Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/287

 the weight and bulk of the trains is the introduction of saloon carriages of various descriptions, to which allusion has been made in Chapter VIII. (page 126) since these vehicles, although of exceptional weight and dimensions, and extremely expensive to build and maintain, yet accommodate but a very limited number of passengers. For instance, a sleeping saloon 42 feet in length, weighing 2½ tons, and costing £1,300, only contains berths for 16 individuals. A family carriage measuring 32 feet, weighing 15 tons 4 cwts., and costing £820, accommodates eight first class passengers (sleeping) and six second class passengers. The ordinary first class carriages have also lost part of their seating capacity from the fact that no first class passenger in these times is satisfied unless he is provided with lavatory accommodation, and this requirement is being met in building all new stock, so that practically nearly all first class carriages used on the main line are furnished with lavatories. If we take, for example, a first class carriage of the largest size, 42 feet in length, which under ordinary circumstances would provide seats for 40 passengers, with a luggage compartment, we find that, when the necessary space for lavatories has been abstracted, we have only accommodation left for 28 passengers; so that nearly one-third of the accommodation is lost, and the weight of the train is correspondingly increased. It may be added that some of the companies are now commencing to provide lavatory accommodation, not only for first class, as hitherto, but for second and third class passengers also.

Another cause which has a tendency to increase the length and weight of the trains, especially in the busy tourist season, is the growing desire on the part of the