RAILWAY TRAVEL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4907, 25 November 1925, Page 4

RAILWAY TRAVEL.

NEW SLEEPING CARRIAGE. ON VIEW AT EXHIBITION. For months past a) mystery, a railway sleeping carriage with details hitherto unknown in the Dominion, and superior .to English cars, has been in progress of construction at the Hillside Dunedin. When it wasf completed it was run to the Government court at the exhibition, where it was shrouded. . This luxurious sleeping car solves three problems apparent on cars between Wellington and Auckland, namely, ventilation, water service, and coping with the dust nuisance. The carriage was designed by Mr G. S'. Lynde, chief mechanical engineer for the New Zealand railways. Outwardly the carriage excites comment because of its solid yet beautiful appearance. It is painted in a maroon colouring, or Midland lake," as. it is called by paint men. The under-carriage is'in black. The length of the car is 56ft, and the width BftP 9in. Inside the car is finished in mahogany. There are nine cubicles of two berths each. Each cubicle is a model of comfort and convenience. It measures 6ft 2in by s£t. Beds, in their night position, are one above, the other, but the upper folds down and makes with the lower bed a cosy settee finished in moquette. A foot rest is provided with a rubber background. A lavatory basin in a corner provides hot and cold water, and the top of the baisin forms a table. A smaller table inset in the wall. An electric fan revolves in another corner. Ventilation is effected by a device over a large window. Passengers can adjust this device to catch air or expel the air of the room. Of course there is efficient lighting. The doors are s.o arranged in a long corridor that two people easily pass one another. The floor coverings are of rubber. There is a coloured scenic picture in each compartment. The carriage.carries 300' gallons, of water underneath. The weight of the vehicle is 25 tons. The dust nuisance is alleviated by the use of disk wheels, and the bogies of the under-carriage are similar to those used in .the Prince of Wales’ carriage in South Africa. In every way the carriage is. a great improvement on the present method.