D.—2.

XLIV

Tablet locks have been removed from the following sidings : W r . Cook and Sons' private siding (near Himatangi) ; Joughin and Hume's private siding (between Karangahake and Owharoa) ; Manawatu ballast-pit service siding ; Chaneys Station ; Oio Station ; Kartigi Beach Public Works Department's siding ; Otokia Station ; Mangawhero Sawmill private siding, Karioi. Ground-frame levers have been fitted to points in place of goose-neck levers at the following stations : Featherston, Masterton, Eketahuna, Ormondville, Mangatainoka, Clive, Oringi, Pahiatua, Ashhurst, Mangatera, Tariki, Midhirst, Kai Iwi, Te Roti, Sutton, Rotorua, Normanby. Alterations and additions to existing signalling and interlocking have been carried out at Ngaio, Ravensbourne, Middleton, Christchurch North End, Heathcote, Lyttelton, Frankton Junction, Westport, Westfield, Mercer, and Thorndon. On the Westfield deviation a temporary arrangement was made in order to allow goods trains to work over the single line between Auckland new yard, and Westfield. The total number of signalling installations is as follows : — Miles of single-line automatic signalling .. .. .. 196 m. 38 ch. Miles of double-line automatic signalling .. .. .. 44 m. 32 ch. Automatic crossing-loops .. .. .. .. .. 49 Automatic switch-locked sidings .. .. .. .. 30 Power interlockings .. .. .. .. .. .. 21 Mechanical interlockings .. .. .. .. .. 95 Interlocked tramway-crossings .. .. .. .. .. .. 7 Mechanical fixed signals and Wood's locked stations .. .. ■ .. 324 Tablet-locked sidings .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 274 The following works are in hand : Double-line automatic signalling between Westfield and Auckland. Frankton Junction: Substation for automatic signalling, and track - circuiting. Papatoetoe-Papakura : Duplication, automatic signalling. Automatic signalling between Ravensbourne and Sawyer's Bay. Interlocking seven stations on the Main Trunk, North Island. Block-working. —During the year, the following additions and alterations to tablet-installations have been carried out: Ngaio Station has been converted from an ordinary station to a switchout station, and temporary tablet-working was installed between Auckland and Westfield in order to enable goods trains to work over the single line. Complete tablet installations have been put in at Rock and Pillar, Wedderburn, Matarae, and Waitoki. The following tablet stations have been closed during the year owing to their being superseded by automatic signalling and other causes : Mangaiti, Mercer, Whangamarino, Te Kauwhata, Rangiriri, Ohinewai, Huntly, Taupiri, Ngaruawahia., Horotiu, and Te Rapa. The present position in regard to block-working is as follows : Total mileage equipped with tabletinstruments, 1,675 ; number of tablet instruments in use, 876 ; number of tablet stations, 367 ; number of tablet-exchangers, 326 ; mileage of double line worked by lock and block, 16 miles 40 chains ; number of stations, 12 ; number of instruments, 26. Telegraph and Telephone Facilities. —A large amount of work has been done in connection with the telegraph and telephone facilities during the year. The communication systems as a whole have been thoroughly investigated, and complete remodelling schemes have been designed in the office with a view to bringing the communication facilities into line with modern practice. Portions of this work have been put in hand, and will eventually form part of a complete improved scheme of communications. It is expected that during the coming year considerable progress will be made, with a resultant improvement in communications as a whole. The construction work carried out during the year has included one mile of poles and the erection of 231 miles of wire ; 100 connections have been made to railway telephone circuits ; and 56 new connections have been, made to public exchanges. Metallic circuiting of existing telephone lines has been completed on the following sections : Nelson to Belgrove, Invercargill to Bluff, Greymouth to Rewanui, Raetihi to Ohakune, Picton to Blenheim. With the exception of a few minor sections, the above works have practically completed the metallicing of the railway telephone circuits. A forty-line magneto exchange has been installed at the district offices at Invercargill, by means of which it is possible to switch through local offices and the trunk lines. Automatic-telephone exchanges have been installed and put into use at Otahuhu, Hutt Valley, Addingion, and Hillside Workshops. These exchanges are complete units, including telephones, a code calling-system of sirens, s.nd fire-alarms. Electric clocks controlled by a master instrument have been installed in the four main workshops. Some alterations have been made on the Midland line in regard to the position of the traincontrol telephones. It was anticipated that the institution of the train-control telephone system would have been further advanced, but the delay has been due to the difficulty of obtaining a supply of materials, but these are now coming to hand, and improved progress will be made during the coming year. The Christchurch-Culverden train-control installation is well in hand and it is anticipated it will be brought into use during June, 1930.