Just sixty years ago a little group of time-table experts drawn from the principal European countries, gathered together for the purpose of giving consideration to the improvement of through passenger train running across the Continent, and the betterment of international rail travel generally. This was the embryo out of which sprang that important body now known as the European Time-table Conference, which recently held its Annual Convention in London. In his current Letter our Special London Correspondent makes interesting reference to this Conference, and reviews recent railway progress in Britain and on the Continent.

European Passenger Time-tables.

The business of the Conference was to arrange the principal European passenger time-tables for the summer of 1932, and the winter of 1932–1933. Representatives from twenty-nine countries were in attendance, and on the completion of the more serious business, educational trips were made by the delegates over the various Home railway systems. The statutes of the European Time-table Conference define its aims as being to decide general questions relating to international passenger train services, the arrangement of international communications by rail and waterway, and the amelioration of Customs service and passport verification at frontier stations. Steamship lines, sleeping and dining-car undertakings and aerial transport concerns engaged in international services, are also parties to the Conference. The value of the work accomplished by this body of experts throughout its sixty-year history will be appreciated when it is realised that to make an alteration in the running of a single European longdistance train sometimes involves nearly a dozen different administrations. For example, if an alteration is suggested in the Simplon-Orient Express, ten railways will probably have to amend their time-tables; while a change in the running of the Ostend-Vienna-Constantinople Express might upset the train times of eleven administrations.

New Engines for International Trains.

Because of its geographical situation in the heart of Central Europe, Czechoslovakia (Bohemia, as it was once termed) is called upon to handle much through business between eastern and western Europe. Some of the heaviest passenger trains on the Continent pass through Czechoslovakia in the course of their runs, and for operating long-distance international trains the Czecho-slovakian railways have just acquired eleven “Pacific” type superheated locomotives of especially interesting design.

The new locomotives have been built by the Skoda Works Ltd., of Prague. They are of 4ft. 8 1/2in. gauge, and have a total wheelbase of 36ft. lin., with an overall length of 48ft. 8 1/4in. The coupled wheels have a diameter of 6ft. 4 3/4in., the diameter page 22 of the leading bogey wheels being 3ft. 5in., and the trailing bogey wheels 4ft. 3 1/4in. The three cylinders are each of 20 3/4in. diameter and 26 3/4in. stroke, while boiler working pressure is 185lb. per sq. in. The grate area is 3,802 sq. ft. Empty, the locomotive weighs 80 1/2 tons, and in working order 90 1/2 tons. Maximum speed is 68 miles an hour. The tender carries 5,000 gallons of water, and has a fuel capacity of 512 cubic feet. A straight-topped boiler is fitted, with a flat-topped copper firebox, while the

Europe's Latest Contribution To Locomotive Development.
One of the new “Pacific” superheated engines on the Czechoslovakian Railways.

superheater is of the Schmidt type. The new locomotives are by far the most powerful machines employed on the Czecho-slovakian State Railways, and they should prove an immense asset in drawing heavy international passenger trains.

New Electric Locomotives on the Spanish Railways.

While powerful new steam locomotives are being brought into use in Central Europe, another European land—Spain—has just acquired an interesting type of electric locomotive, capable of operating at speeds up to 68 miles an hour. This locomotive is the joint product of Sociedad Espanola de Construction Naval, Reinosa, and the Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co. Ltd., Manchester. It is intended for express passenger haulage between Irun and Alsusua, on the Northern Railway of Spain.

Of 3,600 h.p., Spain's new locomotive is of the 4–6 + 6–4 type, weighing about 150 tons. It consists of two main trucks connected by an articulated coupling. The body terminates at the front ends of the two driver's cabs, and is separate from the trucks resting on the usual pivot centres and bearers. Each truck has three driving axles and a standard Northern Railway guiding bogie truck, and each of the six driving-axles is driven by two motors, rigidly mounted on the top of the trucks and employing the Winterthur universal drive. The motors have a one-hour rating of 320 h.p., and the control gear is arranged for 1,500 D.C. supply. Nine economical speed combinations are provided, with regenerative control on down grades. The Spanish railway electrifications in the northern sector are proving especially successful, and as by degrees the gauge of the Spanish lines is being converted to the European standard of 4ft. 8 1/2in., through running between Madrid and other Spanish points and the principal European capitals will be greatly facilitated.

Electrification in Sweden and Switzerland.

Spain is not the only European land that is finding electrification a pronounced success. Recent reports from Sweden and Switzerland all tell of the successful conversion of main-line railways from steam to electric traction. In Sweden one of the biggest conversions tackled has been the electrical equipment of the ore transport page 23 railways from Lapland to the Norwegian frontier, while equally satisfactory results have followed the electrification of the Stockholm-Gothenburg main line. The fastest train on the latter route now occupies six hours four minutes on the throughout run, as against the eight hours forty minutes taken by steam trains. Because of the proved success of electric traction, the Swedish State Railways are proceeding with the electrification of the Stockholm-Malmo-Tralleborg main-line, while electrification is also contemplated of certain tracks in Central Sweden, and the Western Railway, linking Malmo and Helsingborg with Gothenburg.

In Switzerland the latest electrification work to be put in hand covers the conversion of some 300 miles of main-line track, making a total of about 1,350 miles of electric line operated by the Government Railways. In this case single-phase current at 15,000 volts and 16 2/3 cycles is favoured. In addition, several privately owned railways in Switzerland are being electrified, the principal of these being the Bodensee-Toggenburg line (41 miles) connecting Romanshorn, on Lake Constance, with St. Gall. In Britain, big electrification works are being carried out on

Electrical Operation Speeds London Traffic.
London Bridge Station on the Southern Railway's new electrified tracks.

the Southern Railway, and in the course of a few months this system will work all its trains electrically between London and Brighton and Worthing.

In solving the problem of short-distance operation on economical and efficient lines, several European countries are finding Diesel-electric railcars of distinct utility. Germany is a leader in this movement and a feature is the effort that is being made to decrease driving resistance by the design of light railcars and stream-lined rolling-stock generally. In the near future there will be put into service in Germany a number of Diesel-electric railcars with V-shaped 12-cylinder Diesel engines developing 400 h.p., and with an engine weight of 3,750lb. There is also under construction an articulated stream-lined railcar for fast passenger movement, having a 400 h.p. engine in each end bogie, and capable of speeds of up to 95 miles an hour with about 150 passengers on board. Encouraged by the satisfactory results achieved with small Diesel railcars, the German railways recently have placed large orders for 150 and 175 h.p. units, as well as for the railcars of much higher power output to which reference has previously been made.

“Beautiful as sweet! and young as beautiful! and soft as young! and gay as soft! and innocent as gay!”—Young.
Our Children's Gallery.—(1) Phillip, Molly and John Scahill (Summit, Wellington); (2) Peter Mackley (Wellington); (3) Norman, Joyce and Constance Hills (Summit); (4) Richard Clyde Harvey (Waimate); (5) Dick and James Walter Harvey (Waimate); (6) Buryl Drew, (Henderson); (7) Bruce Dowdle, Mavis Wilson and Betty Dowdle (Wellington); (8) Auriol and Jacqueline King (Wellington); (9) Lenora Wardle (Otahuhu) and Ronald Robson (Wanganui); (10) Nancy and Rose Wakefield (Oturehua, Otago Central); (11) Leslie Gouffe (Wellington); (12) Alan, Colin and Nancy Bock (Ohakune).