76 



If their profits hang on the harvest traffic, how 

 much must they diminish through its being rushed 

 away in such a hurry, and how much would they be in- 

 creased if, instead, facilities existed so that these 

 freights could be moved hi a normal way? 



The transport of grain in bulk would represent a 

 profit from the first, which would more than trebly 

 cover any inconvenience experienced in the provision 

 of suitable rolling stock, or in the adaptation of that at 

 present existing. Particularly at present would this 

 outlay on rolling stock be least onerous, since during 

 the last decade no renovation or provision of new roll- 

 ing stock has been made by the railways, which are 

 now actually short of modern rolling stock. 



THE SHORTAGE OF WAGONS. 



During the last decade the average load hauled 

 has been doubled on nearly all the lines all over the 

 world, partly through, the utilisation) of more 

 powerful locomotives, the increase in the size and car- 

 rying capacity of the wagons, and through better man- 

 agement of the lines : this has been noticeable here in 

 the returns of traffic movement, anp undoubtedly 

 would have been still more emphasized had the policy 

 of progressive outlay been insisted upon. 



With the addition of elevators for moving grain, 

 the annual hue and c^ over the shortage of ^wagons 

 would cease, and anyone who has had an experience 

 of loading, especially at out-of-the-way stations in 

 slack times, and in the chief centres in busy times, 

 knows what a part the everlasting shortage of wagons 

 plays in interfering with dispatch. On their part, the 

 railway companies could look forward to the renewing 

 of their rolling stock with equanimity and it would 

 give them the opportunity of providing suitable wa- 

 gons, with the certainty that their use would extend 

 over the whole year, and thus prove remunerative out- 

 lay, for if the shortage of wagons is prejudicial to the 

 trader, the excess of wagons is likewise a continual loss 

 to the railways. In the adequate employment of the 

 wagons lies the secret' of commercial railway manage- 

 ment. To the useless expenditure incurred over t redun- 

 dant wagons, and to the stereotyped methods which 

 the managers allowed themselves to fall into, are at- 

 tributed most of the financial difficulties which the 

 railways in England are and have been, for a long 

 time, suffering from. 



