VPRS 12579 Minutes of Meetings, Board Appointed to Enquire into the Statements of the Engineer-in-Chief Respecting Colonial Made Engines

This series consists of minutes of meetings of the Board appointed to Enquire into the statements of the Engineer-in-Chief, respecting Colonial-made engines. The Board consisted of a representative from New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria. Mr David Blair (Victoria) was appointed Secretary.The statement respecting Colonial-made engines on which the inquiry was based, looked at comments made by the Engineer-in-Chief in his report 'Observations on Railways made during a tour in 1874-1875'. The offending paragraphs of this report were attached to the volume in which the minutes were recorded. A statement from the Engineer-in-Chief, Mr J Higinbotham was also attached to the minutes. In it he claimed that he had rightly accused Colonial-made engines on the grounds that they damaged the permanent way and also that they displayed poor workmanship.Also contained within the volume was VPRS 12578 Minutes, Timber Carriage Board. It is unclear why these two series were recorded in the one volume.

本系列档案为受委任调查总工程师关于殖民地制造机车相关声明的委员会会议纪要。该委员会成员分别来自新南威尔士州、南澳大利亚州、昆士兰州与维多利亚州，大卫·布莱尔先生（维多利亚州）获委任为委员会秘书。
本次调查所依据的殖民地制造机车相关声明，基于总工程师在其1874-1875年巡访报告《1874-1875年巡访期间铁路建设观察》中发表的言论。该报告中引发争议的段落被附于本卷会议纪要之中。
此外，总工程师J·希金博特姆先生的相关声明也被附于该纪要中，他在声明中称，其对殖民地制造机车的指责有理有据，理由为这类机车会损毁轨道系统，且工艺水准低劣。
本卷档案同时收录了VPRS 12578号《木材运输委员会会议纪要》。
目前尚不清楚为何将这两类档案收录于同一卷中。