H. P. Hall
Ref. No. 54447/5/50
COPY
Beenleigh Road,
Kuraby.
15th June, 1950.
39
Dear Mr. Hall,
Re, the (600) Six Hundred Wagons requisitioned from the Chinese Government on behalf of the Director General Transportation, Middle East.
I can quite understand the position of the War Office with regards to the manufacture of the steel castings in India. liere is the picture as I see it :
The Kowloon Canton Railway received an order for sorting, checking, marking and preparing for shipment material for (600) six Hundred Wagons.
These materials were not held in stock by the Kowloon Canton Railway (B.S.) as quoted in your letter, para II. They were held and stored in Hong Kong by the Chinese Government, Ministry of Communications, who supplied me with the invoices and blueprints.
Owing to lack of proper storage space, this material was very widely distributed about the colony. Mainly in three places North Point, Kai Tack and the reclamation Chatham Road. The material was so badly stored for checking against the invoices, that a Chinese undergraduate Engineer was employed under my supervision to carry out the work of scrting checking marking and loading into lighters ready for shipment. All the material was new and had never been assembled. There was no such work as stripping as quoted.
When the Chinese Government ordered the material for building (600) Six Hundred wagons, they did not order any cast steel fittings. They had reckoned their own steel foundry would have been working. When I informed the War Supplies Board of this fact (that there were no cast steel fittings) we, the Kowloon Canton Railway B. S. were ordered to get them made.
Specifications and tenders were prepared and submitted to Hong Kong and Whampo Dock Coy. Lio Ho Kou and South China Iron works. The Dock Coy. could not help out on account of its commitments to shipping. Quotations were received from Lio Ho Kou and South China Iron works. The order was given to these two firms. Approximately about half of order No. 656 were completed with the same number of Body Bolster Centre Braces. This was by the combined efforts of the two firms.
We concentrated on getting those parts manufactured which would enable the wagons to be assembled an run even if only run as flats. The cast iron brake blocks were made by a Chinese contractor at Sham Shui Po while the rivets were being made by a chinese firm at Kowloon City. 75% of the Brake blocks and 30 of the rivets were completed and shipped. Of the steel Journal Boxes a consignment of 200 were delivered
/at
Page 40Page 41
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.