PULSATING SHOPS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 226, 24 September 1929, Page 8

PULSATING SHOPS.

RAILWAYS AT OTAHUHU.

BUSINESSMEN'S VISIT

CARS FOR ROTORUA LINE.

CONSTRUCTION WELL ADVANCED,

For over two hours, three hundred Auckland business men lived in a world of pulsating machinery this morning, when, at the invitation of the General Manager of Railways (Mr. H. H. Sterling), they inspected the new workshops at Otahuhu.

The occasion was unique in two respects —it marked the first time the shops have been thrown open to the scrutiny of the public, and the use of the new Westfield deviation by the first passenger train from Auckland. Since the twin harbour link was opened several weeks back to relieve traffic congestion in the Auckland goods yards, it has been used only by goods trains, but this morning twelve heavily laden carriages tested the easiness of the grade in a gentle run of a little over half an hour. The party, which included members of the Chamber of Commerce, headed by Messrs. A. G. Lunn and Malcolm Stewart, in the absence of the president, Mr. H. T. Merritt, Mr. G. Baildon (Mayor of Auckland), Mr. G. S. Lynde (chief mechanical engineer of railways), Mr. E. Casey (divisional superintendent for the North Island), Mr. J. G. Rickerby (traffic manager) and Mr. A. W. Walsted, representing the commercial branch of the railways), was much impressed with the picturesque vistas opened up along the new line, and the magnitude and up-to-date nature of. the workshops. Merry Tune of Industry. Leaving Auckland at nine o'clock, the special passed soothly out of the goods yards and plunged out across the deviation embankment, past disfigured Campbell's Point and Hobson Bay, towards Orakei, where already several new dwellings stud the old Maori battleground. It was a brilliant morning", with the sun risen high, and on tho left the foamflecked Waitemata sparkled pleasantly. The white buildings on North Shore, the red roofs of Birkenhead and Northcote, dominant Rangitoto, and slumbrous Motutapu, Waiheke, and Brown's Island, topped with verdant spring growth, were soon left behind, and gave place to scenes of rural contentment once Purewa tunnel had been traversed. From harbour to harbour, past mushroom stations, which skirt the line, the train went, and Otahuhu was reached shortly after 9.30 o'clock. Here the party was welcomed by Mr. A. D. S. Sampson, manager of the shops, and conducted in groups of twenty and thirty, over the various sections of the works, which cater for the repairing and assembling of cars and wagon's drawn from all parts of the North Island. In massive steelframed buildings, well ventilated and lighted by an abundance of glass, elec-trically-driven cranes skimmed overhead, transporting wagons from point to point with despatch and simplicity. Every shed, and there are upwards of a dozen of them, purred a merry tune of indus* try, and one could not hear himself speak as hammers clanged in fashioning red-hot ironwork, as carpenters beat a tattoo at their work, and lathes and other massive electrically-driven machinery carried out their particular functions. Eighteen New Cars. Of particular interest was the work that was being carried out in the building designated "car shop," where the 18 cars which the Kailway Department propose to use in a special Rotorua service are in various stages of construction. Many of the cars are still in the skeleton stage, but several have been almost completed, and gave some indication of the imposing appearance that the Rotorua expresses of the future will have. Of design very similar to the de luxe sleepers that at present ply the Main Trunk, the cars are well ventilated and comfortably upholstered, and tho windows are worked on the screw principle, being lowered from the top. They are more commodious than the car used in everyday travel, and special coupes have a single compartment at one end for parties of, six. Special provision is also made for luggage.

Nothing escaped the notice of the crowd that flocked through the well-laid-out shops, and attention was focussed on anything mechanical, for instance, the heating of rivets with electricity, and the shrinking on of wheels by means of the same process. Down the lanes they travelled, while over a thousand sweat begrimed and blackened workers toiled at their allotted tasks. When everything "had been inspected, even down to the storeroom, where mechanical devices of all descriptions are kept, the party was entertained at morning tea in the men's social hall by the management of the railways. Speaking at this function, the general manager (Mr. Sterling) welcomed the visitors with feelings of pride and satisfaction. In pursuance of the Department's policy, he said, he had invited the party to Otahuhu in order that they might become better acquainted with theoperations of the shops. It was particularly gratifying to see the response to his invitation, issued through the Chamber of Commerce. "I feel that the more we can get people to come in cogtact with what we are achieving, the methods we are adopting in an endeavour to solve the problem of the railways, the nearer we are going to get to a solution of our difficulties," he added. "The solution of the problem belongs to no one man—it is everyone's concern. The community generally is interested in the matter as owners and shareholders of the railways." Advantages of Shops. The essence of the Department's task, added Mr. Sterling, was to turn out a high quality job from its shop a at a reasonable costj and, with that object in view, the Otahuhu works had been designed on the most up-to-date lines. Newmarket shops had been dept -ted from because the time had arrived when patchwork extensions would not suffice. The new buildings were constructed on lines calculated to produce efficiency at a nominal cost, and they lent themselves to time saving scheduling of work. Each job as it entered the shops was analysed and scheduled. The question of the supervision of the works had been raised, and his reply was that it was a very difficult task to lock up one's bullion in a safe, but once the safe had been built it was easy to turn the key on the problem. That was very largely what the scheduling of work did at Otahuhu, and supervisory control was now possible. The whole aim was to secure machinerylike precision in the distribution and dispatch of work. The size of the shops had been the subject of debate, but one of his experts had stated that it would bet beimany.y.aai» before they w.ould be

all too small. Attention had been given to the social welfare of the 1020 men in the establishment, and ample space_ for the workmen eliminated industrial risks. Cognisant of the fact that conditions of travel had undergone a radical change, the Department was effecting improvements to the cars to be placed on the Rotorua service, and when they were commissioned they would mark a new era in transport comfort. The Department further desired to manufacture as much as possible locally, and New Zealand timber was used in car construction very extensively. It was proposed to jnstal a kiln drying system at the works to still broaden the use of native timber. The Party Impressed. In expressing thanks to Mr. Sterling and the Department for their courtesy in promoting the inspection, Mr. Malcolm Stewart said that every member of the party was impressed with the efficiency of the shops, and the fact that they were laid out on an up-to-date industrial basis. Mr. Baildon supplemented these sentiments, saying that he was gratified to find that the shops used practically everything of British manufacture. The use of New Zealand timbers was also a pleasing feature. He congratulated the railways on the manner in which it was combating motor transport, which was in the midst of the community, and had to be faced by the Department as well as municipal authorities.

The party returned to the city via Penrose and Newmarket, and was afforded an opportunity of judging for themselves the advantages of the two railway approaches to Auckland. On the outward journey pleasant pictures were painted along the route as the train Sped along at an even pace, whereas the pull up the Remuera incline on the existing passenger line was slow and tedious, and gave glimpses only of backyards and industrial areas.