AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2369, 27 January 1915, Page 3

AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES.

the depaetmental report. "The importation of locomotives is necessitated by reason of tilio fact tihat tho available, engine- power falls fax short of requirements and _ there las been great difficulty in dealing promptly with the traffic. Ae a matter of fact, a large proportion of the .complaints respecting shortage of trucks is traceable to difficulties experienced by tlie Department in providing haulage power to get the goods along the road. "The position is clearly set out by tlie General Manager—tihat the types of locomotives at present building in tne railway workshops and under contract in the country are suitable and satisfactory. The locomotive stock, however, includes a number of engines of types .that are obsolete and altogether unsuitable for- existing requirements. They are deficient in. power and costly to operate. Their low tractive power and inability to take a fair load retards the mo rements of traffic, congestion, and adds greatly to the difficulties inseparable from single line working. Some 72 engines of various types.come within the scope of t!hese remarks. It is imperative that 33 of these should be scrapped and replaced by the earliest possible moment, the balance (39) be similarly treated as opportunity offers. No expenditure CiUl -make tie engines referred to efficient for/every-day working, and it would be false economy in spending any considerable' amount of money in overhauling, rehoilering, and converting them. Each of the workshops capable of manufacturing locomotives are at present going at lull pressure building engines, but the rate of. output is insufficient to keep abreast of current requirements. The engines now on order in railway workshops are more than sufficient to keep Addington and Hillside going at full pressure for tho next two years, and the contracts already let to the only outside engineering firm possessing the equipment and machinery necessary for building locomotives in New Zealand will similarly keep that establishment fully employed for'the same period.' Engine-building' at the workshops within the Dominion will be continued at 'high pressure for a considerably longer period than two years. To meet the position and enable future requirements to be met in the country new workshops capable of building ten locomotives per annum will be erected at Newmarket, but it will take at least two years to complete tho sbop ready for operations. In the meantime, the shortage of engine power would go on accumulating and the business of the country would get into a very unsatisfactory position. To obviate this, and enable the Department to more satisfactorily meet present demands, tho importation of 20 locomotives from abroad is recommended —10 of tliese to be Cla-ss A suporheated.simple. engines', similar to the New Zealand Railways Class A type; and 10 of the Garratt't.vpe. If a contract of the 10 Class A engines is placed in America these locomotives can be delivered within a few months and' a measure of relief to (he existing pressure would thus be obtained at an early date, The , Garrafct taegis majuifagtoifld u; Erys-i

land only, and delivery cannot be siren for at least 18 months. Purchase Id England Impossible. "After the adoption of the recommendations by Parliament inquiries wero made from British lnannfa/jtunerfi whose raie of deJivorj' was two enßUios raady for shipoicmt five months after recaipt of order ajid four each month till the order was completed, i.e., it would take soven months from date of placing order until the last of the order was ready for shipment in the United Kingdom, and tho price quoted was £4780 per looomotive. American manufacturers guaranteed to give_ delivery of the whole of tfne locomotives in a minimum time of 45 days from dato oi placing the order, the price to be £3229 per engine. Time being a most important factor in the matter, the Department accepted the tender of the Baldwin Looomotive Company for tho engines, and expects to 'nave the lowmotives on the road m time for the Easter traffic. By' going to America the Department obtains ten locomotives at approximately the same price as it would get seven .British locomotives, and will obtain the use of tho engines from at least three to four months ahead of British engines, and the American Company will send to Now Zealand, at its o-wn expense, its own expert to superintend tie erection of engines, fully guaranteeing all. the work. Had it been possible the order would have been placed in Great Britain if the manufacturers had been able to give delivery within the same time as the American company, and the prices had been approximately the same. The Department's experience of the Baldwin Locomotive Company's engines has been satisfactory, and in view of the interests involved and the great urgency; for augmenting tho present locomotive stock, time was a very great factor in the matter; in fact, it was tho essence of the contract."