Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and IrelandTatlow, Joseph
History
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland
Tatlow, Joseph
Railroads -- Great Britain -- History
My inquiry I may, I am sure, without immodesty, say was thorough and
complete. On the 7th of May I presented my report. The facts which I
found were such that only one conclusion was possible--the line was not
in good condition; was not and had not been efficiently worked,
maintained or developed. I will not harrow my readers with a description
of its condition. One little quotation from the summing up in my report
will suffice to indicate the state of affairs, and, to the imaginative
mind, present a picture of the whole. "Everything has for years past
been allowed to run down; the direction and management have been
characterised by extreme parsimony; and the disabled condition of the
engines is undoubtedly due to lack of proper upkeep, which must have been
going on for years. The state of the permanent way shows a want of
proper maintenance; and the condition of the stations, buildings and of
the carriages speaks of neglect."
In fairness, I ought to say that the direction and management responsible
for these things are not the direction and management that exist to-day.
Mr. Henry Hunt, the present General Manager of the Londonderry and Lough
Swilly Company, was appointed to that position in September, 1916. He
came from the Great Central Railway. This is what I said about him in my
report: "He is a good railway man, capable and experienced. He has
assumed and exercises an authority which none of his predecessors
possessed, and is keen to do all he can to improve matters and develop
the railway." Further acquaintance with Mr. Hunt has more than confirmed
my high opinion of him.
In due time my report was submitted to the Privy Council, which august
body, after hearing all that was to be said on the subject by the Lough
Swilly Railway Company and others, made an Order which is the first of
its kind--an Order which, for a period of two years, took out of the
hands of the Lough Swilly Railway Directors the management of the
Burtonport Railway, and placed it in the hands of Mr. Hunt, subject to my
supervision. The Order said: "Henry Hunt, at present the General Manager
of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company, is hereby appointed
Manager of the said undertaking of the said railway under and subject to
the supervision of Mr. Joseph Tatlow, Director of the Midland Great
Western Railway Company of Ireland." Then followed various clauses
defining the duties and authority with which Mr. Hunt, as Manager, was
invested.
This appointment, to supervise, under the Privy Council, the management
of the Burtonport line, was the pleasant surprise which Dame Fortune
brought me in my fiftieth year of railway work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account