D.—2a

39

The absence of any renewals fund to provide for obsolescence and wasting assets is dealt with in another section of our report, but on the capital value of machinery at the 31st March, 1924, of £357,140, the sum of £17,857 should be spent annually on renewals or set aside in a renewals fund. Unfortunately, in the past nothing approaching this has been expended, and this naturally accounts for the present position of extremely antiquated machinery in the shops. Additional Locomotives and Renewal of Existing Stock. As will be seen from the following table, the stock of engines was increased by ninety-eight during the financial years 1915 to 1924 —an increase of 17-59 per cent.—while the miles of line open for traffic increased by 3*32 per cent, only, and the engine-miles actually showed a decrease of 195,791, or 1-55 per cent. This shows that if the number of engines was at all satisfactory in 1915 the additional stock was entirely unnecessary, and this is borne out by the fact that in New Zealand the average miles per engine per annum is 19,009, while in Great Britain it is 22,498.

The utility life basis of a locomotive is generally regarded as thirty-five years, and, as the statement set out below will show, 172 locomotives should have been renewed in the period 1915 to 1924; instead of this only sixty-seven engines were renewed, and this must have had a considerable bearing on the maintenance costs. In addition, although 17-59 per cent, extra engines have been constructed since 1915, the average age of the total stock as at 31st March, 1924, was 22-72 years.

Stock of qi ,. q i Depart- T . i • Miles of Line Twelve Months ended 31st March. Loco- Train-miles. T? iUn + in ?rM n mental oa n § me open for motives. Empty Miles Mj)es miles. | raffic . I I 1915 .. .. .. 557 9,383,420 2,692,164 571,003 12,646,587 2,955 1916 .. .. .. 585 9,356,522 2,752,144 610,822 12,719,488 2,970 1917 .. .. .. 607 9,146,331 2,686,688 461,436 12,294,455 2,970 1918 .. .. .. 624 7,468,646 2,332,243 361,052 10,161,941 2,993 1919 .. .. .. 620 7,477,583 2,342,931 172,360 9,992,874 2,993 1920 .. .. .. 616 7,408,608 2,442,499 172,202 10,023,309 3,006 1921 .. .. .. 608 9,303,392 2,913,445 218,055 12,434,892 3,018 1922 .. .. .. 637 8.717,265 2,846,094 266,164 11,829,523 3,030 1923 .. .. .. 639 8,346,731 2,859,648 265,973 11,472,352 3,037 1924 .. .. .. 655 9,024,503 2,984,096 442,197 12,450,796 3,053 Percentage increase or de- 17-59% —3-83% 10-84% —22-56% —1-55% 3*22% crease, 1924, compared with 1915 I

n •+ 1 \x i I Number Amount which R i , . , rr , ,, Capital JNumoer which should , ,, , Balance which Twelve Months g of renewed have been should have *1 ?Mr h Locomo- Value - during Value ' renewed on been set aside 31st March. v ° T x> • Kenewals . •«, tives. Year. Life Basis , . v „ in a Fund. i tt during xear. during Year. ® £ £ £ £ 1915 .. 557 1,605,513 2 5,637 15 43,002 37,365 1916 .. 585 1,725,969 8 23,059 16 45,872 22,813 1917 .. 607 1,827,231 4 11,801 17 49,313 37,512 1918 .. 624 1,888,077 4 12,041 17 52,207 40,166 1919 .. 620 1,910,201 5 15,129 18 53,945 38,816 1920 .. 616 1,921,170 8 24,648 18 54,577 29,929 1921 .. 608 1,954,247 8 24,950 18 54,891 29,941 1922 .. 637 2,299,064 1 3,214 17 55,836 52,622 1923 .. 639 2,664,002 24 86,621 18 65,688 -20,933 1924 .. 655 2,779,805 3 12,507 18 76,114 63,607 Totals .. .. .. 67 219,607 172 551,445 331,838