THE BRITISH OVERSEAS RAILWAYS HISTORICAL TRUST
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Kevin Jones' Steam Index
Proceedings Institution of Mechanical Engineers: 1910-1919
Volume 78 (1910)
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Hughes, George
Compounding and superheating in Horwich locomotives. 399-451. Disc.:
452-507 + Plates 30-35..
Presented 17 March 1910, The reasons for the apparent neglect of
cempounding in this country were: (1) Great variation in torque, from starting
to full speed. (2) Frequent repetition of this variation. (3) Comparatively
good results of the simple engine.
Discussion: Aspinall (President) opened and this was followed by
Churchward (452-xxx) other conclusion had been arrived at up to this date.
The scientific person would say there must be some reason for the difference
of opinion which had existed, and which he believed existed at the present
time, as to the relative advantages of the two systems of haulage. If he
might venture an opinion as to the reason for that difference of opinion,
he thought it was mainly due to the fact that up to the present when engineers
had made comparisons they had not compared like with like. It would be remembered
that when the late Mr. Webb made experiments between the simple and compound
engine, he put a pressure of 200 lb. to the square inch in the compound engine
and 180 lb. per square inch in the simple engine, with the result that the
compound beat the simple. It was far from his desire to charge the author
with having gone so far as that, because as a matter of fact he had not;
he had made the conditions very much more equal between the two systems than
Mr. Webb had done ; but he (Mr. Churchward) thought the author had not given
the simple engine, in the trial which had been made, the full advantage which
might have been given to it, had it been designed specially for the purpose
of the trial. If the author when starting out on the problem had endeavoured
to see whether he could design simple engines which would haul the trains
in the times specified as economically as the compound engines did, he was
not at all sure but he would have succeeded. As an engineer, he did not like
to think that two or three investigators experimenting on the same subject
would arrive at different conclusions, and he thought it was necessary to
search for the reason for it. It appeared to him that a simple engine which
had to be worked at from 30 to 40 per cent. cut-off had no chance whatever
against a good compound, whether it was hauling goods trains or fast
passenger-trains. He thought that fact might account for some of the discordance
which might be found between the author’s results and those at which
members had separately and individually arrived
Volume 79 (1910)
Paget, Cecil W.
English running-shed practice. 825-53. + Plates 44-6.
Straight sheds are economical in first cost and maintenance, but unless
of the type known as through sheds they are awkward to work and the latter
are draughty. The centre turntable type was more expensive to build, but
possessed advantages of working as engines could be easily got in and out
without moving others. The radial arrangement of the pits also lends itself
better to lighting and convenience of getting about. There is plenty of room
towards the end of the pits for fitters to work at the bench between two
engines. To set against the advantages, there is the objection that when
the turntable required lifting for repairs, it threw the whole of the pits
served by it out of use whilst the repairs are going on.
Modern through straight running shed at Eastleigh (LSWR) and roundhouse at
Old Oak Common (GWR) were treated as paradigms with plans and illustrations
(plates). [The Discussion ox this Paper was combined with
that on the Papers by Whyte, Clark, Forsyth, and Vaughan, and commences on
page 904]
Whyte, Frederic M.
Handling locomotives at terminals. 855-72.
The term "terminal" is used as in "engine shed" or "motive power depot"
and covers North American (USA and Canada) practice. Mianly describes
fascilities, rather than layouts, although in North america locomotives were
serviced en route. Includes turntables, ash-pits, sanding plants, coaling
and watering. [The Discussion ox this Paper was combined
with that on the Papers by Paget, Clark, Forsyth, and Vaughan, and commences
on page 904]
Clark, F.H.
Engine-house practice, or the handling of locomotives at terminals to secure
continuous operation. 873-84.
[The Discussion ox this Paper was combined with
that on the Papers by Whyte, Clark, Forsyth, and Vaughan, and commences on
page 904]
Forsyth, William
American locomotive terminals. 885-98.
[The Discussion ox this Paper was combined with
that on the Papers by Paget, Vaughan, Forsyth, and Whyte, and commences on
page 904]. Classification (marshalling) yards of the Pennsylvania Railroad
at East Altoona, Pa. Here the traffic from three divisions was
concentrated.
Vaughan, H.H.
Handling engines. 899-904. Disc.: 904-28.
Author was Superintendent of Motive Power, Canadian Pacific Railway.
The desirability of pooling engines, in place of operating them by regularly
assigned crews, depended on whether the engines were engaged in passenger
or freight service, and in the latter case, on the conditions which existed.
Discussion (904): George
Hughes (904-8) noted that LYR practice was for was a straight shed with
a dead end,
Carter, F.W.
Electrification of suburban railways. 1073-1101.
In typical suburban service the greater part of the energy-input is
used in accelerating the train, and the energy-consumption per ton mile depends
principally on the nature of the schedule, this energy-consumption is a good
measure of the difficulty of a schedule, but an even better measure is the
uniform acceleration that would cause the train to reach the mean running-speed
in a distance equal to the average distance between stations. This acceleration
is greatest for the Liverpool Overhead Railway's schedule, which explains
the high energy-consumption per ton-mile actually found in this service.
High initial rates of acceleration involve great mechanical strains on the
bogies, and should not be employed unless the difficulty of the schedule
renders it necessary. The equipment losses during acceleration are of the
same order of magnitude in the continuous-current and the single-phase systems,
in spite of the rheostat losses in the former system. The performance of
a given electric train under given conditions of suburban service can be
very closely predetermined, for the factors liable to uncertainty have but
small effect on the result. Schedule calculations, however, are inadequate
by themselves to determine thc question of the suitability of an equipment,
as the limiting features are usually connected with the heating of the motors,
which again depends on the energy-loss in the motors. This loss is much greater
in the single-phase system than in the continuous-current system. There appears
little prospect of general electrification of the railways of this country,
as no advantage is apparent which would in any way justify the expense. It
is only in the case of heavy suburban service that there is prospect of
commercial advantage accruing from electrification, and whilst there may
be other local opportunities for electrical working, there is at present
no indication that the steam-locomotive can be superseded with advantage
for ordinary main-line work.
Hobart, H.M.
The cost of electrically-propelled suburban trains. 1103-1135
Westinghouse, George
The electrification of railways: an imperative need for the selection of
a system for universal use. 1137-76. + Plates 71-81.
Conclusion: need for railway engineers and those in authority to determine
the system which admits the largest extension of railway electrification
and of a prompt selection of those standards of electrification which will
render possible a complete interchange of traffic, in order to save expense
in the future and to avoid difficulties and delays certain to arise unIess
some common understanding is arrived at very shortly
Potter, William Bancroft
Economics of railway electrification. 1177-93 + Plates 82-6.
In the USA direct current systems were in the ascendent, especially
for interurban electric railways which had to be compatible with urban street
tramway systems.
Pomeroy, L.B.
The electrification of trunk lines. 1195-214. Disc.: 1215-97.
Economics of main line electrification in the USA. Discussion of this
Paper was combined with that of the Papers Carter, Hobart, Westinghouse,
and Potter.
Hitchcock, Cyril
The standardization of locomotives in India, 1910. 1409-522.
The inauguration of the Engineering Standards Committee under the
auspices of the leading Engineering Institutions in this country in 1901,
and the subsequent work of that body is a matter of common knowledge to members
of the engineering profession, and is briefly described in the Engineering
Standards Committee’s Fifth Report on work accomplished, published in
November 1909. Commencing with the Standardization of Iron and Steel Sections,
the subjects under reference to the committee with a view to standardization
have steadily increased in number, and up to September 1910 fifty-two Reports
and Specifications had been issued. Among the earlier subjects considered
by the Committee was the question of suitable standard types of Locomotives
in India, this matter having been referred to them by the Secretary of State
for India.
The question having been discussed at a Conference of Locomotive Superintendents
in India in December 1901, was subsequently considered by the Engineering
Standards Committee, with the result that a Sectional Committee on Locomotives
was appointed by the Main Committee to deal with the matter. The Committee
numbered among its members representatives of the Government Departments
interested, the Consulting Engineers to the Indian railways in England,
representatives of some of the principal Locomotive Builders and Manufacturers
of materials, and of British Railway locomotive interests. The Calcutta
Conference of Locomotive Superintendents was also represented on the Comniittee.
The Locomotive Committee dealt with the standaidization of locomotive types,
component parts, and specifications for locomotive materials; the Committee
hare from time to time met to deal with proposals submitted to them, and
the latest revised results of their deliberations are embodied in the Engineering
Standards Committee’s publication No. 30, being the Third Report on
Standard Locomotives for Indian ltailways published in February 1910; No.
24 revised June 1907, containing specifications for Materials used in the
Construction of Railway Rolling Stock; and No. 51 published in August 1910
relating to Wrought Iron for use in Railway Rolling Stock.
Tabulated particulars of the Standard Engines are given in an Appendix, pages
1428-33, and the Engines and Tenders, as built, are illustrated by Plates
87 to 99. Diagrams showing the maxiinuni moving dimensions permissible are
shown on page 1429. W.A. Stanier made several comments on the suspension
of the Standard designs.
W.A. Stanier (Great Western Railway 1443-4)
thought that in discussing the Paper the members should consider
primarily the effect of standardization of locomotive parts. As was well
known, the Great Western had for the last few years endeavoured to standardize
the new types they had been building. They had built six types of boilers,
which for certain types were interchangeable, that is, each class of boiler
would suit a number of types of engines. The No. 1 boiler would suit engines
of the 4-6-2, 4-6-0, and 2-8-0 types ; the No. 2 boiler would suit a number
of different classes of 4-4-0 types, and the same remark applied to the other
boilers. The motion had been developed on standard lines in the same way.
The same pattern of outside cylinders could be used for any of the 18 by
30-inch cylinders which were used on the Great Western engines, with slight
modifications to the saddle. The crank-pin bushes were interchangeable ;
by that he meant it was possible to keep in stock spare bushes, and rely
upon them fitting the rods without any preparation. It was somewhat difficult
to keep spare parts of even standard parts unless they were kept in a range
of sizes where the wear occurred. For instance, it was the Great Western
practice to keep metallic packing to suit the piston-rods varying by 32nds,
so that when wear occurred the next smaller size packing could be fitted
into the engine when the packing gave trouble. In the same way with other
parts the wear had to be allowed for.
The President had referred to the difficulty experienced in the
interchangeability of springs. Where a railway company built its own engines
the springs were usually made as well, and they would be made in the one
shop, so that trouble would not be experienced with the bolts and pins. The
springs made in the same shape varied by 4 cwts. possibly in the load that
they would carry at the same camber, and when springs were changed in the
running-shed they were usually replaced and set by measurement. That sometimes
affected the riding of the engines. He would like the author to state whether
there was any method by which it was possible to test in India the weight
on the wheels when springs were changed, either by weighbridges or by portable
weighing machines. The principal railway companies had weighbridges at one
or two of their main depots, but scores of springs had to be changed at running
sheds without any attempt being made to test the load on them ; and difficulty
was sometimes experienced in that connection. The use of portable weighing
- machines had been suggested by weighing-machine makers, and they had been
tried. He remembered testing a set some seven or eight years ago, and it
was possible under those conditions to get any weight one liked within two
or three cwt. It seemed to him that a foundation was required for the portable
weighing-machine as level and as solid as the foundations for a weighbridge,
SO that he could not himself see that the portable weighing-machine would
be of much use. The author referred in the Paper to the pins and links being
made of case-hardened iron. Speaking from English experience only, it appeared
to him that trouble would very possibly be experienced with such fittings,
owing to the fretting of the parts due to the presence of sand. He thought
trouble with sand would be experienced on many lines in India, and, so far
as his experience went, case-hardened details were apt to give trouble if
a bit of grit got in them. The practice of some of the English lines, including
the Great Western, was to bush the motion with phosphor-bronze bushes, and
face the jaws of the links with phosphor-bronze washers. The Great Western
Railway were getting very good results from such practice, and it was possible
to keep spare bushes at the running sheds, and to replace them if there was
any appreciable wear.
It would be of interest if the author would state whether any trouble was
experienced with the tyres. He noticed that the method of fastening the tyres
to the rims, or of securing the tyres, was by means of studs. That was not
the usual practice of English railways now, and it seemed rather curious
that that method had been retained by the Standards Committee.
George Hughes (1445) was very disappointed that
few remarks had been made at the Meeting by their Indian friends. He attended
the Meeting specially that evening because he quite anticipated that a number
of gentlemen of Indian experience would speak, and give some valuable information
in regard to the standard engines that had been built in large numbers by
various firms in this country for operation in India. He still hoped that,
later in the evening, remarks of that nature would be made. As far as the
Paper itself was concerned, it appeared to him to lend itself to three methods
of discussion: first, the principle of the standardization of engines ; second,
criticism of the standard engines designed by the Standards Committee ; and,
third, it afforded him an opportunity of giving the Meeting his experience
in regard to standardization on his own railway-the Lancashire and Yorkshire.
He proposed to offer a few remarks based upon ideas that struck him when
carefully reading through the Paper. The first idea was the clear proposition
before the Meeting, that is to say, the Paper did not deal with the
standardization of engines for any one particular railway, but with the
standardization of engines for a country at least forty times the size of
England. That, to his mind, was a tremendous undertaking, and it seemed on
the face of it almost impossible to carry through.
The next point was the reasons given by the author for the standardization
of engines in India. It would be found on pages 1410-11 that it was done
because three of the great railways in India were not only owned by the State,
but worked by the State ; several of the other railways were owned by the
State and leased to Companies, but at the same time controlled by the State
; and, in addition to that, for military reasons, the conditions in India
were very favourable to standardization. He wished seriously to ask the members
whether those conditions, good as they might be, were the real conditions
that would enter into one's mind when commencing to design engines for any
particular railway. True, the author said in addition that standardization
of parts, and consequently capital locked up in stores, and the quick dispatch
and delivery of locomotives had something to do with it as well. But when
all was said and done, although a designer might have the latter in his mind,
he was certain all the members would agree with him that the prime factor
in dealing with the design of a locomotive, whether for this country, India,
or any other country, was the profile or the gradients and contour of the
road, and the density of the traffic to be dealt with. He did not remember
that the author said anything in his Paper in regard to that particular point,
and consequently he appealed to him to add an Appendix, giving the gradients
of some of the principal railways in India, and particulars of the length
of trains and loads hauled on those particular railways. That would add very
much to the future value of the Paper.
Mr. Tritton referred to a subject mentioned on page 1417 which impressed
him very much, namely, to what extent the standardization of locomotives
could be carried. The author admitted that it could not be carried to ext,remes,
a decision he was sure in which the members would agree with him. Personally,
he went a step further by saying that it should not go anywhere near an extreme
for a whole country. Of course the parts of a locomotive could be standardized
to a very great extent, and on all British railways, as well as Indian railways
and the railways on the Continent, that was very extensively done.
The remarks on page 1417 appealed to him as being a natural corollary to
all the options given on the previous pages of the Paper, which brought him
to Mr. Greg's position. If reference were made to the bottom of page 1416,
it would be found that Mr. Greg was in the position of expecting to receive
orders, not only for any of the ten standard engines, but also for any of
the existing engines as well as modifications of any of the standard engines,
so that it was possible to quite appreciate what Mr. Greg said in regard
to that point. He did not propose to make any criticism whatever of the standard
engines. There was no doubt in his mind that they represented the best practice
; and for those of the members who found it difficult to concentrate their
ideas on what the engines were like, he reminded them that the Atlantic type
4-4-2 was very much like the Atlantic engine designed by the President for
the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1899. As he hoped that some engineers
from India, would join in the discussion, he would not dilate any further
upon the relative dimensions of any of the particular engines as compared
with the engines designed by the President and by himself for the Lancashire
and Yorkshire Railway. But when one came to take into consideration the total
weights of those engines and the weights per foot-run, it was quite evident
it was expected that those engines should run on first-class permanent way.
It was well known that in India a large proportion of the mileage was laid
with heavy rails of, he thought, about 80 lb. section, and stone ballast
; but, at the same time, it was also well known that there were thousands
of miles of railway in India laid with a very light section rail, old iron
rails, and, consequently, for many years to come, it seemed to him the
multiplicity of designs of engines for India would still obtain. It was
impossible to read or discuss the Paper without thinking of how such an idea
of standardization could be applied to the railways of England. He could
not answer the question, but he thought there was an engine on the Lancashire
and Yorkshire Railway that could do anything that was required on any railway
in this country, and yet it would be positively ridiculous to build an engine
of such a character for several of the English railways he might mention;
and he was certain there must be a considerable number of instances of a
similar kind in India.
Notwithstanding what he had said, he held himself second to none in his
appreciation of the work of the Standards Committee. The remarks made on
page 1417 were an indication that they realized that their labours were not
ended, and it appeared to him that before long they might anticipate the
advent of several other types of engines for the Indian railways. He would
also like to put in a word for the man at the front, that is to say, he would
like to feel that the Standards Committee and all concerned were not, as
it were, sapping the vitality or destroying the individuality of the men
who were doing their work so well on the Indian railways. In conclusion,
he wished to add that his appreciation of the work of the Standards Committee
was such that the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway had adopted almost in
their entirety the Standard specifications for all materials
Long contribution
by S.J. Sarjant. (1473-) who wrote that, in his capacity as Locomotive
Superintendent of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company, he was unable
to furnish information from actual experience of the engines designed by
the British Engineering Standards Committee. The Great Indian Peninsula Railway
* had no engines which conformed in their entirety to the designs recommended.
They had, however, two classes which were of the same power and which
approximated very closely, namely, the 2-8-0 and 4-4-2 types. The boilers
were, as far as the writer was aware, interchangeable with those fitted to
the standard engines, but they were by no mea.ns identical in design. By
way of example, the tubes of the first-named type were arranged in vertical
rows. whereas the Committee recommended horizontal rows. The number of threads
for wash-out plugs, fire-box roof and side stays did not coincide with the
standard engines, in addition to which the Great Indian Peninsula practice
as regards shape of fire-hole and design of fire-door was entirely
different.
The engines themselves comprising the framings and their component parts,
axles, motions, cylinders, etc., varied with the recommendations of the Committee
in such essentials as incline of motion, diameter of wheel skeletons, centres
of axle bearings, etc., together with, in the case of the 2-8-0 type engines,
a difference in the wheel-base at the front end, due to the employment of
a 3-foot diameter pony-truck wheel as compared with the 3-foot 7-inch diameter
as recommended. The 4-6-0 type of engine designed and adopted by this railway,
in advance of the Committee's broad-gauge design, differed in many respects.
The position of other company worked lines was in this respect similar to
that of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway.
The Bengal Nagpur Railway had running many engines of the 4-6-0 and 2-8-0
types before the standardization of these types was effected, and had more
recently put to work engines which approximated somewhat closely, but did
not entirely conform in detail to the standard types. Other railways, for
example the East Indian Railway, had adopted modifications of standard types
with the object of inter aEia reducing the axle loads. In so far as the writer
was aware, there were no broad-gauge engines in India which accorded in their
entirety to the standard designs, except those which have been obtained through
the office of the Consulting Engineers to State railways. The foregoing remarks
might remove the impression which might naturally follow a perusal of the
Paper and the subsequent discussion, that all engines supplied to Indian
railways in general since 1903 had been of standard design. The Locomotive
Conference held in Calcutta in 1901 was convened chiefly with the view of
devising means whereby British makers could cope better with Indian demands
for locomotives. This appeared to have been the primary cause of the action
taken by the Secretary of State for India. The fact that locomotive engineers
in this country did not on their own initiative suggest standardization did
not appear to have been brought out in the discussion. A leading article
in one of the technical journals, however, in commenting on the Paper, conveyed
the impression that the locomotive engineers were the prime movers. The writer
understood the suggestion originated in 1901 with the Glasgow locomotive
builders, and was favourably received by the Secretary of State. The locomotive
superintendents of India were then called together in Calcutta and under
Subject 11 were instructed :-
"To reduce to a minimum the number of Standard patterns of engines on each
gauge for the various classes of work, and to make suggestions for the adoption
as far as possible of the same parts (such as boilers, motion, axles, etc.)
in engines of different classes on the same gauge."
Their findings with reference to the broad gauge were sufficiently interesting
to warrant the reproduction of the following extract :-
(I) "The English makers, who have represented their difficulties under the
system now in force and suggested a standardization for current use, shall
be invited to prepare, in collaboration, a series of standard designs which
they consider calculated to meet their views and remove these objections,
thereby ensuring a more rapid rate of delivery and a decreased cost. The
series to comprise engines of the under-mentioned types, the designs being
prepared so that, as far as may be possible, corresponding parts of the various
classes may be interchangeable."
(III) "The date fixed for this Meeting has not allowed sufficient time for
members thoroughly to examine the questions at issue and that, therefore,
this Meeting of the Conference should only be considered preliminary, and
should be confined to tentative discussions of the questions raised by the
Secretary of State.
(IV) "The next Meeting be fixed to take place after the makers have submitted
drawings."
In view of what the writer has stated, the absence of the further reference
asked for by the locomotive superintendents of India was unfortunate, as
further consideration of the subject would probably have resulted in the
more general adoption of the standard locomotives in this country. It was
necessary that a standardizing body should be thoroughly acquainted with
the varying conditions to be taken into account which obtained in such a
vast tract of country as India. The extraordinary variations in climate and
temperature, the difference in the nature of country traversed, strength
and type of permanent way, nature of water and fuel supply as well as traffic
considerations, staff, etc., were factors that could be only imperfectly
appreciated by those who had not had personal experience of India. On this
account it was necessary that the locomotive superintendents of India should
have frequent opportunity of criticizing and suggesting necessary alterations
or improvements. This contact between the Standardizing Committee and the
locomotive superintendents of India had not at the outset been sufficiently
close. This, however, was now being rectified.
The question of economy in workshop repairs owing to standardization was
not discussed at the Calcutta Conference, nor could, in the writer's opinion,
any economy be realized for some years, unless the details of the standard
engines corresponded with the details already existing on the railway adopting
the new design. It must be remembered that most railways had succeeded after
a period of years in standardizing for their own particular system such important
parts and fittings of their locomotives for which it was necessary to maintain
stocks.
Works managers at home were in a position to appreciate the upset caused
by the introduction of a new type if, although possessing certain advantages,
it necessitated the preparation of some scores at least of new templates
and the provision of numerous articles of stores of an entirely new pattern.
The difficulties and dangers in the way of altering existing standard practice
in such matters as, for instance, the taper of big and little end-bolts,
and the number of threads and taper of wash-out plugs were obvious, and these
were but samples of many other more serious questions involved. These drawbacks
appeared to militate against the adoption of the standard engine in its entirety
by the various Indian railways working under separate control. With regard
to those lines worked by the State (amounting to about 20 per cent. of the
total open mileage), the limitation of types and the standardization of parts
and details appeared to the writer to offer greater chances of success, provided
that the number of types introduced was sufficient to cope with the conditions
and varying densities of traffic met with throughout the 7,000 miles worked
as a State administration.
The figures in the Report issued by the Committee of Locomotive and Carriage
Superintendents showed that the number of so-called standard engines imported
into this country for the broad-gauge lines up to the early part of the year
1910 was 829. Of this number 616 engines or nearly 75 per cent. of the total
were put to work on the three State lines which comprised 33 per cent. of
the total broad-gauge system. The State Lines should, therefore, be in a
position either now or very shortly to supply the information so much needed
by the authorities at home as to the success or otherwise of the standard
engines. It would appear from their continued importation that on the State
lines the advantages derived from the standardization effected have justified
their introduction. The writer was unable, however, to trace in the
Administrative Report of Indian Railways figures to show that the percentage
of engines under repairs had been reduced or that the cost of repairs had
decreased. Up to the present it was feared the reverse was the case, owing
to the fact that on some of the Indian lines the necessary up-to-date workshop
facilities were not at hand for dealing with such heavy engines, and also
that they had in most cases been introduced in anticipation of improvements
to the road, strengthening of bridges, lengthening of sidings, etc., all
of which were baing effected but were at present not sufficiently advanced
to permit of the engines working to the fullest advantage. The writer was
in sympathy with his brother officers who were present at the reading of
the Paper, and who were asked to furnish particulars as to the performances
of the standard engines, comparative cost of working, etc. To speak on such
matters required a good deal of preparation and hunting up of facts and figures.
A locomotive officer after several months? absence from India, and who was
six thousand miles away from his sources of information, could not be fairly
expected to contribute off-hand specific information on the above heads for
reproduction in the technical journals of the English-speaking world. It
was natural that the meeting evinced a tendency to treat the Paper in a more
or less generalized form, and to discuss the principles underlying
standardization.
A word as to the opportunities and environment of the average locomotive
officer in India. He might, if the head of his department, be enabled to
meet the chief locomotive officers of other administrations once in a year,
namely, at the annual session of Locomotive and Carriage Superintendents'
Committee. Apart from this only on rare occasions would he ever come in contact
with a locomotive officer of another railway. The exacting demands of railway
duty in India precluded the possibility of a conscientious locomotive district
officer doing much else in addition to his daily routine. He had to attend
to practically every import,ant detail himself. The highlytrained staff,
embracing a number of intelligent and reliable men who could be put on special
work, such as could be found on any home railway, was non-existent here.
Added to this, there were the climatic conditions which combined with the
lack of intelligent assistance rendered an officer?s duties most onerous.
Moreover, unless he should be at the headquarters of the locomotive department,
he probably had not access to the full statistics necessary to enable him
to acquire data on which to base his conclusions. It seemed to the writer
very questionable whether the introduction of standard types of engines for
India generally would meet with complete success under conditions by which
the majority of lines were worked by separate Boards of Management. As before
mentioned, there seemed to be greatest possibilities of success in this direction
on the State-worked lines; and from the geographical positions of these three
systems it might be assumed that standardization of the locomotives employed
thereon would satisfy the demands of those who considered such should be
effected. for military purposes. The writer held the opinion that standardization
of the varied important parts of engines, and not necessarily of the whole
?type,? would be the most satisfactory policy to initiate. ?? Important ?
parts were specified because there was not that same degree of necessity
to standardize those parts which were, in the ordinary course of events,
easily replaced from stock manufactured in India. What was desired to avoid
was the retention of an engine or engines in shops waiting for a consignment
of, say, tyres from home. It was recognized by most practical men who dealt
with repairs to engines that it was an entirely wrong policy to rob one engine
of certain of its parts to keep another running. This, although sometimes
necessitated, should be only resorted to on special occasions. Shop records,
if this was carried on, got into a complicated state, and eventually became
untrustworthy, as those who had had experience with native workmen could
testify.
Generally speaking, those parts should be standardized as far as possible
which expedited the passage of the engine and boiler through the repair shops.
Thus, in the first place, the complete boiler should be interchangeable with
those of as many types of engines as possible. To proceed further, the copper
fire-box tubeplate should be identical with as many different classes of
boilers as possible, size and shape of fire-hole ring should be standard,
and fire-bars should duplicate. The flanges of the different boiler mountings
should be identical for fixing purposes with the corresponding mountings
of any boiler. Similarly, cylinders of the same diameter should, if possible,
be suitable for several classes of engines. If this could not be done, then
the same pattern should be utilized in as many cases as possible, and it
should always be seen that cylinders and steam-chest covers, piston-heads,
packings, and glands were absolutely interchangeable. To digress for a moment,
the standardization of such a simple detail as a piston-head had far-reaching
results. It meant that all railways must first agree to adopt a standard
taper for piston-rod ends. Similarly, with regard to other details, before
a standard engine could be accepted in toto by any railway company, the question
of tapers of mud-plugs, plug-oocks, and the number of threads per inch for
brass work, copper and roof stays, etc., must be thoroughly gone into and
investigation made as to the consequences of departing from certain workshop
standards which had been in use for probably a generation, and of setting
up of new ones for future renewal and repair work. These considerations indicated
that the first procedure should be to select and standardize the several
important parts, referring them to all administrations for approval ; this
would raise questions of workshop economy and speed of production, after
which the standardization of types could be introduced or not, as each
administration considered desirable. This work could be well undertaken by
the locomotive section of the Committee of Locomotive and Carriage
Superintendents of India, in the same manner that the carriage and wagon
officers of the same committee were standardizing certain main details of
rolling stock to facilitate repairs to interchanged vehicles. Other details
which should come under the category of important parts were tyres and axles
for certain specified loads. The above sufficed to illustrate the suggested
policy of introducing standards primarily for important parts, rather than
offering a complete engine to railway administrations for acceptance as an
absolute standard.
This procedure would in no way sap the vitality of locomotive men in India.
On the other hand the acceptation of readydesigned engines would tend to
stifle individual endeavour, and in the long run retard progress. For the
present, however, it must be admitted that there appeared no necessity for
still further enhancing the power and weight of locomotives for this country.
The 4-4-2, 2-8-0, and 4-6-0 types now put forward for adoption should meet
requirements for many years to come. These engines were, generally speaking,
in advance of the carrying power of the Indian permanent way. The weakness
of track was undoubtedly a great factor at the present time in increasing
the cost of working the heavy engines and detracting greatly from their utility.
On the Great Indian Peninsula Railway the 2-8-0 type engines were at present
only available for working 294 miles of the 3,157 pertaining to this railway,
and the 4-6-2 engines even with reduced loads on the coupled wheels (namely,
16.4 instead of 17.5 tons per axle) were only permitted to run on the Konkan
District, a total mileage of 103 only. The reduction of weight on the drivers
had considerably detracted from the usefulness of these engines, for a
corresponding reduction in the working pressure of these engines, to give
the requisite adhesion for working the heavy mail trains, had been found
necessary.
With regard to the condition of the permanent way in India, Mr. Hitchcock
was reported to have said that "rails weighing 100 lb. were now fairly common
in India" A perusal of the Administration Report dealing with railways in
India up to the end of December last showed that only on one railway —
the North Western — were 100-lb. rails in use at the close of 1909.
The number of miles laid with this poundage of rail was not given, but they
were laid on the comparatively short Muskhaf-Bolan frontier section. The
Great Indian Peninsula Railway had now commenced the use of the 100-lb. rail
on the two Ghaut sections near Bombay, which totalled 17 and 10 miles
respectively, and would use this rail in future for main line renewals, which
were to be pushed forward. The great majority of main lines in India were
laid with rails not exceeding 80 lb., but in some cases where relaying was
being done, 90-lb. rails were being employed. These formed a small percentage,
however, of the total length of Indian lines, which approximated to 31,000
miles. This want of uniformity in the road bed, combined with the varied
conditions obtaining as to bridges, grades and curves, constituted an almost
insuperable difficulty in the way of designing a limited number of types
capable of meeting to the best possible advantage the requirements of each
individual system. It was true that an engine sufficiently powerful for a
line with heavy traffic could be worked on a line with less exacting conditions,
but this would be at the expense of the economy which was desired.
As regards the performance of which the 4-4-2, 4-6-0, and 2-8-0 engines of
this railway were capable, the first named, even with the reduction in working
pressure and adhesive weight referred to above, took in regular working with
ease six bogie vehicles (225 tons behind tender) from Victoria Terminus,
Bombay to Karjat, a distance of 62 miles in 72 minutes, an average speed
of 51.7 miles per hour with 3 bad slacks on the journey. The timing of a
similar run with 7 bogie vehicles (275 tons behind tender) was 82 minutes
(including one stop of 4 minutes) for the distance, or 45.5 miles per hour.
The engine, except for the reduction above mentioned, was of the same power
and weight as the standard engine.?* Owing to a speed restriction having
been imposed on this section until relaid with 100-lb. rails, these engines
have never been fully extended, and their performances must not be regarded
as representing their maximum effort. On the Igatpuri and Bhusawal section
* 1,000 tons behind the tender was regularly worked by engines of the 2-8-0
type. The through booked speed for the bank, mileage 136 to 155, from Nephad
to Summit was 14 miles per hour. It was interesting to note that, prior to
the imposition of speed restriction on the section, one of these engines
fitted with 21-inch cylinders, a boiler to the Standard Committee's design,
and 4-foot 7-inch coupled wheels worked, on account of an engine failure,
a mail train from Kalyan to Bombay, a distance cf 34 miles, in 47 minutes,
or at an average speed of 43.4 miles per hour.
* Copies of the Gradient sections of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway between
Bombay and Rarjat also between Igatpuri and Bhusawal may be seen in the
Institution Library.
Legros, L.A.
The development of road locomotion in recent years. 1535-92.
An appendix lists some major historical events:
There can be no doubt that the first mechanically propelled road locomotive
carrying passengers was that of the Frenchman, Nicholas Joseph Cugnot, which
ran in 1769. Murdock’s engine of 1781 was a model, as also was that
of Symington. It is to Trevithick that the first practical advance in road
locomotion in this country is due, and it is very evident from the patent
drawings and other records of his work that he not only understood the conditions
to be met in the designing of a road locomotive, but also the leading position
he took in the use of high pressure steam led him directly to the invention
of the blast pipe, and was the cause of his successful attempts to effect
traction by means of a smooth wheel on a smooth rail.
The patent of Trevithick and Vivian was applied for and granted in 1802 after
successful trials made in 1801 at Camborne in Cornwall.
The first application of the differential gear to road locomotion can be
traced to Richard Roberts of Sharp, Roberts and Co. (subsequently Sharp,
Stewart and Co.), and was fitted to a road locomotive which ran in Manchester
in 1834. The gear was also applied by F. Hill of Deptford in 1840 in the
familiar form of four mitre wheels. The differential gear was, however, known
earlier than this, and, according to McLaren, was first employed in White’s
dynamometer prior to 1822.
Prior to the adoption of the differential gear some of the earlier road
locomotivcs were constructed with three wheels and drove on the single front
wheel.
The first use of pneumatic tyres on the road was made by R. W. Thomson in
1846 for "...lessening the power required to draw the carriages, rendering
their motion easier, and diminishing the noise...”; the first use of
rubber tyres was made by the same inventor in 1867. Some of these locomotives
fitted with rubber tyres were tested in India and reported on by Colonel
Crompton about 1870.
The exhaust silencer is stated by Sir Frederick Bramwell to have been used
by Hancock on his high-pressure steam-coaches.
Volume 80 (1911, Parts 1/2)
Ellington, Edward B.
Address by the President. 213-40.
On the distictions between Civil and Mechanical Engineers, and between
consultants and contractors. The education of engineers.
Volume 81 (1911, Parts 3/4)
Huber-Stockar, E.
Electric traction in Switzerland. 449-537. + Plates 24-35 and col. map. 7
tables. 53 figs. (illus., diagrs., maps)
Railway electrification had made, and was making, noteworthy rather
than rapid progress in Switzerhnd. As regards system, single-phase current
of low periodicity and high contact-line voltage, varying from 5,000 to 15,000
according to circumstances, is being sanctioned by experience and by authority.
An important electrification of a new principal line, the Lötschberg,
was about to be carried out in the immediate future, and a still more important
one, that of the St. Gotthard Railway, is well prepared by the investigations
of the Schweizerische Studiencommission für electrischen Bahnbetrieb
and by the Federal Rdways' purchase of water-powers along the line.
Railway electrification and electric traction on a large scale was in great
measure a problem of power-station economics. The heavy variations of load,
and those due to seasonal variations in the fresh-water supply, make, under
Swiss conditions, water storage desirable and even imperative. All
electrification in Switzerland is directly connected with the utilizattion
of water-power.
Schubeler, J.F.
Modern diesel oil-engines. 579-95. Disc.: 596-602 + Plate 36.
Mainly perceived as a large engine suitable for powering ships, and
possibly locomotives: not preceived as being applicable to motor-cars or
aircraft.
Amsler, Alfred
Some new types of dynamometers. 603-12. Disc.: 612-16 + Plate 37. 7 diagrs.
Two types of transmission dynamometers, constructed by Amsler's Swiss
company: the torsion dynamometer designed for measuring the power transmitted
to or from high-speed machines, such as centrifugal pumps, fans,
turbo-compressors, steam-turbines, dynamos, etc., where the torque is fairly
constant and therefore need not be recorded in a diagram ; the other the
hydraulic dynamometer-being intended to be used for measuring and recording
the energy absorbed by slow-running machines of variable resistance, such
as machine-tools, plunger-pumps, and the like.
Livesey, E.M.
Rolling-stock on the principal Irish narrow-gauge railways. 599-630. Disc.:
631-52 + Plates 23-6..
The disadvantages of narrow-gauge outweighed the advantages, if
any:
- Steep gradients; due to following the contour in an effort to save money on banks and cuttings.
- Sharp curves due to similar causes.
- Greater overhang required to provide reasonable accommodation, with greater liability to overturn.
- Greatly reduced speeds.
- Great inconvenience and loss, at break of gauge when coming into contact with standard gauge.
- Cramping of parts, accompanied by reduced accessibility
The locomotives and rolling stock of the following railways were described (and in many cases illustrated) County Donegal Railways (including the application of superheating); Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway; Ballycastle Railway; Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway; West Clare Railway; Midland Railway (NCC). Ballymena and Larne Section; Cavam and Leitrim Railway; Clogher Valley Railway; Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway and the Listowel and Ballybunion Railway.
Excursions [Belfast Meeting, July 1912].
809-55.
Friday 2 August one of two whole-day excursions was to Portrush by
special train, kindly provided by the Midland Railway. After luncheon in
the Railway Station Dining Room, the party, consisting of Members and Ladies,
proceeded in special electric cars to Dunluce Castle, over which they were
conducted by William A. Traill, who described its history. The journey was
then resumed to the Giant’s Causeway, where Traill again guided the
Party and explained the geology of the district. After tea in the Chalet
at the Causeway, the return journey was made in special cars to Portrush,
where dinner was served in the Railway Station Dining Room.
Dalby, W.E.
Characteristic dynamical diagrams for the motion of a train during the
accelerating and retarding periods. 877-916. Disc.: 917-45. 5 diagrs., 3
tables
1. Fundamental importance of the acceleration period.
2. Tractive-force curves.
3. The characteristic Dynamical Diagram for a particular case :-
(a) Scales.
(b) The diagram.
(c) The accelerating force f.
(d) Limiting speed.
(e) Time-speed curve.
(f) Time-distance curve.
(g) Kinetic-energy-distance curve.
(h) Speed-distance curve.
(i) Checks to be applied.
4. General features of the Dynamical Diagram.
5. Dynamometer-car record of the Riviera Express from Paddington.
6. Reduction of the data from the Dynamometer-car record
7. Braking. to the curves of the Dynamical Diagram.
(a) A wheel-element.
(b) A vehicle composed of n wheel-elements m of
(c) An engine composed of dissimilar wheel-
8. Tension on a draw-bar due to unequal braking of engine
9. Characteristic Dynamical Diagram for a train stopping which are braked.
elements. and train. from a speed of 60 miles per hour.
10. Moments of inertia of typical pairs of Wheels and Axles. Engine driving-wheel
73 inches diameter. ’) See Table 3 (page 914).
Engine trailing-wheel 73 inches diameter.
Engine bogie-wheel 454 inches diameter
A wood-centred carriage wheel 458 inches diameter
ernard M. Jenkin in discussion introduced Figure 9 which showed performance
of Holden/Russell Decapod .Quoted from Captain Douglas Galton's Paper
on the Effect of railway brakes
Henderson, James B.
Theory and experiment in the flow of steam through nozzles. 253-322.
In response to a circular issued by the council, asking for suggestions
as to subjects for research, a large number were received, and the subject
of “the action of steam passing through nozzles and steam-turbines”
was selected amongst others for possible future research. Professor James
B. Henderson was invited to write a preliminary paper upon the work hitherto
done in this subject, and the present paper is offered for discussion before
the details for carrying out the proposed research are settled.
Trevithick, F.H. and P.J. Cowan
Some effects of superheating and feed-water heating on locomotive working.
345-482.
Relationship of smoke-box temperature and draught to rate of firing;
values from Goss's Locomotive Performance
Roberts, G.H.
A few notes on engineering research and its co-ordination. 869-93. Disc.:
893-922. + Plate 24.
Sauvage, Edouard
Recent development of express locomotives in France. 383-415. Disc.:
415-28.
Survey of practice on each of the French railways where compounding
was virtually the norm. Very detailed descriptions of the then recent practice.
Contributors to the discussion included H. Fowler
(416-17), the difference of locomotive practice in France and England.
IIe desired, in the first place, to endorse what the author had said with
regard to superheating. Practically no passenger locomotive was built in
England at the present day unless it was fitted with some type of superheater.
The author had not dealt with details. There was one difficulty, however,
which he (Mr. Fowler) had dealt with at another Institution early this yew,
that he knew to be a very real one on a large number of railways, more
particularly in the United States and to a less degree in England. This was
the difficulty of keeping the large tubes of the superheater tight. Speaking
from experience on the Midland Railway, this trouble WRS met with in tuhes
of considerable length. In the locomotives on the Midland, where the boilers
were, comparatively speaking, short, practically no trouble was experienced,
but in the boilers of some engines taken over from a railway company absorbed
by the Midland, and in which the tubes were about 15 feet long, very considerable
difficulty had been experienced in keeping the tubes tight. That, he thought,
was largely due to the fact that the water was exceptionally bad, and, once
leakage took place through large tubes with bad water, it seemed a very difficult
matter to stop it.
He was sure all the members had listened with great interest to what the
author had said with regard to dispensing with dampers in the boilers which
had been superheated on the French railways. That was being tried on many
railways in England, and so far no trouble had, he believed, been experienced.
If it were possible to get rid of the damper with its attendant mechanism
it would no doubt be a very considerable advantage. Very little had been
done in England with regard to the superheating of compound locomotives.
He believed the Great Central and the Midland were the only railway companies
who had done anything in the matter, because, as was well known, the compound
locomotive had never obtained the same bold in England as it had done in
France. He believed that in future the locomotive in England as well as in
France would be a 4-cylinder superheated compound.
He was rather surprised at the statement made with regard to the P.L.M. that
the drop between the boiler and the steam-chest amounted frequently to 426
lb. per square inch. That was entirely against the experience on the Midland
Railway. He thought it must be due to very tortuous pxssages through which
the steam h:td to go, because it liad been found that the usual retardation,
owing to the passage through which the superheated steam had to go, was more
than made up for by the high fluidity of the superheated steam.
The author shted on the first page of the Paper that the Atlantics were not
likely to be reproduced. He (Mr. Fowler) desired to call attention to the
fact that during the last week he had received a photograph of an Atlantic
engine which had been turned out on the Pennsylvania Railroad, by Mr. A.
W. Gibbs, the Chief Mechanical Engineer, who stated he believed there was
still a very large field of work for the four-coupled engine. With regard
to the Chairman’s remark that coupling-rods were not such an evil as
was sometimes thought to be the case, this idea was probably due to the fact
that engineers had got used to the trouble. There was not the slightest doubt
that no engine ran so nicely or freely as that with single driving wheels,
but the adhesion was of course deficient.
E.L. Ahrons (425-6) it would appear from Table
3 (page 387) that Serve tubes were used for the 4-6-0 engines of three companies,
but not for those of the Etat and Midi. Herein lay some difference of opinion
amongst French engineers. Could it be said in general that the advantages
derived from the use of these tubes had been sufficient to warrant their
continued use? In England, where they had been tried on a few railways, they
were no longer used. On the other hand, all the French Pacific engines, with
the exception of those of the Nord had plain tubes (Table 3). Would it be
the case that the increased length of tubes in the Pacifics produced a final
temperature of the gases sufficiently low as to render the extra cost of
Serve tubes unnecessary, more especi;tlly in engines with superheaters? Of
the six illustrations of engines given, only two of them showed the wind-cutting
cab fronts, namely, those of the Est and P.L.M. engines. It was noteworthy
that, in the case of the engines of the P.L.M., only the cabs were thus shaped,
and the old form of wind-cutting engines, in which the smoke-boxes and domes
were similarly shaped, had been abandoned. Had it been proved beyond doubt
that these wind-cutting devices had been successful in effecting a diminution
of resistance. The writer considered that a side wind or wind upon the quarter
would cause more train-resistance than a head wind, as the flanges of all
the vehicles of the train would be pressed against the rails. For a side
wind or head wind at an angle, a wind-cutting cab appeared to offer rather
more resistance than a plain cab.
In the P.L.M. valve-gear the admission to the low-pressure cylinder was stated
to be always 63 per cent., SO that the ratio of volumes of the h.p. and 1.p.
cylinders would vary for each variation of the point of cut-off in the h.p.
cylinders. It would be very interesting if the author would publish in the
Proceedings some indicator diagrams from these engines, such as would show
the effect of this method of steam distribution, when the h.p. cylinder was
cutting off at 88 per cent., and also when the cut-off was, say, 40 per
cent.
Poultnery (426-7) who commented on the Claughton type, citing The
Engineer (6 February 1914);
W.M. Urie (437-8) wrote that, referring to the
author’s remarks on maintenance of locomotives fitted with superheaters,
very much depended on the efficiency of the mechanical lubricator and quality
of oil used. Engines fitted with snperhenters were started in June 1910,
on the Caledonian Railway, and there were now forty-six superheater locomotives,
thirty-four on the Schmidt system and twelve on the Robinson system. Considerable
trouble was caused at first by fnilure of the lnbricntors, sometimes through
excessive superheat and in other cases by the gearing working the lubricator
giving way at the cross-head attttchment. These troubles had been overcome
by strengthening the parts found defective. It was of the utmost importance
that the mechanical lubricator should be kept in perfect, order on engines
fitted with superheaters, iis its failure to lubricate efliciently caused
disaster to piston-valves, cylinder piston-rings, etc. There were several
kinds of mechanical lubricators in use. M. Flamme recently informed the writer
that on the Belgian State Railway their experience was much the same as on
the Ca1edonian Railway. He (Urie) had seen several of their latest types
of locomotives when visiting their works at Brussels and Malines, and he
noted that the mechanical lubricators were worked with gearing connected
to the cross-head, its on British locomotives, excepting locomotives on the
North Eastern and Midland Railways, the gearing in the latter cases being
worked from swing link of valve motion.
Mr. Fowler mentioned (pge 416) tliat he experienced trouble in keeping the
large superheater tubes tight in the tube-plate. This had also been a trouble
on the Caledonian locomotives, but not as yet to a serious extent ; it was
easily overcome hy re-expanding the tubes. Several of the Caledonian locomotives
were running without the damper-box and doors covering the superheater elements
as an experiment ; and as the ends of the elements next to the fire-box mere
made especially strong, no trouble was expected to arise from overheating,
provided the driver and fireman were careful not to overcharge the fire-box.
On these engines the pyrometers had also been discarded, on account of their
cost and unreliability
Mallet, Anatole
Compound articulated locomotives. 429-62.
Contributors to the discussion included Edgar Worthington (456-8)
who made observations on Fairlie locomotives and on Webb compounds..
W.M. Urie (462) wrote that the author made little reference to the Meyer
type of articulated locomotive used on the Luxembourg Railway, built by the
Compagnie Belge in Bruxelles in 1873 and shown at the Vienna Exhibition.
Mr. Kitson was the locomotive superintendent at that date on the Luxembourg
Railway, and he elected to try the Meyer type against the Fairlie type, with
a view to simplifying the generation of steam. The engine was a four-cylinder
one with twin bogies and was most successful. The writer had made out most
of the detail drawings under the immediate direction of Mr. William Paterson,
formerly chief draughtsman on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway,
and of MY. Meyer. It must be a great satisfaction to M. Mallet to see the
success of his invention.
Sartiaux, A.
Signalling on railway trains in motion. Northern Railway. 463-8.
Lancrenon, F.
Signalling on railway trains in motion. Eastern Railway. 469-78.
Herdner, A.
Signalling on railway trains in motion. Southern Railway. 478-83.
Part of tthe Midi Railway: the track part seemed similar to the GWR
system and involved a ramp which sent a signal to the locomotive and via
electro mecanical linkage activated the whistle on the locomotive. Diagrams
of both the track and locomotive fittings.
Marechal, L.
Signalling on railway trains in motion. Paris, Lyons and Mediterranean Railway.
488-90.
Solacroup, E.
Signalling on railway trains in motion. Orleans Railway. 491-505.
Acfield, W.C., Lewis, Leon P., Raven, Vincent L., Stanier,
W.A. and Willox, W.
Audible and other cab signals on British Railways. 843-926.
Acfield, W.C.
Audible signalling on railway trains in motion. 843-6.
Author was Signal Superintendent, Midland Railway Derby.
The Midland Railway has this year made some .experiments with a new invention
called the Railophone, an invention of H. Von Kramer for giving an automatic
warning in the engine cab. This apparatus differs from anything hitherto
brought out. It is primarily intended for use in connexion with DISTANT signals,
and, unlike the Automatic Train Control mentioned, has no physical connexion
or contact with either the rolling stock or permanent way, being operated
entirely on the wireless inductive principle So far, however, it has not
been considered desirable to publish any results of the experiments.
Lewis, Leon P.
Automatic signalling on trains. 846-54.
Caledonian Railway
Raven, Vincent L.
Electrical system of cab-signalling. 855-68. + Plate 25
Stanier, W.A.
Combined automatic train control and audible signal system in use on the
Great Western Railway of England. 869-79. + Plate 24
Willox, W.
Signalling on railway trains in motion. 879-83. Disc.: 883-926.
Discussion: A.T. Blackhall (Signal Engineer, GWR, 884-5) A.D.
Jones (SECR, 894-) was sceptical of the benefits, suggesting that footplate
crews might ignore other hazards on the line, although he wondered whether
reductions in disruption by fog might make the systems economic. A.F. Bound
(GCR, 907-11) Some of the obstacles to be overcome in designing such an apparatus
were :- (1) Its adaptation to the locomotive of any railway to meet the case
of engines of one company working over the rails of another, and the case
of joint undertakings. (2) The finding of a position for a standardized track
apparatus, due to the varying load and structure gauges on different lines,
now further complicated by the adoption of various types of electric traction
and also of water troughs. (3) It must be reasonable in cost, both for
installation and subsequent maintenance. (4) It must be simple and reliable
as regards engine and track apparatus; H.W. Moore (L&YR, 911-13); Joseph
C. Sykes (913-16); Isaac Smith (916-17);
Dickinson, H.W.
Some unpublished letters of James Watt. 487-534.
A selection from Watt’s correspondence was published in 1854
by Muirhead, Origin and Progress of the Mechanical Inventions of James
Watt in 3 volumes followed within the next ten years by two biographies
(Muirhead's Life of James Watt. in 1859 and Smiles' Lives of the
Engineers — Boulton and Watt.” 1865. Therein many more extracts
from Watt's letters saw the light. It might be concluded that everything
of real value had been published, but the the authors of these works were
an advhcate a surgeon, and overlooked much of engineering interest. Moreover,
there were further Boulton and Watt documents preserved in the Watt Museum
and other papers in private hands not consulted in the works cited.
From this large amount of material quite a small selection has been made
herein of a few letters representative of as many aspects as possible of
Watt's activities. The letters have little connexion with one another beyond
the fact that they are in chronological order, but an attempt has been made
to indicate the purport of each and to explain the allusions in them. It
seems to the collator that there would be no better way of doing honour to
the memory of James Watt, say, on the hundredth anniversary of his death,
than by publishing more of his letters and MSS.
Clerk, Dugald
The world's supplies of fuel and motive power: Thomas Hawksley Lecture. 591-625
+ Plates 7 and 8.
Having considered coal, and its then known reserves, he turned to
solar power and tidal power and then water power (Hawksley was a hydraulic
engineer). Noted that Alexander Newlands, Chief Engineer of the Highland
Railway, had read a Paper before the British Association in 1912, on Scottish
Water-Power, in which he adopted the view of Professor G. Forbes that the
available hydraulic power in Scotland exceeded one million h.p. Newlands
had investigated many convenient power stations, and gave a list of forty-five
localities, from which he considered a total of 205,000 h.p. could be obtained.
He stated that the Kinlochleven Works of the British Aluminium Co. on the
west of Argyllshire cost £600,000, developing 30,000 h.p. In the light
of further events Clerk's observations on oil fuel now seem quaint: "Only
a small proportion, however, of the crude petroleum can be regarded as available
for use as a source of power, for by far the larger part is in demand as
an illuminating agent, and as a lubricant for machinery." Considered some
alternative heat engines: Stirling, Ericsson, Brown, Cecil, Lenoir, Otto
and Clerk, and Brayton constant pressure engine.
Fowler, Henry
Chisels. 141-5. Disc.: 145-82.
The composition and heat treatment of chisels. 10 diagrams showed
the shape of the special chisels employed for heavy brass work, for heavy
iron and steel castings, for cylinder repairs, for gouging, for making long
cross cuts, for working white metal, with square noses, with round noses
and with diamond tips for jagging. Sir Robert Hadfield (145-9) opened the
discussion by noting that very early chisels had been discovered in Ceylon
(Sri Lanka) and that hardening the tip must have been discovered through
heating in a charcoal furnace. He noted that Fowler favoured carbon steel,
but he considered that an alloy steel might be found. Daniel Adamson
(149)
Volume 94 (1918)
Monkhouse, O.E.
The employment of women in munition factories. 213-21. Disc.: 221-38.
At the beginning of WW1 it was exceptional for women to be employed
as general machinists and fitters in engineering shops, but the demand for
a greattly increased supply of labour of all kinds for munitions production,
and at the same time the need to conserve man-power to the fullest extent,
made it necessary for the Government to turn to the largest source of supply
of unskilled labour, namely, women. The successful employment of women in
engineering works depended not only on unskilled women, but in an almost
equal degree on skilled men, and the employers. The author was a
woman..
Hopkinson, Edward
Address by the President. 631-58.
At the end of WW1, India could not roll a steel plate, nor draw a
steel tube; there are no rolling mills for tinplate, or for copper or brass
sheets. Lead-piping, galvanized sheets, steel wire, copper and brass rods
were not made in India, and no steel castings were produced except on a limited
scale at some of the Ordnance Factories and in a few of the Railway Works.
Even railway axles, carriage springs, wire ropes and chains were imported.
No steam-engines of any size were constructed, probably the largest are those
of some 400 h.p. for river craft. No portable engines, traction engines nor
road rollers erre not made, nor steam-boilers, except a few of very small
capacity. Agricultural machinery, the greatest need of all in India, was
not manufactured except to a limited extent in its simpler forms. Substantially
no cotton or jute machinery, either for spinning or weaving, was made in
the country. Locomotives could not be built without obtaining many essentials
from abroad, and ship-building was in its most elementary stage. Electrical
machinery of every kind was imported
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