Beautifying the Railways

Smoke and grime and ugliness are not necessarily associated with the railways (says the Wellington “Evening Post”). In Great Britain and elsewhere it has been possible to hide the ugliness with shrubs and flowers and trim lawns; and many of the stations are delightful spots and pleasing to the eye. There is no reason why similar beautification should not be undertaken in New Zealand, and it will be if railway servants and the public pay attention to the suggestions made by the “N.Z. Railways Magazine.” In some places beautification may be extremely difficult. Wellington's two stations certainly present rather hopeless propositions. They have not even the restful charm that one associates with old age. But many of the provincial towns are not under the same handicap. This may be regarded as a trifling matter. “What nonsense to talk about flowers,” someone may say. “We want quicker trains.” But the railway station is the main entrance to many towns, and what business man would think of depositing a litter of old iron and junk before his front-shop, or of leaving his front garden to be overgrown with weeds? Yet many provincial towns of great beauty and attractiveness are entered through a station which is as bare and ugly as it could be made.