NEW GOODS DEPOT

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 84, 6 October 1931, Page 8

NEW GOODS DEPOT

FACILITIES WELCOMED BY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE UP TO DATE ALL THROUGH The facilities offered by tho new railway goods shed in Waterloo quay were inspected and appreciated yesterday afternoon by a party of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, headed by its president (Mr. J. Pearco Luke) and Mrs. Luke, along with representatives of many commercial activities in the city, including the president of the Advertising Club (Mr. T. J. Farrell) and its secretary (Mr. G. Salt). Tho party was welcomed by the General Manager of Bailways (Mr. H. H. Sterling), who briefly sketched the progress of the work. 'The fact that the shed had been on tho way for such a number of years was largely due, Mr. Sterling said, to historical circumstances; in the early days there were two railway. organisations, tho Government and the Manawatu Kailway Company. When tho company's railway was taken over by the Government 25 years ago, its facilities were incorporated with those of the Department. Tho arrangements could not cope with the progress of the business, but the limitation of the land available made any comprehensive plan of development difficult, and so a further reclamation was undertaken, a matter of some magnitude from an engineering point of view. That reclamation had been carried sufficiently far to enable the new goods shed and depot to be built. QUICK DISPATCH. The new facilities dealt with both inward and outward goods, and enabled the handling of goods to be done with the greatest dispatch and saving of labour. Mr. Sterling gave a detailed description of the working of the shed, with its automatic weighing machines, and overhead and floor cranes, and stressed tho saving of time that the new system permitted, particularly to modern motor transport, trucks being able to enter and leave the shed in the minimum of time. He dealt with the marshalling and loading arrangements, and quoted times of dispatch and arrival to illustrate the rapid goods service now available. The staff of the new shed totalled 143, 43 clerical and 100 outside. The weekly tonnage handled was 3000 outwards and 2500 inwards. Under the guidance of Messrs. W. Scheming, acting-goods agent, and J. C. Schneider, acting-district traffic manager, tho visitors,were shown over the shed, and taken onto inspect the new carriages which are shortly to be used on passenger trains, and of which the "Limited" is to.be exclusively comloosed. MOST MODERN FACILITIES. On their return to the shed, they were entertained at afternoon tea, at the conclusion of which Mr. Luke thanked Mr. Sterling for his hospitality and tho interesting inspection it had been possible for them to make. Ho referred to the importance of Wellington as a terminal port, and tho fact that its transport facilities must inevitably grow.

From what they had seen that afternoon the Railway Department was alive to the enormous possibilities of railway transport, .'..nd was out to do its best to meet the demands for tho most modernised facilities. Those for the handling of both inward and outward goods were quite up to date, and the labour-saving appliances would go a long way to reduce tho cost of handling. He expressed appreciation of tho efforts the Department was making to give facilities to tho commercial community, and appreciated the fact that tho time which would be taken, in the case of inward goods, from their arrival in the sheds until they, reached the merchants, would be greatly lessened. It was interesting to note the recent increases in the rapidity of the dispatch of goods by the express goods trains. FINE WORKMANSHIP. They had been particularly interested to inspect the first and secondclass carriages to be used on the new Main Trunk passenger trains. The workmanhip and design reflected great credit on the departmental facilities for production, and he congratulated the Department on having provided carriages of such a type. The travelling public would l>e deeply sensible of the desire of the Department _ to meet conditions which were continually changing, and to meet road competition. In appreciation of these remarks, Mr. Sterling said that the railways stood for a service of the highest possible class, and goods transport by the railways stood unexcelled by any other form of goods transport. They were proud of their new passenger cars. Designed by their own officers, and built in their own shops, they represented a value of service, compared with tho price paid for it, which he did not think could be excelled anywhere in the world.