116 



EEPOET OF THE 



No. 3 



Locomotive Inspection, 1919. 



Railway 



Number Inspected 



Times 



3 4 



Total 



Number 



Locomotives 



Total Number 

 Inspections 



1919 1918 1917 



Inspec- 

 tions 

 Showing 

 Defects 



1919 



Percentage Defective 



1919 1918 1917 



270 



167 



114 



15 



5 



571 



19.5 

 39.6 

 20.0 

 45.9 

 55.5 



28.3 



Average cost per inspection $2.07 (as compared with $2.59 for 1918) 



In all, 1,012 inspections were made of 571 locomotives, and of these, 221 

 inspections or about one in five showed fire protective appliances defective in one 

 respect or another. This is a decided improvement over the years 1917 and 1918 

 for which the average was 30 per cent, defective. Further, the record for this 

 year would have been very much better if the C.P.R. had kept its engines up to the 

 standard of the other roads. C.P.E. locomotives were defective to the extent 

 of almost 30 per cent., and in 1918 it was 36.4 per cent. If one road can keep 

 its defective locomotives down to 11 per cent, of inspections, it should be possible 

 for all other roads to reach the same record; the matter is entirely one of organiza- 

 tion. This matter is of extreme importance in Ontario because of the large 

 number of fires of r.:ilway origin. 



Because of the unsatisfactory results in past seasons with special patrolmen 

 put on by the C.N.R. between Pembroke and Nipigon as a Board requirement, this 

 year it was arranged that the Forestry Branch take over the work, the company 

 paying part cost. The arrangement has been justified by the relatively low fire 

 damage along the C.N.E. this season. 



Thirty-six inspections of locomotives on private lines used in logging, etc., 

 were made and the owners required to be brought up to the equivalent of B. E. C. 

 specifications under authority of the Provincial Act. 



(8) Summary. 



The disastrous fire season we have experienced calls for a close examination. 

 The season was undoubtedly a difficult one for fire control, but this Branch feels 

 that such a record is below the attainable ; certainly it is below the average of 

 several organizations protecting forest areas of similar magnitude. 



As to origin of fires, a study of our statistics for the last three years shows 

 a general uniformity. Apparently we may expect the following situation as 

 regards causes : 



About 8 per cent due to la-nd clearing 



10 



3 



3 



5 



45 



26 



neglected camp fires 

 lightning 

 summer logging 

 other known causes 

 railways 

 unknown causes 



