All About Railways. By F. S. HartnelL (Cassell and Co.
6s.) —"All About" means, of course, all that young readers can possibly want to know. Grave questions of nationalisation may be set aside; how the permanent way is planned and constructed, how the engine is made, the details of coaches of every class and of trucks,—these, and others which we cannot attempt to enumerate, are the subjects to which Mr. Hartnell devotes his labour. He has made an excellent book out of them. He does not wholly eschew matters of political interest. Thus he makes a seasonable reflection on Indian railways. Compare India with any other Eastern region and how vast is the difference! It is well that a boy should know of things so much to the credit of his country. It is difficult to choose out of so great a collection of matter, but we may mention "Famous Trains." Some of the best trains have, indeed, hardly attained the fame which they deserve. We all know about the "Flying Scotsman " ; but how about the "Ocean Special," a Great Western Railway train which does its two hundred and sixty-two miles without stopping, and the "Southern Belle," on the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway, which travels at rather more than a mile a minute? Here we may indulge in a little bit of history. In the "forties" the Great Western Railway ran a train to Didcot, a distance of fifty-three miles, at the rate of 62.26 miles in the hour. But those were the days of the broad gauge.
Previous page
