D.—2A,

46

It should, of course, be remembered that the wagon stock in New Zealand is fitted with the Westinghouse brake. The cost of repair for this in New South Wales, which is fitted in the same way, was 17s. 3|d. per wagon per annum. The British wagons, however, are of a higher carrying-capacity and in every way larger and heavier. It would, therefore, seem that the cost of repairs in New Zealand should be reduced considerably. Existing Wagon Stock. The number of wagons appears to be high as compared with the amount of work done on the New Zealand railways and on those of Australia, and this is to a certain extent explained by the number of wagons under or awaiting repair. The Chief Mechanical Engineer in his evidence stated this number to be 6 per cent, of the stock. The North Eastern Railway of England, which owned 150,000 wagons, regarded 3 per cent, as an outside figure, and it was only very occasionally that as many as this were out of traffic under and awaiting repair. Renewal of Carriages, Brake-vans, and Wagons. It will be seen from the statements set out below that very little has been done in the direction of renewing coaches, brake-vans, and wagons. The utility life of coaches and brake-vans may generally be regarded as twenty-eight years, and wagons twenty-five years. We have previously pointed out that no renewals fund is in existence, and, bearing in mind that since 1915 the coaching stock has increased 9-31 per cent, and goods-wagons and brake-vans 23-41 per cent., while the average age of the existing stock at the 31st|March, 1924, was carriages 22'77 years, brakevans 27-45 years, and wagons 22-79 years, we are of the opinion that something should be done to place the matter on a proper footing :—

Number which 1 Amount which -r, , , . , Twelve Months ri •+ i at i, should have I should have an ?j u IC1 , , Capital Tr , JN umber Tr , , , , , should have ended a . L , Value. , Value. been renewed been spent on , . . . ni . Tir , Stock. renewed. T .. t> • u , been set aside 31st March. on Lite Basis 1 Renewals . -n, , during Year. during Year. 111 a un COACHING STOCK. £ £ £ £ 1915 .. 1,397 "1,180,267 3 2,514 49 40,791 38,277 1916 .. 1,451 1,227,344 3 2,535 50 42,152 39,617 1917 .. 1,478 1,259,365 1 846 52 43,834 42,988 1918 .. 1,486 1,285,283 .. .. 53 44,977 44,977 1919 .. 1,487 1,286,831 .. .. 53 45,903 45,903 1920 .. 1,490 1,289,530 .. .. 53 45,958 45,958 1921 .. 1,490 1,294,262 2 1,731 53 46,055 44,324 1922 .. 1,494 1,300,070 1 869 53 46,224 45,355 1923 .. 1,496 1,337,903 .. .. 53 46,431 46,431 1924 .. 1,525 1,417,188 13 11,626 53 47,782 36,156 Total .. .. .. 23 20,121 522 450,107 429,986 BRAKE-VANS. 1915 .. 410 176,319 3 1,251 15 6,044 4,793 1916 .. 440 186,983 2 860 15 6,297 5,437 1917 .. 440 190,704 4 1,700 16 6,678 4,978 1918 .. 444 193,606 .. .. 16 6,811 6,811 1919 .. 444 193,367 .. .. 16 6,915 6,915 1920 .. 44-4 193,554 .. .. 16 6,906 6,906 1921 .. 443 194,478 1 436 16 6,913 6,477 1922 .. 450 205,046 1 439 16 6,946 6,507 1923 .. 461 213,698 4 1,823 16 7,323 5,500 1924 .. 461 215,772 1 464 16 7,632 7,168 Total .. .. .. 16 6,973 158 68,465 61,492 GOODS-WAGONS. 1915 .. 20,816 3,046,286 107 15,619 794 115,870 100,251 1916 .. 21,554 3,181,276 82 12,000 833 121,851 109 851 1917 .. 21,940 3,279,791 60 8,856 862 127,251 118 395 1918 .. 22,073 3,334,622 53 7,923 878 131,192 123,269 1919 .. 22,214 3,350,362 14 2,115 883 133,385 131 270 1920 .. 22,493 3,408,957 24 3,620 889 134,014 13o'394 1921 .. 22,676 3,476,063 131 19,854 900 136,358 116 504 1922 .. 23,524 4,211,771 88 13,490 907 139,043 125,553 1923 .. 25,645 4,726,316 45 8,057 941 168,471 160 414 1924 .. 25,734 4,818,816 64 11,795 1,026 189,053 177',258 Total .. .. .. 668 103,329 8,913 1,396,488 1,293,159