page 7

Inspiration from Progress

Railway news from all the world speaks of progress in the industry. How interesting this is to the public depends principally, of course, upon what they, as individuals, are likely to gain from it.

If they are interested in transport as a spectacle of contest between one form of conveyance and another, it may be said with confidence that the “iron horse” has his nose in front once again.

If they want the Railways as something they themselves can use and enjoy, the news of the day is equally pleasing.

From England comes the tale of the two miles-a-minute run on the L.N.E.R. with comfort all the way. America tells of its New Broadway Limited running the 903 miles between New York and Chicago in sixteen hours, including the heavy going through the Alleghenny Mountains. The other day our own little “Red Terror,” the managerial inspection car, which has led the way in railcar development in New Zealand, did the 426 miles from Wellington to Auckland, including the climb over the central mountain plateau, in eight hours fifty-six minutes, while still better performance is promised from the new Standard Diesel type passenger railcars already undergoing eminently satisfactory trial runs in the North Island.

On the railways of the world, steam locomotives and trains are being transformed into land fliers of the new romance. Stream-lining, air-conditioning, more cylinders per engine to increase efficiency, track improvements, and a luxury in the interior finish and furnishings of cars, to vie with the best that hotels or steamships can show, these are among the methods the more enterprising railways are adopting to retain their leadership in the transport field.

And they are finding a ready response from the public to the new conditions of railway travel. While increasing congestion slows up road traffic, new enterprise speeds up and increases the comfort of railway traffic.

Thus it is that many who had developed the habit of making their longer journeys by road in private cars are being won back to the railways, and become enthusiastic regarding the all-round comfort and satisfaction to be obtained from train travel under the new conditions.

Other aids to railway progress in other countries besides ours are found in staff-housing, staff-training and railway health organisations, in technical reorganisation and in appropriate co-ordination of the various means of transport.

New Zealand is keeping well abreast of the times in its railway developments, and the progress made all along the line of the physical front of the railways is an inspiration not only to those engaged in the industry, but also to the public who own and use this means of transport for their business and pleasure.