Utility of Streamlining.

Streamlining of fast passenger trains has definitely come to stay. The most searching of tests under actual working conditions have proved beyond doubt the utility of the idea, and to-day most of the larger European railways are introducing streamlined passenger trains into their main-line services.

Old-established servcies such as the “Flying Scotsman,” the “Royal Scot,” and the “Cornish Riviera Express,” that have brought fame to the Home railways, may shortly be maintained by new streamlined locomotives and carriages. As yet, however, only partial streamlining has been attempted in Britain. Complete streamlining has made exceptional progress in Germany. Because of the success of the “Flying Hamburger” train, Germany is now introducing eleven new streamlined passenger trains in long-haul service. These trains will consist of saloon cars, having two seats on each side of a central gangway. The trains will run at an average speed of 75 m.p.h., and will operate between Berlin and Koenigsberg, Breslau, Dresden, Munich and Cologne.

Hand-in-hand with streamlining, goes the employment of aluminium and aluminium alloys for carriage construction. This results in a great saving of dead weight. The Danish and Norwegian State Railways have recently acquired numbers of aluminium carriages for express service. The latest Danish aluminium cars give accommodation for 235 passengers, as against the 168 passengers accommodated in the older and heavier type of vehicle.