The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 3 (July 1, 1932)
Large Capacity Wagons
Large Capacity Wagons
“I look back to the year 1900, when I first entered the railway service. I remember that the problem which was then very much discussed in general managers' offices, and certainly on the old North Eastern Railway, was the question of large wagons—wagons of large capacity. Sir George Gibb had been to America, and had brought back a large mass of data upon the use of large-capacity wagons in the United States. All that data was passed over to me, and I was told to digest it and see what sort of a case could be made out for large-capacity wagons. Knowing that Sir George Gibb desired that there should be a good case for large-capacity wagons, I certainly produced one! I remember analysing at great length the pick-up traffic on the Chicago and North Western Railroad, and I illustrated how successful they were even in massing together small consignments into large box wagons and securing satisfactory results in the case of their trains, which ran westward from Chicago. When one looks back on the efforts which were made in 1900 to justify large-capacity wagons, and when one looks at what is the most popular unit of transport to-day, one is bound to confess to feeling a little shocked. What has happend to the railways is that much of their traffic has gone to the roads; at least, that is what the railwaymen say, though personally I do not feel so satisfied about it. There is certainly, in any case, a great deal of traffic on the roads, and that traffic is not traffic which can be put into large-capacity wagons.