RATES ON MILK TRAFFIC 215 



the neighbourhood of the railway-station they would 

 find it a rather costly procedure. 



The handling of the full milk-churns means a good 

 deal of labour for the railway servants, especially at 

 country stations where 14 or 16 gallon cans are de- 

 livered on the down-side, and have to be carried on 

 the men's backs across the lines to the other side. 

 The wear and tear also of the railway property, as the 

 direct result of the milk traffic, is considerable. It is 

 not only that the churns themselves are heavy, but the 

 sharp edge of the bottom rim cuts into the floor of 

 the waggons and into the station platforms worse, 

 perhaps, than any other form of traffic with which a 

 railway company have to deal. To obtain some 

 definite figures on this point, I inquired from the 

 London and North- Western Railway Company what 

 was the cost of renewals and repairs at the ' milk- 

 landing ' at Euston, and I learn that it amounts to 

 about 140 per annum, made up as follows : 



Timber portion : 



Repairs ... ... ... ... 34 per annum. 



Renewals 14 



Asphalte portion : 



Repairs 48 



Renewals 44 ,, 



Total ... 140 



The life of the timber landing is estimated at only 

 about sixteen years, and the cost of renewal is 224. 

 The average life of the asphalte landing is estimated at 

 about fifteen years, and the cost of renewal is 660. 



Another incidental expense involved by this traffic is 

 that the hose has to be turned on to the Euston milk- 

 landing every day to wash off the spilled milk, this 

 being the only part of the station, I believe, where such 

 an operation day by day is found necessary. The 



