The Farm Railways of Belgium.

The Harwich-Zeebrugge train ferry is operated jointly by the L. and N.E. Railway, of England, and the Belgian State Railways. It has performed much useful service in through movement of perishable traffic between Britain and the rest of Europe, and, incidentally, has done much to aid in the post-war restoration of the Belgian State Railways. The Belgian Railways suffered greatly during the war, but a wonderful improvement has been effected by the Brussels transportation authorities during the past few years. The State Railways, operated as a commercial concern on similar lines to the New Zealand Government Railways, are now on a paying basis, and great extensions everywhere are being undertaken. At Antwerp new docks and shipping facilities are being provided, main lines are being widened, and many additional miles of light railway are being built to serve the rural areas. These light lines, usually of sixty centimetre (about 2ft.) gauge, are a feature of transport in Belgium. They are controlled by the Sociètè Nationale des Chemins de Fer Vicinaux, and there are in all 2,820 miles of light railway serving farms and rural communities. Both steam and electricity are employed as haulage agents, and almost every farm of any size has its own “back-yard siding” giving connection with the standard gauge railway system. “Gallant little Belgium” leads the world in the employment of light railways for aiding the farmer, and everyone interested in the development of agricultural transport should become acquainted with the wonderful work of the sixty centimetre railway network serving the Belgium farm lands.