Our Industries. No. XIX. ADDINGTON RAILWAY WORKSHOPS.

Progress, 1 October 1907, Page 444

Our Industries. No. XIX. ADDINGTON RAILWAY WORKSHOPS.

Canterbury lailwajs date Irom 1803, when a lint was opened trom Chnstchurch to I' err j mead, on the route oi the present line to L\ttelton Tour je.us later the tunnel through the Poit Hills to L\ Uelton was completed, being opened for tiathc on December Ist 18(57 In thosL- days the iail.va\ workshops, on a necessarily sma.ll scale, were located m the Christchurch lailway station yard neat where the engine shed now stands A^ la'lwa) communi cation was extended northwards and southwaids larger workshops were built to meet growing requnements but the bituation in the Cliii-,tchurch railway ti yard was still retained, the principal building'

being after ward _-, and still, used as an engine shed for housing the locomotives required to work the many trains daily starting from Chnstchurch As the traffic expanded, however, it become evident that much larger workshops and greater yard accommodation would be required so in 1878 new and larger workshops were built At Addmgton where from time to time extensions and additions have been made, until now the dimensions and capacity of the workshops would astonish the entei prising spirits who took a hand in the establishment of our railway system 1 hrough the courtesy ot the railway authorities we had the privilege of inspecting the workshops and obtaining an idea of the vast amount and variety ot the work of constiuction and repair being carried out almost in our midst, and of which wt venture to think many of our readers cannot be aware. The works are favourably situated close to the Addmgton railway station, and are well served wilh loop lines connected with the iium southern railway. Ihere is abundance of room, and the equipments thioughout are of a modern type v ell selected for the nature of the work lequirtd. lhe workshops atlord employment to over five hundred men — blacksmiths, machinists, fitters, carpenters

and upholsterers — bevdes the nr-cessary official and clerical stall to direct and control operations ihe first object which attracts the attention cf a visitor to Addington is the water tower, a wellknovwi landmark to residents in and about Chnstchuch. ihe tower is seventy teet nigu, and the capacm of the tanks about 23"00 l) gallons of watei Pipes die leticulated throughout the workshops and yard answering the double purpose of supplying water tor the thousand and one requirements of d-ul> working, and providing means of dealing with a sudden outburst ot fire Ordinarily, a belt-dnven pump m the workshops keeps the tower supplied.

, but in the basement of the structure there are also a steam boiler arid a pair of steam pumps adapted for delivering water either into the tower overhead or for pumping directly into the mains , by the latter means a high pressure of water for fire pievenfion purposes is readily proMded. A rue is always laid ready in this boiler, so thai steam may be quickly raised, pending which the water horn the tower can be used. \ splendid six-inch artesian well supplies a large underground cistern from which the pumps draw An efficient and regularly practispd tire brigade is formed amongst the workshop emplo\ es. Lea\ing the water tower we enter a large building

devoted to machinery for fitting ar-d erecting. It is here that all parts of ermines are machined, fitted and put together. While there are many rows of lathes, drilling and other machine tools common to any workshop what arrests the attention of the \isiloi is the array oi the more modern milling machires, of which several typrs are represented, and may be seen m the foieground of the illustration rejjresenting the machine shop Ihe advancing utility of the nulling machine for all f lasses of work has. of late years been forcing itstif on the notice of engineers m England and Europe geneially In America the principle of

shaping, slotting and planing metals with rotary cutters has been in general use for some years past, and the expenence of the Americans has convinced the more conservative En jhsh engineers that milling machines are entitled to take a front rank among the machines necessary m shops of even modeiate-pretensions Consequently, the popularity of this class of machine is now rapidly increasing, and their employment has been extending year by year This is not to be wondered at when the variety and high quality of work which may be done on the milling machine is taken into account, the modern machine having assumed many of the functions formerly apportioned to the planing, slotting, and shaping machines, and even to the lathe. Work which neither of these machines can accomplish, and which could only be done by hand-filings, is now successfully performed by the milling machine Alone, it will perform operations that would usually involve the employment of several separate machines each necessitating the skilled laboui of the fitter His work can now be done by the machine itself, and is so well finished that m most cases no subsequent filing is required to improve either fit or surface. In a workshop like Addington, where so much of the work required is of