GIANT TRAIN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22896, 26 November 1937, Page 8

GIANT TRAIN

[VICTORIAN RAILWAYS "SPIRIT OF PROGRESS" STREAM-LINED ENGINE COACHES AIR-CONDITIONED [from our otvn correspondent] MELBOURNE, Nov. 19 Victoria's new all-steel, air-condi-tioned stream-lined train, "The Spirit of Progress," built at a cost of £198,000. had its trial run this week when it attained a speed of 79 miles an hour. It will go into service in the Melbourne-Albury run on November 23. Three hundred guests, including railway commissioners from other States, were taken on the trial run to Geelong after the train had been named at Spencer Street station by 'the Premier, Mr. A. A. Dunstan. Few of the passengers who lounged in luxurious green, grey or maroon seats were aware that they were travelling at a speed never previously attained on an Australian railway. Sealed windows eliminated the rush of, air usually associated with highspeed travel and kept the temperature at,a constant 70 degrees. There was not a ripple on the surface of passengers' cups of tea as the speed climbed to nearly 80 miles an hour. Blue and Gold • The train is a symphony in blue and gold. The locomotive, named "Edward Henty." after one of Victoria's pioneer settlers, claims much interest. Gone is the familiar funnel. Gone are the steel dome and the pipes and tubes that stood before the driver's cab to make the engine whistle. There is not even the traditional round front with handles in the middle. Even the buffers have gone. 'ln place of all these ia a smooth, rounded front, leaning backwards a little from the vertical. A great monogram "V.R.," flanked with wings, heightens the suggestion of speed. So ' does the huge Cyclopean eye, set in the forehead of the monster. There is no funnel, but a great curving grid that follows the line to the top of the train breathes with a thin wisp of smoke to show that the monster lives. Reservoir ol Power /The tender, -10 ft. long, is a box of hidden power. It is built to carry 13,000 gallons of water and 8J tons of coal —sufficient to carry the train on a non-stop run from Melbourne across thp State to Albury, a distance of 190J miles. ."The weight of the engine and tender, ready for the road, is 221 tons. The length of the engine is quoted officially as 85ft. 9 5-16 in. ,The eye sweeps down the long line of carriages which appear at first sight to be unbroken by gap or join. The guard's van is placed behind the teller and an observation car is attached at' the end of the train. Each carriage is 75ft. long and weighs 42-J tons. The train is 9ft. 9in. wide. Each unit is a solid hull of a new alloy lighter than steel, remarkably strong and remarkably resistant to corrosion.