A BUSY SEASON

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23689, 22 December 1938, Page 9

A BUSY SEASON

PROGRESS OF RAILWAYS HEW CARS FOR SOUTH ISLAND ACTIVITY AT ALL WORKSHOPS i Reports from all districts throughout New Zealand indicate that passenger traffic during the Christmas and New Year holidays will be the heaviest that the department has been called upon to handle for some time, stated Mr G. H. Mackley, general manager of railways, when speaking to a Daily Times reporter yesterday. Although the programme was not yet completed, the progress made during the year in the construction of additional rolling stock had enabled the department to cater for the business much better than previously. New Rail Cars The type of new car that had been placed in service had been very favourably commented on by those who had had the opportunity of riding in the vehicles, he said. This was particularly so in the case of the North Island, where operating conditions were more difficult than in the South. The type of seating in these

cars was a four-position swivel seat, and its quality had been referred to by recent visitors from abroad as the finest they had seen. There were 80 of these cars under construction, and it was hoped to have them all in service before the opening of the Centennial Exhibition. The department had recently completed exhaustive trials with a (standard type of rail car with a seating capacity for 52, and the general efficiency and riding qualities had been favourably commented on. With a type of bogey installed under the cars they were easily the most comfortable vehicles that the department possessed. Even at a speed of from 60 to 70 miles per hour, there was no difficulty in writing. A well-known Auckland business man had testified to this by making the following statement which he wrote in one of the cars while travelling between Auckland and Papakura;—" I am satisfied that you can write shorthand with perfect ease in this standard type of jail, car." "'.'? a further trial run made last 'Saturday from Palmerstoh North to Wellington, the car covered the distance of 87 miles in one hour 50 minutes, after making some stops en route for crossing purposes. A representative of a railcar manufacturing firm from England had stated some weeks ago that the New Zealand Railways should be selling this type of vehicle rather than buying them. He was so impressed with the seating comfort and the excellent standard of work that had been done in the construction of the car. This statement was supported by a prominent South African Railway official during a Visit to Wellington last week, when he stated that it was easily the best type of railcar he had had the opportunity of inspecting. Mr Mackley said that it was hoped to have some of these vehicles in the South Island next year. Performances Should be even better than in the North Island because of the easier conditions so far as the track was concerned. Busy Workshops Both in the North and South Islands the workshops had been particularly busy in turning out passenger goods, railways stocks and other railway equipment. "The department is probably in a better position to-day than ever before for catering for its customers," Mr Mackley continued. "We have under construction at the Hillside Workshops a series of 16 K locomotives. Four have been laid down, and it is hoped that the first will be completed in March and that the rest will follow at the rate of one in every six weeks until the programme is finished. " This is in addition to 25 K engines now under construction in the North Igland and those that are being imported from England." As explained by the Minister of Railways (Mr D. G. Sullivan), the necessity for importing locomotives from abroad was due to the fact that they were most urgently required, and there was no possibility of coping with the work in New Zealand in the space of time for when they would be needed. This statement also applied to the 10 rail cars which were being imported, the first to reach here about the end of July next year. The locomotives that were being imported in accordance with a contract were to be landed in New Zealand before December. 1939.

" The Hillside Workshops are also engaged in other important work and have just completed the girders for the Inangahua bridge, which necessitated the construction of six 100-foot span girders. There are also under construction 10 U.B. wagons who are of the flat-top double-bogey type, and are used chiefly for heavy, long lengths of timber and motor car transport. Four 70-foot turntables are also under production at Hillside. The clearing work on the property recently purchased for the extension of Hillside was progressing favourably. The houses and buildings on the property not required by the department had been disposed of for removal. The Railways Department was working in conjunction with the New Zealand Air Force in regard to the construction and equipping of 'workshops required by the Air Force for maintenance of their own machines and the training of the personnel on the mechanical side. Space had been allotted in the four major workshops areas—Otahuhu, Hutt, Addington, and Hillside—to provide the facilities required by the Air Forca.