At this season, when the various transportation and engineering societies at Home are actively engaged on their Winter programmes, numerous able reviews of railway progress in its many fields are given out. Quite the most interesting summing-up of the Home railway situation recently attempted was that of Mr. E. F. C. Trench, Consulting Engineer, London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in his presidential address to the Institution of Civil Engineers.

That the results of railway grouping at Home would, in the long run, be beneficial alike to the railway and the public was the opinion of Mr. Trench. A change of this magnitude could not, however, be effected without temporary inconvenience. If amalgamations had been encouraged in the past, instead of discouraged, even better results would have been attained, for the unifying of the larger lines and the absorption of the smaller railways would then have taken place from time to time as opportunity arose. The necessary reorganisation would have been gradually built up, and less hardship would have been inflicted on the public and on the railway staffs than was caused by throwing the whole of the railways into the melting-pot at the same moment.

Better Service at Lower Cost.

During the past few years, reserve funds have been drawn upon by the Home railways to meet dividend payments. This process, it was pointed out, could not go on indefinitely, and very strenuous efforts were now being made to increase profits by giving a better and more efficient transport service with the least possible increase of capital expenditure, and also to reduce day-to-day expenses by an intensive search for more economical methods of working and maintenance. Under the first heading, train services were being remodelled so as to afford alternative routes for travellers, and to relieve congested tracks by diverting trains on to lines which were less intensively used. To accomplish this it was desirable that it should be possible for all locomotives and other rolling-stock to be run indiscriminately over all the lines of any group system. With this aim in view, loading-gauge unification has been undertaken, and extensive bridge strengthening works put in hand.

In introducing economies in working and maintenance good headway has been made by the Home lines. More efficient locomotives have been developed and the number of locomotive types reduced to a minimum. Locomotive and carriage and wagon shops have been remodelled, and each shop is being devoted to the particular class of work for which it is best adapted. Vast consideration is being given to the improvement and standardisation of track and track equipment, to better and more economical methods of maintenance and relaying, and to the improvement of the design of bridges and structures, with a view to lengthening their life and reducing the cost of maintenance.

Faster Freight.

Service to the public is the keynote of successful railway working, and with a view to meeting the ever-insistent call of the trading community for speedy transit, new fast goods train runs are being introduced on the group railways. In a lecture recently delivered to a railway audience at the York divisional headquarters, Mr. R. Bell, Assistant General Manager of the London and North Eastern Railway, emphasised the desirability of speeding-up freight business. In this way, it was remarked, whilst road competition is effectively countered, the cost of fast freight train working is by no means so high as might be imagined. For the track is thus cleared promptly, locomotives run a larger mileage, and the wagons are turned round in quick time. Fast freight train operation gives intensive production of transport at a price which is not excessive in comparison with the average cost of the train-mile, while for every mile the fast freight covers, it earns half as much again as the slow goods, because it conveys a fair load of high-class merchandise.

Coincident with the speeding up of freight train services at Home, there is being undertaken the issue of special time-tables for public use covering goods train services in the various areas. The passenger train time-table is, of course, one of the oldest of railway publications. On the freight side, the issue of public time-tables is quite a new venture. Following the lead set by the Pennsylvania Railway, in America, the London and North Eastern Railway has recently put out a most useful freight train time-table, covering goods train working in the Newcastle-on-Tyne area. This venture forms part of the railway effort to meet road competition, and the page 19 new publication clearly demonstrates to the public the speedy character of the service given goods traffic by rail.

Signalling Developments.

The signalling department forms one of the most important of railway activities, and in recent years many notable improvements have been introduced in train signalling the world over. Of modern devices employed in the signalling field probably the most interesting are the utilisation of day colour light signals, and the development of route signalling.

By the Southern Railway of England there has just been put in hand what promises to become the world's biggest installation of multiple aspect colour light signalling. Already the Southern lines between Holborn Viaduct and Elephant and Castle, and the Charing Cross, Cannon Street and Borough Market junction sections, have been equipped with day colour light signalling, and now the installation is being extended to cover the remaining sections of the London suburban zone. Route signalling finds its pioneer at Home in the Great Western Railway, while across the Channel the Northern Railway of France has made extensive use of this convenient arrangement. Route signalling does away with the operation of points from individual levers, and concentrates all the functions necessary to set up a route and bring the signal to “clear” in the operation of one lever. It also gives great possibilities for the speeding up of movements in large stations and busy traffic centres.

Continental Rail-cum-road Co-ordination.

New Zealand railwaymen are rightly taking an ever-growing interest in the subject of road competition, and any developments in other lands in the plans of the railways to meet the changed conditions arising out of the development of road transport are of vital concern at the present juncture. It is recognised the world over that there are big possibilities for co-ordination of rail and road services, and not long ago the fusion of certain German road carriers with the German railways was recorded as a noteworthy effort in this direction.

Now comes news of a somewhat similar plan put into being in Hungary. In this central European land, the State and private railways have joined forces, and—with the co-operation of the Budapest Automobile Traffic Company and other important road carriers—have set up a new organisation, styled the “Automobile Traffic Enterprise of the Hungarian Railways,” to engage in road transport business in co-ordination with the rail services. The railways have supplied half the capital of the new undertaking, and private interests the remaining capital. Both passenger and freight services are being operated by road vehicles, attention being devoted primarily to the development of areas unserved by railway, and which will act as valuable feeders to the rail route.

Anglo-Scottish fast goods train, London and North-Eastern Railway.

Rail and Air.

Transportation by air has not yet developed to such an extent as to cause grave concern to the rail carrier, but as the years go by the subject of aerial competition will become one of increasing importance to the railway leader. The question of how the aeroplane will fit into railway service if its use should become widespread is full of interest. In this connection it may be noted that the special sub-committee of the Transit Committee of the League of Nations, established for the solution of problems dealing with combined travel by rail and air, has recently reported that there would not appear to be any page 20 insurmountable difficulty in the way of arranging for combined transport by rail and air with a single ticket or bill of lading for the through journey. In Sweden, indeed, co-ordinated rail and air travel is now the order of the day, and is proving of marked convenience to travellers between inland points in Sweden and the great capitals of Europe. The International Railway Union and the International Air Traffic Association are now making further investigation into through rail-air movement, and the results of their inquiry should be helpful alike to the railways and the air carriers in the new transportation era that has opened out with the worldwide development of the aeroplane.

Catering Amenities.

In the attraction of passenger business to a modern railway no surer bait exists than an adequate and pleasing catering service. On the New Zealand Railways an enviable reputation has been established by the catering department for appetising fare tastefully served, and by great railway systems in all parts of the globe, the importance of this branch of railway activity is becoming increasingly recognised.

Britain was a leader in the development of railway catering, and the dining-car and refreshment room services of the Home lines have been a big factor in the building-up of passenger business. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway operates 276 dining-cars; the London and North Eastern 188; the Southern 85; and the Great Western 80 dining cars. At all the principal stations commodious and tastefully decorated and equipped refreshment buffets cater to the needs of the traveller, while each of the group lines owns and operates a chain of luxurious hotels situated at selected centres. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway hotels actually form the largest group of hotels under one management in Europe. They are to be found in almost every corner of Britain from London to the Scottish Highlands. Gleneagles Hotel, in Bonnie Scotland, is the most famous of all British railway-owned rest-houses. It possesses elaborate Royal suites, wonderful dance-rooms, playing-fields, and every conceivable convenience for the pampered Marco Polo of today. Across the Channel, the railways of Germany have recently entered the field of hotel ownership, and other continental lines are now contemplating embarking upon activities of this nature.

Maintenance of Tracks.

The enormous annual consumption of permanent-way equipment on the Home railways calls for the maintenance of elaborate manufacturing works, and a visit paid a short time ago by the members of the Permanent Way Institution to the Redbridge permanent-way factory of the Southern Railway, directed attention to this important phase of railway activity.

Gleneaglea Station, L. M. & S. Railway, Scotland.

Manufacturing processes conducted at Red-bridge comprise the drilling and creosoting of sleepers, casting of chairs, and preparing timbers of all descriptions for bridge page 21 and other works. The sleepers are stored in huge piles, each containing 400 sleepers, and after seasoning for from six to twelve months, they are run on trucks to the drilling-shed, and then sent forward for creo-soting. For this operation the sleepers pass into creosoting cylinders on trolleys. The cylinders are 75 feet in length and 7 feet in diameter, and each cylinder holds 464 sleepers. The air tight door being sealed, air is pumped out of the cylinder and creosote drawn in at a pressure of 200lb. per square inch. Two hours complete the pickling process, and then the sleepers are removed from the cylinder and the chairs affixed. The sleepers, with chairs complete, are next automa-matically conveyed to, and dropped on, timber wagons ready for despatch. These chaired sleepers are turned out at the rate of 1,200 per day, and the Redbridge plant ranks as one of the most important permanent-way factories in Britain.

Wireless Developments.

Radio has long since ceased to be the scientific wonder it was in the pioneering days. To-day wireless is being pressed into commercial service in a hundred and one fields, and in the railway world interesting developments may shortly be anticipated in the use of radio. At Home, the railways are contemplating the introduction of wireless receiving sets on the principal main-line trains, while in the United States radio is being employed both for the entertainment of passengers, and for the purpose of inter-communication between moving trains and exterior points and between different parts of the same train.

Especially interesting is the effort of the Virginian railway in the wireless field. For operating over the mountainous sections of this line, it is usual to employ two locomotives for hauling freight trains, which sometimes run to as great a length as one mile. One locomotive draws the train in the ordinary way, while the second engine acts as a “pusher” in the rear. Wireless is being employed with marked success to ensure synchronous action between these two locomotives, particularly in starting and stopping. Special apparatus with loud-speakers is installed on the footplate of each engine, and by the employment of a code of signals similar to that used for steam whistles, the drivers are enabled to keep in constant touch and communicate with each other as may be desired.

Last month, it will be remembered, there appeared in the “London Letter” a simple little “passing trains” problem for the edification of our readers. Here is the solution, as promised: Fifteen trains would be passed, including the train which drew into A as you left, and the train which left B as you pulled in. Every hour there would be two trains in each station (one departing and the other arriving), and six on each line at hourly intervals, giving a total of sixteen trains. On each trip every train would pass all the other fifteen trains. Easy, isn't it!

Hump-shunting in Feltham Yard, England.