STEEL ROADS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 April 1940, Page 2

STEEL ROADS

MAINTAINING RAILWAYS ATA FRONT. WORK OF ROYAL ENGINEERS. In the vanguard of the British Expeditionary Force that went to France on the outbreak of war were officers of the Railway Engineer and Staff Corps, ultra-specialists of that highly-specialis-ed body, the Royal Engineers. Their work was to determine, in consultation with the General Staff, what extra siding accommodation was immediately required at the base and at railheads in the British area. Future extensions had to be planned to meet all contingencies, and complete interworking with the French railway authorities arranged for. Following hard on their heels were hundreds of men of the constructional, maintenance and running departments. These had already been thoroughly instructed at the Railway Training Centre at home in the special methods of plate-laying, signalling and general working of Continental railways. Wherever they had to make contact they clicked into gear at once with their French brothers of the steel road. If they had not a common language they had a common craft and knowledge. Generally the whole of the work at the base is handled by the Royal Engineers. The use of British shunters and train make-up staff with French drivers and guards might lead to confusion. On the other hand, the French drivers know the road.

The made-up trains are therefore handed over to French drivers, who haul the trains, with their own engines, to the railhead. Here the trains are broken up and unloaded by the Royal Engineers, whose responsibility ends when they deliver the loads to the Royal Army Service Corps or the Royal Ordnance Corps, as the case may be. Directly a ship arrives at the dockside the Royal Engineers take charge. Their stevedores and “lumpers” do the unloading. They know beforehand what is in the hold, and the rolling stock is ready for the different classes of goods. The quickest possible “turn around” is aimed at, for hold space is valuable. At. the base the sappers have their own railway workshops, as complete in their way as anything that can be seen al Swindon. Derby or Eastleigh. Economy of lime and money set the only limit to the repair work that is undertaken. The care and upkeep of hospital trains is a special department. The standard is something better than the best dining car. sleeper and Pullman work. Repair work on bombed or shelled bridges, sidings, embankments and cuttings may be required at any moment, and everything is ready. The Royal Engineer knows only one rule in a crisis—the work must be done. Most of the men of the Railway Branch of the R.E. now with the B.E.F. are old railwaymen who have supplemented the rather small permanent staff. Their numbers are growing rapidly, for they are being constantly added to by drafts from home. In that fascinating establishment in the South of England, the Railway Training Centre, more than 1200 men are now under instruction. A railwayman who has mistakenly joined some other unit is not long allowed to hide his talent behind the badge of a gunner or an infantry regiment. He is routed out and finds himself in the shops or signal box or on the footplate undergoing intensive training for military railway work. Usually he is glad, for the work is interesting and the tradesman's pay is good.