I.—lo.

88

[t. bonayne.

rolling-stock in use on the New Zealand railways. It is possible that some alterations might be required so far as the cars are concerned, and they might have to be restricted to that particular line; but I do not think the same contention xvould apply to bogie trucks xx-hich are in use at the present time, and the business xvould have to be done xvith rolling-stock of that description, as I believe it is being done at the present time. I think the company have one four-xvheel brake van, but I am not quite sure. When I xvas at Putaruru some time ago I took the opportunity of examining the truck tires, and I found the wear-and-tear xvas very severe indeed. Even with bogie stock it goes to shoxv that on curves of lj-chain radius the wear-and-tear is very excessive. The sharpest curve that xx-e have on the Nexv Zealand railways, xvith the exception of the 4J-chain curve that Mr. Holmes mentioned—and that has been improved—is 5 chains, but xve have sidings xvith curves as sharp as 3 chains ; the Department is eliminating these curves even on sidings, making the xvorst curve not less than 5 chains. Something was said by the previous xvitness as to what it xvill cost to put rolling-stock on the line. Well, I have taken the Gisborne Railxvay, with a mileage of thirty-one miles to Otoko. The value of the rolling-stock on that line is £29,680. There are three locomotives, ten carriages, one horsebox, four cattle-trucks, twenty sheep-trucks, thirty-one L wagons, thirty-five M 8-ton wagons, eight U bogie xvagons. The total cost is £29,680. The same class of plant would not be suitable for the Taupo Totara Timber Company's line, because you xvould require bogie trucks only; four-wheel xvagons would not xvork the curves. 3. That xvould be more expensive?—Yes. I do not think, if you were to provide new rollingstock, xvorking the present business and, in addition, the passenger traffic, you xvould have to spend more than £30,000 for equipping the line with new rolling-stock. I have information xvhich might be of interest to the Committee. It refers to the Darjeeling-Himalayan Railxvay in India. In some respects it is similar to the Taupo Totara Company's line. 4. Hon. Mr. Fraser.] Is it the same gauge?—No, it is a 2 ft. gauge, fifty-one miles long, xx'hich, "starting from Siliguri, 398ft. above the mean sea-level, rises to a height of 7,407ft. at Ghoom Station, forty-sexren miles distant. It then descends to Darjeeling, xvhich lies four miles further on, the terminus itself being 6,812 ft. above the sea-level. Although of only 2 ft. gauge, the construction of this line presented serious difficulties, the steep ascent requiring the provision of frequent loops or spirals and reverses, one of the latter having gradients of 1 in 28. The average ascent for the forty miles betxveen Sookna and Ghoom is 170 ft. per mile; for the first seven miles to Sookna Station the gradient is gentle, but from this point to the summit at Ghoom the average gradient in the sections varies from 1 in 29 to I in 37, and curves of 70ft. radius are numerous. To xvork such a difficult line xvith safety the ordinary locomotive is ill adapted, and a special locomotive xvas designed." That goes to show that it is possible to xx-ork lines in special circumstances having worse curves than the lj-chain curves on the Taupo Totara Timber Company's line. I produce a photograph of the engine. Then, again, in Tasmania they have a similar locomotix'e xvorking a line there where the conditions are very severe. They are called " Garrett " locomotives. They are specially designed to xvork round short curves. With regard to the report of Mr. Coom, late Chief Engineer of the Nexv Zealand Railways, T desire to say that the cost per mile of relaxing a 551b. track xvith 701b. rails would mean £1.400 a mile. In this connection I might say that xve had a very large mileage of 301b. track working in the South Island. Iron 301b. rails xvere used, xvith the exception of those laid on the Outrani Branch, xvhich were 281b. to the yard; also the Sentry Hill line to Waitara; but the traffic xvas not heavy on those lines. The fact, however, remains that xve got about thirty years of life out of this track. They were iron rails, and in the days xvhen they xvere rolled it was excellent iron that xvas used, and of a very much better description than you could get to-dav for the same purpose. 5. Hon. Mr. Ngata.] Not so good as steel?—l beg to differ xvith you, because corrosion goes on xvith steel, and the Railxvay Department have had to relay xxdiat a layman xvould say xvas an excellent track, because of the xvasting by corrosion of steel rails. This obtained on the Manaxvatu line xvhen the Government took it over. On the sea-coast, as on the line from Timaru to Oamaru, the xvasting bv corrosion is very severe, and I xvent so far as to ask English rail-makers xvhether we could not get iron-rolled rails instead of steel, but the cost xvas so great as compared xvith steel that I had to abandon the idea. It xvould be cheaper to put in two steel Tails in plaee of the iron one. Assuming that the Department had to relay the line with 55 lb. rails, xx-hich is the standard for branch lines —it is 551b. for branch lines where xve shall never have a heavy fast traffic —it xxwild cost £1,150 to relay the company's line per mile, or a total of £57,500. I consider it xvould not be a prudent tiling to do, because there is at present nothing to justify so large an expenditure, so long as vou could carry the traffic on the existing line running at a certain rate of speed. The difficulty I see, if the line xvere taken over bv the Government, is that pressure xvould be brought to bear —as it alxvays has been, and xvill be under the present system of railxvay control —to compel the Department to put on unnecessary trains, xvhich xvould sxvamp the xvhole business. Each train costs ss. KHd. per train-mile In my opinion the company could manage the business much more economically than a Government Department. The late Manaxvatu Company is a case in point. When that company managed the line people went to the general manager for extra trains, and he said, " You xvill. have to give us a guarantee if you want an additional service." The service on that line has been greatly improved, and vet the public xvant more trains and are everlastingly petitioning the Minister and coming to the Department for additional services. Mr. Coom mentioned that it xvould onlv cost a nominal amount for equipping the stations. I take it for granted that the settlers would xvant a shelter-shed xvith lock-up rooms, and that xvould cost £40. A ramped platform would cost £20, and some people are not satisfied xvhen thev get one; they xvant a platform xvith concrete or timber face. Then they would xvant stock-yards and a goods-shed. The goods-shed xvould be required to shelter the manures and goods. Then there are approach roads, <fec. ; and the estimate for