A RA TLWAY HINT FOR NEXT SPRING.
AMONGST other clear and tangible defects in the railway plans, is the want of some contrivance as a substitute for the stage-coach top. In the old stage-coach you could " ride outside : in the railway that is all but impossible. The increased use of outside places in many of the Metropolitan omnibus lines, throughout all seasons, shows how the opportunity is valued; and is so espe- cially in pleasure-trips. The railway does not meet that want. It offers you, not a comfortable outside place, but an uncomfortable cart; a cart in which the very poorest are thrust, and therefore the least clean. The partial shelter of the open third-class carriage is worse than none; since by contrast it renders the wind peculiarly cutting and unpleasant to the upper extremities ; whereas a travel- ler in tolerable condition would often enjoy a breeze equally met by the whole frame. On the other hand, the very high speed at which a railway train often travels, renders the effect of the direct breeze more powerful than it is on the coach, or even on the hill-top or the deck of the storm-beaten ship ; a difference which suggests its own contriv- ance. There should be shelter against the wind so far as it is exaggerated by the onward motion of the train ; and that would be provided by an alcove at the fore part of the open carriage, facing backwards, and shielding the whole against the wind, and even against violently drifting rain. A cabriolet going backwards sug- gests something of the pattern ; or an alcove from Kensington Gardens, placed, back foremost, at the forward end of an open railway-carriage. More graceful forms, rails instead of wooden planks at the sides of the carriage, seats under the alcove, with standing-space in the open part, and you have the idea of a very pleasant summer-carriage for railways ; one in which you could really enjoy travelling, the air, and the prospect. Fit up one or two for each class of fares next spring, and try the effect.
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