Rebuild of Hillside announced

The final details for the reconstruction of the Hillside railway workshops have been arranged and within 12 months the work will be commenced. The plans provide for a reconstruction on a big scale, making Hillside the main locomotive centre for the South Island. The proposals, as outlined to a Daily Times reporter by Mr E.T. Spidey, the production engineer for the New Zealand Railways, provide for the erection of several massive buildings, the installation of machinery which will displace the present obsolete equipment, and a complete reorganisation of the works. The policy of the Minister of Railways (the Right Hon J.G. Coates) is to place the railways on a sound business footing, and it is considered that the railways will not show a profit until the workshops have been reconstructed. "The proposals are not an experiment; they are on standardised lines," stated Mr Spidey, who was in the employ of the Canadian Pacific Railway before coming to New Zealand.

At the present time, both the Addington and the Hillside workshops are the scene of work of all kinds — on locomotives, cars and wagons. Under the new plan, all car and wagon work will be done at Addington, and the men at Hillside will be engaged on locomotive work. By concentrating the various works in separate shops, specialisation, the success of all industries, will be attained. The machinery in both shops is now obsolete, and a great economy will be made in having to obtain only one set of heavy machinery for the branches of construction undertaken at present in Hillside and Addington; if both workshops were to handle all branches of the work duplicated machinery would have to be obtained.

The intention of the Minister of Railways is that the works shall be completed within three years. "So we have to hustle some," said Mr Spidey. "Mr Coates is very keen to get the job pushed ahead, as he realises that when we have completed this scheme we will begin to make money. The erection of the buildings will be done by contract. The designs for the works have already been completed. As was only to be expected, Mr Coates has specified that the work shall be wholly British." Mr Spidey stated that the successful tenderers would probably be English firms which would send only their experts out to New Zealand. Local labour will be employed in the building of the works, and many men of all sections of the building trade will be given employment.

When completed, the buildings at Hillside will cover a much greater area than that covered by the present buildings. It is proposed to build the following new additions to the works: Two large locomotive shops, 440 feet long by 80ft wide; a boiler shop, 440ft by 80ft; a new foundry, 260ft by 100ft; new stores room, 100ft by 80ft; new steel wagon shop, 200ft by 125ft; a new power house; a reclaim shop and a new dining room, which it is intended will provide proper and up-to-date facilities for the convenience of the men.

The engines will be moved on the transverser, along which they will be carried till they reach the track on which they are to be placed to be run into the fitting shop.

An overhead crane, with a lifting capacity of 100 tons, will lift the engine and remove it to the desired situation. This crane will be 42 feet above the floor of the shops. — ODT, 8.2.1926