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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 2, Issue 2 (June 1, 1927)

[section]

Travel Amenities.

Underground stations are scattered everywhere throughout the city and suburbs, with the “Inner Circle” route of the Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Railways enclosing the busiest portion of the metropolis. Many noteworthy passenger travel amenities have been developed by these speedy underground electric lines, and recently a feature has been made of the installation of roomy garages at the outer termini of the underground routes, which enable the suburban resident to drive to the station in his own car, park his vehicle in the garage, and proceed speedily by railway to the city. At Morden, the terminus of the newly-opened extension of the City and South London line from Clapham Common, there has been provided for the convenience of passengers a garage accommodating no fewer than 200 motor cars and cycles, with lock-up cubicles, petrol pumps and a fully equipped motor repair shop. A more striking example of co-ordination between rail and road transport could scarcely be imagined.

Holiday Time.

While London railwaymen, in common with the workers at other points on the Home railways, are busily engaged in preparing for the summer rush of passenger traffic, they are also not unmindful that compensation for this extra effort lies in the fact that May marks the commencement of the railwayman's annual vacation, as well as that of the general public.

In arranging the Home railwaymen's holidays, the system employed is to spread the leave out evenly from May to September. The majority of uniform workers enjoy one week's holiday each year, and the clerical and supervisory forces two or three weeks' vacation without loss of pay. The dates of individual holidays are arranged by ballot as a rule, and relief men are employed to take the place of signalmen, shunters and other traffic employees.

Free and reduced travel is enjoyed by almost every grade of Home railway worker. Officials page 13 carry all-line free passes available for use at any time. Clerks, inspectors, draughtsmen, stationmasters, yardmasters, traffic foremen and similar skilled employees, are granted something like ten free tickets each year over their own line, and two free tickets over foreign systems. Workers holding less responsible positions are usually allowed about half a dozen free passes over their own line and two free passes over other systems. Each pass includes the employee's wife and children, if desired; and by all grades privilege tickets, providing for travel at half the ordinary single fare for the double journey, are obtainable at any time.

Oil Fuel.

While limited use has at various times been made in Britain of oil fuel for locomotives, generally speaking the high cost of oil as compared with coal has rendered its employment prohibitive. Having regard to this fact, there has been received with much surprise the recent announcement that our biggest railway—the London, Midland and Scottish—is seriously considering converting the whole of its 10,000 coal-burning locomotives to oil fuel. With oil costing from three to four times as much as coal, this move would seem to threaten to add enormously to the already high fuel bill, and no explanation of the L. M. & S. Company's proposal is as yet forthcoming.

Wembley Park Station, Metropolitan Railway, one of London's six hundred passenger stations.

Wembley Park Station, Metropolitan Railway, one of London's six hundred passenger stations.

It is suggested that the idea underlying the proposal may be the freeing of the Company's tracks from the very large numbers of locomotive coal wagons which are at present in service between mine and running shed. In any event, it is significant that the L. M. & S. is the only Home railway to be at all attracted by the possibilities of oil-firing.

Standardised Tracks.

Track standardisation, for which provision was included in the grouping bill of 1921, is now making considerable progress at Home. To-day the new standard permanent way is rapidly replacing the thirty-odd types of track favoured by the individual railway systems embraced within the four big groups.

Standard track in Britain consists of bull-headed rails of either 95 or 85lb. a yard. The standard rail lengths are 45 feet and 60 feet, and two patterns of chairs are available, one for the 95lb. and the other for the 85lb. rail. page 14 Holes for three steel screws passing through a hardwood ferrule are provided in the chair, and the chair keys are of hardwood, tapered 1–16 in. The standard sleeper in 8 feet 6 inches long, 10 inches wide and 5 inches deep, with joint sleepers for the 95lb. rail of 12 inches width.

On the majority of main lines the 95lb. steel is favoured, with 85lb. rails on the secondary routes. In certain tunnel sections—as for example on the Mersey Railway—rails of 100 lb. per yard are employed. On busy city and suburban routes, rails of maganese steel are found of immense value in resisting wear. At the eastern approach junction to the Central Station at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, on the London and North Eastern trunk route to Scotland, there are employed 92 manganese steel crossings and rails, covering 77 intersections. The total length of the junction is 141 feet, width over all 58 feet 6 inches, and total weight 70 tons.

On the Continent.

Across the Channel, equal importance is attached to sound railway track, and on the Northern Railway of France there has recently been completed the re-laying with specially strong track of the trunk routes radiating from Paris to Calais, via Amiens and Abbeville; to Lille, via Longeau and Arras; and to Erquellines, via Tergnier—routes which will doubtless be familiar to many New Zealand railway folk whom military duty brought to Europe during the world war.

In its strengthening plan the Northern Railway of France has employed 59 ft. flat bottomed steel rails weighing 92½lb., with 110½lb. steel on tunnel sections. Each rail rests upon thirty oak sleepers, and is secured by steel screws. Fishplates are 25 inches long, while steel bars about 10 feet long are secured to the top of the middle sleepers of each rail to prevent creeping. Slag ballast is 12 inches thick under sleepers, and the top of the sleepers is sunk to ballast surface. The new tracks, which carry a heavier passenger traffic than any other northern French line, are safe for travel at 75 miles per hour.

Over the Paris-Calais route there is now operated one of Europe's most luxurious passenger services. This is the new “Golden Arrow” service between Paris and Calais, in connection with the boat service of the Southern Railway of England from Victoria station, London. Limited Pullman trains in this service cover the 185½ miles between the French capital and Calais in 190 minutes, providing the quickest link between Paris and London.

In connection with the working of the Northern Railway's permanent way department, especial interest is attached to the elaborate track reclamation plant established by the line at Moulin-le-Neuf. This depot employs 800 men, and includes saw mills and creosoting plant for timber preparation and treatment, and special equipment for the preparing of recovered main-line rails for use on secondary routes. Second-hand rails are cut off at the ends, re-drilled for fishbolts, straightened, planed, and re-issued to the track maintenance gangs. This re-use of discarded main-line rails on secondary routes is to-day a feature of permanent way practice throughout Europe, and in this way vast economy has been found possible.

Keeping Stations Attractive.

With the approach of summer the Home railways have again inaugurated the competitions run every season for the best-kept wayside stations on their systems. There is much healthy competition among country station staffs in the endeavour to secure the cash prizes allotted to the cleanest and tidiest stations, and it is remarkable how beautiful many of the smaller stations become under the skilled attentions of the station masters and their staffs. Although in awarding the prizes marks are given for gardening and floral effects generally, much attention is paid to cleanliness and orderliness of platform and booking office equipment. It is significant, as illustrating the influence of the Home railways upon overseas railway practice, that this year one of the big Indian lines, impressed by the results achieved at Home, has introduced on its own system a similar contest for the best kept stations.

Apart from the effort of the Home railwayman in connection with the annual competition for the best kept depots, immense pride is taken by all in keeping stations, signal boxes and mess-rooms spick and span. Spotlessly clean mess-rooms, with glistening window-panes, well scrubbed floors and whitened hearthstones, are everywhere much in evidence. The Home railwayman's love of cleanliness, it may be recalled, was strikingly demonstrated to the Prince of Wales when travelling in Scotland a short time ago.

Waiting on the platform at Dunblane for his train to Perth, on a raw wet morning, the Prince was accosted by Jamie, the station porter, with the remark: “Say, mister, are you the Prince of Wales!” An answer smilingly being given in the affirmative, Namie pondered a moment, scratched his head and continued: “Weel, it's cauld standin' here. Gang awa' into the porters' room yonder. There's a guid fire burnin, and ye maun tak' a chair, but dinna put yer wet buits on the page 15 hearthstone!” Jamie, you see, took particular pride in keeping that heartstone virgin white. Even our ever popular Prince was not to be permitted to soil its pristine beauty.

Handling Goods in Small Lots.

The handling of merchandise in small lots has always been a difficult problem for the Home railways. Now that road transport is developing so rapidly, much consideration is being given to measures calculated to assist in the safe and speedy movement of traffic in small lots. Among means to this end there may be noted the introduction of bonus schemes in the bigger warehouses, providing for the payment of a special cash bonus, in addition to ordinary wages, to men engaged in handling miscellaneous traffic. The bonus payments are calculated upon tonnage handled, and all tonnage dealt with over and above an agreed minimum is credited to the workers concerned in its handling.

The main feature of “smalls” traffic movement at Home is the operation throughout the group railways of special tranship sheds for the handling of consignments in small lots. In London and at strategic points throughout the country, freight depots are located and equipped for dealing with this class of traffic. The main principle involved is the direct loading of “smalls” traffic to a point as near destination as possible. Daily wagons are made up in each shed to the other important tranship depots, and traffic is thus staged from point to point in accordance with elaborate loading instructions issued for the guidance of the staff, roadside stations being linked up with one or more of the adjoining tranship sheds by road wagon service operated in pick-up goods trains.

Southern Railway Continental Pullman leaving Victoria Station, London, for Dover.

Southern Railway Continental Pullman leaving Victoria Station, London, for Dover.

Touching on China.

A great deal has been heard of late of affairs in China, but little seems to have been published concerning the part played by British engineers in the founding of China's railway system. It was to England that China owed her first railway. This was the Shanghai-Woosung line, a 2ft. 6in. railway, with a total length of ten miles. The first locomotive ever seen in China was “The Pioneer” (constructed by Richard Rapier, of Ipswich, England) which made its trial trip over the Shanghai-Woosung railway on February 14th, 1876.

Immense excitement was aroused at the sight of China's first “Iron Horse,” and the destruction of the Shanghai-Woosung line, and of another railway serving the Kaiping mines, was shortly afterwards foolishly ordered by the government. A resourceful British engineer surreptitiously buried one of the Kaiping railway engines beneath the ballast. Years afterwards, the “Rocket of China,” as this locomotive was named, was dug up again and once more put to work. The latest bulletin concerning this historic engine was to the effect that it was still going strong in shunting service near Shanghai.