Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1917-09-27
RAILWAY SERVICE IN
ENGLAND PERFECTED
STANDARD PARTS AND PLAT
FORMS ARE BEING ADOPTED
FRENCH MINISTER HIGHLY COM
MENDS THE SYSTEM.

! LONDON, SEPT. 27.-one of the
greatest British war efforts has been
in the department of railway trans
port, both at home and abroad. Very
little has been said about this work,
perhaps because it has gone on stead
ly, silently and unobseryed. Some
time ago Aristide BRAND, the Premier
of France, visited a great railway
workshop behind the British lines in
France THE great fault I have to
find with you English,' he said upon
that occasion. lis that you do enormous
things, but nobody has any idea Of
what you are doing"
At home, war has put a tremendous
strain on the railways, 1t was an in
stance of Britain's military unprepar-
edness that military and strategic con-
siderations found no place before the
war in her railway systems and man
agement The railways lacked unifor-
ity. For example, three were three
different types of air-brake in use, so
that the rolling stock of different COM
panies often could not be made into
one train. The width of the cars and
the clearance space between tracks
varied considerably, Very few stations
had adequate platform accommodation
for rapidly entraining troops.
During the three years of war, much
progress hat been made under govern
ment control of the railways, toward
Standardization and such reconstruc-
ton as was feasible to remedy the most
serious shortcomings. This is fire.
Guently noticeable at rural stations,
where platforms of the type most suit
able for military use have replaced
the old suburban platforms, and given
a military air to the otherwise peace
able countryside.
The proper platform for entraining
troops is a wide one running the whole
length of the longest train. From
such platform troop trains can
loaded at the rate of one an hour,
and this rate can be improved upon
with practiced troops. Where a rail-
way station possessed the most up-to-
date platform facilities, such as all
British stations will have by the time
the war is over, it is possible to load
two trains simultaneously, and such
'half-hour station" At an ordinary
old-fashioned wayside station t 5 often
necesseady to allow two hous.
Entraining is the ruling facror in
calculating troop movement since de-
training does not take quite so long.
The maximum normal capacity of
a double-tracked line of railway in
England is figured by the military
specialists at six trains per hour each
way, in the early days of the war,
the trains containing the Epeditionads
force were run into docks at intervals
of twelve minutes of at the rate Of
five per hour On a single-track line,
three trains per hour can be worked
each way.
The principle adopted in moving
troops by train is that each train
lead should be complete subdivision
OF military unit. The size of each
train load is definitely limited by the
number Of coaches of which a train
can be made up with safety. An
ordinary infantry battalion makes
about two train loads.
During five days when the first Brit
ish Expeditionary forces we're being
moved to France, 800 hundred trains
were run loaded with troops and as
many returned empty, giving an ever
age of $50 trains a day employed in
the movement of troops alone. In
the first year of war, moves were made
overseas of 100000 2,5S6,0O0 other
other ranks and 542, 1000 horses These
figures include cross-Channel traffic
and all other moves made by sea.
Figures for later years, presumably
larger, are not at the present avail-)
able.