The L.M.S. Centenary The exhibition which at present is making
an unusual and co:vurful display at Euston is a reminder of the almost fabulous development of railways in this country. This week's centenary celebrates the hundredth anniversary of the opening of the railway between London and Birming- ham. Whilst that was not the first railway, the choice, for the purposes of celebration and retrospect, was a good one, since it was the first railway connexion of the capital with the provinces and thus fundamentally changed the country's attitude to travel. From then on the way was prepared for the mass of the people to become railway-minded. The history of the hundred years which have changed the quaint corteges of the early days into the powerful luxury expresses of today is one which might well exhaust the sense of wonder. The benefits of progress have happily not been confined to pro- viding increasingly ingenious luxuries for passengers. The employees of the railways have also benefited from the development of modernised methods which have helped to reduce fatigue and improve general working conditions. The L.M.S., like three out of the four great national railway systems, is evidence of the value of amalgamation and co-ordination. We may not have reached the end of that process yet.
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