Last month there was held in Madrid, the capital of Spain, the regular convention of the International Railway Congress. This gathering may, at first sight, appear of little importance to the New Zealand railwayman. As a matter of fact, the International Railway Congress performs the most valuable work on behalf of railways the world over. Not only does it afford a round table for the discussion, among the nations, of all affairs relating to railways and railway operation, but, by the world-wide circulation of the papers read by experts (in their respective fields) at the conference, it enables railway folk everywhere to keep in touch with current developments in transportation, and provides a stimulus for progress in all departments.

To-day, “railroading,” as our American friends style our work, knows no national boundaries. It is now an international undertaking, demanding the closest co-operation of railway men in every land. The International Railway Congress, as an association for the interchange of railway technical experience between the world's railways, provides a most striking example of the value of international co-operation—and this association is but one of several bodies now helping in the betterment of international communications.

Well to the fore among international railway associations of which New Zealand railway men should know something, is the International Railway Union, established, in 1922, at the instigation of the French railways. Sixty-two railway undertakings, belonging to thirty-three different European and Asiatic lands, are members of this union, which aims at facilitating international rail movement, and co-ordinates European railway opinion on vital international questions arising before the League of Nations and the International Chamber of Commerce.

Then, of the League of Nations, there is that advisory and technical committee which deals with communications and transit, the Railway Time-table Conference, which has done wonders in the improvement of European long-distance transport; and that well-known organisation, the International Chamber of Commerce. All of these international undertakings are performing invaluable service to mankind, and, by railway men especially, they are worthy of the most whole-hearted support.

Increased Rail Traffic in Germany.

Under the able leadership of Dr. Dorpmuller, the German railways to-day rank as one of the most progressive transportation undertakings in the world. This is indeed remarkable, when it is borne in mind how precarious was their financial condition at the time of the putting into being of the Dawes Plan. The fifth business year of the German Railway Company terminated on August 31st, 1929. In his report on the year's working, Monsieur Leverve, the Commissioner for the German railways to the Reparation Commission, states that traffic in 1929 reached a higher level than in 1928, when total receipts showed an increase of 2 ½ per cent. over the previous year. Receipts for 1929 were expected to reach a total of 5,370,000,000 marks, an increase of 4 per cent. page 21 over 1928. The surplus of receipts over expenditure was estimated at 911,000,000 marks, a figure which would cover the reparation charges for the year, the payment of dividend, the cover of 80,000,000 marks of expenditure on extensions, and the payment to reserve of 91,800,000 marks, bringing the reserve fund up to the total of 500,000,000 marks stipulated in the statutes.

At the present time, the German railways, like those of Britain, are experimenting very considerably in the search for increased locomotive economy and efficiency. The present seems, indeed, to be the day of the freak locomotive. Everywhere new ground is being broken by the locomotive designer, and very soon it is likely that world locomotive practice will be little short of revolutionised. New types of boilers, pulverised fuel, higher steam pressures, changed valve arrangements—these, and other innovations, are going to produce some wonderful new steam locomotives in the near future.

Germany is at present busy with a new 1,200 horse-power Diesel locomotive of the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement, stated to be 100 per cent. more efficient than the conventional form of steam locomotive. Compressed air is utilised to drive this unique machine, wherein the steam engine is replaced by a Diesel engine and an air compressor, supplying air at 103lb. per square inch. This air is heated by the exhaust of the Diesel engine, and then actuates the locomotive cylinders. Germany's new Diesel locomotive is controlled by the familiar operation of the cutoff and a valve regulator. Like the “No. 10,000” and “Fury,” high-pressure steam locomotives of the Home railways, the new German Diesel engine is still in the experimental stage, and the results of the trials it is now undergoing in the Stuttgart area will be awaited with eager interest.

The Day of the Steel Passenger Carriage.

Wooden passenger carriages are gradually being replaced throughout Europe by steel cars of modern design, and in this connection a lead is taken by the railways of Britain, France and Germany. In France, the Northern Railway has recently put into traffic in the Paris suburban services a number of all-steel cars of most interesting design. These cars are each 65 feet long and weigh 50 tons. They have an outer shell of sheet steel and an inner shell of duralumin. Between the two walls there are two thicknesses of cork, separated by an air bed, an arrangement giving equability of temperature both in summer and winter. The cars are connected by American type automatic central couplers, and fitted with Westinghouse brakes throughout. They are of the saloon type, with two pairs of sliding doors on each side, opening on to a platform and a pair of steps. Like the London underground railway cars, the doors of the French vehicles are equipped with pneumatic control apparatus operated by the guard.

Particular interest centres around the fact that these cars are to be made up into trains of nine vehicles, capable of being driven from either end. This ease in handling is secured by the provision, in the last car of the train, of a small driving compartment equipped with the necessary controls, including brake lever, regulator and reversing gear, and a telephone giving communication with the fireman on the engine at the opposite end. There is thus no necessity for the locomotive to run round its train at page 22 terminals, or for obtaining a fresh engine on the outward journey.

Electrification Schemes in Sweden.

For some years the 285 miles stretch of railway linking Stockholm and Gothenburg, in Sweden, has been successfully worked by electricty. Now the Swedish Government Railways are contemplating the conversion from steam to electric working of the Stockholm-Malmo-Traelleborg trunk route of 391 miles, as well as certain branch lines connecting this route with the Stockholm-Gothenburg line. The work will occupy about three years, and, by means of electrification, there is anticipated an annual saving of 120,000 tons of locomotive coal.

The total length of the Swedish electrified lines is about 750 miles. On the Stockholm-Gothenburg electrification, there is employed single-phase current of 16 2-3 periods and 16,000 volts. This arrangement will also apply to the new electrification plans. The Stockholm-Gothenburg route finds employment for ten electric passenger locomotives and forty electric freight locomotives. Each weighs 78 tons, and is of the 1-0-1 type with two gearings—one speed for fast passenger working, and the other for ordinary passenger and freight operation. When employed for passenger movement, speeds up to 45 miles an hour are attained with 500 ton trains.

In Sweden, both rail and road traffic keep to the left, as in Britain, but in other Scandinavian lands traffic keeps to the right. Sweden's near neighbour, Denmark, although only a relatively small land, possesses an efficient system of Government railways which, in recent times, have been extensively modernised. Fast trains are operated on all routes, and on the important route between Copenhagen and Masnedo (the ferry terminal on the trunk line to Germany via Gjedser-Warnemunde), and the Copenhagen-Korsor section, speeds up to 45 miles an hour are attained. Through cars are operated daily between Copenhagen and Berlin, Hamburg and Oslo, and sleeping-cars run each night between the Danish capital and Berlin, Hamburg, Oslo and Stockholm. The vast central passenger terminal (Hovedbanegaard), in Copenhagen, is soon to be electrified.

The High-Capacity Wagon.

For freight handling on the European railways, many types of high-capacity wagon are now employed. At Home, there has been a steady growth in the carrying capacities of freight cars of all kinds, the first types of high-capacity wagon being introduced by the North Eastern Railway as early as 1902. To-day, both the L. and N.E. and L.M. and S. Railways employ trucks of as large a carrying capacity as 40 tons for coal traffic, these wagons being found most economical in service. The L. and N.E. Railway has recently put into traffic (for the movement of bricks) wagons having a carrying capacity of 50 tons, and, for the carriage of coal in the South Wales mining area, new high-capacity cars have been introduced on the Great Western line.

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Notwithstanding the recent growth in the carrying capacity of the Home railway goods wagon, the British freight car still compares unfavourably in size with those of other lands. At Home, the average carrying capacity of freight cars works out at eleven tons. This figure compares with the French and Belgian average of fifteen tons, the German average of sixteen tons, and the American figure of forty-two tons. Conditions ruling in Britain and in America are, of course, vastly different, and all things considered, the British average wagon load figure of eleven tons is a very satisfactory one.

Effective Railway Publicity Work.

In their efforts to attract goods traffic to rail, no stone is being left unturned by the Home railways. Much personal canvassing is performed by each of the four group railways, and, in addition, a good deal of press and other publicity work is now being undertaken. Press announcements, poster advertising, and the issue of booklets, calendars, and the like, are all favoured in the effort to swell goods department revenues, and recent publications circulated include three interesting pamphlets issued by the Great Western line.

One booklet is entitled “How to Send and How to Save.” It gives a general review of freight traffic facilities by rail and railway-owned road services, a freight train time-table, and a list of the leading express goods trains.

Under the title of “Door to Door by Country Cartage Services,” an illustrated brochure has been issued, dealing with the road motor services operated in rural areas by the Great Western Railway.

The third publication takes the form of a leaflet entitled “Road-Rail Containers,” describing briefly the container system placed at the public disposal for the movement of miscellaneous freight.

Publications such as these prove of the greatest value in attracting goods traffic, and, in the case of the Great Western Railway, much new business has been definitely traced to their influence.

Summer holiday business is now at its height in Britain. Fast long-distance trains, composed of luxury vehicles with dining and sleeping car accommodation, fast and frequent services between London and the surrounding holiday haunts, day, half-day, and period excursions from every city to the coast and country resorts, and cheap bookings of every kind are held out for the delectation of the would-be vacationist.

From June to September all Britain, in turn, makes holiday. On the south, east and west coasts, there are scores of seaside resorts that handle tens of thousands of holiday-makers every month, while to such places as Stratford-on-Avon and the Shakespeare country, enormous numbers of sight-seers are drawn daily from all the corners of the earth.

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