NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 1932. A RAILWAYS ECONOMY

Northern Advocate, 5 April 1932, Page 4

NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 1932. A RAILWAYS ECONOMY

Registered for Transmission Through the Post as a Newspaper.

It is quite probable that many people, if they read the KailAvays Statement at all, did not appreciate the importance of one small section, which referred to the change-over from Pintsch gas to coal gas for the lighting of raihvay carriages. That section, hoAvever, contained information of much importance to the taxpayer, for it not only revealed a great saving Avhieh had been effected in. public expenditure blit it proved the A r alue of efficient officers capable of stopping waste and initiating economical methods of Avorldng. It is interesting to recall the circumstances of the. change Avhieh has been made in the lighting of railway carriages. For over 30 years, Pintsch gas, named after its German inventer, ivho eA'olvcd a means of converting oil into a gas, has been used as an illuminant on the raihvays. It ivas an expensive system, as" may he gathered from the fact that the oil, Avhieh is imported from America, cost in the vicinity of £IO,OOO per year, apart altogether from the cost of manufacture. The latter Avas a heavy item. There Avas required a staff trained in the making of the gas and its distribution to containers on the railways. In all 15 men Avere employed, Avith a pay-roll of £3OOO per annum. Modern practice is to light railway carriages by electricity. This is done on the main trunk expresses, the poAver being obtained from, generators driven by belts off carriage wheels, and storage batteries supplying light Avhen a train is at a standstill. All übav cars, Avhieh haA r e to be specially designed for the purpose, are equipped for electric lighting, but there are a large number of good cars, Avith many years of profitable life, Avhieh are unsuitable for electric lighting, and for Avhieh gas Avill be required. It was the realisation of this fact Avhieh prompted Mr. J. F. Mackley, who recently retired from the position of locomotiA r e engineer, to investigate the possibility of replacing Pintsch gas by coal gas. Avhieh, he believed, Avould not only be very much cheaper, but would olwiate the necessity for sending a largo sum .of money out of the Dominion every year in order to purchase a foreign product. Mr Maekley experimented for about twelve months. With the co-op-eration of the general manager (Mr W. Loavc) and the first assistant engineer (Mr C. Collins) of the Auckland Gas Company, a plant representing the Pintsch gas equipment of a railway car was erected at the company’s testing rooms, where reliable and sensitiA r c meters were available. Mr Maekley demonstrated to his OAvn satisfaction that coal gas was suitable. With Mr 11. 11. Sterling’s appointment as General Manager of Kaihvays. Mr Maekley brought his scheme under the notice of that gentleman, Avho, being able to comprehend its possibilities, proAddcd an opportunity for its demonstration. This satisfied Mr Sterling regarding the saving Avhicii avou ld be effected by the adoption of coal gas for the lighting of raihvay carriages. One carriage, lighted by this system, Avas put into commission with satisfactory results. Mr Sterling then gave orders that all carriages in the service should be adapted to the use of coal gas, the cost of the alteration being only balf-a-croAvn per carriage. Coal* gas is noAv in general use, save on the main trunk expresses. It is supplied direct from the gas Avorks

to the railway stations at Wliangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Wanganui, New Plymouth, Palmerston Norj.h, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, Timarn, Oamaru, Dunedin, Invercargill, Greymouth and Westport. Today, as a result of the change initiated by Mr. Mackley and adopted by Mr. Sterling, the Railways Department is said to be saving £250 per week in its lighting bill, in addition to which it does not need annually to import 141,833 gallons of the special oil from which Pintsch gas is made. This is a matter of great importance, and it serves to show that the Government should encourage its ofticers in every way to make researches which may lead to economies. In the case to which we have referred the saving is of a most substantial, nature, and the Dominion may consider itself fortunate that it possessed oflieei’s able to make such an important decision.