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Essay by Mavis Green, Frankton School, Frankton.

Toot! Toot! sssssh! Off she goes! How many times have we heard a great big powerful engine blow her whistle, and with a lot of noise start off on a journey?

Day and night, up and down through the country, faithful men are driving these huge monsters of iron and steam, with their strings of passenger carriages or goods trucks behind them. Rarely does the railway sleep. Have you ever thought of all that these ceaseless journeyings mean, first to our people themselves, and then to the promotion and keeping up of our country's industries?

To-day we see huge, fast travelling and efficient engines, but we all know that it took many years of experiment to turn out these perfect engines. Before travelling could be undertaken it was necessary to lay down many miles of line. A railway line, with its gleaming tracks of steel, does not appear to be a very difficult thing to make, but there is a lot of work in construction. Safe foundations for the enormous weight to pass over them, well seasoned sleepers and careful joins in the tracks themselves, all play an important part. New Zealand is a land of many hills and deep hollows, and to form grades making it possible for an engine to ascend and descend, is no easy task. Surveyors, geologists, and engineers, had to get on to the job. In many places there are deep cuttings, in others, tunnels and series of tunnels, and again, viaducts and bridges. These all represent years of labour and planning in construction. Nearly all New Zealanders, especially railway people, know of the wonderful spiral at Raurimu, and also of the great tunnel which pierces through the Southern Alps, for we are proud of the engineering feats that have been accomplished. The line in many places in New Zealand climbs over high mountainous country, and then gradually descends until it is running close beside the seashore.

When a railway line penetrates a district, expansion of that part of the country's resources usually follows quickly. Access to farming lands becomes easy, and transport becomes available, not only for the people themselves that they may move on business or pleasure from one part to another, but materials to aid in the development of the land, implements for use, and food for stock, are carried page 31 quickly and cheaply. In turn there comes off these farms products which are the basis of New Zealand's prosperity, and again the railways come in useful for conveying these products to the marketing places.

And last of all a list of the various articles carried by the railways would fill many pages. Did you know that last year our railways handled 459,943 cattle and 9,312,937 sheep and pigs? Then think of butter, cheese, wool, timber, flax, wheat and products too numerous to mention. The charge for carrying goods averaged 2.41d. per ton per mile, and this figure is very favourable compared with the charges made by other countries.

Of course the passenger traffic demands a lot of attention, and the Railway Department is ever on the alert to cater for, and satisfy, the needs of the travelling public. At holiday periods, when great numbers of people are travelling, it must be exceedingly difficult to cope with the crowds, but the railway officials do it so well that there has not been a single fatality for the last two years.

Excursions to centres of interest are now being arranged, and fares are so cheap that it is enabling many people to visit New Zealand's beauty spots. For long journeys the de luxe sleeping carriages are models of comfort and attractiveness. Cosy quarters, well padded upholstery, and many little conveniences, all contribute to the well-being of the passenger. Attendants are on the trains, with helpful information and services, while at frequent stations well-equipped refreshment rooms are available to satisfy the inner wants of man.

So much could be told of the railways and their various departments, but really we never realise how necessary railways are, and how excellently served we are in this respect, until there comes an occasion when we have to do without them. When right at our doors we have a service that is ready and anxious to transport us in comfort and safety, it is certainly up to us to help to maintain such a service by making use of it whenever we desire to travel.