britain's latest streamlined locomotives.

High-Speed trains are now in regular daily service between London and Scotland on both the London, Midland & Scottish, and London & North Eastern routes, out of Euston and King's Cross stations respectively. Commencing 5th July, the L. M. & S. Company's new flyer—“The Coronation Scot”—hauled by streamlined engines, covers the Euston-Glasgow journey in 6½ hours, the fastest regular timing ever recorded for the 401½ miles run. On the same date, the L. & N.E. put into service “The Coronation,” a streamlined express performing the 392 miles journey between King's Cross and Edinburgh daily in the record time of six hours. Five powerful streamlined “Pacific” locomotives were specially built for this service in the Doncaster railway shops, and these have very appropriately been named “Dominion of New Zealand,” “Dominion of Canada,” “Commonwealth of Australia,” “Union of South Africa,” and “Empire of India.” New Zealand railway folk will be particularly pleased to know that this crack train of the Homeland is regularly hauled by a magnificent streamlined locomotive bearing the nameplate of the Dominion, and that at the naming ceremony the L. & N.E. Railway were honoured by the presence of the New Zealand High Commissioner in London.

In years gone by, when more than one hundred individual railway systems served Britain, locomotives and rolling-stock of almost every conceivable colour were seen in traffic. Nowadays, we have only four huge group systems providing transportation, but as each group has adopted a different colour scheme for its engines and carriages, a little pleasant variety is still given to railway travel. L. M. & S. passenger locomotives and carriages are painted in crimson-lake, similar to that once favoured by the Midland Railway; on the L. & N.E. line the majority of the passenger engines are painted green, and the passenger coaches brown; the G.W. favours green for its locomotives, and chocolate and cream for its passenger stock; while on the Southern system engines and coaches are painted dark green. In connection with new Railway Clearing House arrangements for goods wagon painting, in which the initials of the owning company are now in small lettering over the wagon number, the L. M. & S. is repainting its freight rolling-stock in what is known as “bauxite red”—a light brown tint. L. & N.E. wagons are painted in a distinctive dark grey; G.W. light grey; and those of the S.R. dark brown. Incidentally, by omitting the large white letters formerly employed on wagon sides, showing the owning company, a considerable annual saving is being effected in paint.

Passenger Carriage Design.

Passenger carriages employed on the Home railways are recognised as being of exceptionally stout construction and possessing admirable smooth-riding qualities. The majority of the carriages consist of a substantial steel underframe, with steel and timber, or reinforced timber, bodies, with special coupling and buffer systems. This construction is claimed to be superior to the all-steel car from the viewpoint

Wolferton Station, L. and N.E.R., serving the Royal Residence at Sandringham, Norfolk.

of safety, but it is significant that on the continent of Europe the all-steel car is by degrees becoming standardised. According to a recent official questionnaire, out of 59 leading railway undertakings of the world, some 35 have decided upon the eventual employment of all-steel construction for passenger coaches. The International Railway Union, also, a short time ago, stipulated that for international journeys where speeds of over 75 m.p.h. were attained, all-steel stock should be employed. France, Belgium, Germany and Italy all make extensive use of all-steel construction, while a few months ago Austria adopted this form of construction as standard.

Combined Rail, Road and Steamer Tours.

In this wonderful Coronation summer of 1937, a feature of the Home railway passenger bookings is the enormous popularity of the combined rail-road-steamer tours operated by the four group lines. To meet the needs of the times, the railways have introduced extensive programmes of tours for combined rail, road and steamer itineraries, covering sight-seeing journeys throughout almost every corner of the land. Apart from the universal “penny-a-mile” monthly return tickets, there have been placed at page 20 page 21

An all-steel passenger coach on the Belgian Railways.

the disposal of the traveller special circular tour tickets covering long or short journeys at fares about twenty-five per cent, less than the ordinary single tickets for third-class, with corresponding cuts for first-class travel. These tickets work out at approximately fifteen shillings for 150 miles third-class, or 22s. 6d. for a similar distance first-class. A tour of 500 miles thus costs, roughly, 50s. third-class, or 75s. first-class, 1,000-mile rail tours of the Homeland costing £5 third-class and £7/10/0 first-class. Unlike some lands, where holders of cheap tickets are not permitted to travel by many of the faster trains, in Britain almost every crack train, such as the “Flying Scotsman,” the “Royal Scot,” and the “Cornish Riviera Limited,” is available to the tourist taking advantage of the specially cut fares.

Railway Operation in Scotland.

Railway-operated road vehicles are, to-day, seen everywhere. In Scotland, these services are particularly appreciated, for the mountainous nature of the country renders rail movement impossible in many parts. With an area of over 30,000 square miles, a little over 21 per cent, of “Bonnie Scotland” consists of moors and uplands. All the main-lines serving the Highlands have sections involving steep gradients, sharp curvature, or both. A particularly interesting Scottish line is the West Highland, a single-track route linking Craigendoran, near Glasgow, with Fort William and Mallaig. This construction involved some of the most arduous engineering work ever attempted. Some 141 miles in length, the West Highland Railway is worked by 4–4–0 and 2–6–0 steam locomotives, normally hauling loads of 180 and 220 tons respectively. At present a new class of 2–6–0 engine is being introduced, capable of hauling 300–ton trains. Through sleeping and restaurant cars are operated between London, Glasgow and Fort William, covering the West Highland section, and many tourists make the trip solely to enjoy the wonderful Scottish scenery.

Electrification in Britain.

Railway electrification continues to make steady progress on the continent, and somewhat slower progress in Britain. Here at Home, the conditions are not particularly favourable to mainline electrification, and as we enjoy abundant coal deposits, the steam-driven “Iron Horse” is not likely to give place to the electric locomotive to any considerable degree for many years to come. Actually, at the end of last year, Britain had 667 route miles of electrified railway. In general, the electrification so far undertaken has been largely of a suburban character, where frequent service with heavy peak load periods is called for. The Southern Railway operates the largest of our electrified systems, this covering almost the whole of the lines lying between London and the south coast.

Railway Convalescent Homes.

Most railway jobs are of a healthy nature, and, broadly speaking, the railwayman ranks, happily, among the healthiest of workers. Illness, however, must inevitably at some time come the way of all, and suitable provision must be made to meet this contingency. The Home railwayman receives sick benefit under the national health insurance scheme, while during the period of convalescence after seri-ous

Bekescsaba passenger station, Hungarian State Railways.

illness his needs are met by a commendable movement known as the “Railway Convalescent Homes.” This movement was started thirty-eight years ago. To-day, through the cooperation of railway mangements and railwaymen, a chain of eight well-equipped convalescent homes operates for the workers' benefit. The contribution of the individual employee is as low as one halfpenny a week—although many give more—and this entitles him to secure all the benefits of specialised convalescent home treatment should the need arise. Special homes, also, are maintained for the benefit of female workers. One convalescent home is devoted entirely to accommodating mothers, with their babies up to eight months old. Last year, no fewer than 7,000 people passed through the Railway Convalescent Homes, where they recuperated under the happiest surroundings, ready to resume their work on the line.

International Express Services.

Record business this season is reported on all the long-distance international expresses traversing the European continent. There are three outstanding long-distance trains crossing Europe from east to west. These are respectively the “Nord Express,” the “Orient Express,” and the “Simp-lon-Orient Express.” The “Nord Express” connects Calais and Ostend with Brussels, Cologne, Hanover, Berlin and Warsaw. A more southerly route is taken by the “Orient Express”— Calais, Strasburg, Stuttgart, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, and Bukarest. Further south still, the “Simplon-Orient” links France with Lausanne, Milan, Venice, Bukarest, Belgrade, Sofia and Istanbul (Constantinople). Budapest, the beautiful capital of Hungary, is one of the most important of European junctions. Hungary, which is so well-served by long-distance train services, is growing in popularity as a tourist haunt.