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944 DISCUSSION ON 
The author had given some very strong reasons why the narrow 
gauge should not be introduced in New South Wales, and a great 
point was made of the fact that the asylum for old rolling stock 
would be closed up, but he himself had discarded the old engines 
by adopting a new design. The author proposed that passenger 
stations be cut out, guards doing the work of station masters, 
these duties no doubt would include sale of tickets. How was it 
proposed to manage this with our old rolling stock, excepting 
perhaps the comparatively few suburban carriages? If passenger 
platforms were to be abolished, how could passengers get in and 
out of the carriages without re-building them to suit the purpose? 
and if they were so re-built, how could an interchange be made 
with the main line passenger stock on the special occasions men- 
tioned, such as shows, races, etc. These difficulties could no doubt be 
overcome, but if the cost of making these changes were calculated, 
it might be found in the end that it would be cheaper to construct 
special passenger stock for branches, as had been done for the 
Campbelltown to Camden and the Yass tramways, on which lines 
goods are taken on the main line trucks without transhipping. 
Mr. Tuomas Mippueron said that he understood the author 
to express the fear that locomotive designers had not quite 
complied with his requirements; but there was no difficulty in 
designing engines for light lines, which would be “as snake-like 
as possible,” have great hauling power, and be easy upon the road 
—indeed, such engines were actually in use at the present time. 
He supported Mr. Fischer’s views, and would urge a three feet 
six inches gauge as a standard for light lines. Sir Edwin 
Watkin had last year supported the introduction of a third rail 
in Northern India, where five feet six inches and three feet three 
and three-eighths inch gauges abound. The metre gauge had 
proved itself in working equal to the performance of very useful 
work. ‘The transhipment difficulty at junctions could be readily 
dealt with by using suitable appliances, such as cranes, etc.; the 
cost and inconvenience of handling goods could then be reduced — 
to a minimum. As to sending all narrow gauge engines and 
