Two-storey Goods Stations.

No railwayman needs reminding of the important part played in railway operation by the goods department. Passenger movement is much more in the public eye than the transport of freight, but goods department working represents equally as vital a part of railway operations. A most interesting development in freight working now taking place in Europe is the consideration given by the railways to the employment of two-storey goods stations to serve the larger centres. Germany is to the fore in this experiment, and already several of the older city goods stations on the German railways have been converted to the double-deck principle. In the new two-storey depots one floor is usually employed for the receipt of incoming freight and its unloading and transfer to road motor for delivery to consignees; the other floor is utilised for the receipt of outward freight from road motor, and its loading and despatch by rail. Close connection is maintained between the two storeys through the agency of mechanically operated belts and conveyers.

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By the installation of ramps on a gentle gradient provision is made for road motors to reach the upper floor. The lay-out of the depot usually provides for one central bench for accommodating the freight traffic, with a railway track on one side and a road motor track on the other. By the adoption of the two-deck principle, difficulties now experienced in extending goods depots in many large cities promise, in the near future, largely to be overcome.