Operation of Freight Trains.

We have mentioned that many freight trains now run in the daylight instead of in their normal night-time paths. In general, the endeavour is to get through the bulk of the activities of the goods stations in daylight or semi-daylight as far as possible, although at this season complete cessation of goods station activities by night cannot be achieved. Where goods stations work by night, there have been introduced special lighting schemes, in which blue lights predominate. Naturally, operations are somewhat slowed up, but thanks to the co-operation of traders in handing over their shipments earlier in the day, and clearly addressing all consignments with white labels employing black lettering, delay is minimised. In the marshalling yards, night work is inevitable, and high-power lights have been replaced by less brilliant illumination, capable of being switched off at a moment's notice, an employee being permanently stationed at the main light switch. The changed conditions have been faced cheerfully and determinedly by the marshalling-yard staffs, and drastic though the lighting restrictions have been, the reduction in efficiency due to black-out conditions is only between fifteen and twenty per cent., and this figure will be gradually reduced as ways and means are found.