively short mileage between repair, is far too long.'