Fortunately none of the feelings thus expressed by Burns on one of his doleful days need be experienced by members of the Railway Service in a survey of the past year and a forecast of the coming one. For whilst 1926 has been full of progress, 1927 is rich with promise. Let us, therefore, ruffle the pages of the year gone by and play the prophet with the coming twelve months, for, self-trust being the first secret of success and past accomplishment the surest measure of future capacity, a glance over the progress already achieved is the best prelude to the more fascinating employment of spying out the times ahead.

New ideas of service have taken shape in the minds of the staff. The Training and Correspondence School established at the start of the year already has almost two thousand students, or one-seventh of the total permanent staff, busily engaged in voluntary study intended to make them more efficient in the performance of their work. General education in railway affairs has been advanced by lectures in various parts of the Dominion, and a reference library, planned on broad lines, is in course of establishment at Head Office. Also, and as a further means for the dissemination of railway knowledge amongst the public and members of the Department, this Magazine was brought into being. In the Workshops rapid strides have been made in reorganisation, including the introduction of better methods and more modern machinery. Locomotive power, both in the unit and in the mass, has been improved by the introduction of better types, improvements to existing ones, and the withdrawal of less efficient classes. Training of apprentices during working hours has become an established practice. Stores reorganisation has been pushed on with in accordance with the best models. Although during the year the price per mile for passenger conveyance has remained unaltered, more has been given in return by way of increased attention to the comfort, safety, and convenience of train travellers. Progress in co-ordination has been recorded by group conferences amongst different branches of the service. Divisional Superintendents have harnessed in the work of each island to produce higher efficiency by the exercise of more direct authority. The year has seen a commencement in the establishment of Advisory Boards to further assist in synchronising railway operations with public requirements. The application of publicity methods to the problems of safety have secured good results.

Linking up with motors between detached sections of railway is being tried out, and a start has been made with running the first railway-owned road using buses. Thus, omitting minor details, may the progress of the year just past be summarised.

The coming year promises still further development. The Minister of Railways. Official Secretary, and Chief Engineer are soon to be here with the latest information on the railway situation in other countries. Two transport officers, are proceeding to Australia with the purpose of studying and later introducing into New Zealand new train control methods. With the bright prospect of Royalty visiting, in page 3 February, its own most British as most antipodean Dominion, the Workshops are working overtime turning out Royal Trains, and a busy time for Transport is promised in bringing the populace to the points that are included in the itinerary of the Duke and Duchess of York. The year may see some movement in the establishment of a Chair of Transportation in the University. The scope of railway education will certainly be further extended. Definite functioning of District Advisory Boards should prove very helpful in facilitating improvements in numerous directions. The Regrading Committee which has been investigating the staffing question, having for the first time assembled sufficient data to enable the accurate estimating of relative position values, will have put in its report and considerable adjustment of grades may be expected from its labours. Some of the new workshops buildings will be occupied and further reorganisation likely to prove beneficial to the whole service is contemplated.

There is thus clear evidence that 1927 promises to be replete with variety, studded with stimulating possibilities, and marked by a healthy expansion of railway activities in various directions. May it bear in its lap a due measure of prosperity for all!

Australasian Reciprocity.

Resulting from discussions at the Australasian Railways Commissioners' Conference recently held in Melbourne, a reciprocal arrangement has been entered into between all Australian railway systems and the New Zealand Railways for a regular interchange of ideas and suggestions which have been approved by any one of the systems and which would likely be of benefit or interest to any of the others. The information is collated and circulated by the Secretary of the Australasian Railways Conferences at Sydney.

As in New Zealand, a Suggestions Board is attached to all the Australian railway systems, and through this valuable medium the ideas and opinions of thousands of railway employees are made available for the betterment of the railways concerned.

A clause in the rules of the Suggestions and Inventions Committee of the New Zealand Railways provides that any invention or suggestion which the Committee considers might be of value to the New Zealand Railways will, if the suggester so desires and after the invention has been protected by patent, be submitted to corresponding Suggestions Boards of the Australian Railways with a view to adoption, and he will receive any awards which may be granted in respect thereof. Other Suggestions Boards have the same provision in their rules governing their operations, and frequently, at the request of those who have made suggestions, proposals are submitted to or received from corresponding Boards of the Australian Railways.

The reciprocal arrangement recently entered upon widens the scope of activities of the various Suggestions Boards and will undoubtedly have a beneficial effect, standardising or making uniform various systems or processes and, in general, introducing the latest ideas for the betterment of railway services.

Workshops Reconstruction.

The work in connection with the reconstruction of workshops at Hillside and Addington is being proceeded with expeditiously now that the contracts for the work have been placed. Mr. W. McLellan, a builder at Dunedin, has tendered successfully for portions of the work.

The iron and steel work will be supplied by the British firm of Sir William Arrol and Company. The erection of all the steel work will be undertaken by the Dunedin Engineering Company as sub-contractors. It is interesting to note that there will be absolutely no brickwork in either of the buildings, which will consist mainly of steel and concrete work. The roofs will be flat, after the style of northern shops. It was originally intended that all roofing should be of British material, but it has since been ascertained that the British article is too dear, with the result that American material will be used. The roofing will consist of alternating layers of bitumenised fabric and liquid bitumen, the whole being permanently protected by a macadamised surface. The boiling bitumen will be sprayed on the roof from marable oil-fired reservoirs. The roof areas for the two units of the contract will total about seven and a half acres. The sub-contractors will engage about 50 men for the steel work, and the building contractors expect to find work for a similar number. Towards the end of the contract more men will be required. The contract price is about £190,000 for the two shops. The Department will itself do all the foundation work for the workshops.