SPARKS FROM ENGINES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 89, 13 March 1935, Page 5

SPARKS FROM ENGINES.

PRFVENTION ON RAILWAYS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) , FOXTON, March 12. _ : At a meeting of the Borough Council . on Monday night, a letter was received 1 from the General Manager of the Railway j Department in regard to the council’s protest in connection with the many recent . grass tiros and destruction of pinus insigj nus plantations emitted by sparks from the , engine of the Palmerston North-Foxton train. The letter stated that the depart - nient had done and was doing everything reasonably possible to prevent such damage. The engines were titled with 1- spark arresters. Recently the deirrirtmont had experimented along the lines of an idea that had been tried out in America ■ and as a result developed a new typo of “ arrester that was undoubtedly a definite ‘ 1 improvement. No le.-fl than £35,000 had j been spent by the' department in the last few yearn experimenting with and lifting the type of arrested and in improving the ashpan doors on engines in order to prevent; ihc escape of sparks. There was no prospect of totally preventing the emission of sparks from engines but the conditions wei-o decidedly better this year in so far as the department was able to control them. The sole use of hard coal would, not improve matters to anything like such a degree (if at all) as would justify the great increase in expenditure that would be incurred thereby. However, when the fire risk became tto apparent: on account of the abnormally dry season this year, the department had changed over to hard coal in those areas, including the Foxton and Hawke’s Bay Lines, where the fire risk was greatest in order to secure any possible benefit that could he obtained thereby.