MOTOR TRAINS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9, 8 May 1912, Page 4

MOTOR TRAINS.

The Railway Commissioners or Victoria have imported two American motor-trains, which are stated to have been successfully tried between Sydney and Melbourne. Each train is really a motor railway carriage, nl four compartments to suit smokers and non-smokers. Benzine gives the mo-

tive power, ami a speed of at least sixty miles an hour can bo developed. The Wellington “Pest's’' Sydney correspondent lias mentioned t .at the New South W ales Railway Commissioner: - are watching the \ ictonan exp.v.ment with interest, because they have plenty of scope for such “motors” on country lines, if these composite carriages prove satisfactory over a period in the southern State. The Now Zealand Government has equally good cause, if not bettor, to observe tl.e Victorian enterprise, the “Post” remarks. It is some' years since the possibilities of a profitable use of railway motor-carriages were much discussed in this country, and from time to time the Government has promised to keep the subject in mind. The late Minister of Railways, the Hon. J. A. Millar, held out hopes of developments, but ot.ner tilings inteivened. It is said that the moloi > such as Victoria has bought cost between £6OOO and £7OOO each, and consume about half a gallon of benzine a mile on an average track. Therefore the running cost should be much lower than the rate for the small locomotive trains that ply up and down country branch lines with, no great number of passengers. Such carriages should also bo useful for giving a regular and rapid economical late night service between cities and suburban towns or townships.