BOUDOIR SLEEPERS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13680, 24 August 1908, Page 7

BOUDOIR SLEEPERS.

■ON THE MAIN TRUNK LINE,

For the accommodation and comfort of travellers on the express trains which are run between Wellington and Auckland, the Railway Department is building a number of Bleeping cars, a description of which will be oi interest to many of our readers. Bo far as can be ascertained, the first sleeping-car was built in the United States for use of- Terre Haunle, Alton and St. Lewis Railway, under a patent granted in 1856 or 1857, the pan tee being a mechanic named Woodruff. In 1858 Webster Wagner founded the Wagner Palace Car Company, patented and built- four sleeping cans for the New York Central Railroad. The modern sleeping-car was introduced by George S. Pullman, who built his first ..car tin 1859. As compared with the wider track of other countries, the narrow gauge of the railways in' the Dominion renders it somewhat moro difficult to Jscoure the desired space, but, we are assured," the sleeping-ears now under construction in our Railway workshops.' will afford the travelling public much comfort and (satisfaction.

The cars are of the enclosed corridor type, with- six: compartments opening off the corridor..'. Four of these eix compartments will each make up into four berth cabins fcr the night, whilst the remaining two .. cpmpartmeiitfc. will each have twobleeping 'berths,' all bunks being placed athwartbhlp. • -A calf "will therefore provide sleeping accommodation for twenty passengers. During the day lime all evi- ■ dencts of bedding and bunks will be eto-w----:ed~ away in cupboards and' lockers, and euek cabin will be/transformed- into a -.snug compartment- for'; day utie.'•; - iThe following.is theZniethod of transformation:—ln- the- cuvyfinWjuxurious uphoktered'seats are provided ;• at night the Keats will be converted into lower berths, whilst, the seat backs, which are hinged will bo turned up to become the upper Curled hair maUressee will be provided for the upper bertha.

Then as> to bedclothes, clean sheets and pillow-eases will be'provided nightly, with an abundance of those rugs for which the woollen mills of. the Dominion are so deservedly celebrated. Blinds, curtains, etc., will inrsure privacy, and the ceiling lamps: may be either." turned out, all but the . bye-pav>x, or pilot-light, oi; if . pre"Krred, fcifk shades may be drawn-over the globe.-lb-soften the- light- Ventilation has übt been forgotten, suitable inlets •'<uj.il outlets, '-under the passengers control,-, being provided. --During cold weather the heating of the entire train will ba accomplished by a- flow' of steam from the engine, suitable pipes' extending throughout .the train, connected by flexible - couplings -much in the same way as the Weetingh'ouser brake pipes are connected between'..- eiirriages. Heaters will be placed in tie-'-carriages, including the small sleeping: compartments, and regulating devices will enable; passengers to increase or diminish the warmth at will. The carriages are fifty feet long over the buffer-beams, and eight "feet nine inches wide over the panels. Two wash-hand basins will be fitted ineach; lavatory or dressing-room, -with a, large: mirror on the wall between: the; basins, thus enabling two passengers to use the dressing-room at 'one time. A plentiful supply of both hot and cold

water will be available. Another noticeable feature in these carriages will be. the large-sized windows, which -will enable passengers to anew the wonderful panorama of varied scenery through which the train runs during its Ion" journey between the two cities. Sleeping berths, and seats, will be nuuibered, and may be reserved for the trip. The Railway Department is to be congratulated on its adoption of o the compartment, or boudoir, type of ""sleeper.*' On the score of both comfort and privacy that type is infinitely preferable to the old style of " sleeper" in which the bunks were arranged fore and aft against the walls of the carriage, with a central passage way common to the bunks on each side,. The type adopted for New Zealand ifi already used on the Rhodesian railways, and a writer in (he World's Work recently suggested that something on the same lines should be adopted on British railways.—The Dominion.