HONGKONG, 1922.
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Considerable attention was given in collaboration with the Town Planning Committee to future railway requirements, and reservations of land likely to be required later for branch lines and stations were decided upon. Surveys for the junctions of two probable branch lines were made, and centre lines staked out.
The new station building for Sheung Shui Station, for which provision was made in the estimates, was not undertaken. An alternative proposal whereby the long grade of 1 in 100 would be reduced to 1 in 250 and a new station built in substitution for both Fanling and Sheung Shui was considered, but the project is still in abeyance.
At Lowu the 150-feet brick running-shed mentioned in the last report was completed and sidings laid, a small reservoir was also made and water supply installed.
On the Fanling Branch Line the old engine-shed at Fanling Station was rebuilt, and a new one was erected at Sha Tau Kok. The old steelwork from the dismantled station at Hunghom was used in these buildings, with corrugated asbestos cement roofs and sides.
About 3,100 sleepers were renewed in the main line. Of these, 807 were of reinforced concrete and the remainder Australian hardwoods. During the year 1,165 reinforced concrete sleepers were cast.
In July Messrs. Butterfield & Swire terminated their lease for the 1,800 sq. feet of spare railway land occupied by them for coal storage, and new leases were entered into with the Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf & Godown Co. for several areas to be used as timber yards.
From the 13th January to the 8th March there was a strike of seamen which, as it developed, involved the majority of trades and seriously affected the business of the Colony. All strikers left the Colony for Canton and this, coupled with the fact that river steamboat traffic entirely ceased, caused record Passenger and Goods traffic by rail. Except that the drivers and firemen were persuaded to join the strikers a day before the settlement, the Railway staff remained loyal and handled unprecedented traffic in a commendable manner. The express trains had to be run in duplicate or were doubled-banked. In the latter case they consisted of as many as 23 coaches. It was found generally preferable to run in duplicate, each portion consisting of from 10 to 12 coaches. As many as 2,000 passengers were carried on one portion, and over 8,000 in a day.
The increased earnings of this period were somewhat reduced by a period of partial stagnation after the strike, by the launch-men's strike in May, and by the frequent train suspensions owing to political unrest in Canton and neighbourhood. Much inconvenience and loss was caused by resultant military operations between Sun Yat-sen and Chan Kwing-ming. On five occasions