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.
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