COAL FOR THE RAILWAYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19280, 19 March 1926, Page 14

COAL FOR THE RAILWAYS.

SPECIAL BOARD'S REPORT.

DOMINION FUEL SUITABLE.

M UNDENIABLE ADVANTAGES." EXPERT IN CONTROL NEEDED. [BY TELEGRAM. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] WELLING TON. Thurad ay.

Early last year the Government set up a board of inquiry to investigate the possibility Of utilising New Zealand -cioai on the railways. The report was made available to-day by the Prime Minister. The' members of the board were Messrs. F. W. Furkert, engineer in chief, Public Works Department (chairman), R. P. Sims, assistant chief mechanical engineer, New Zealand Railways, S. H. Jenkinson, designing engineer. V*. McArley, general secretary of the Enginedrivers, Firemen and Cleaners' Association, J. A. C. Bayne, chief inspector, Mines Department, T. (). Bishop, secretary of the Coalmine Owners' Association, and E. P. Lock, representative of the coalminers. The tests have proved that- quite a number of New Zealand coals are suitable for consumtion in railway locomotives. The board held its first meeting in January, 1925, and examined 78 witnesses, including the Under-Secretary c.f Immigration as to the number of miner immigrants coming to New Zealand and the- Government Statistician as to the economic benefit that would accrue to the-".Dominion by the utilisation of New Zealand coal as against imported coal. The various ' coalfields were visited. Protracted Trials ffiade. The report says it was sJwwu that New Zealand mines formerly supplied a much larger s proportion of the coal used byg the: railways than they have done during the last five years and the coal so supplied did what was requiaed of it at that time. Conclusive evidence was given that the New Zealand mines are at-present unable to market their whole output and consequently in all districts most of the mines are working only part time. Protracted trials were made, under time-table conditions and in addition to using the various coals alone certain mixtures were tried which were suggested in evidence, and which were thought by the board to be likely to give good*. results. The tests proved that quTtje a nnmber of New Zealand coals are suifeble for' consumption in railway engines -because : Differences in Cost. (a) The quality of these coals fosi steaming is excellent. (b) The use of certain New Zealand v coals would bo mora economical than the use of imported coals, because little, if any, more of such coals woxdd be required than would be necessary if Newcastle coal were .used. The cost of these classes of coal_.to .th 6. Railway Department is generally sufficiently lower than that of the imported, article to outweigh any dis-' advantages which may be attributable to the domestic coal, and while this difference, in cost ..continues economy in work* ing must result from the use of New Zea- \ land. coal.

{c} Experience with the bituminous coals goes to show that there is little, if apy, ,-raora .danger • to property on the for Ignd adjoining the railway-, than -.-would result from the use of imported coals. With the brown coals there is greater danger, especially during certain seasons of the year, if such coals are used, under the present existing conditions. Percentage of Slack Coal 3. (d) 'lt is possible, and likely, that the* Railway Department would be able to obtain continuous and adequate supplies of New Zealand coal. Our reason for saying-this is that there was evidence thfli. the mining facilities on nearly every coalfield were adequate for the production of much more coal than is now being on, and the number of miners engaged ip the industry was greater than was warranted by the present output*. The large percentage of slack coal at present produced at the mines militates against the use of New Zealand coal on the railways, and if any means could be devised whereby a greater percentage. of round coal could be produced, or rf slack coal could be made suitable for Wsp od the railways, this would still further sttrengtjhen the position. It was found that the removal of all material below quarter-inch from tha unscreened samples submitted greatly improved the result* • - - Heed For Reserve Stocks, (o.) While the board was of opinion that certain New Zealand coals could be successfully and economically used for 'practically all railway purposes, it thought th<:, Railway' Department should maintain ih stock a supply of coal sufficient to meet alj 1 requirements for not less than three M coal deteriorated when kept in"'the open air, but Newcastle coal deteriorated less than New Zealand coals and was therefore most suitable for reBorvo stock. As oven Newcastle coal could not' be kept indefinitely, there must be some movement of these stocks which would mean a certain constant consumption of Newcastle coal. During the trials it was conclusively shown that favourable results could be obtained by the use of mixtures various New Zealand coals and that New Zealand coals, which, by themselves, would be unsuitable, gave fair results when mixed. Further, mixtures of Newcastle coals with New Zealand coals gave excellent, results. Wo consider," says the report," that this is a promising avenue for investigation which should be followed up." Strain on Locomotive Men. Although trials might indicate that a locomotive would burn no more of a cheaper coal than of a more expensive one this was not everything that had to bo considered. Tho "use of some coals brought about difficulties of a more or less obsk&re nature in locomotive practice affecting the lifo and repairs of the boiler and t firebox,- which were not disclosed as the result -of short period tests and these factors must he given due consideration by'the railway officers responsible for the locomotive services when placing orders for coal. There was further the effect upon the personnel to be considered. The use of highly-sulphurous coals in tunnels was most objectionable. Some of- the coals tried enabled the trains to be run to time with the test loafl and with the consumption of an amount of coal which appeared to indicate that that particular type of coal was economical, but the use of the coal involved a strain upon tho locomotive men which would not "be justified by the comparatively small advantage ' otherwise gained. The duties of a locomotive crew do not consist only of keeping up steam < and hauling a certain load, and* if the purely mechanical operations are so strenuous as to prevent the crew from giv-Tpw-thafe attention to signals and the general, safety of the train under their charge which is desirable and necessary, tfien the pecuniary advantage which might restilt from the burning of nuch jcoal woold be very dearly bought.

On the point as to whether it would be necessary to alter the construction of the locomotive engines at present in use to adapt them for efficient work when using New Zealand coals the report states that the firebox engine is now practically the standard in the railway service, and as the proportion of these engines is continually increasing it does not appear necessary to enter upon arty extensive policy of altering the construction of the locomotives at present in use. As the present narrow firebox engines wear out there is little doubt that the other type will he adopted and.that automatically the necessity on this ground for using any but New Zealand coal will decrease. Spark Arresting Problem. Good results, adds the report, were also obtained by the use of brown coals and considering the very cheap rate at which these coals can be obtained in the districts where they are mined they might he used to a very large extent if the sparking difficulty could be overcome. It would have been quite impossible without delaying the, preparation of the report indefinitely for the board to have itself gone into the question of spark arresting. This is a work for locomotive engineers and other experts. We are of the opinion that considerable expenditure in investigation is justified in a further endeavour to arrive at a method w,hereby the coal in question can be used without danger of tire to railway or adjoining property. "In all countries," proceeds the report, " the cost of coal is an important item in railway expenditure, and this is particularly so in New Zealand owing to the relatively high price. Expert Fuel Engineer,

" The whole question of the coal supply for the New Zealand railways is of such magnitude and complexity, and the financial aspect so important, that wo strongly recommend that this branch of railway management should "be placed under the control of a technically-trained and qualified fuel engineer who should be responsible for the purchase and economic use of all the coal necessary, and we are of the, opinion that if such an officer were instructed to use every endeavour to overcome any difficulties met with in utilising New Zealand coals it should be found within a very short time very little coal need be imported and that a great economy in the fuel bill would be effected. Wcr are further of the opinion that the maximum economy in the use of coal cannot- be attained unless this recommendation is carried out. The Balance of Trade.

The board says that new locomotives can conveniently be designed to be used with New Zealand coal. It. adds that the advantages to New Zealand of using local ; coal would be undeniable. At the present time the balance of trade with Australia : is against us, and the continual importation of large quantities of Australian coal -dqes not improve this position. If no coal were imported it is not likely that any more men would be employed in the coal-mining industry, but those already engaged would have less unemployment and would consequently have a greater spending power, which would tend to improve business, both State and private. The mines would be able to turn out this extra coal with little or no additional facilities. Their overhead expenses would therefore be lessened, and consequently the cost of winning the coal might reasonably be expected to recede. The utilisation of New Zealand coal in place of imported would result dn a general improvement in the labour and financial situation, and is consequently an object to be aimed at provided it can be achieved , without a compensating loss in the operation of the railways. Moreover the use. pf New Zealand coal would in many cases insult in an actual direct saving to the railway management. Every centre, however, must be considered separately, because the cost of transporting, storing ancf possibly mixing the requirements of the varied traffic must all be considered by the fuel engineer ■whose appointment is recommended in order that the proper solution of each phase of the problem may be obtained.