Hillside
Hillside Engineering Group workshops have been in action since 1875 when they were oriented around the development of the rail industry; a time of great foresight and huge investment. A number of sites had been set up around New Zealand to assemble components which had come from the United Kingdom, manufacture items or undertake repairs and overhaul of the assets as they were building up in the railways infrastructure.
Refurbishing loco for Taieri Gorge Railway (Click to enlarge)
Over time, the number of workshops dwindled; technology caught up in terms of productivity - modern assets are more productive. The size of the rail fleet has been reduced even though the work the fleet is doing is greater. Two workshops still operate – Hillside in Dunedin and Hutt Workshop in Petone, which is operated under contract to Toll Rail as part of United Group Rail.
Hillside peaked in the 1940s when it employed 1,000 people working on a 20 acre site. While the area is slightly smaller now, at about 18 acres, the layout has remained unchanged and is primarily orientated around refurbishment and rebuilding of trains. What has changed is that the workshops are undertaking quite substantial new build projects and new manufacturing.
Site numbers had dwindled throughout the 1980s and 1990s until about four years ago, when the numbers rose to about a hundred - with approximately 210 – 215 people budgeted for this year. Site manager Kevin Kearney says this has been an exciting process with 60 people being brought on in about 18 months – a lot of them immigrants mainly from South Africa, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and United States. It was a tight labour market at the time and while demand is great for the industry, it means the demand for labour is even higher now.
Passenger carriage being refurbished
(Click to enlarge)
Development at Hillside has revolved around building up new products, working closely with Toll Rail’s design team in Wellington – the Professional Services Group. They are going through a process of concurrent engineering development of products. Lots of working drawings are established part way through the programme rather than at the start so that it’s an iterative approach to finessing final aspects of design. The design and manufacturing team work together to establish very close links.
