A Northern Farmer's Request.

How prone people are to ask for favours without having any intention of doing anything in return was exemplified at a recent meeting of a branch of the Farmers’ Union (says the “Franklin Times”). One of the members, after explaining at an early stage of the meeting that he never used the railway because he found the 'buses and lorries so convenient, later moved that the Railway Department be requested to carry fodder for dairy farmers free of freight.

Why Train Travel is Favoured.

A good point was made by Mr. E. Casey, Divisional Superintendent of the North Island, when giving evidence before the Auckland Transport Commission.

Replying to the Commissioners, Mr. Casey said he thought the Railways Department was holding its suburban patronage on the north line very well.

It was suggested to Mr. Casey that some people travelled on the railways because of the cheapness of the workers’ tickets, compared with alternative transport charges.

“I think the chief reason why the worker takes the train is because it is safer,” replied Mr. Casey, amid laughter.

A Dynamometer Car.

Attached to the Royal Scot, the express locomotive which accomplishes the London to Carlisle run of 299 1/2 miles in 5hr. 38m., is a dynamometer car in which is an instrument that tells the speed, drawbar pull, and the distance run of the train. The speed is calculated to a second. Sixty miles per hour is regarded as a good pace even for an express, but the dynamometer shows that speeds round about seventy miles are frequently attained. Sometimes seventy-five miles is reached, although the train is run strictly to schedule.

The maximum horse-power of the Royal Scot on a normal journey is 1100. One can tell by looking at the instrument which records the horse-power that is being exerted, whether the train is climbing, on the level, or descending. This train, excluding the engine, weighs about 449 1/2 tons, and consists of sixteen coaches. The engine consumes about 11,6331b. of coal and 9600 gallons of water on each journey.

Third-Class Sleepers.

The intimation that the three railway companies at Home have decided to introduce third-class sleeping accommodation on their systems will meet with the unqualified approval of long-distance travellers. The London, Midland and Scottish, the London and North-Eastern, and the Great Western Railways are the three companies which have taken this step, and the important experiment will be watched with interest.

The subject of fares has, of course, still to be decided, but they will be adjusted, no doubt, on the present first-class fare level.

The “Father of Railways.”

No railwayman will ever forget the name of George Stephenson, the “Father of Railways” (writes our London correspondent). In commemoration of the centenary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington line in 1825, there has just been presented to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, by railwaymen in the Argentine, a bronze plaque, intended for erection at the Institution headquarters in London. This plaque, mounted on a large marble slab, contains a likeness of George Stephenson, and a representation of the locomotive “Rocket,” which made history on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In unveiling the memorial, the Argentine Ambassador remarked that the plaque was intended to testify the admiration and respect felt by the donors for the man of genius whose steam locomotive so materially changed the conditions of life on our planet. That South America, where railways have virtually changed the whole face of the country, should thus revere the memory of the “Father of Railways” is especially gratifying.