1950-1951 — Page 20

The Forestry Officer, Hong Kong, recommended that the Mai Yang sleepers should be treated with 50% creosote and 50% diesel oil mixture by the open tank process, and therefore a pre-war plant for treating Kempas sleepers was reconditioned and used for this purpose. Work was started on 3.10.50. Owing to the intermittent short-supply of creosote from the United Kingdom due to shortage of drums, only 2,874 sleepers were treated in the first six months. An arrangement with a local firm of repute would have resulted in a regular supply admittedly at higher cost, but the Chairman of the Tender Board advised purchase through the Crown Agents. The final cost of the cheaper creosote will, in due course, be reflected in the earlier replacement of non-creosoted sleepers which are very difficult to obtain.

62. Permanent Way Stores. To comply with an audit requirement, a new office was set up in the permanent-way store yard at Blackhead's Point, and new bins and racks erected. Altogether 122 items of unservice- able permanent-way stores were disposed of by a Board of Survey on 15.9.50, the amount realized being $22,811.00.

Some 1,121 very rotten timber sleepers lying alongside the track in the New Territories were sold as they lay; 5,500 were given to the Social Welfare Office for the use of a refugee camp, and 1,521 were brought back to Kowloon and sold to railway staff as firewood.

Following the visit of the General Manager of the North Borneo Railways on 8.3.51. arrangements were made to sell to the above- mentioned railway the following surplus materials:

600 lengths 85-lb rails (old)

600 pairs

fishplates (old)

1 set

100' span Callender Hamilton bridge

1 set

60'

span U.C. railway bridge

3 sets

40'

span U.C. railway bridge

1 set

60 launching nose, erection equipment, tools

and parts.

63. Bridges. The 100 ft. girders of the Shum Chun River bridge were entirely enclosed with steel plate in order to ward off robbers from stealing from passengers.

The double 10 ft. sluice gates under arch bridge No. 18 were repaired. Eight bearing plates of the bridge No. 22 at Taipo were replaced.

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