THE RAILWAY WORKSHOPS.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1546, 1 February 1879, Page 3

THE RAILWAY WORKSHOPS.

It has for a long time past been felt that the present railway workshops near the station are wholly inadequate to carry on the large amount of business required to bo done in them, and the erection of very extensive new buildings hare been commenced at Addington, tenders having been accepted for the carriage and waggon shops 5 and yet the building that are about to be abandoned are by no means circumscribed in their area, but the amount of work to be done is so rapidly increasing that it was found absolutely necessary to build new premises, in order that it may be got through satisfactorily. At the present time the old workshops at the Christchurch station are in full swing, and a visit to them will well repay the stranger. The first shop to be visited is the blacksmiths’, wherejiron work of every description will bo found being turned out. Here there is a new patent bolt-making machine, that is capable of making two or three thousand a day of any size—this being regulated by a very simple process. The wheel makes 150 revolutions a minute, and to each five revo lufions can turn out a holt, though as a matter of fact it is not worked to this extent, as men cannot be got to do it. In this shop the visitor will find himself in a very warm atmosphere, and in the presence of some sixty men, about forty of whom are swinging heavy hammers upon red hot iron, which is being beaten and moulded into all shapes and sizes. There are altogether nineteen forges in this shop. At the time it was visited by our reporter everything was in full swing, and a largo quantity of iron work was being turned out for the bogie carriage*. Those had been planned by Mr Allison Smith. Six of them were being constructed, and it, was their ironwork that was now being welded. It, was then Saturday, and the whole of the six carriages had to be turned out, by Monday morning completely finished, painted, and varnished and ready for their trial trip at noon that day. The men had been working very late hours for many nights past, and M Smith quite expected that the t?.,.i wot u ...

satisfactorily completed—which, as a matter of fact, it was. It was stated that nearly all the new waggons had been for the prerent finished, and that only a few remained to receive their final touches. Outside this shed there is enough timber to build another 300 waggons, and the framework of which is only waiting the arrival of the ironwork. It is all cut, pieced, morticed, &0,, and consists wholly of New Zealand wood. A saw sharpener of a revolving plate of emery is said to be one of the most effective little instruments on the premises. In the next room, that for cutting the timber, a large number of hands will bo found at work, each man on his own particular job, for in this department labor is so divided that every man is kept on one kind of work the whole day, if it be only boring a hole, cutting a channel, or marking the spots where the hole or the channel is to be made. There are here a number of patent American planes. Notwithstanding the large amount of work going on in these shops, it is stated that three times as much could be done if there were only accommodation for it. Immediately outside the shop last visited are some of the largo iron girders belonging to the Waimakariri bridge, which are here being repaired. In the machine shop about fifty hands are employed. Here the engines are repaired, and the finishing touches are put to the iron work which has been turned out in the blacksmiths’ shop. There is here a large plane for planing iron. It was manufactured by Sellars and Co., of Philadelphia, and has been in work about a couple of months, Mr Smith states that it is the best working tool of this kind he ever saw'. There is also a plane for planing brass, which is equally effective. Both are beautiful instruments, A number of engine repairs are here going forward, but it is stated that there ought to be far more, and that there would be if there were engines to replace those now on the road and which by rights require repairing. There are also two now engines of the class D being put together. They are small, and are intended for the branch lines. Though small, they are said to be wonderfully powerful. These engines, in case of necessity, can be put together in a couple of days, but it generally takes a week. The carriage shops are the next the visitor is shown over. The first that strikes the eye is a gaily decorated one with the Royal Arms upon each side. This is one of the “Royal mail ” carriages, of which there are now three running on the line. As the name implies, this is the post office, and on arrival at any of the 'stations between here and Invercargill the letters and papers are ready for delivery. In this shop is a very large engine which, having come from the repairing shop, has just been painted, and looks as clean as a new pin, and ready again to take the road. It looks exactly like new, and none but an expert would know the difference. It is one of the heavy engines, weighing, with water and fuel, thirty-five tons. In this same paint shop are a number of carriages, some waiting for the workmen’s attention, others looking fresh and new as paint and varnish can make them. Of the various woods used in the construction of the carriages none look so well as the mottled kauri, which gives to the sides of the carriages a very pretty appearance. Many of the carriages are without panels at all, waiting for their turn after their frames have been stripped to have the old replaced with new. These paint and carriage sheds are far too small, which necessitates a good deal of work being done by hand, and the handling of stuff a second time in a way that could be avoided with larger and better accommodation. In a word, it may be said that the present insufficient accommodation is the means of putting the Government to a much greater expense than would be the case if the works were carried on on a larger and more systematic scale; and for this reason the shops now to be commenced at Addington have long been felt to be a gieat necessity.