NAMING OF LOCOMOTIVES

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 56, 4 September 1934, Page 8

NAMING OF LOCOMOTIVES

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —Writing in support of "K." on tho subject of naming New Zealand railway locomotives, the following points may bo of interest. It is recognised that the naming of locomotives has two main, advantages to tho Kailway Department, or company concerned. Firstly, the systematic naming of locomotives is of importance, not only in creating esprit do corps among drivers, firemen, shops staff, and other employees, as mentioned by "K.," but also for repair work in the workshops. A name is easier to remember than a number. Engines in the same class have similar names; for example, "Windsor Castle," "Cacrphilly Castle," etc., on tho Great Western Railway (England). It is thus much easier to classify locomotives into their classes if their names are given, whereas with numbers records have to be looked up. In this connection it will be useful to quoto Mr. Ccci? J. Allen, M.lnst.T., M.lnst.Loco.E., Assoc.F.P.W.L, the noted English writer on railway matters, who says.:— "The naming of locomotivess, again, is a further. concession to public interest, and so far from being a valueless proceeding it becomes, when carried out on (systematic linos —as for example, on the Great Western Railway— a useful method of identifying the particular type or class to which an engine belongs." Tho second and more important advantage is the psychological effectof naming locomotives on the travelling public and others. This effect is hard to estimate but it undoubtedly does exist. The great scheme of maintaining public interest in railway matters as carried out in England, and to a lesser extent on the Continent and America, depends mainly on tho naming of locomotives and trains. The maintenance of locomotives in a spick-and-span condition also has an important bear-j ing on tho subject. ' In this, country, relatively, little has been done in this direction. The naming of the 7.15 p.m., for example, as the "Limited" has had an import- ■ ant effect upon tho traveling public, and lias contributed to the success and popularity which this train now enjoys. Soo, too, if the naming'of locomotives was carried out in this country, it could not but stimulate public interest in the railways and further popularise rail travel.—l am, etc.,

J. B. C. TAYLOR