OTAHUHU SHOPS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 275, 10 February 1928, Page 1

OTAHUHU SHOPS

HIVE OF INDUSTRY PROGRESS OF THE JOB BUILDINGS WELL ADVANCED A visit to the Otahuhu railway yards reveals that steady progress is being maintained by the couple of hundred workmen, in dozens of gangs, each busily engaged on its special work. npHE railway electrical staff Is at ■** present laying the cables from the power sub-station to the various shops,- and further over are the power board gangs, laying in the feeder mains, which will pass through the station transformers and from there to the many shops. ALMOST COMPLETED The work on the new car and wagon shops is practically completed. The carpenters are at present putting on the sarking for the roof, which is 4£ by 2 heart of rimu, tongued and grooved. In these buildings, six wagon pits are to be installed, each 50ft long. The glaziers are now on the wood and repair shop, applying the finishing touches, so that the carpenters may start. The frame of the blacksmith’s shop and the light plate and constructional steel shop, is at present in course of erection. Each of these buildings is about half completed, and the steel beams and uprights, although many tons in weight, are lifted and placed in position, with as much ease as the 4 by 2 of the ordinary dwelling. The work of glazing the wood and wagon shop is practically completed, and the roof is going on post haste. In this building there will be two wagon pits 75ft long, and in the steel wagon shop, which is nearing completion, four pits are to be installed. PRETENTIOUS DINING-ROOM The employees* dining-room is a pretentious wooden building, opposite the works offices, and is taking shape, presenting an attractive exterior with a tiled roof. The entrance lobby on the eastern end of the building is 50 by 15f.t, divided from the main room, which is 73ft long by 50ft wide. The dining-room will be lined with white plaster boards about eight feet high, and above them the walls will be covered with stained match-lining. At the western end of the building are the kitchen and various storerooms, accommodation being provided for the installation of a refrigerator, and included in this part of the structure is the dining-room for the staff. Railway employees are engaged on the formation of the roads. In all there will be about three miles of roadway, and the foundation is to be hand-packed. On top of the foundation there will be four inches of metal, the whole to be covered with bitumen. About nine miles of railway track will be formed in the yards. This portion of the work has not yet been begun. The necessary steel and sashes are coming to hand in satisfactory quantities at present, and provided the deliveries keep up, good progress will be made with the balance of the work.