New Shunting Yards at Auckland.

Auckland's new goods yard became an accomplished fact on February 5th, when a gang of over sixty men completed the reconstruction work which had been in hand for some time.

The job entailed connecting up the outward goods tracks from Campbell's Point overbridge to the new goods shed at Breakwater Road. The work now in hand is the demolition of existing goodshed buildings and the construction of No. 2 marshalling yards.

Work was commenced early in the morning, and by 5 p.m. the job was completed. It involved, in the main, shifting a 25-ton weighbridge as well as 30 chains of rails and eight sets of “turn-outs.” In addition a large “scissors crossing”—160ft. long and 33 tons in weight—was moved into position, a hundred yards from where it was originally placed. This particular work was carried through by 30 men in four hours.

The engineer-in-charge, Mr. J. Drew, remarked that the work accomplished with this change-over really broke the back of railway reconstruction in the Auckland railway yard.

It is proposed to put in a series of new sidings on the area adjoining Quay Street.

In less than an hour after the work was completed shunting operations were resumed, and next morning everything was working smoothly.

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Demonstration Train.

In view of the projected “Great White Train” for New Zealand's secondary industries, it is interesting to learn that the agricultural development department of the Santa Fe Railway co-operating with the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College, will operate a “Farm and Home Special” demonstration train in Texas and Louisiana during the last half of January and most of February.

The programme which the college will present to the farmers will be diversified, but will feature soil improvement and better methods of feeding live stock. Other subjects to be discussed will be dairying, poultry raising and home economics. Attention will also be given to the boys and girls 4-H club work.

The train will consist of eight cars, four of which will be loaded with exhibits. The exhibits will include beef and dairy cattle, hogs and sheep, crops, soil samples and poultry. The home economics department of the college will prepare an exhibit for the farm women, and part of one car will be devoted to a club exhibit.

The campaign will last for a period of six weeks, commencing January 16th and lasting until February 25th. All of the Santa Fe's lines in Texas, also a line extending 80 miles into south-western Louisiana, will be covered, the schedule calling for 117 meetings.

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“No Cause for Dejection.”

Sir Herbert Walker, General Manager of the Southern Railway, England, is one of the optimists of the railway world. Speaking at the recent annual dinner of the staff of the General Manager's and Secretary's departments of the Southern Railway, Sir Herbert referred interestingly to the question of rail and road competition. Charabancs, he said, could be coped with but the private car was a much more difficult problem. A man nowadays took his wife and family and toured from resort to resort in a small car. This was undoubtedly the cause of a large proportion of the decline in passenger traffic, but, nevertheless, private cars created a travel atmosphere, and the number of journeys among the population was increasing rapidly. “The Railways,” he said, “had no cause for dejection; they could and would meet the competition, and ultimately they would come into their own again.” It is the conviction of this railway authority that, as the people become fonder of travel (and the evidence points that way), the railways were bound to reap the benefit.