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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

Addington Workshops

Addington Workshops.

The Addington Railway Workshops, the largest of their kind in the colony, are situated close to the Addington Railway Station. Mr. H. H. Jackson, Locomotive Engineer for the district, is in charge, and Mr. J. F. McCarthy is workshops' manager. There are five foremen, and about 550 men are employed. The work of the shops is arranged with regard to “periods” of four weeks. About 200 waggons are repaired every period, two up-to-date cars are built, about ten are repaired, and from six to eight engines are overhauled. About twenty-four new boilers are manufactured at the workshops each year, and a locomotive about every eight weeks. A large casting plant has recently been introduced, and about 800 tons of casting is done every year. Besides this, the whole of the tarpaulins used on the trucks in the district are now manufactured at the shops.

Mr. John Francis McCarthy, Manager of the Addington Workshops, is second son of the late Mr. John McCarthy, of Auckland, and grandson of the late Mr. John Nolan, who landed at the Bay of Islands in 1838. He was born at Auckland in 1859, and educated at St. Peter's private school. After serving part of his apprenticeship with the well-known firm of Masefield and Co., engineers and ironfounders, Auckland, he completed his time in the Auckland railway workshops, where he worked afterwards for six months as a journeyman. In order to gain wider and more varied experience he resigned in 1882 from the service of the New Zealand Government, and went to Sydney, where he was employed by the English firm of Messrs Byers and Peacock in the erection of locomotives for the New South Wales Government. He was afterwards for some years in charge of the extensive workshops of Messrs Halliday Bros., marine engineers, and superintended the building of many of the steamers running on the Paramatta. Later on he was employed in the Government tramway workshops. Having acquired a large experience of engineering in all its branches, Mr. McCarthy returned to New Zealand and rejoined the railway service at Auckland, where he filled the position of leading hand for five years; and he was afterwards for a similar period foreman of the engineering portion of the workshops. In 1890 Mr. McCarthy was transferred to the workshops at Petone, Wellington, with the position of foreman, and after one year was retransferred to Auckland as foreman of the page 154 whole workshop. He was appointed to his present position in 1901.

Mr. William Hood Gaw, formerly District Traffic Manager of the Christchurch Section of New Zealand Railways, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1846, educated at the Glasgow High School, and brought up to mercantile life. He came to Port Chalmers in 1871 by the ship “Wild Deer.” After engaging in farming for a time, he joined the railway service in 1874 as clerk in the goods department at Dunedin, under Mr. Conyers. Four years later Mr. Gaw was transferred as goods agent to Christchurch, where he continued till 1883, when he was appointed traffic manager at Invercargill, whence he was transferred to Dunedin in a similar position. Mr. Gaw was appointed to Christchurch in 1890, and he is now (1902) Traffic Superintendent of the Dunedin section of railways.