“One hundred per cent. confidence in the ability of the staff to carry through their jobs efficiently!” That was the phrase used by the Prime Minister and Minister of Railways recently to indicate the opinion held by the Administration in regard to the railway service of the Dominion.

It is an opinion calculated to help members to that feeling of confidence in themselves which constitutes the major half of success in any undertaking, whether of a personal or of a business nature.

In the last decade change after change has been introduced into the system. New notions in regard to the ways of conducting the affairs of the Department have been applied; radical alterations in method have been introduced; a new outlook and the development of a keen business sense have been required.

And these changes, occurring with increasing rapidity in late years, have come concurrently with sweeping technical improvements in equipment, signalling, and traffic control methods. This condition of flux has called for intensive study by the staff to keep pace with the flood of new regulations designed to cover the changed operations necessitated under the new regime.

They have been truly crowded years for the railwaymen of New Zealand, but the staff have stood up to the work and met every requirement in such a way as to fully warrant the high commendation quoted.

It is doubtful, indeed, if either the public or staff fully realise how great has been the effort required to bring about these basic alterations in the conduct of railway affairs. But a dispassionate review of past accomplishment gives ground both for assured page 5 pride in the record of the years to date, and steadfast confidence in the personnel of the service and the capacity and flexibility of the system to meet the changing conditions of modern transport.

Confidence is the expressed key-note of both Minister and General Manager in relation to the railway service, and mutual confidence between man and man, and between branch and branch, justified by the results of past co-ordinated efforts, will produce successful functioning of the whole organisation in the future.

Regarding that future the Prime Minister speaks with assurance. At Palmerston North, recently, Mr. Coates said:—

“It is all very well to talk about the railways and say they are losing so many hundreds of thousands of pounds a year, but there is one point that is overlooked. The railway system is the life blood artery of the trade and commerce of the country. (Applause.) Could you do without them? Of course you could not, and I am sure I am safe in assuming that that is the opinion of you all. The railways have been up against a difficult period. We have been going through a settling down process. We have to take these matters as they come, and take them steadily, and I believe that in the end the railways will be found to be the most economic form of transport for the primary producer.”

Progressive Tauranga.

As indicating the value of our Magazine in keeping overseas readers in touch with railway doings in New Zealand, we have pleasure in printing the following letter from Colonel J. S. Purdy, of Sydney, a former Health Officer of Auckland:—

Town Hall, Sydney, 1/6/28.

The Editor N.Z.R. Magazine.

Dear Sir,—An old comrade of the Sixth N.Z.M.R., who served with me in the South African War sends me your excellent Magazine. I was, as a former Health Officer of Auckland, interested in the account in your issue of 1/5/28 of the opening of the East Coast railway and the arrival of the first train at Tauranga.

I have a vivid recollection of visiting Tauranga in 1909 during an outbreak of typhoid fever, and advocating the introduction of a water supply. At a public meeting I remember saying, “You people of Tauranga, I believe, are proud of owning a famous racehorse, but I am not surprised that he lost the Northern Steeplechase at Auckland, as he bucked at the water jump, which is exactly the position of your own Council.” However, whilst Chief Health Officer of Tasmania I received a postcard of the opening of the water supply, with the superscription: “We have cleared the water jump.” The Councillor who sent me the card told me the next step was the railway. Tauranga is one of the most beautiful places I have seen, has an ideal climate, and should become a great health resort. In my position as Metropolitan Medical Officer of Health, Sydney, I sometimes get a chance to recommend visitors to New South Wales to go on to New Zealand, and am always able to tell them of your excellent railway facilities.—Yours faithfully,

J. S. Purdy, D.S.O., M.D., F.R.S.E., Colonel A.A.M.C., Metropolitan M.O.H., Sydney.

New Engine Designs

Important changes in the internal design of railway locomotives are likely to be effected as a result of research work which is now going forward. Faced with serious road rivalry and the necessity for combining speed with low running costs, railways are investigating the possibility of adapting engines to the use of oil fuel, or of such innovations as the Caprotti valve which, it is claimed, will reduce fuel consumption while maintaining existing standards of engine performance. Experiments along both these lines of development have been markedly successful, notably those devoted to an exploration of the principle of using steam power for starting an engine and oil for its normal running. The exterior of the engines will not be fundamentally altered as a result of these adaptations. The changes are being adopted as an alternative to the electrification of the main line systems as opposed to the purely suburban services.