Modern Methods in Our Workshops
Cleaning of Locomotive Parts (By S. B. Barltrop, Production Draughtsman, Hillside.)

A saving of two days in the time taken under the old system of cleaning locomotive parts at Hillside Workshops has been effected by the installation of the modern cleaning vat described in the following article.

The installation of a large locomotive cleaning vat in the new workshops at Hillside constitutes a notable advance upon the methods adopted hitherto for cleaning locomotive parts before their distribution to the various departments. The vat, a steel structure measuring 28ft. × 8ft. × 5ft. 6in. deep, has been built into a concrete pit situated in the centre of the locomotive erecting shop, and its equipment is thoroughly up-to-date. The vat (the top of which is nine inches above the shop floor) has been so constructed that its outer end takes the form of a ramp, upon which a set of rails connecting with one of the shop tracks is fitted in such a manner that bogies or trollies containing crates of parts as removed from the locomotive, can be run down into the tank and completely submerged in the cleaning solution.

The crates and bogies referred to are lowered down the ramp by means of a rope, operated by an electric capstan attached to a traverser. In this manner it is unnecessary to depend upon the overhead cranes, which are left free to meet the heavy demands made on them for other work.

The cleaning solution in the vat is heated by means of steam coils attached to the sides of the vat. A special cleaning agent, which is dissolved in the 4,600 gallons of water contained in the vat, is used, the whole being brought to boiling point. Compressed air keeps up complete agitation, thus assisting the cleaner in the removal of all grease and dirt from the submerged locomotive parts.

Water is introduced into the vat from the ordinary main, and, when it is necessary to renew it, the operation is done by means of a motor-driven centrifugal pump situated conveniently close to the tank.

Owing to the size of this vat it was found necessary to construct a hood over it to trap the great volume of steam arising from such a

Illustration No. 1.
The Tank used for cleaning locomotive parts in the old erecting shops. The capacity of this tank is only 150 gallons.

Illustration No. 2.
(Photos, D. J. Sherriff.) Designed and built at Hillside Workshops, this new tank, for cleaning locomotive parts, has a capacity of 4,500 gallons.

page 43 large body of boiling water. This steam is exhausted from the vat (by means of an electrically-driven centrifugal fan) into a specially constructed flue under the floor, which terminates in a tunnel, 16 feet from the ground, outside the shop. Thus, inconvenience, which might be caused by steam inside the shop, is eliminated.

To make for the safety of all employees whilst the locomotive parts are being boiled, the top of the vat is totally enclosed.

The operation of placing material into the vat is extremely simple. The door, which is in two sections, is thrown open at the ramp end of the vat, and the trollies containing the crates are run down the rails and, without any emission of steam, submerged in the cleaning solution.

It may be of interest to readers to know that the locomotive cleaning plant referred to in this article was designed and built at the Hillside Workshops. A representative of a large American concern, closely allied to railways—an authority on the subject of cleaning of locomotive parts — stated, when shown this plant, that it was not only the second largest he had seen, but the finest and most elaborate.

Illustration No. 1 depicts the cleaning equipment used in the old shops, and enables a striking comparison to be made between the old and the new methods, as featured in illustration No. 2. The cleaning of locomotive parts under the old system occupied three days, whereas the same work, including bogies and driving wheels, which formerly had to be cleaned separately, can be completed in the new vat in one day.

From the above article the reader may gain an insight into the modern methods which are being adopted in connection with the general re-building and reorganising of the Railway Workshops, which, when completed, will compare favourably with those in any other part of the world.

Efficient Lifting Appliances in our Workshops.
An Ab locomotive being lifted by the 100-ton crane in the new workshops, Lower Hutt, Wellington.

…. The mountain, and the deep and glorious wood,
Their colours and their forms, were then to me
An appetite…..—Wordsworth.

The Fern Track to Franz Josef Glacier, West Coast, South Island, New Zeland.