D.—2

X

arrangements. It provides for concentrating on four main shops in the vicinity of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, and the estimated cost of the proposals is as follows : —

£ Grand total .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1,696,000 Say .. .. 1,700,000 Interest charges during construction .. .. .. .. 120,000 1,820,000 Charge against working-expenses for shops and machinery discarded .. 320,000 Charge against Capital Account .. .. . . £1.500,000 It is intended to spread the expenditure over a period of three years, as under : For the year ending 31st March, 1926, £300,000 ; year ending 31st March, 1927, £600,000 ; year ending 31st March, 1928, £600,000 : total, £1,500,000. It has been decided to erect modern buildings and facilities on new sites for the Newmarket and Petone Workshops, and tenders will be invited for the construction of these works at an early date. The savings that it is anticipated will be made possible are estimated as follows : — £ Locomotive repairs .. .. .. .. 84,000 Car and wagon repairs .. .. . . . . 92,000 New work . . .. .. . . .. 25,000 Interest on capital cost of additional rolling-stock made available .. .. .. .. .. 17,500 Rents from present sites at Newmarket and Petone .. 11,500 230,000 Annual charges for interest, depreciation, &c. .. 115,000 Annual profit .. .. £115,000 The above figures have-been taken out on a very conservative basis, but even so it is estimated that the economies will repay the total cost in 10-7 years after completion. The whole is based on the most modern methods in operation throughout the world. The reports presented by the technical officers of the Department showed that under existing conditions locomotive repairs were taking nearly double the time taken in shops equipped with modern facilities, as will be seen from the following comparisons Ne Shops and M ° dem Sh °PB - - overhaul .. .. 55 days 40 days. Heavy repair .. .. 36 ~ 23 ~ Light repair.. . . . . 14 „ 9 ~ In money value the position may be stated as under :— Complete overhaul : Petone, £814 ; Newmarket, £930 ; Addington, £1,208 ; Hillside, £1,149 ; modern shop, £330,

i r ! 1 ! Auckland. Petone. Addington. Hillside. i ; i ; I £ £ £ £ Land, &c. .. .. .. .. 20,000 20,000 Buildings and lay-out .. .. 358,000 364,000 177,000 205,000 Machinery replacements .. .. 66,000 33,000 46,000 93,000 Additional machinery .. .. 45,000 23,000 22,000 44,000 Special machinery for new engines .. 25,000 Shifting-machinery retained .. .. 21,000 12,000 17,000 27,000 Hoisting and travelling gear .. .. 27,000 12,000 8,000 23,000 Shifting local traffic depot .. .. .. .. .. 8,000 562,000 464,000 I 270,000 400,000