RAILWAY COMMISSION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17274, 25 September 1919, Page 9

RAILWAY COMMISSION.

STATE OF ROLLING STOCK. <( SAFE AND EFFICIENT." NO SHORTAGE OF MATERIALS.

[BT TELEGRAPH.— ASSOCIATION.! WELLINGTON. Wednesday. ' The Royal Commission appointed to - j investigate the curtailment of the rail- » j way services on July 2, held its second I sitting to-day. I Ernest E. Gillon, chief mechanical en- . gineer of railways, said he was of opinion that the information in the Railway State- ! ment regarding roiling stock was true. He concurred in the finding of the pre- > vious commission relative to rolling stock. He considered now that the rolling stock was in a safe and efficient condition, and that all conditions to safeguard its effi- . j Liency had been maintained. The worki ; shops were in an efficient state. ! the Department was better off now | than in 1916 in regard to engine power 1 and carriages. The Department had now i i 620 engines, against 585 in 1916. Car- ! riages had been increased by a capacity of i 2854 passengers, and waggons by 9381 tons carrying capacity. '1 wo kinds of coal were used. Hard i coal for a fast passenger service came from the West Coast and Newcastle. Sup- , - plies of bituminous coal were obtained ! from Japan, America, and South Africa. |He thought 80,000 tons of hard coal should be held for both islands. He knew | of no repair work delayed for want of stocks. The Department had been able to obtain all the supplies required. There were about fifty . fitters short throughout the country, nut the Department was well off for blacksmiths and boilermakers, no repair work being delayed for want of labour. The supply of drivers and firemen was improving every day. There was a slight shortage of cleaners. The Department called for tenders at the end of the year for coal, but some mines refused to tender. The Department refused to supply these mines with waggons if they would not supply it with coal. Plenty of Engine Power. The engine power to-day was much in excess of anything required. No adverse reports had been received from officials as to the efficiency of the roiling stock. In all [ the workshops there had been sufficient ! staff to do all necessary repairs. There had been no written or verbal instructions since July 2 to pass as many vehicles through the shops as possible. Matters had just gone on in a normal way. Sydney Percival Evans, locomotive engineer at Auckland, said there had been a fair number of drivers and firemen leaving the service, but he could not say if the proportion was larger than formerly. Some of those leaving were the older men, and some the younger men, the reasons given being that there were better openings outside the service. At the same time, -there were sufficient drivers, fireman, and mechanics generally to carry on the service. Conditions at Newmarket. John Francis McCarthy, workshops manager at Newmarket for twelve years, gave evidence of the extension of the works there. The shops now were much better than in 1917, and the staff was now jnst back to about normal. There had been no falling-off in the capacity of the men. The condition of the rollingstock now was quite as good as in 1916. There had been no abnormal rush of repairs, and at no time had work been delayed through lack of supplies. " Pieced " springs had been used to a small extent when necessary, and no bad results had followed. All "the machinery at Newmarket was now run bv electric power.

The stores bad always had a sufficient supply of materials. There had been pl«nty of engine and -waggon tyres. There had been a alight shortage of boiler tubes. There was not an undue number of engines undergoing repairs at the shops early in July. There were about eight in the shops then, and the average number in at one time was from six to nine. After an engine had been thoroughly overhauled in the shops it should run "for, say, three years. To Mr. Hunt: The average quality of the staff had not been quite as good as it used to be, but the staff was now getting back to normal as men returned from the war. Evidence of Other Officials. John Spencer Carr, workshops manager at Wanganui for 12 months, and previously at Addington, gave evidence similar to that tendered by the last witness as to the efficiency of the rolling stock under his notice, the staff, and supplies of material for repairs. There had been, no difficulty or delay in obtaining stores. To Mr. Myers: He had no instructions, written or oral, as to increasing repair work since early in July. The work had been carried on in. just the ordinary way. James F. Macklev, workshops foreman at Napier, previously brake inspector for the North Island, said the brakes were in lust as good condition now as when he cave evidence before the previous commission. There had always been plenty of men to do the work, and plenty of material to do it with.

To Mr. Marchbanks : There was no difficulty in getting repair supplies. No trouble had been experienced in obtaining skilled fitters to do the. work.

Work Progressing Normally. In regard to the condition of rolling stock, Charles Thomas Bargh, workshops manager at Petone, spoke of it as being quite up to the mark- Work had gone on normally, without any serious difficulty arising through depletion of staff or the provision of supplies. To Mr. Marchbanks : The rolling ■rtock was in good, safe running order. At present there were not as many men Scaling the service as formerly. Among the men who had left were blacksmiths and fitters, and some of them ha-d gone into business outside the Department. Mr. Hunt: How would the number of employees now compare with pre-war days'

Witness : We have less than in pro-war days, bet then there was a large building programme on. What about the quality of the staff?— Oh. T w.jii'd not say there was much difference.

Are you stiJl wanting more men' —Yes.

What class of men ''---Blacksmiths, carpenters, and others. I think we will get all we need

Mr. Mnrehbanks : Tf you were running the fill! service of 1916 would you be able to cope with repairs'.'—l am. afraid not. I think we should want a. larger staff.

Mr Hunt : If yon were told next week that the 0.000. mi.eaec- was to he re. sumed, could you cope wi'.h repairs?— No. I don't think we could do it all at once.

Mr. Hunt: Then you see rocks ahead'

In reply to the chairman, witness sa.id in the case of increased running a large number of casual hands would have to be employed in the. shops.