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I sometimes wonder whether complaints of small attendances at meetings of transport bodies cannot be laid partly at the door of the organizers. For example, discussion at last week's national IRTE meeting in London was just getting to an interesting stage when "time" was called. Yet it was only 8 pm, and the very interesting paper by J. E. Farley (CM last week) had occupied only about half an hour to deliver. The well-deserved congratulations for the speaker had been delivered, and clarification had been given on one or two points and the audience was just getting down to the real bones of current problems when it was all brought to an end.
Mr. Farley had spoken strongly about manufacturers' need to rid themselves of autocratic attitudes and really get down to providing reliable vehicles, and a couple of members of the audience had given their vivid accounts of difficult experiences with new vehicles. The tempo was rising, and people were waiting to pitch in—then finis. Very frustrating, I thought.