OUR RAILWAYS IN GENERAL

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 6450, 22 February 1908, Page 14

OUR RAILWAYS IN GENERAL

I'IIE AUCKLAND EXPRESS IN PARTICULAR (To tlio Editor "NX Times." ) Sir, May I ask ii !ln- Railway Dopartmoot proposes to Mipidy a <lo.-« of chlorofonn v.klj iivory Ik-kid is whon a train runs ihrouj-rh to Auckland:' Iho iiMioswpwt -insularly «jnoriutl ;>! «r«rvlhiiiK Uml ••‘rtiM-itulvs comfort io l.ravo.l. Any loo;; journey k.v rail m Now //tiajaml is already a tost oi oaidur[looia Tim irip to Auokland will be a nightmare I Some of the existing railway wri:i[i« um-i-m tmr*-lv <!-<•. .igmd Ijv the Evil One hi"Ma,nv of lh/ first-class w»n|M.rt.incnls have mother carpet nor mat. t'hmi tlwro are the floor*, which will not Kli lit.: v. iiixiowK vvlueii will not open—or, n ihoy do. only a lew indue at the boltoiii, an impracticable advantage when the weather le nil tier windy, cold, or wet. The old-fiuvliioncd English window, which Ji-ods fmni I hi: top and eaj, ho lowered an umh at a time, ih inJinitcly to be preferred.

As for t'Jio new suburban oars. they are ?.itiiply “ Black Marias" on wheels —all v. all and no window. Then those squat seats, with bucks like rdiureh pews— a man's knees are ever in he- mouth, and miserable is his lot. Whv, foo. that everlasting traffic along Ihe central aisle, right through .tho train. Shall there lw no rest for tho winery—no pence for tin* innocent;' One meed irrif.aU.nj? and disturbing oxl»eri«jps» i,s the ticket-examina-tion that: goes on right through a long journey. Every Inv-vh gnard, ami occasionally a porter, must have a look in. It Is just about time the barrier system name into operation at tho principal station*;, with no collection on the train at all. and only occasional oxa-ininatioji to hnsuro that people travel by tho class they book for. Those tnsvdy decorations, 100. ihc Railway Department proudly exhibited a railway carriage at the Christchurch Exhibition. Surely it should know that nolnxly {K>ssessing a.u atom of good taste would permit “prosecd wood"—a travesty on carving—to enter into any artistic scheme of adornment. Ordinary panelling and plain relief work is ever to bo profernxl. , , . . As for the dining cars and the smoking cars, well, they are all right for people who haven’t scon anything better. Let the L'nion Steamship Company put on a 7000 ton steamer miming t fom Wellington to Auckland, via tho hast Coast, without a *top, and they will six/op tho pool every time I Tho terrible slowness of those trains, 100. ChiULren have boon born and men ami women have died during a journey. Ten minuton at wayside stations when three minutes should do 1 W J»y don t those guards and porters "get a move on"? They need to be made to bustle a bit and’ get trains away. Thore is much the Railway Department doesn't know. ft is, however, impossible to tench tho scUSsatis-flcd. It has first fo realise its deplorable ignorance. One can only pity the long-buffering people who have had to submit to such muddlesomo control of their railroads. Tho electric tram in their service and in their rolling stocks—arc miles ahead of anything which prevails on our railways, comparatively speaking. They prove indisputably that tho right thing can be done for almost as little cost as the wrong. Paucity of population surely cannot bo pleaded/ How win it be when mosfc of our trams a.ro crowded —and our trains 100 ? Sir Joseph Ward, with recent experience in England and abroad, ought to fie able to tell our Railway Department rhafc it lia>s a long way to travel before it reaches efficiency. It is to be hoped that ho will l>e frankly critical —even to tho verge of brutality. In justice to tho Railway Department, f ought, perhaps, to mention, before elo.-i.ng this letter, that if there- is one section of its business it does pride itrolf upon it is tho chocking of passengers' baggage. But even this great achievement is marred by an exhibition of proI’csdonal jealousy—an utter failure to i’cki.-owledgo the real source of inspiration, and do justice to tho talent of those from whom ideas have Ix-en borrowed. Now, I happen to know that the regulations for chocking baggage, which are &o si'i ioirsly applied on the Now Zo?\Jaud railways, originated with tho late lam ant ed Dan Leno. Not only this, but they wore oven, regardless of expense, revised bv the still-existent Air Georgo Robey. Can oho wondwr, after this, that tho public is moro than satisfied, and would rather Joe it? portmanteau in Now Zealand than anywhero else under tho sun ?—I «m, etc., "SILVER-POINT;” Wellington, 19fch Feb., 1908.