LYTTELTON TUNNEL THE SMOKE NUISANCE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 821, 21 May 1910, Page 10

LYTTELTON TUNNEL THE SMOKE NUISANCE.

Sir,—Tour correspondent, "Common Sense," is not far of the mark as to tho causo of tho smoke nuisance. It doea seem strnngo that lha Minister for Railtvnys does not make* inquiries from some of the principal railway companies, in Britain on this matter. I am sure any one of the loco, superintendents would give him all the information ho could on this matter, and It must be remembered that there are tunnels in the Old Country as well as in Now Zealand. Two of the principal railways in Scotland, viz., Caledonian and North British, both have tnnnels underneath Glasgow. Iho North British runs right through, about five miles,. with openings at three stations. I fired ti passenger train through this tunnel for a good many mouths, and as your correspondent says, we had to make up our fire before we entered, as no firing was allowed in the tunnel. There is no inconvenience as far us the public is concerned, as all they have to do is to keep the windows shut. Then, as to the Caledonian, it is a considerably longer tunnel. It enters at>out the Green, and runs through to Mary Hill. Home of your readers will have some knowledge of its extent; I think most of its stations are underground, that is, no open space. They have special engines on this underground. When they enter, tho driver shuts oft Ms exhaust steam from going up the funnel, and turns it into two pipes leading into his •side tanks. These euginw imj -what i» known as side-tank enfrfnes; so no steam escapes into the tunnel, and with a patent blower on his fire, he can keep down black smoke, though I heard that tlieso condensers affected the fire a little when they come out into the open, as they had a good journey to run before they entered the tunnel. From what I have 56cn of the tunnels of New Zealand, though I have seen very few, still one can form an opinion from the daily press, and what is wanted is not to put eo heavy loads on tho trains going through these tunnels, and that will enable tho engine to make better time, and then to have a better system of firing. A. fow details like those attended to would work wonders.—l am, etc.,

THOS. M. MILLIGAN. Taitville, May 17, 1010.