This vessel is also remarkable as being probably the most rapidly constructed vessel of her size in existence. Not six months elapsed from the time the order was received until the steamer was built, unbuilt, and packed on board a steamer ready for departure to Russia, this including also the making of the engines. The packages were conveyed as far as possible along the Siberian Railway and thence by sledges to Lake Baikal, where the ship was re-erected. The only sea-going railway ferry-steamer in existence is the _Drottning Victoria_, launched in January 1909 from the Neptune Works of Messrs. Swan, Hunter, and Wigham Richardson, Ltd., to the order of the Royal Administration of the Swedish State Railways. She was built to ferry trains across the Baltic, between Sassnitz in Germany and Trelleborg in Sweden, a distance of 65 nautical miles. High sea-going qualities were necessary as the voyage is occasionally a very rough one. The vessel is 354 feet in length by over 50 feet beam, and is propelled by twin-screw triple-expansion engines, supplied with steam from four large boilers working under Howden’s system of forced draught. The trains are carried on two tracks on the car deck, occupying nearly the whole surface of the deck. Above and below this deck is very luxurious passenger accommodation. The vessel has been designed to be very steady at sea, and has unusually large bilge keels fitted to minimise the rolling. Spring buffers and other necessary appliances are arranged to prevent the cars from moving when at sea. A bow rudder is fitted as well as the stern rudder, and both are controlled by steam from the captain’s bridge. The steamer has been divided into a very large number of water-tight compartments, which, with the bulkhead doors with which she is fitted, render her practically unsinkable. She is also to be fitted with a submarine signal installation. The ventilating and heating are ensured by an installation of thermo tanks, enabling fresh, warm air to be forced into all the rooms in winter and fresh cool air in summer. Her speed is over 16 knots per hour, and the journey is made within four hours. The performances of this boat are being watched with no small amount of interest, as it has been suggested that if she should prove equal to all requirements a modification of this form of steamer might be successful in the cross-Channel service between Dover and Calais, or other ports on either side of the English Channel. [Illustration: _Photo. Frank & Sons, South Shields._ THE “DROTTNING VICTORIA.”]