“Name The Rail-Cars” Competition.

In the issue of the “Railways Magazine” for December and also in advertisements which appeared in the principal newspapers of the Dominion, prizes were offered by the Railway Department for the best groups of names suggested for 10 rail-cars to be introduced on the Wellington—Masterton—Palmerston North and the Wellington—New Plymouth routes.

So popular did this competition prove that the work of sorting and assessing the entries has proved a formidable task. It is now hoped, however, that it will be possible to announce the prize-winners in the April issue of the Magazine.

My small nephew, who has lived most of his brief life on an outback farm, has a passion for trains, of which he has seen few. But he has many books on trains and possesses quite a good “Hornby.”

Recently we discovered this essay which he'd written. It is entitled “When I Grow Up,” and reads: “When I grow up, I am not going to be a farmer, but an engain (engine) driver. I am going to drive an engain on rails. I am going to some towns where there are lots of people. I am going to see lots of tunnels, staishons (stations), signals, trucks, cranes, boats and men. My train is going to be a goods train. It is going to have lots of trucks and things, and it is not going to be robbed by bandits. I am going to get two pounds ten and found, and four pounds a week for wages. Then if I get the sack I am going to be a sailor on Queen Mary, the sea liner, and the skipper is going to treat me in a good way.”

(Specially Written for “N.Z. Railways Magazine,” by W. F. Ingram )