Largest Dock-Owners in the World.

The Home railways are known to be largely interested in docks and steamships, but it may come as a surprise to learn that the four group lines are actually the largest dock-owners in the world, and their extensive equipment includes the world's largest drydock—that of the Southern Railway at Southampton. The railways own docks on all coasts, and the latest mechanical appliances have been installed, so that vessels may be loaded or unloaded and their cargoes transferred to rail or warehoused, with the minimum of delay. In South Wales, on the northeast coast, and in Scotland, a feature of the dock equipment is the installation of coal-shipping appliances capable of dealing with 20-ton wagons. 7,000 ft. of new quay has been brought into use at Southampton, and an extension, 1,120 ft. in length, of Parkeston Quay, Harwich, has also been completed.