D.—2

XV

LOCOMOTIVE. Mr. H. H. Jackson, Chief Mechanical Engineer, reports as follows : — Locomotives. —On the Ist April, 1917, there were, 607 engines in service, and on the 31st March, 1918, there were 624 engines. Three second-hand tank engines were sold, and one tankengine was condemned. These lour engines were written off stock. Twenty-one new engines were added to stock, of which fourteen were built in the Government railway weirkshops, and comprised seven Pacific type simple superheated tender engines, Class An; two heavy suburban tank engines, 4-6-4 type, Class Wab; and live heavy tank engines, 4-6-4 type, Class Ww. Seven 4-8-0 simple superheated heavy tender engines, Class Bb, were completed under contract with Messrs. A. and G. Price (Limited), of Thames. The contract which this firm undertook has been now completed to the satisfaction of the Department. In the Government railway workshops to date 186 engines have been built, and twenty-four old locomotives have been rebuilt. Five hundred anel eighty-four locomotives passed through the workshops during the- year, the de-tails eif work done being as billows :-

Included in the above are two engines for Public Weirks Department and erne engine for a private line. At the close of the year there were on order in the railway workshops fifteen engines, consisting of ten Pacific type simple superheated tender engines, Class Ab, and five heavy tank engines 4-6-4 type, Class Ww. As the necessary material is now unobtainable the work e>f building new locomotives has ceased at Aldington, and at Hillside the work will be completed within the next few months. Owing to material not being procurable no further contracts for locomotives can be made in the meantime. The new locomotives addeel, together with boiler renewals, increased the: total tractive power by 370,771 lb., or eejual to 4-41 per cent. The new engines being built and the boilers under construction will, when completed, still further maternally increase the tractive power. Boilers.- The work on new boilers, renewals, and repairs has been kept well up to date, but as material is not now procurable no new boilers can be put in hand, and the work of repairing the older ones is a matter of increasing difficulty. The following statement shows details of boiler-weirk eleme : —

Fifteen new boilers were on orde-r at close, of year, and comprised ten Class Ab and, five Class Ww. Carriages. —The stock on the Ist April, 1917, was 1,480 cars, and on the 31st March, 1918, the number was 1,488. One: car was sold and written off. Nine new bogie cars were built and added to stock. The following table shows details of car-work done during the year : —

Number and Type. FourParticuiarj. cylinder Total. Balanced- Tender Tank Fell Single j Double j compound Engines. Engines, ! Engines. Fairlies, Fairlies. Tender Engines. Number passed through shops 72 204 292 5 10 1 584 Built new .. ■ .. .. j .. 7 7 .. .. .. 14 Re-erected .. .. .. .. 8 5 .. .. .. 13 Converted .. .. .. .. 2 . . .. .. .. 2 Thoroughly overhauled ..22 27 47 2 1 .. 99 Heavy repairs ... .. 19 50 77 3 3 .. 152 Light" repairs .. ..31 110 156 .. 6 1 304 Painted .. .. .. 26 64 52 5 2 .. 149 Paint touched up .. .. j 22 90 74 .. 5 .. 191

Description. Number passed through Shops. Built new. ! Tubes Heavy Light £ew pieced and Repair.. Repairs. (Setg) _ hand (Sets). i.' 125 168 35 70 New Firebox. New Firebox Tubeplate. Boilers patched. ioilers .. 311 18 9 10 105

Particulars. Number passed through shops Built new Converted Thoroughly overhauled Heavy repairs Light repairs .. Painted Touched up .. Number and Type of Carriages. Bogie. Six-wheel. \ Four-wheel. 1,895 .80 13 9 9 81 886 10 910 70 13 587 7 2 697 10 Total. 1 ,988 9 9 81 896 993 596 707