THE BRITISH OVERSEAS RAILWAYS HISTORICAL TRUST
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Locomotive Magazine and Railway Carriage and Wagon Review
Volume 52 (1946)
Number 641 (15 January 1946)
Jubilee of "The Locomotive". 1
The issue of last month's number completes 50 years' continuous
publication of The Locomotive. Older readers will remember the early
efforts in January, 1896, when the first number, then known as Moore's
Monthlv Magazine, appeared in an unpretentious style with a small circulation
of some 2,500 copies. Success was quickly established by the perseverance
of a few enthusiasts, some ambitious young men, and the support of subscribers.
By the end of the' first year we were able to enlarge the scope of activities,
extend our organisation, and from that time the paper acquired its present
title, known somewhat affectionately by many as the Loco Mag. We are
thankful to have survived two world wars, although not without loss, and
the last six years has been a period of trial. During the great raid on London
in December, 1941, our Amen Corner premises were destroyed with many valuable
records. Our printers' works were also severely damaged on more than one
occasion, but with an admirable effort and a sense of duty to subscribers
the staff brought the pages off the presses with commendable punctuality.
In common with other publishers, our work during the war period has been
mainly controlled by restrictions in the use of paper, and we welcome the
time when they are sufficiently relaxed to enable us to add more pages.
Contributors, many of' them authorities on special subjects, have enabled
us to accumulate a collection of technical and historical information which
now constitutes an encyclopaedia on locomotives and railway rolling stock
in the fifty-one volumes (two were published in 1903, when weekly parts were
issued). This we trust to make even more complete in the future.
In the present transition era of transport and the preference that is being
shewn to education, it is a matter for consideration whether an endeavour
should not be made to form a Museum of Transport in this country. In the
past, opportunities to acquire exhibits have been neglected, and their
destruction has robbed the community of the opportunity to possess unique
examples of railway history and progress. The amalgamation of existing
collections and the acquisition of irreplaceable objects by gift or purchase
would be a fitting tribute to the achievements of transport and the sacrifice
of its workers during the war, and should not even at the present stringent
time offer insurmountable difficulties. It may be that in the replanning
of London, the site and buildings of an abandoned terrminus or length of
railway could be reserved as a location for the purpose.
Jubilee of "The Locomotive". P.C. Dewhurst [letter]
The Jubilee of The Locomotive provides a pleasing opportunity for
one who has been .a reader since the beginning of the centuryand a
contributor for a much lesser period — to send his congratulations
upon the successful accomplishment over the long period of fifty years under
the same direction. The journal was launched at a time when effective interest
in locomotive development was reserved to those within severely professional
limits. and the dispersal and/or destruction of valuable records pertaining
to locomotive history had become accentuated. The awakened general interest
in the subject, of which The Locomotive was the stimulus, if not the forerunner,
is not as sometimes mistakenly supposed limited to an amateurish
dilettante group, but has a definite professional value. Without doubt the
changed atmosphere in the British locomotive world deriving from the existence
of such a journal prevented in many cases, unfortunately not in all. the
destruction of much data invaluable for an adequate detailed knowledge of
what had previously taken place in the development of the art;' which
knowledgenot susceptible of isolation in balance-sheets, although the
lack of It can be a prolific time and money waster—is afforded by
The Locomotive in the multiplicity of examples from the earliest period to
the present time. For such reasons, as also that undoubtedly much valuable
personnel has been attracted by The Locomotive to the profession, its influence
has been a power for good of con- siderable effect in the locomotive world,
and those who have steered it through its half-century—some,
unfortunately, no longer with usare entitled to the satisfaction of
a worth-while job of work worthily carried out.
Automat buffet cars on G.W.R. 1
The cars will enable passengers to purchase snacks, smokes and drinks
at any time on a journey by simply putting sixpence or a. shilling into the
slot of one of the many hundreds of snack compartments. These will contain
varieties of sandwiches, salads, savouries, cakes, fruit, chocolate.
confectionery, ice cream, cigarettes, matches, stamps, medical requisites
and even drinks, complete with wax cups. Stand up counters will be fitted
in front of big observation windows on each side of the cars for the convenience
of passengers who prefer to take their refreshments there. Entrance to the
cars will be by a centre door at each end. The new cars will probably be
used on short main line services.
Converted K4 type loco., L.N.E.R. 2. illustration,
diagram (side & front elevations).
The diagram was not of a K4, nor of its two-cylinder conversion, but
of a J39 0-6-0 for which the locomotive was designed as a prototype for its
replacement. Notes the number of standard components, including a shortened
version of the B1, alias Gresley B17, boiler. No. 3445 MacCaillin Mor
in black livery with NE on tender illustrated.
L.N.E.R. class B2 locomotive. 3. illustration,
diagram (side & front elevations)
Two cylinder conversion of B17. No. 2871 Manchester City
illustrated.
H. Fayle. The Dublin & South Eastern Railway and its locomotives. 11-13. 3 illustrations
James McEwan. Locomotives of the Caledonian Railway. 13-15.
Number 642 (15 February 1946)
The economics of the gas turbine locomotive. 17.
Elsewhere in this issue is described the first gas-turbine
locomotive, which has been operating in Switzerland for
some years past. This engine has given satisfactory service, but the decision
to use a particular form of motive power is naturally based very largely
on its economics. In weighing up the economic value of the gas- turbine
locomotive it is best to consider the subject first from the point of. view
of traffic density, which is the determining factor of any traction system.
If a dense traffic has to be dealt with, full electri- fication will always
receive the first consideration. Wherever this is justified, any other form
of locomotive is immediately excluded, which means that the principal competitors
of this form of motive power will be steam and compression-ignition locomotives.
When compared' with the steam locomotive, it should be noted that coal cannot
yet be employed as a fuel for the gas-turbine locomotive. This fact restricts
its use to countries in which oil occurs or can be obtained relatively easily
and cheaply, unless there are special reasons in favour of the use of oil
instead of coal, such as avoiding pollution of the atmosphere. In countries
rich in oil resources, or where oil is readily available and is even used
for firing steam locomotives, the reduc- tion of the oil consumption to a
little more than half is likely to be a deciding factor in favour'of the
gas-turbine locomotive. Where fuel oil is obtainable at about h3,1£
the cost of Diesel oil, the fuel costs of the gas-turbine will be equal to
those of the compression-ignition enginein each case being between
50 and 75 per cent. of those of comparable steam locomotives.
Considerable saving is also realised in lubricating oil costs, as experience
shows that the consumption of lubricants of purely rotating machinery is
extremely small, whereas according to American authorities the lubrication
costs of steam locomotives amount to 10 per cent. of the fuel costs. The
corresponding figure for compression-ignition engines is from 20 to 30 per
cent., and in the case of the gas-turbine less than 1 per cent. A big advantage
of the gas-turbine locomotive, doubly reflected in the operating costs, is
the absence of water. This does away with the necessity of having to carry
a supply of water, as much as 100 tons in modern American practice,and also
with all the arrangements connected with obtaining, delivering and treating
it. The absence of water also results in increased availability,. since there
are no interruptions for boiler cleaning and repaumg.
The wear of continuously rotating machinery is less than that of reciprocating,
.and according to Swiss experience with electric locomotives, far less
maintenance should be required for the electrical part and hence fewer
interruptions of service than with the steam locomotive.
The initial cost is, of course, an important factor because of the investment
and amortization charges. Only pre-war prices are available, but according
to American data the cost of a steam locomotive was then about $35 per H.P.,
and that of a compression-ignition locomotive with electric transmission
about $88 per H.P. The price of a gas-turbine engine should lie between these
two, somewhere in the neighbourhood of $65 per H.P., assuming the manufacture
to be carried out on similar lines to those now in use for the production
of standardized types of locomotives. . The efficiency of the gas-turbine
also falls mid- way between that of steam and compression-ignition locomotives;
the percentage efficiency at the draw-bar being 15 to 16 for the new prime-
mover, 6 to 8 in the case of the steam locomotive, and 26 to 28 for the
Diesel-electric. Compared with a Diesel-electric of equivalent power, there
is, in the case of the engine described this month, a saving in weight in
favour of the gas-turbine of 20 tons.
When discussing the expectancy of life, the question most frequently raised
is the durability of the turbine blading. The operating temperature range
has been conservatively fixed at 850- 1,.100 deg. F.; for this range of
temperature considerable experience is available, e.g., with gas-turbines
for Houdry oil-refining plants, and pro- viding the maximum admissible
temperature is not exceeded for any appreciable time, the blading may be
depended upon. The life in years of the gas-turbine locomotive should equal
that of the steam locomotive, being in turn between 50 and 100 per cent.
longer than that of the compression-ignition engine. Due to its greater
availablity, the annual mileage will be about the same as that of the Diesel.
If it is possible to solve the problems inherent to the pulverized-coal
gas-turbine, the future of the gas-turbine locomotive would be very bright;
the results obtained by the makers from a turbine of this type justify hopes
of it becoming available in the near future.
L. Derens. 3-cylinder goods locomotives. Netherlands Railways. 18-20.
illustration, diagram (side elevation)
Dutch Government in exile in London ordered35 goods and 15 passenger
locomotives from Nydqvist & Holm of Trollhattan in Sweden. The freight
locomotives were similar to those supplied to the Grangesberg & Oxelosund
Railway: three-cylinder 0-8-0 with SKF roller bearings, Walschaerts valve
gear, 3 m2 grate area, drop
grates, Schmidt superheatrers, 148.2
m2 evaporative heating
surface, driving wheels 1350 mm diameter. Golsdorf type tender.
Ian G. Duncan. Locos. by Markham &; Co. Ltd. 20. illustration, table
Markham & Co., Broad Oaks Works, Chesterfield, better known as
constructional engineers and mining machinery makers than as locomotive builders,
between the years 1889 and 1914 built no less than 19 steam locomotives for
use on industrial lines. (See table below.)
At least 17 of these are still at work to-day, adequate proof that good design
and workmanship had gone into their production. To-day enquiries are received
by Markham's for the supply of similar engines, although for the last 30
years the firm has built no locomotives at all. Despite the fact that Markham's
do not build locomotives now, they still undertake to supply spares and renewals
to those of their products still in use, and in this way several of the early
loco- motives with 13 in. cylinders have been supplied with 14 in.
ones.
WN | date | type |
cylinders | gauge | name |
owner at publication |
101 | 1889 | 0-4-0ST | 8in x 10in | metre | William# |
Cranford Iron Co. |
102 | 1889 | 0-4-0ST | 8in x 10in | 4ft 8½in | The Baronet* |
Waltham Ironstone Mines. |
103 | 1891 | 0-4-0ST | 13in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | Duston |
Staveley Coal & Iron Co. |
104 | 1891 | 0-4-0ST | 13in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | St. Albans |
Bestwood Coal & Iron Co. |
105 | 1891 | 0-4-0ST | 13in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | Staveley |
Staveley Coal & Iron Co. |
106 | 1891 | 0-4-0ST | 13in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | |
Hickleton Main Colliery Co. |
107 | 1893 | 0-4-0ST | 13in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | G. Bond |
Staveley Coal & Iron Co. |
108 | 1893 | 0-4-0ST | 8in x 10in | metre | Dowie |
Clay Cross Co., Crick Quarry. |
110 | 1893 | 0-6-0ST | 13in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | Violet |
Staveley Coal & Iron Co. |
109 | 1894 | 0-4-0ST | 13in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | Gladys |
Staveley Coal & Iron Co. |
111 | 1897 | 0-4-0ST | 13in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | 2 |
W. Cooke & Co., Sheffield.~ |
|
1909 | 0-4-0ST | 13in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | Bull |
Bullcroft Main Colliery. |
|
1909 | 0-4-0ST | 13in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | Charles |
Markham Main Colliery. |
|
1909 | 0-4-0ST | 13in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | Lily |
Staveley Coal & Iron Co. |
|
1909 | 0-4-0ST | 14in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | 15 |
DalmelIington Iron Co. |
|
1909 | 0-4-0ST | 14in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | 13 |
Vickers, Ltd., Sheffield.§ |
|
1909 | 0-4-0ST | 14in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | 10 |
Parkgate Iron & Steel Co. |
|
1913 | 0-4-0ST | 14in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | 11 |
Parkgate Iron & Steel Co. |
|
1914 | 0-4-0ST | 14in x 20in | 4ft 8½in | 12 |
Parkgate Iron & Steel Co. |
* Originally Cranford Ironstone Mines.
~ Used as a stationary boiler.
.§ Built to stock in 1909: sold August 1912 to Viackers and works plate
added then with date 1912: then owned Slater's scrap dealers, Brighton
Two locomotives with 13in cylindeers increased to 14in
Illustration: Metre gauge engine Tommy (Photo by Stoyal)
The locomotive in Persia. 21-5
Concluded from page 11 At the outbreak of war the locomotive stock
of the Persian Railways comprised approxiinately 120 unitsno more precise
figure was obtainable in this land where records are not treated with the
respect which is accorded to them in some other parts. This figure is made
up as follows:
4-8-2 + 2-8-4 | 4 | Beyer-Garratt |
2-8-0 | 5 | Beyer-Peacock |
2-8-2 | 12 | Nohab |
2-10-0 | 16 | Hensche |
2-8-0 | 49 | Krupp Henschel and Esslingen |
Miscellaneous | 34 | |
Total | 120 |
The Miscellaneous heading covers a very mixed assortment of locomotives,
some fairly new, some second or third hand, and all unfit for main-line.
service. The most interesting were some 0-10-0 two-cylinder Goldsdorf compounds
built at Wiener-Neustadt for Turkey in 1912. The Garratt engines, weighing
201 tons, were intended to tackle the 1 in 36 grades from Pole Sefid up to
Gaduk and the rather less severe ascent on the southern side, but after covering
only about 60,000 miles each on this service they were all withdrawn because
of cracked firebox crown plates. This failure was in no way due to faulty
design or construction, but to lack of washing out, to the rapid fluctuation
of temperature which is always possible with oil firing and to very excessive
use of the tube expander. During the British occupation one of these engines
was given a new firebox and is known to have run at least 18 months subsequently
on this extremely severe section without further repair apart from the usual
shed maintenance, which had, incidentally, by that time been taken over by
the Russian forces. The Garratt locomotive appears to be very suitable for
Persian service, since it combines ample steam- ing capacity with moderate
track loading. The added complication is, of course, a disadvantage and,
in fact, when the British troops arrived at Teheran in 1942, appeared to
have been regarded as an insuperable difficulty, since one of these engines
was in the erecting shop with the boiler lifted, but for the last six months
no one had been able to think of a way of proceeding further. When a number
of L.M.S. Rly. fitters appeared on the scene, however, the monster capitulated
and was soon resolved into its component parts!
The other Beyer-Peacock product, the 2-8-0, is rather too small for serious
main line work except south of Andimeshk, and tends, consequently, to be
relegated to shunting service. At the end of 1941 they were all in traffic
and had never been shopped. It seems therefore that they possess some quality
which is more resistant to the "charm" of Persia than is the case with other
classes in service in that country. These locomotives weigh 70 tons each.
The 86-ton three-cylinder 2-8-2 built by the Swedish Nohab concern has a
nominal tractive effort of 38,000 lb., and on paper, therefore, appears likely
to put up a good performance on the Trans-Iranian route. In practice, however,
these engines are unable to keep their 19½ in. cylinders supplied with
steam and must be written down as failures. One of them has been rebuilt
with smaller cylinders, but initial trial results were disappointing. Some
research and experiment anent the oil-firing system would probably yield
improved results, but when the British forces left the Persian Railways in
1943 eleven of the twelve engines were in storage and the remaining one was
used only for shunting and local freight trips. Up to 1942 almost all the
heavy main-line work was in the hands of the German built 2-10-0 and 2-8-0
engines. These locomotives are of standard German pattern, apart.from .the
oil-firing equipment, which has been applied in a successful manner. Their
chief defect is that frame stretchers, saddle and motion plates are of light
fabricated construction, these details being presumably incorporated in place
of steel castings owing to the demands of German re-armament. The carrying
axle and the leading coupled axle are combined in an arrangement known as
the Krauss 'truck, forming in effect a distant relation of the four-wheeled
bogie. This device, however, did not prevent heavy flange wear on the leading
coupled wheels. The leading wheels of the tender bogies were also very prone
to flange wear, the bogie wheelbase being short in relation to the gauge.
A most successful feature of the design is the single bar crosshead , w.hich
is provided with mechanical lubrication via a drilled slidebar. The wear
on the sliding faces of both bar and cross-head was negligible. A further
most attractive feature, if perhaps somewhat superficial, is the chime whistle,
the melodious yet powerful notes of which echo from hill to hill in a manner
most pleasing to the enthusiast's ear. British railways please copy! Both
these classes, when in good condition, steam very freely and perform excellently
on the Teheran-Ahwaz mail train, being able to maintain 30 m.p.h. up the
1 in 67 grades with 300 tons. The 2-10-0, which weighs 98 tons by comparison
with the 80 tons of the 2-8-0, is naturally the more powerful and is an excellent
all-round performer under Persian conditions il reasonably maintained. In
spite of the ten-coupled wheelbase, no trouble was experienced in round ing
the sharp curves encountered so frequently while on the 1 in 36 grades this
class was invalu able in handling war-time traffic. The 2-8-0. although a
fairly large engine, is really somewhat on the smal1 side when standards
of maintenance are taken into consideration, and of all the loco- The
Miscellaneous heading covers a very mixed assortment of locomotives, some
fairly new, some second or third hand, and all unfit for main-line. service.
The most interesting were some 0-10-0 two-cylinder Goldsdorf compounds built
at Wiener-Neustadt for Turkey in 1912. The Garratt engines, weighing 201
tons, were intended to tackle the 1 in 36 grades from Pole Sefid up to Gaduk
and the rather less severe ascent on the southern side, but after covering
only about 60,000 miles each on this service they were all withdrawn because
of cracked firebox crown plates. This failure was in no way due to faulty
design or construction, but to lack of washing out, to the rapid fluctuation
of temperature which is always possible with oil firing and to very . excessive
use of the tube expander. During the British occupation one of these engines
was given a new firebox and is known to have run at least 18 months subsequently
on this extremely severe section without further repair apart from the usual
shed maintenance, which had, incidentally, by that time been taken over by
the Russian forces. The Garratt locomotive appears to be very suitable for
Persian service, since it combines ample steam- ing capacity with moderate
track loading. The added complication is, of course, a disadvantage and,
in fact, when the British troops arrived at Teheran in 1942, appeared to
have been regarded as an insuperable difficulty, since one of these engines
was in the erecting shop with the boiler lifted, but for the last six months
no one had been able to think of a way of proceeding further. When a number
of L.M.S. Rly. fitters appeared on the scene, however, the monster capitulated
and was soon resolved into its component parts! The other Beyer-Peacock product,
the 2-8-0, is rather too small for serious main line work except south of
Andimeshk, and tends, consequently, to be relegated to shunting service.
At the end of 1941 they were all in traffic and had never been shopped. It
seems therefore that they possess Miscellaneous 34 120 some quality which
is more resistant to the "charm" of Persia than is the case with other classes
in service in that country. These locomo- tives weigh 70 tons each. The 86-ton
three-cylinder 2-8-2 built by the Swedish N ohab concern has a nominal tractive
effort of 38,000 lb., and on paper, therefore, appears likely to put up a
good performance on the Trans-Iranian route. In practice, however, these
engines are unable to keep their 19! in. cylinders supplied with steam and
must be written down as failures. One of them has been rebuilt with smaller
cylinders, but initial trial results were disappointing. Some research and
experiment . anent the oil-firing system would probably yield improved results,
but when the British forces left the Persian Railways in 1943 eleven of the
twelve engines were in storage and the remaining one was used only for shunting
and local freight trips. Up to 1 942 almost all the heavy main-line work
was in the hands of the German built 2-10-0 and 2-8-0 engines. These locomotives
are of standard German pattern, apart.from .the oil-firing equip- ment, which
has been applied in a successful manner. Their chief defect is that frame
stretchers, saddle and motion plates are of light fabricated construction,
these details being pre- sumably incorporated in place of steel castings
owing to the demands of German re-armament. The carrying axle and the leading
coupled axle are combined in an arrangement known as the Krauss 'truck, forming
in effect a distant relation of the four-wheeled bogie. This device, however,
did not prevent heavy flange wear on the leading' coupled wheels. The leading
wheels of the tender bogies were also very prone to flange wear, the bogie
wheelbase being short in relation to the gauge. A most successful feature
of the design is the single bar crosshead , w.hich is provided with mechanical
lubrication via a drilled slidebar. The wear on the sliding faces of both
bar and cross- head was negligible. A further most attractive feature, if
perhaps somewhat superficial, is the chime whistle, the melodious yet powerful
notes of which echo from hill to hill in a manner most pleasing to the
enthusiast's ear. British railways please copy! Both these classes, when
in good condition, steam very freely and perform excel- lently on the
Teheran-Ahwaz mail train, being able to maintain 30 m.p.h. up the 1 in 67
grades with 300 tons. The 2-10-0, which weighs 98 tons by comparison with
the 80 tons of the 2-8-0, is naturally the more powerful and is an excellent
all-round performer under Persian conditions il reasonably maintained. In
spite of the ten-coupled wheelbase, no trouble was experienced in round ing
the sharp curves encountered so frequently while on the 1 in 36 grades this
class was invalu able in handling war-time traffic. The 2-8-0. although a
fairly large engine, is really somewhat on the smal1 side when standards
of maintenance are taken into consideration, and of all the loco- The
Miscellaneous heading covers a very mixed assortment of locomotives, some
fairly new, some second or third hand, and all unfit for main-line. service.
The most interesting were some 0-10-0 two-cylinder Goldsdorf compounds built
at Wiener-Neustadt for Turkey in 1912.
The Garratt engines, weighing 201 tons, were intended to tackle the 1 in
36 grades from Pole Sefid up to Gaduk and the rather less severe ascent on
the southern side, but after covering only about 60,000 miles each on this
service they were all withdrawn because of cracked firebox crown plates.
This failure was in no way due to faulty design or construction, but to lack
of washing out, to the rapid fluctuation of temperature which is always possible
with oil firing and to very . excessive use of the tube expander. During
the British occupation one of these engines was given a new firebox and is
known to have run at least 18 months subsequently on this extremely severe
section without further repair apart from the usual shed maintenance, which
had, incidentally, by that time been taken over by the Russian forces. The
Garratt locomotive appears to be very suitable for Persian service, since
it combines ample steam- ing capacity with moderate track loading. The added
complication is, of course, a disadvantage and, in fact, when the British
troops arrived at Teheran in 1942, appeared to have been regarded as an
insuperable difficulty, since one of these engines was in the erecting shop
with the boiler lifted, but for the last six months no one had been able
to think of a way of proceeding further. When a number of L.M.S. Rly. fitters
appeared on the scene, however, the monster capitulated and was soon resolved
into its component parts! The other Beyer-Peacock product, the 2-8-0, is
rather too small for serious main line work except south of Andimeshk, and
tends, consequently, to be relegated to shunting service. At the end of 1941
they were all in traffic and had never been shopped. It seems therefore that
they possess Miscellaneous 34 120 some quality which is more resistant to
the "charm" of Persia than is the case with other classes in service in that
country. These locomo- tives weigh 70 tons each.
The 86-ton three-cylinder 2-8-2 built by the Swedish N ohab concern has a
nominal tractive effort of 38,000 lb., and on paper, therefore, appears likely
to put up a good performance on the Trans-Iranian route. In practice, however,
these engines are unable to keep their 19! in. cylinders supplied with steam
and must be written down as failures. One of them has been rebuilt with smaller
cylinders, but initial trial results were disappointing. Some research and
experiment . anent the oil-firing system would probably yield improved results,
but when the British forces left the Persian Railways in 1943 eleven of the
twelve engines were in storage and the remaining one was used only for shunting
and local freight trips. Up to 1 942 almost all the heavy main-line work
was in the hands of the German built 2-10-0 and 2-8-0 engines. These locomotives
are of standard German pattern, apart.from .the oil-firing equip- ment, which
has been applied in a successful manner. Their chief defect is that frame
stretchers, saddle and motion plates are of light fabricated construction,
these details being presumably incorporated in place of steel castings owing
to the demands of German re-armament. The carrying axle and the leading coupled
axle are combined in an arrangement known as the Krauss 'truck, forming in
effect a distant relation of the four-wheeled bogie. This device, however,
did not prevent heavy flange wear on the leading' coupled wheels. The leading
wheels of the tender bogies were also very prone to flange wear, the bogie
wheelbase being short in relation to the gauge. A most successful feature
of the design is the single bar crosshead , w.hich is provided with mechanical
lubrication via a drilled slidebar. The wear on the sliding faces of both
bar and cross- head was negligible. A further most attractive feature, if
perhaps somewhat superficial, is the chime whistle, the melodious yet powerful
notes of which echo from hill to hill in a manner most pleasing to the
enthusiast's ear. British railways please copy! Both these classes, when
in good condition, steam very freely and perform excel- lently on the
Teheran-Ahwaz mail train, being able to maintain 30 m.p.h. up the 1 in 67
grades with 300 tons. The 2-10-0, which weighs 98 tons by comparison with
the 80 tons of the 2-8-0, is naturally the more powerful and is an excellent
all-round performer under Persian conditions il reasonably maintained. In
spite of the ten-coupled wheelbase, no trouble was experienced in rounding
the sharp curves encountered so frequently while on the 1 in 36 grades this
class was invalu able in handling war-time traffic. The 2-8-0. although a
fairly large engine, is really somewhat on the smal1 side when standards
of maintenance are taken into consideration, and of all the locomotives so
far seen in Persia the 2-10-0 Henschel would probably on average take pride
of place.
When, during the latter half of 1941, it was decided to use the Trans-Iranian
route as a means of transport to Russia, barely half the locomotive stock
was fit to handle main-line traffic, and so heavy were the· repairs
required that it was obviously essential to import a large number of locomotives.
The choice fell upon the L.M.S. designed 2-8-0, a locomotive of good repute
and generally substantial construction. Unfortunately no thought had been
given to the operation of these engines in countries where coal cannot readily
be obtained, and so the first 43 engines were supplied in coal fired condition
and mostly without Westinghouse brake. As a result, this batch was confined
to the level, south of Andi- meshk, where coal stacks were instituted, apart
from three engines which were handed to the Russians for use between Pole
Sefid and Bandar Shah. The Soviet authorities expressed themselves as well
pleased with these engines. The remaining 140 engines which followed were
fitted with oil firing and Westinghouse brake. They were immediately put
into main line service be- tween the Persian Gulf and Bonekuh, the section
from Teheran to Bonekuh being under Soviet administration. The 2-10-0 Henschels
were at the same time concentrated on the steepest section north of Bonekuh,
and the British engines operated the whole of the remainder together with
assistance from such of the German 2-8-0 engines as could be maintained in
reasonable condition. It will be seen, therefore, that the mainstay of Persian
motive power during 1942 was the L.M.S. 2-8-0, without which the task could
not have been approached. At the same time this locomotive by no me~ns came
fully up to expectations, for the followmg reasons:
(1) This engine is basically' too small for a route of such severity, even
if it functioned perfectly in all respects.
(2) The oil firing arrangement was inefficient and prevented results comparable
with those obtainable with coal fuel. The burner was satisfactory, but too
much air was admitted towards the front of the ashpan and none was admitted
at the firehole door. As a result, cold air was drawn directly into the lower
tubes, while there was insuffi- cient air in the upper part of the firebox
to ensure complete combustion at high rates of firing. In addition the smokebox
vacuum was too weak. Thus when working hard the engines emitted dense black
smoke and would hardly steam against one injector. whereas it was necessary
for them to steam against both on long inclines. The firehole doors became
almost red hot and rapidly warped and cracked. The original L.M.S. pattern
of hollow door with air slots would have been very much better. Several of
the coal-fired engines were converted to oil at Teheran with the aid of fittings
recovered from disabled Persian engines, and gave rather better if not entirely
satisfactory results.
(3) Superheater elements, after a few months' service, gave considerable
trouble by burning out at the firebox end. Only one spare set of elements
was provided for these 143 engines, but by cutting a length of 15 inches
from the existing elements and welding on locally improvised return bends
the trouble was eventually overcome. These elements are of rather light gauge
material for British practice, and certainly too thin for use in oil-fired
locomotives. Two engines were experimentally fitted at Teheran with snifting
valves on the header, the cylinder air relief valves being removed, but no
improvement was noted.
(4) These engines were fitted with one live steam injector and one exhaust
steam injector. These functioned well enough in cool weather, but on the
advent of summer to Southern Persia injector failures became frequent. The
exhaust injector manufacturers, when apprised of the predicament, manufactured
and rushed out hot-water cones and fittings with commendable rapidity, and
these enabled feed water at 135°F. to be dealt with. New live steam
injectors of hot water pattern were obtained from India and a large proportion
of engines so fitted with good results.
(5) Top feed clacks gave some trouble with sticking, a fault traditionally
dealt with by means of a large hammer, but recalci- trant engines had to
be temporarily with- drawn from traffic. The later engines of "Austerity"
design have the luxury of shut-off valves, a fitting which should be standard
practice.
(6) Water gauge drain cocks gave continuous trouble by blowing through, and
the gauge itself is by no means easy to read under cerfain conditions, especially
at night. As stated previously, the Klinger type is very much better in all
respects except perhaps first cost.
(7) Cylinder drain cocks, as in home service, were prone to blow. In British
practice a halfpenny is often inserted to effect a temporary cure; in Persia
the half Rial piece was used with equal, efficacy although at twice the expense!
(8) The L.M.S. hooter whistle is temperamental. A more reliable signal is
desirable, in Persian practice at least, although this is a minor point by
comparison.
(9) Electric headlights were supplied only on a few engines. A number were
transferred from unusable stock. In such an uninhabited and wild' country
it is difficult at night always to be sure of one's position without this
fitting, and it may also prevent head-on collision in certain circumstances.
(10) As stated already, sand-boxes should be ample and the sand supplied
through the medium of compressed air. As these desiderata were lacking, on
the worst section Southern goods brake vans were propelled at the head offreigfit
trains to perform the· necessary sanding, and proved a valuable palliative,
although reminiscent of the use of a steam-hammer to crack a nut.
The above catalogue of misdemeanours may appear somewhat formidable, but
they serve to show that a locomotive which gives .every satisfac- tion in
British service is not necessarily just as reliable when operating in a country
of completely different type. It is to be regretted that sufficient previous
thought was not applied to the .problem, since the transportation task in
Persia was made unnecessarily difficult and the prestige of the British
locomotive in that country, and perhaps others, has suffered bycomparison
'with American and German products. At the same time these engines did in
fact literally deliver the goods to Soviet territory, and it is only fair
to point out some of the good features in which they excelled, and which
enabled them to keep the wheels revolving, albeit rather slowly at times.
(1) Frames and frame details stood up very well indeed, and were much superior
to the German engines in this respect. In the event - of collision they were
easier to repair than the American 2-8-2. Only one case of a cracked frame
is known, this being at the usual place at the rear corner of the driving
horn gap.,
(2) The L.M.S. cast steel axlebox, originally imported from Swindon, is well
known to be an excellent product, and it well main- tained this reputation
in Persia. Only one hot box occurred, and this was due to a fractured oil-pipe.
(3) Cylinders, pistons, valves and motion generally stood up very well, the
wear being no more than is usual in British practice.
(4) All boilers were in very good condition when sent to Persia, and gave
excellent service (from a mechanical, as distinct from a steam raising, point
of view), It should be noted that these boilers are not fitted with any of
the flexible stays usually con- sidered essential in such circumstances.
The screwed flue tubes were very reliable in ser- vice, 'but difficult to
replace, especially at running sheds. The engines converted to oil firing
at Teheran had the original roof and side stay nuts left in position. Contrary
to general opinion, no trouble was experienced with the burning off of these
nuts by the oil flame.
(5) On a line containing so many sharp curves it was anticipated that pony
truck tyre wear would be rapid, but in practice the wear was found to be
very small indeed. Possibly this was due to the well-lubricated rails!
(6) Separate suspension of all wheels was a con- siderable advantage when
dealing with de- railed engines.
(7) The engines rode very steadily on the somewhat light permanent way.
(8) The capacity to run freely at high speed was outstanding. In Persia,
however, this is an advantage only. in the hands of an expert crew, and even
then the track is too light .to admit of full utilisation. On one occasion
the Teheran - Ahwaz mail was observed to reach 62 m.p.h. on a straight and
fairly level stretch. Five miles of track were badly damaged as a result.
As in the war of 1914-18, the aid of the United States was sought with a
view to the supply of additional railway equipment. Consequently there appeared
in Persia towards the end of 1942 the first of a large order of 2-8-2
locomotives. These engines were designed, constructed and shipped ~ith
commendable urgency, The principal dirnensions are:
Cylinders 21 in. by 28in.
Driving wheels 5ft. 0in. dia.
Pressure 2001b. per sq. in.
Weight of engine 89 tons
The builders were Baldwin, Alco and Lima, and the detail work and minor
dimensions varied slightly according to the maker. In particular the reversing
gear had three distinct variations according to origin. On some engines the
nut was at the front in fore gear,. in others at the back. It as not, therefore,
surprising that one of the class went through. the shed wall at Bonekuh during
its second day in Russian territory. A feature which immediately became apparent
was the ability to mamtam full steam pressure under almost any' condition
of load and gradient. Although the firebox was of the wide pattern, and thus,
nomin- ally, not quite so suitable for use with oil firing as the narrow
type used on the L. M. S. engines, the design and application of the oil
fuel components had evidently been founded upon the best American practice.
The fireboxes were of steel, some of them having circulating or arch tubes.
The firehole door was a massive hollow casting which, when shut, registered
with a vertical air flue designed to take air from below the cab flooring.
The design of the big-end bearings (said to be of British derivation) was
interesting in that it pre- supposed the ability of lubricating oil to penetrate
the oilholes in a floating bush in defiance of the law of 'centrifugal force.
This arrangement was tolerable on level ground, although it resulted in rapid
wear, but on long inclines where the engine was kept punching away for upwards
of half an hour at a time, the bushes became red hot and even the surrounding
parts of the rod began to assume a red glow which could be distinctly seen
at night. I t was clear that such a thing could not be allowed even on the
Trans-Iranian, and a complete cure was effected by the provision of grease
lubrication. These engines were provided with screw couplings which were
much less robust than the British pattern" and a lot of trouble was experienced
on this account. The steam sanding gave unsatisfactory results, like that
on the L.M.S. engines, and was altered to air sanding. When their various
minor, . though important, troubles had been rectified, the full. tractive
effort of these locomotives was realised. The writer has known one of them
to maintain 45 m.p.h. up a continuous grade of 1 in 67 with a train of 310
tons and to blow off violently the whole time. Speed would probably have
gone higher but for the severity of the curves. It may be said that the basic
design of these locomotives was adequate, with a capacity for steam generation
which must be termed outstanding. While the importation of these 2-8-2
locomotives gave much-needed relief to the motive power situa- tion, the
problem of feed-water supply became no less acute and was now the limiting
factor. The decision was taken to import diesel locomotives for use on the
southern portions of the route, where the shortage was most intense. The
type selected was the standard Alco 1,000 h.p. diesel-electric, but owing
to the loading six-wheel bogies were sub- stituted for the normal four-wheel
pattern. The engines thus modified' weighed 11'2 tons. A further modification
consisted in providing a motor on all six axles, thus giving a nominal motor
h.p. of 1,500. At starting these engines give a tractive effort of 54,700
lb., but this drops to 28,000 lb. at 10 rn.p.h., 14,000 lb. at 20 m.p.h.,
and 6,500 lb. at 30 m.p.h. The maximum speed is 60 m.p.h. These engines were
handled from the start by American crews and quickly ousted steam loco- motives
from all main-line work south of Andi- meshk. This arrangement somewhat upset
the established· practice of the natives in this arid region where water
had hitherto been obtainable in buckets supplied from the injector overflow
pipe, provided the footplate staff were in benevolent mood, as the Tomrny
usually is. The natives were quite unable to understand why this type of
engine could not be similarly "milked," and many touch- ing scenes were daily
enacted for weeks after this innovation became established. North of Andimeshk
the class gradually took on a larger share of the working, and on this section
double-heading was the rule, only one footplate crew being necessary. At
the outset these engines gave every promise of a successful reign, but the
writer is unaware as to what troubles, if any, were developed subsequent
to the Americans assuming complete control of the railway south of Teheran.
A further interesting importation was a batch of Krupp 2-10-2 'engines originally
built for a Chinese line, but diverted by the Allies to India, where they
were fitted with oil fuel apparatus. As supplied they would scarcely steam
themselves along level track, but were taken in hand by the U.S.A. authorities,
who finally handed them over to the Russians for use on the 1 in 36 grades,
where they are reported to have behaved well. The following locomotives were
erected by British troops in Persia, mainly by personnel of the 155th Railway
Workshop Company Royal Engineers, a unit which had served with the B.E.F.
in France in 1940 and was later to serve in Iraq, France, Belgium and Holland,
and Ger- man. Locomotive erection was carried out at Ahwaz. It was in no
sense a complete building, but usually necessitated lifting to examine journals
and axleboxes in order to rectify damage caused by sea water. The motion
had also to be checked over and fitted up, the cab unpacked, and so on. It
finally came coupling up and steam test.
2-8-0 | W.D. (LMS) | 143 |
2-8-2' | U.S.A | 64 |
2-10-2 | Krupp | 6 |
4-6-4T | ex Hong Kong | 2 |
4-6-2T | ex Hong Kong | 1 |
0-4-0 | American diese | 22 |
0-6-0T | Henschel | 3 |
241 |
The three Henschel tank engines were discovered in packing cases lying
at an uncompleted steel works near Teheran and erected in the workshops at
the latter place. The 0-4-0 diesel engines were deliveries on a Persian contract,
but were too small for effective war-time service except in isolated cases.
The above account is by no means a complete story of the Trans-Iranian Railway
and its locomotives, but it is hoped that enough has been said to suggest
the conditions which are likely to be encountered by the railwayman who goes,
whether as soldier or civilian, to such a venue, and who can hardly fail
to return a wiser and, perhaps, in some respects, a sadder person!
Canadian Pacific. 25
Four locomotives built for the Canadian Pacific Railway between 1882
and 1887 were still doing excellent service on branch lines in Ontario and
New Brunswick. When new, these 4-4-0 engines were the latest in wood-burning
locomotives. To-day, with the old "cow-catchers" removed, reboilered, and
equipped to burn coal, there is little evidence of their great age. The oldest
of the quartet, No. 105, is an 1882 product of Dubs & Co., of Glasgow.
She ran out of Winnipeg from 1896 until 1935, when she was transferred to
the Chipman-Norton run in New Brunswick. where her mileage now is 1,300,000.
No. 105 is teamed up with No. 144, built by the C.P.R. in its old Delorimier
Avenue Shops in Montreal in 1886. Between Renfrew and Eganville in Ontario
the other two 60-year-old locomotives haul mixed passenger and freight trains.
The senior engine of this pair, No. 136, is American built, first seeing
service out of Montreal in 1883. No. 136 was engine No. 30, another product
of the Delorimier Shops, built in 1887.
The L.M.S. Railway. 25
Announced following appointments consequent upon the death of C.E.
Fairburn: H.G. Ivatt, Chief Mechanical Engineer; R.C. Bond, Techanical Engineer,
Locomotive Works; E. Pugson, Mechanical Engineer, Carriages and Wagons; F.A.
Harper, Mechanical Engineer (Electrical).
G.W.R. 25
Two further 4-6-0 engines, No. 1005 and 1006 completed at Swindon.
Nos. 9622 to 9627 were new 0-6-0PTs. Nos. 2854, 2872 and 2888 2-8-0 tender
engines had been converted to burn oil fuel.
H. Fayle. The Dublin & South Eastern Railway and
its locomotives. 25-6. 2 illustrations, table
Continued page 62. In 1902, as the
company was short of engine power, it arranged to purchase six 2-4-2 tank
engines from the L. & N.W. Railway; these were of F.W. Webb's smaller
type, having 4-ft. 6-in. wheels, the alteration of gauge being carried out
at Crewe, where the engines were painted the standard D.W.& W.R. green,
and all carried D.W.& W.R. plates with date 1903; the dimensions were:
cylinders 17-in. by 20-in., wheels 4-ft. 6-in. and 3-ft. 3-in., heating surface
971.6 ft2., grate area 14.2
ft2, boiler pressure 150 psi, tanks 1,450 gallons,
coal 2½ tons, weight in working order 45.9 tons. The following is a
list with numbers and names carried by the engmes:
LNWR | Crewe | DWWR | ||
Number | WN | Built | Number | Name |
2070 | 2856 | Aug 1885 | 59 | Earl Fitzwilliam |
25'02 | 2683 | Oct 1883 | 60 | Earl of Courtown |
2496 | 3677 | Sep 1883 | 61 | Earl of Wicklow |
842 | 3604 | Sep 1887 | 62 | Earl of Meath |
1017 | 2726 | Apr 1884 | 63 | Earl of Carysfort |
2251 | 3605 | Jan 1877 | 64 | Earl of Bessborough |
(Nos. 842 and 2251 had been originally 2-4-0T type with Crewe Works
numbers 2122 and 2102). These engines were not an entire success at their
new duties, the coal consumption being rather heavy; for the most part they
worked on the Dublin passenger service, but were also in use on goods and
ballast trains. In 1913 No, 64 was rebuilt at Grand Canal Street with a higher
pitched boiler, the dimensions being 9-ft. 4-in. by 4-ft.
51/8-in., length of firebox 5-ft. 31/8-in.,
heating surface 724.5 + 107.5=832 ft2, grate area
15.3 ft2, centre line 7 ft. 10 in., pressure 150
lb., tanks 1,480 gals. coal 2½ tons, weight, adhesive 23.75 tons, total
50.0 tons; the coupled wheel diameter was increased -to 4-ft. 9-in., probably
by thicker tyres. In 1923 this engine was cased in armour-plate and used
to draw an armoured train during the Irish Civil War. It became G.S.R. No.
427 in 1925, with classification F3, and was withdrawn in 1936, but remained
at Inchicore shed for some time after.
As the five remaining engines of the class were capable of conversion to
the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge, they were sold to the British Government during
WW1, three during 1916, and two in 1917; Nos. 60/2 were used at Richborough
Port, and Nos. 59 and 61 were afterwards sold to the Cramlington Colliery,
becoming 13 and 14 in their list; No. 63 worked at Shoeburyness; all had
been scrapped many years. These engines are interest ing as the only ones
ever converted from 4 ft. 8½ in. to 5 ft. 3 in. and then re-converted
to 4 ft. 8½ in.
A new design of goods engine was buIlt at Grand Canal Street to the design
of Richard Cronin, of increased power and having a large cab with two side
windows; five of this class were built in all, but two of them came from
Beyer, Peacock & Co. in 1905. The dimensions were: cylinders 18-in. by
26-in., wheels 5-ft. 1-in., wheelbase 7-ft. 3- in. + 8-ft. l0-in. = 16-ft.
1-in., boiler 10-ft. 3-in. by 4-ft. 8=in., length of firebox 6-ft. 0-in.,
heating surface 876.5+94.3=970.3 ft2, , grate area;
20.0 ft2, boiler pressure 160 psi, weight of engme
m working order 43 tons; tender, with 2,600 gals. and 3½ tons of coal,
weight 30.4 tons. No. 13 Waterford was built at Grand Canal Street
in 1904, and No. 14 Limerick in 1905; these two engines became G.S.R.
Nos. 442/3 in 1925 with classification J8; No. 442 was scrapped in 1930 on
account of cracked frames, and 443 was fitted in 1940 with a Belpaire boiler,
presumably off another ex D.S.E.R. engine.
Two further engines of the same class, Nos. 65 Cork and 66
Dublin, were built by Beyer, Peacock & Co. in 1905 (WN 4647/8),
the heating surface being 1,074.7+118.5=1,193.2
ft2., and boiler pressure 175 psi the cylinders
at first were 18`-in. diameter, but were later returned to 18-in; these engines
became; G.S.R. Nos. 445/6, and were still at work with the pressure reduced
to 160 psi and classification J8. Nos. 443/5 were fitted with flush
top 351 class GSW boilers,
A fifth engine, No. 18 Enniscorthy, was built at Grand Canal Street in 1910,
but differed in a few respects: the wheels being 4-ft. 11½-in. diameter,
total heatinhg surface 1200 ft2, boiler pressure
170 psi, weight ofengine inworking order 47 tons; it became GSR No. 444 aand
was still at work. This engine had a la rge cab, but without side windows.
Illustrations: Webb 2-4-2T No. 60 >Earl of Courtown in DWWR
green; 0-6-0 No. 13 Waterford
The first gas turbine loco. 26-9. illustration, 2
diagrams
The First Gas Turbine Loco HE gas-turbine locomotive depicted in Fig.
1 was ordered in 1939 by the Swiss Federal Railways from Brown, Boveri &
Co., Ltd., of Baden, who were responsible for the whole of the design and
construction, with the exception of the frames, running gear, etc., which
were supplied by the Swiss Locomotive & Machine Works, of Winterthur,
to the order of the first-mentioned firm. The engine was intended for use
on branch lines where the traffic density was .insufficient to justify
electrification. Some idea of the importance attached to this development
may be gathered from the fact that notwithstanding the exceptional difficulty
in obtaining fuel oil during the war period, the Federal Government released
to the Railways sufficient to put the locomotive into regular service. Since
May, 1943, it has operated on the. Winterthur-Stein-Sackingen line, covering
94 miles daily on mixed trains of up to 300 tons.
David L. Smith. The Girvan and Portpatrick Junction Railway. 29-31. map
The Glasgow & Belfast Union Railway had hoped to extend the railway
which had reached Ayr in 1840 by an inland route to Girvan and thence along
the coast to Stranraer, but this foundered, but Girvan was reached in 1860
and on 5 July 1865 Parliament approved a further extension to Stranraer,
Construction developed, but very slowly. Three very heavy works, the Glendoune
cutting, the Pinmore tunnel and the Kincaer viaduct were concentrated at
the Girvan end, and by the beginning of 1874 none of these had been completed,
Another Act was passed on July 7, 1873, once more reviving powers, and extending
the period of construction for another two years from 20 June 1873. Early
in 1873, John Miller, engineer of the line, became seriously ill, and was
replaced for the next period of construction by Edward L.I Blyth, who was
responsible for certain amendments to the original scheme, the 65 lb. rails
originally specified being altered to 70 lb., with 28 lb. chairs, and he
also proposed a station at Luce Abbey, about 1½ miles from the south
end of the line. Though the station was never constructed, some progress
had been made with the project, for a grass bank that was to have been the
platform can still be seen on the west side of the line near Milepost 29¼.
Better progress was made in 1874, and early in that year the first locomotive
made its appearance. This engine came to work at the Girvan end, and was
an 0-6-0 saddle tank named Sambo, cylinders 12 in. by 17 in., built
by Manning, Wardle (makers' number 427) and delivered the previous year to
Pilling. There is evidence that Sambo proved too stiff for some of
the curves, and worked for some time as a 0-4-2T.
Correspondence. 31-2
"Trend of locomotive design." Bernard Bramall.
May I refer to your leading article for December last, and in particular
to your remarks concerning roller bearings.
Whilst not intending to deprecate the advantages of roller bearings in general,
I am inclined to question a policy of applying them initially to long-distance
rolling stock. The reduced frictional losses incurred by the use of these
bear- ings show to advantage more especially at low speeds; at high speeds
the difference is very small. Their supremacy is evidenced to an even greater
extent on starting from a standstill. Before a plain bearing can function
properly a film of oil must be built up. Consequently on starting from rest,
until this film has been built up. high resistances are encountered. Starting
resistance may be of the order of 18lb. per ton (Phillipson). a figure which
under oil film conditions is appropriate to speeds of sixty or seventy miles
per hour. The roller bearing, on the other hand. is not dependent on maintenance
of a film of lubricant. and has extremely low starting resistance.
In view of these considerations, it would seem logical to apply this type
of bearing, in the first instance at least. to local and slow passenger stock,
where its cardinal advantages can be exploited more fully. In regard to un
braked goods and mineral stock. it rarely occurs that all the axles along
a train start in motion at the same instant as is the case with close coupled
passenger rolling stock. 'Nevertheless, the benefit of reduced resistance
at speeds of 10 to 15 mile/h. would show to greater benefit than in high-speed
trains.
While considering the subject. it might in justice be noted that roller bearings
call for rather more stringent inspection than the plain type. Generously
proportioned as they may be. failure is generally due to fatigue cracks,
which. once in evidence rapidly proceed to complete failure. whereas a plain
bearing, given adequate lubrication, can be said to wear out rather than
fail.
The First Locomotive in Natal. G.V. Bulkeley. 32
In your issue for September 1939, page 269, there appeared a photograph
of 0-4-0 locomotive No. 5 of the Melbourne & Hobson's Bay Railway, South
Australia, at work on Sandridge Pier, Adelaide.
I enclose a booklet by T.J. Espitalier giving illustrations and details of
the first locomotive to work in Natal. This was of 4ft. 8½in. gauge.
(The S.A. Railways are now entirely 3ft. 6in.
You will note that the Natal engine is of practically identical design to
No. 5 engine of South Australia above mentioned. The small wheel at the side
of the enginemen's footplate is the flywheel of a small boiler pump engine.
The Natal engine is gradually being rescued, bit by bit, from the river bed
where it was dumped many years ago. It has been reconstructed (partly in
wood) and will stand as an historical object of interest 'in the Durban terminus
of the S.A.R.
It occurs to me that if the builders of the No. 5 S Australian engine can
be traced, it may be found that the Natal engine also came from their shops,
and perhaps they still have the original drawings from which it could be
accurately reconstructed in detail here.
Compound locomotives. Henry W. Davis.
I have read with interest the various letters " from "compound"
enthusiasts in your November number. One of your correspondents. in order
to overcome the very definite difficulty regarding width of driving axle
bearings to which Sir William Stanier has called attention, suggests placing
two H.P. cylinders, 15½in. diameter by 28in. stroke. between the frames,
and two L.P. cylinders 22in. diamefer by 30in. stroke outside the frames.
This would not develop the power of, say, the L.M.S. 7P class without
considerable increase of boiler pressure, and although from a balancing point
of view, with the heavier outside reciprocating parts and longer stroke,
this cylinder arrangement is not desirable, no doubt a satisfactory balance
for practical purposes could be accomplished. But in order to keep 22 in.
outside cylinders within the loading gauge it will be found necessary on
a six-coupled engine to offset the axes of the coupling rods from the axes
of the piston rods (on the L.M.S. Pacifies the centre line of the coupling
rods is 107/8 in. from the frame) and such a design, for obvious
reasons, is condemned as thoroughly bad practice.
Having seen something of Smith's system in its earlier days, and having had
a number of de Glehn compounds under my supervision in Egypt for a period
of years, it is a source of regret to one that the compound with superheater,
so ably developed by M. Chapelon and described in his treatise, Locomotives
a. Grande Vitesse, is not a practical proposition for express locomotives
in this country owing to the restrictions imposed. It is a commentary on
the interest taken in the subject that there are so many desirous of helping
British locomotive engineers to design that which eminent members of the
profession, like Sir William Stanier, to refer to one man only, have found
impracticable. Incidentally", I did not say that the Midland compounds
represented the limit of power obtainable here, but that they represented
an approximation thereto. Perhaps I should have qualified the statement by
adding "with modern boiler pressures." See letter from C.M.
Keiller & erratum page 80
William Dean. H.C. Wallace.
It is curious that descriptions of Dean's 4-6-0 No. 36 of 1896 always
seem to omit reference to the most interesting feature of this engine, the
wide firebox, the first, I believe, in British practice.
Churchward's paper on Large Locomotive
Boilers read before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1906, includes a dimensional diagram, which shows that the firebox casing was 5ft.
10in. wide and 7ft. 0in. long, with a grate area of 35 sq. ft. The Krugers
also had similar fireboxes with a slightly smaller grate area. These fireboxes
extended over the trailing coupled wheels and inside frames, but fitted between
the outside frames.
St. Helens Railway locomotives. E.K. Kirby.
I cannot think that the view of your correspondent, B. Baxter, that
the old Sharp locomotive L.N.W.R. 419 was taken over by the St. Helens Railway
is correct.
I have it on very good authority that 419 was remembered by the L.N.W.R.
in the duplicate list 1174 in 2/65. I again remember 181A in 1/79. The St.
Helens Railway was absorbed by the L.N.W.R. in 1864.
Jubilee of .The Locomotive. E.A. Phillipson.
I am very pleased and interested to read that The Locomotive
has attained its jubilee. Please include my congratulations and good wishes
for its continued . success in the future with the many which you have no
doubt received. In view of the position achieved and held by The
Locomotive in the field of technical journalism, I cannot help- feeling
that the announcement of the anniversary was unduly modest. It certainly
understated the great difficulties which arose during the war years, and
omitted all mention of the manner in which they were overcome. Perhaps, too,
the greatly valued pleasures of friendships made in and throuh the editorial
office could have been given greater emphasis, although it is difficult to
express these things in words. eedless to say, readers and contributors alike
sincerely reciprocate your good wishes. With apologies for my carping
criticisms,
Number 643 (15 March 1946)
The "Merchant Navy" engines. 33
Editorial on Bulleid paper presented in the Lecture Theatre at the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers which was crowded on Friday evening,
14 December 1945. Bulleid described his "Merchant Navy" Class locomotives,
built for general main-line service on the Southern Railway, and it can
confidently be said that none of those who heard the paper, supported by
some excellent lantern slides, were in any way disappointed.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the ensuing discussion, which was
rather disappointing; this is rather a pity, because in so revolutionary
a design as Bulleid's one might reasonably have expected there might have
been some criticism of some of the features which characterise these engines,
and which, moreover, yery definitely distinguish them from normal British
standards of design
Are we to assume from this that all are in agreement and that in the future
others will go and do likewise? or are we, on the other hand, to infer that
the mechanical engineers of other lines had no opportunity either to applaud
or condemn Bulleid's ideas themselves or to send their nght- hand assistants
to voice their opinion
Bulleid certainly had a large and, we think, a highly appreciative audience,.
as well. it might be, for the-design of these engmes is certainly interesting
and it is seldom we have seen or heard a paper better presented. Elsewhere
in this issue we print what we fear is a very much abndged version of the
paper, but in doing so have attempted to mention some of the important details
of the make-up of these locomotives, noting more particularly the steel firebox
with thermic syphons, the valve gear and the complete enclosure of the motion
for the middle cylinder. A glance at the design as a.whole enables it at
once to be seen that Bulleid has been influenced to some extent by his old
chief, I vatt; the short piston stroke and the wiIde firebox make this apparent,
while later Doncaster practice is seen in the use of three cylinders, all
driving through one axle, the "Pacific" wheel plan and the streamlining,
or whatever one may. care to call It. So far as the use of steel for the
internal firebox is concerned, Bulleid seemed somewhat apologetic for its
inclusion, though It Iis difficult to know why. Steel for fireboxes is almost
the universal material and, if applied correctly, especially m so far as
the design and arrangement of the roof and water-space staying is concerned,
should not be expected to be other than successful. There is plenty of experience
available for the asking. Whether or not syphons are applied is another matter;
some prefer to be without them. They are not a necessity when a steel box
is employed. The welding of firebox seams has been practised for many years,
one of the pioneers being the Norfolk & Western in U.S.A., a line noted
for an enterprising policy in motive power matters.
Considering the new valve gear arrangement, while this is certainly ingenious,
we find it rather difficult to agree that it had to be used for want of space
to do otherwise. Any shortage of space is, we should say, of the designer's
own making, because it can hardly be said that a three-cylinder "Pacific"
cannot be built to the weights prescribed if cylinders and valve gear follow
usual practice. The "Little Oil Bath," as one speaker called the enclosed
motion arrangement,. is excellent in its way, and all one might be inclined
to ask, if this plan is so advantageous, was It not applied to the new
six-coupled freight engines. Here surely was a chance to enclose the whole
of the motion, as these engines have "inside" cylinders. These thoughts are
simply those which rather naturally present themselves when reading the paper
and studying Bulleid's design. No doubt much more might be said. In the meantime
the engines are in traffic and are, we believe, doing what is expected of
them. What we now should be told is how they perform from the point of view
of coal and water consumption for the work done, and how they compare in
this respect with other engines. A paper on the performance of the lomotives,
both from the point of view of the boiler and the cylinders, would, we feel
sure, agam attract another large meetmg.
South African Railways. 33.
The first locomotives of the G.E.A. class 4-8-2+2-8-4 wheel arrangement
had been shipped to Port Elizabeth. These engmes had been built at the Gorton
works of Beyer, Peacock & Co., Ltd., to the specification and requirements
of M.M. Loubser, Chief Mechanical Engineer.
"Merchant Navy" locomotives, Southern Railway. 34-7. 3
diagrams.
Based on Bulleid's IMechE paper
Ireland. 37.
Locomotives scrapped by Coras Iompair Eireann: No. 7L 4-4-0T (Caven
& Leitrim Section); Nos. 8, 43 and 45 (Kerrie bogie class); Nos. 45,
47 and 49 (0-4--4T built 1883-6); No. 92 (0-6-4T Inchicore cab); No. 165
(101 class 0-6-0); Nos. 465 and 469 (4-6-0T ex CB&SCR); No. 531 (4-4-0
ex-MGWR D bogie class); No. 622 (ex-MGWR 0-6-0).
L.N.E.R. 37
Exhibition of power-operated hand tools at King's Cross Station organized
by Chief Engineer's Department.
Inspection coach for D.D. Rys., Cologne. 38. diagram
(side & end elevations & plan)
Control of German State Railways via tours of inspection: a modern
first and second class corridor coach had been converted for this specific
purpose. The selected vehicle was built by Creda, at Kassel; it was partially
streamlined, mounted on four-wheel bogies with roller bearings, and was 20.52
m. over headstocks, with an overall length of 21.82 m. . It was originally
numbered 11680, and had been bomb damaged.
The removal of a toilet, three second-class compartments and the contiguous
corridor at one end standing, connection may be made by means of a plug to
the 220 volt station supply. An electric bell system was provided with connection
to the engme. The train heating system included three radiators located in
the vestibule (hand-brake end), conference room and corridor respectively.
The coach, which had been renumbered 10357, is finished externally in sea
blue, lined in cream. The crest of the Royal Engineers and the lettering
"D.D. Railways, Cologne" in yellow are arranged centrally below the waist
line. The conversion was carried out in the Deutsche Reichsbahn workshops
at Opladen, on the orders of Col. B. M. Strouts, M.B.E., To the detailed
instructions of Lt.-Col. E. A. Phillipson, R.E., A.D. Tn. (Loco- motive Carriage
and Wagon Running). Both officers were on the staff of the L.N.E.R.
LM.S.R. 38
The following new locomotives have been put into traffic: 4-6-0 Mixed
Traffic Tender, Class 5, 4915 to 4922 (built at Crewe); 4941 to 4946 (built
at Horwich); 2-6-4 Tank, Class 4P, 2209 to 2218 (built at Derby); 0-6-0
Diesel-electric Shunter, 350 h.p., No. 7125 (built at Derby).
The following engines have been withdrawn: 4-6-0 Class 4P No. 25683
Falaba, 25749, No. 25725 (L. & N.W.R.); 0-8-0 Class 6F No. 12729
(ex L. & Y.R.); 0-6-0 Class 3F No. 12265 (ex L. & Y.R.); 0-6-0 Class
2F Nos. 3079, 3280 (ex Midland Ry.); 0-8-4 Class 7FT No. 7940 (ex L. &
N.W.R.); 0-8-2 Class 6FT No. 7898 (ex L. & N.W.R.); 0-6-2 Class 2FT No.
7807 (ex L. & N.W.R.); 0-6-0 Class 2FT No. 27484 (ex L. & N.W.R.),
No. II366 (ex L. & Y.R.); 0-6-0 Class 1FT No. 1816 (ex Midland); 2-4-2
Class 3PT Nos. 10942 (ex L. & Y.R.); 2-4-2 Class 1PT No. 6699 (ex L.
& N.W.R.); 0-6-0 Class 3F No. 12420 (ex L. & Y.R.); 0-6-0 Class 2F
Nos. 3083, 3430 (ex Midland Ry.); 0-8-4 Class 7FT No. 7957 (ex L. & N.W.R.);
0-8-2 Class 6FT No. 7870 (ex L. & N.W.R.); 0-6-2 Class 3FT No. II628
(ex Furness Ry., class extinct); 0-6-2 Class 3FT Nos. 16921, 16922, 16926
(ex G. & S.W.R.); 0-6-2 Class 2FT Nos. 27616, 27645 (ex L. &
N.W.R.); 0-6-0 150 h.p. Diesel Mechanical Shunter No. 7051.
David L. Smith. The Girvan and Portpatrick Junction Railway. 39-40.
3 illustrations (line drawings: side elevations)
Continued from page 31. Connections with the Portpatrick Ry.
were now laid in at the south end, at a point called Challoch Junction, and
a second engine was brought there about May of 1874. In order to assist the
contractor, the G. & P. J. purchased this engine from Boulton, of
Ashton-under-Lyne. This engine is of particular interest, as it has been
identified as the "mystery" engine shown in Fig. 84 of The Chronicles of
Boulton's Siding, page 254, but unfortunately its connection with the G.
& P.J. has not revealed any of its previous history save that two local
men were sent to bring it from London. It was a 2-4-0 saddle-tank, with inside
cylinders, outside framing on the leading wheels and inside on the coupled
wheels. Rather grimy on coming to Challoch, it was repainted dark green or
perhaps brown-green, and bore the name of Duchess (illustrated). The
name-plates, on each side of the saddle-tank, were of cast brass, well burnished,
with a very narrow border, and a four-petalled rose cast in each corner.
Duchess had no cab on arrival, but a bent sheet-iron cab was presently
fitted, cover- ing the entire footplate, and blocked in with wood as extra
protection. There is no recollection of a maker's plate on the engine.
With locomotive aid progress was more brisk; by the end, of the summer of
1874 Glendoune cutting, Pinmore tunnel and Kinclaer viaduct were all completed,
and a congratulatory dinner was held in the King's Arms Hotel, Girvan.
Satisfaction, however, was short-lived. By the late autumn the contractor
was in serious difficulties. It was a period of a trade boom following the
Franco-Prussian War (still remembered in Scotland as "the time o' the big
money") and wages and prices of material had risen very greatly, and he had
had trouble in realizing the shares taken by him in payment of his contract.
On the report of the engineer it was agreed to make a substantial increase
to the contract price, and on 13 May 1875,. an Act was passed by Parliament
authorizing the creation of an additional £65,000 of preference stock.
Work went ahead, but the two ends of the line were far from making a junction
when on the night of 26-27 September 1875, came a crushing misfortune. For
a flood of enormous dimensions came down from the hills. The newly-erected
stone viaduct over the Stinchar at Daljarrock, one mile north of Pinwherry,
was swept away utterly, not a stone being left standing, while culverts and
embankments were destroyed at several other points on the line.
The promoters might well have lost heart. not only was there very serious
loss of money, but the breachmg of the line had entirely upset the working
of the two engines in their transport of material. But these stout-hearted
men refused to be appalled. Once more they came to the assistance of the
contractor. From Boulton, Ashton-under-Lyne, they hired three engines, paying
for each £50 per month. Some, and probably all of these came to the
Girvan end. The contractor himself hired .another engine from Mr. Wheatley,
lately left his job of locomotive superintendent of the North British to
become lessee and manager of the Wigtownshire Railway, then in process of
extension from Newton-Stewart to Whithorn. This engine came to the south
end of the line. A contract was set for an iron bridge over the Stinchar
to replace the stone one, the new bridge to be erected in three months.
The 1875 engines were an interesting lot. Of Boulton's trio, named respectively
Amy, Black Knight and Rigg, Amy was a very diminutive
machine, a little 0-4-0 saddle-tank built by Hughes & Co., of Loughborough,
having outside cylinders 10in. by 16in. and wheels 2ft. 5in. Black
Knight was more substantial, a sturdy 0-6-0 saddle-tank with inside cylinders
12 in. by 18 in., and wheels 3 ft. nominally a brand-new engine constructed
by Boulton in that year, 1875, Black Knight's chassis contained parts
of a Sturrock steam-tender purchased by Boulton in·1870. The boiler
was of the cross water-tube variety, constructed by Boulton under his 1870
patent. The engine weighed 19 tons in working order.
Rigg (illustrated), however, was the most interesting of all. Her
first recorded appearance in history was on the St. Helens Railway, as No.
24 Alma, a 2-4-0 tender engine with 12 in. by 18 in. cylinders, and
coupled wheels 5 ft., and her origin was attributed to the works of James
Cross, of St. Helens. There is good reason to believe, however, ,that
Alma had had an earlier incarnation as one of the Liverpool &
Manchester's later 2-2-2 engines. Taken. over from the St. Helens Railway
in 1864 by the L. & N.W., Alma was re-numbered by the latter 1390,
and subsequently 1816 on the duplicate list, and as such was sold to Mr.
Boulton on 23 January 1874. For an account of the romantic career of
this engine while in Boulton's service we must refer readers to the delightful
pages of The Chronicles of Boulton's Siding. She arrived at Girvan
in December, 1875, rebuilt by Boulton as a 2-4-0 saddle-tank with 3 ft. 6
in. driving wheels, and 12 ft. 1 in. wheelbase, and bearing the name Rzgg.
She laboured at Girvan until a fateful Saturday night, when, says Mr. Bennett,
"a scoundrel at Guvan, who had a spite against her driver, let all the water
out of the refilled boiler. Rigg was kmdled on the Sunday night with
disastrous results, the firebox being ruined and lagging burned off. She
was taken back to Boulton's Sidmg. m September, 1876, and lay there for a
long time rn a dismantled condition, for she appears m a photograph taken
as late as 1880-1. Ultimately she was purchased by a Manchester broker, who
scrapped her in Ardwick yard.
Wheatley's engme had also a. considerable history, bemg none other than the
0-6-0 saddle tank Bradby, which had officiated at the construction
.of the Wigtownshire Railway, and was later destmed to return to that railway
as their No. 6. Bradby, which was Manning, Wardle's No. 196 of 1866
had also been No. 7 of the Solway Junction Railway and later No. 539 of the
Caledonian by whom she was sold to the contractor for the Wigtownshire
construction. From this contractor she came in the summer of 1874 into Wheatley's
possession. .
The .question of working the G. & P.J. had now arisen. The Glasgow &
South Western Railway was approached and signified its willingness to work
the. G. & P.J. in return for 75 per cent. of traffic receipts. This figure,
however, was considered to be excessive, and other possibilities were explored.
In March, 1876, an informal meeting took place at Stranraer between certain
G. & P.J. directors and T. Wheatley, who advised them to acquire their
own engines and rolling-stock gave an estimate of six engines for adequate
workmg of the line, and indicated' six engines which might be available.
These were:
(1) Four 4-4-0 side tanks outclassed and for sale by the North London Railway.
These were four .(Nos. 30, 31, 32 and 34) of the class of eight engmes (Nos.
30-37) built for the N.L.in 1861 by Slaughter, Gruning & Co., of Bristol
(makers' numbers 438-440 and 442).
(2) A six-wheeled four-coupled engine which he (Mr. Wheatley) has purchased
from the N.B. This was evidently No. 20, a 0-4-2 well-tank, sold by the N.B.
to Wheatley in 1875. .
(3) The small six-wheeled engine which he has hired to the contractor. Evidently
Bradby . He also offered to ask the contractors to give the company
the first chance of purchasing "the other. ballasting engine. This must refer
to Sambo, since Duchess had been purchased by the company.
It was not a very robust collection to operate such a heavy road, and the
directors were not impressed.
Still further locomotive power was, however, necessary for construction work.
The contractor could do no more; the contract had virtually ruined him. Still,
he agreed to complete the job, and to help him the G. & P.]. obtained
"a seventh and powerful engine." This came to the south end in May, 1876.
The engine was obtained from Wheatley and was none other than ex-N.B. No.
20, mentioned by him two months before. No. 20, illustrated and described
in Locomotive Mag. February, 1931, page
70, was a 0-4-2 well-tank with cylinders 12 in. by 18 in. and coupled
wheels 4 ft.,9 in. She was designed by W. Hirst, and built at St. Margaret's
Works, Edinburgh, in 1857, being the third engine built there. It is rather
remarkable that St. Margaret's first three products should all come to
Wigtownshire. No. 20 was the pioneer of a class used for light passenger
traffic, she herself working the Jedburgh branch for some years. The No.
20 which reached the G. & P.J. had, however, suffered a few Wheatleyan
changes. A stovepipe funnel was probably an earlier substitution by Wheatley
while at Cowlairs, a small auxiliary saddle-tank had been fitted, together
with a cab, and the engine had been newly painted in green, lined out with
black, with the name Lochinvar (illustrated: line drawing) on the
sides of the saddle-tank, and the usual "T. Wheatley, Owner" on the bunker.
Vertical screw reversing gear was fitted on the 1eft-hand side of the footplate,
with hand- brake on the right-hand side.
With this substantial help, construction work went forward with much energy.
Storm damage was rapidly repaired, the big job of New Luce viaduct was completed
early in 1876, by October of that year all except one iron bridge had been
erected, and rails were in place at all points save this one.
James McEwan. Locomotives of the Caledonian
Railway.41-3. 3 illustrations
Continued from page 15. Just prior to his death Canner had designs
ready for a 2-4-0 type tender engine larger than any presently on use on
the system. The original scheme drawing showed a leading wheel 3 ft. 9 in.
in diameter, but this had been altered to 4 ft. 2 in. with a query about
cylinder clearance. Whether the builders queried the suitability of the design
for a main line engine, or whether they were asked to submit an alternative
scheme for the use of a leading bogie cannot now be traced. The builders
certainly appear to have had some part in the matter, for the original diameter
of the leading wheel is referred to in their records. Conner was very ill
at the time and Brittain was acting as locomotive superintendent, so whether
it was Brittain's or the builders' idea to have a leading bogie must remain
unknown. It is, however, well known that Brittain was a believer in the leading
bogie for fast work, while Conner preferred small leading wheels. The class
as turned out was the first on the system to have a leading bogie and was
of the 4-4-0 wheel arrangement. The cylinders were outside, and single framing
was used. The builders wanted the wheels reduced to 6 ft. 8 in. diameter,
but the diameter originally specified was retained to the detriment of the
design. The cylinders measured 18 in. diameter by 24 in. stroke. The bogie
wheels were 3 ft. 4½ in. and the coupled wheels 7 ft. 2 in. respectively.
The heating surface was as follows: tubes .905.262
ft2., firebox 82.00
ft2, total 987.262
ft2.; grate area 14.6
ft2.; working pressure 140 psi. The boiler barrel
was 4 ft. 2 in. inside diameter throughout made from ½ in. thick plate.
The distance between the tube plates was 10ft. 6½ in. and the boiler
centre line was 6 ft. 9 in. above the rail level. The cylinders were placed
at 6 ft. 3 in. centres. Length of frame 27 ft. 5¾in. 'The bogie axle
centres were 6 ft. 0 in. apart, coupled axle centres 8 ft. 7 in., and from
rear bogie axle to driving axle centre 6 ft. 7 ½in., making a total
wheelbase of 21 ft. 2½ in. Copper tubes and firebox were used. The springs
on the coupled axles were connected to a compensating beam. The weight of
the engine in working order was 41 tons 7 cwt. total, made up as follows:
bogie 12 tons 14cwt. 2 qrs., driving axle 15 tons 7 cwt. 2 qrs., rear ooupled
13 tons 5 cwt. The tender ran on six wheels 4 ft. 0 in. diameter spaced at
5 ft 8¾ in. centres, making a wheelbase of ll ft. 5½' in. The axles
were of Krupps cast steel. The capacity of the tenders as built was 1,880
gallons of water and 4 tons of coal. The weight in road trim was divided
as follows: leading axle 10 tons 5 cwt., middle axle 9 tons 2 cwt. 1 qr.,
rear axle 10 tons, making a total of 29 tons 7 cwt. 1 qr. The weight empty
was 16 tons. The total wheelbase 0 f the engine and tender was 42 ft. 3i
in., and the total' length of both over the buffers 51 ft. 3 in. The slide
valves of the engine were operated by Gooch fixed link motion. When new the
engines were put on to the Carlisle road as purposed when ordered, but were
quite unable to put up a performance equal to the single-wheeled engines
despite the fact that the new engines were coupled. After a few months of
bad time-keeping they were withdrawn from the Carlisle road and sent to Perth
and Dundee, but owing to a rearrangement of turns shortly afterwards the
engines were located at Dundee and Glasgow (St. Rollox), Nos. 125 to 127
at Dundee and Nos. 128 and 129 at Glasgow. It should be recorded that one
of the causes of bad time-keeping by these engines was the difficulty in
keeping the firebox filled to generate all the steam required. Firemen were
not infrequently relieved by the drivers en route, and even then after a
return trip the fireman was about all in. The easier timing on the North
road helped the engines a little, but even then they were not a real success.
One of the Dundee engines got the Lon- don connection from Dundee to work
to Carstairs and legend states that the time was never kept. The engine left'
with the 3.3 p.m. for Perth with four intermediate stops, arriving at the
"Dundee platform" at 3.52 p.m. After train duties the . Mail left Perth at
4.4 p.m. and ran non-stop-to Stirling in 56 minutes. Here the train divided
and the Carlisle portion set off after a wait of ten minutes for engine duties
for Coatbridge, Motherwell and Carstairs. Coatbridge was reached at 5.53
p.m. after a stop of two minutes at Larbert (which was 14 minutes from Stirling).
The other timings available are an arrival at Motherwell Junction 6.08 p.m.,
Lanark (Cleghorn) 6.41 p.m., Carstairs 6.50 p.m. and Carlisle at 8.40 p.m.
In 1887, Drummond brought all five engines into St. Rollox and rebuilt them
with boilers of his design, new cabs and modified motion. The engines were
slightly improved in steaming qualities, but the heavy coal consumption of
the class was still pre- dominant, The new boilers had a heating surface
made up as follows: tubes (177) 837.95 sq. ft., firebox 101.07 sq. ft., total
939.02 sq. ft. Grate area 17.0 sq. ft . Working pressure 150 lb. per sq.
in. The weight of the engine in working· order as rebuilt was slightly
altered, becoming: bogie 12 tons 15 cwt., driving axle 15 tons 9 cwt. 2 qrs.,
rear coupled axle 13 tons 5 cwt. 1 qr., total 41 tons 9 cwt. 3 qrs. The tenders
were slightly altered and the coal capacity could be made 4½ tons if
necessary. After the rebuilding the engines were again put on to the Carlisle
road, but again failing were put on to the Edinburgh and Glasgow run. Time
could be kept, but the engines rolled at an alarming rate when running, so
once more they returned to the Dundee and Glasgow turns. From the fact that
they spent almost their entire life on this section they became familiarly
known as the "Dundee Bogies." Towards the end of last century four were brought
to Glasgow for working' the Boat trains on the recently opened Lanarkshire
& Ayrshire Railway which connected Ardrossan with Lanarkshire. No. 126
remained at Dundee and finished its days there. The others. ended their days
on the Ardrossan trains. On May 20th, 1892, No. 128, with 2-4-0 No. 424 as
pilot ran with seventeen carriages from Perth to Bridge of Allan non-stop
in 40 minutes exact. No. 127's. boiler was put on to 2-4-0 No. 586 to wear
out. The five engines were made by Neilson & Co. in 1877 (makers' numbers
2126 to 2130) and had C.R. Nos. 125 to 129. No. 126 was renumbered 1126 in
1909, and No. 127 was renumbered at time of scrapping to 1586. The dates
of withdrawal of the class were: 125 7/1906, 126 8/1910, 127 3/1905, 128
11/1907, 129 4/1907.
For use in the workshops at St. Rollox a small four-coupled crane tank was
got from Neilson & Co. in 1878 (makers' number 2408). The cylinders were
inside and measured 11 in. diameter by 20 in. stroke. The wheels were 3 ft.
3 in. diameter and wheelbase 5 ft. 9 in: The boiler had a pressure of 120
psi. and a heating surface made up as follows: tubes 400
ft2, firebox 39 ft2.,
total 439 ft2. Grate area 7.0
ft2. The tanks held 200 gallons and 5 cwt. coal
was carried.. The weight per axle was 6 tons 11 cwt. on leading and 11 tons
6 cwt. on trailing, making a total of 17 weights are by no means uniform
in design, and no standard practice even exists as yet in regard tons 17
cwt. The crane had a lifting capacity of 2 tons' at the fixed radius of 8
ft. 6 in. About 1904 the engine lost its crane and chimney, and received
a chimney of the pattern generally fitted to class 812 goods (18½in.)
with which it carried out some odd shunting, but its days were nearly over.
Originally numbered 485, it was put on the duplicate list in 1899 as 1368.
In 1900 the engine was renumbered 1485 and was taken from service in 1908.
The engine was a useful acquisition to the works for both official and unofficial
duties. A number of the old Conner tanks had the regulator in the smokebox,
and this was often liable to corrode and jam. The workmen soon found that
a pull by the "pug" on a conveniently placed chain was equal to much hard
work by them. The engine was thus used unofficially a lot. There were also
other uses for the "pug" when the "gaffer" was absent and the apprentices'
braces withstood the strain of suspension. The engine was affectionately
referred to by many of the hands at the works as "the wee puggie."Illustrations:
No. 125 4-4-0 passenger engine, Caledonian Railway, 1877; No. 251 0-4-2 tender
engine (see final note) , Neilson & Co. 1878 0-4-0 crane tank (WN
2408).The block of No. 251 0-4-2 tender engine, rebuilt, shown
on page 42, was accidently inserted instead of the one at the
top of page 61 illustrating No. 126 4-4-0 rebuilt.
Locomotive wheels. 43-4.
Although little attention has been paid until recently to the detail
design of locomotive driving wheels, changes in certain sections of the railway
world in regard to these items are causing many locomotive engineers to sit
up and take notice. So long as the wheels were strong enough for their duty,
correctly machined and, usually, suitably balanced, no further point seemed
to call for attention. But this attitude is now in process of disappearing;,
fortunately, since the future steam unit will survive, not through major
modifications, but through the aggregate of more or less minor improvements
which will go to the making of a still more effective power unit. Possibly
the most drastic departure is in evidence on the Southern Railway, where
the spoke wheel has given place on the latest express engines to the B.F.B.
type, a ribbed and corrugated design having some rather striking features.
Whether the advantages expected from so startling an alteration are realised,
time alone will reveal, but the experiment is certainly one worth watching.
An objection can be raised to the spoke design of wheel in that it is a prolific
dust-raiser, and can provide a lot of grit and dirt and, therefore,
troublefor the adjacent bearings, crankpins, slidebars, etc., on outside
cylinder engines. It acts somewhat in the manner of a fana crude design,
admittedly, yet one that can add appreciably to the maintenance bill.
So far as the orthodox type of wheel is concerned, no uniformity of design
can be said to exist in the spoke sections or proportions, examples being
in service where smaller sections carry heavier loads, in both cases steel
castings being the material employed. Some designers prefer the elliptical
spoke, while others use the rectangular shape; some adopt a uniform ellipse,
'others an unsymmetrical section which is influenced obviously to a very
large degree by consideration of the patterri-maker's problem and the joint-to-be
in the moulding box.
The design of the bosses for crankpin and axle are frequently far from ideal
in the proportioning, metal being placed where it is definitely not to the
best advantage. The largest section should always be well outside the mid-point
of the section length for the crankpin boss, and within this line for the
wheel-seat boss, the assumption being in each case that the bar (crankpin
or axle) will act as a lever tending to burst open the bore in the wheel.
This design admittedly creates some little difficulty for the patternmaker,
but such as can easily be surmounted, and afford an almost ideally proportioned
batch of castings.
The ratio of length to diameter, when related to axle or crankpin seats,
might be standardised, as, indeed, might be the boreparallel or taper,
and, if taper, the rate of taper per foot. The radial thickness of each boss
often seems to have been settled according to the designer's own idea of
what is the best practice, and has no really fixed proportion in everyday
practice; it is frequently influenced, indeed, not so much by correct
proportioning as by the necessity, or otherwise, of economising in material
in order to limit the total engine weight to a minimum. The shape of the
axle boss. inner face when machined may be flat or grooved-more usually it
is flat, though investi- gations made some time ago into axle stresses set
up during the forcing-on of the wheels indicated easier stresses where this
face is suitably grooved just outside the axle bore.
The design of the rim section varies tremendously in its 'proportions, as
well as in the total sectional area provided to carry a given load. Likewise
in the method of tyre fastening, and, therefore, the shape of the rim section.
Balance to the balancing of reciprocating parts. It is well known that while
some designers balance a percentage of these, others favour the total omission
of any balance whatever. Presumably both schools of thought cannot be right.
It is a curious fact that apart from possessing a British Standard specification
for the material when of steel, no further steps towards standard practice
appear so far to have been taken. True, very few accidents in the last 50
years, if indeed any, are traceable to faulty wheel design, but this fact
is no justification for perpetuating the casual methods which appear to exist
to-day in the design of so important a component, nor can the lack of eo-related
wheel design be glossed over in a day when such care is expended on other
sections of an engine, on the successful running of which so much and so
many depend.
"Eastern". Old G.N.R. locos at Hatfield. 44-6. 5
illustrations
The writer had been loaned prints of engines at Hatfield Loco Depot
in the 1880s, and as illustrations of these types are uncommon, they deserve
notice.
The special features include double couplings, one with screw shackle and
the other with links and hook attached to the leading buffer beam, absence
of the usual draw-bar hook, the provision of side chains, passenger cord
communication gear, large headlamp and the personal appearance of the men.
In the early days many G.N. engines underwent extensive conversions and
alterations; this will be seen in No. 242, and the location of different
types of the same wheel arrangement at one depot gives some indication of
the large number of these engines in use at that period.
Engine No. 11. The photograph represents the second engine of this number
used on the G.N., with the tender of the original engine, a Sharp's
single-wheeler built in 1847. The second No. 11 was built in 1869 at Doncaster,
it being the 24th engine to be constructed there.
It was one of 153 engines of almost similar type used on that line round
about this period, and was designed by Stirling for working "mixed traffic"
; it was broken up in 1903. The lever to which was attached the communication
cord is fixed on the right-hand side of the cab. Engine No. 102A. This was
one of 15 engines built by R. & W. Hawthorn in 1848. As the first portion
of the G.N. system was not opened until 1848, this was one of the first engines
to be in service.
The illustration shows the engine after it had been rebuilt with a Stirling
boiler, and the compensating spring gear to the leading and driving axles
removed. The absence of a brake on the engine and the wooden buffer beams
at both ends, of the engine are examples of early design. The engine and
tender foot-steps have been: altered and behind them plates provided for
the, safety of users. The tender, of robust and large dimension for the period,
is of a typical Hawthorn. design and, unlike No. 11,. it is not provided
with side chains, denoting a want of uniformity in the: equipment. Other
features are the exposed position of the Giffard injector and delivery pipe,
and the multiplicity of lamp brackets.
Engine No. 242A is of special interest, as it shews, an engine of Sturrock's
design, one of ten built in 1865 by the Avonside Engine Co., maker's. number
608, after it had been rebuilt with a Stirling boiler, new outside frames
and the compensating spring gear removed.
The original frames were not so deep and of insufficient strength, which
necessitated stronger ones as fitted to similar engines built in .1866 by
the same firm. As this alteration was carried out in 1886 and the photo shews
a newly-painted engine, we can safely assume the date it was taken as that
year.
These engines worked the underground traffic between King's Cross and the
City, and were fitted with a large diameter pipe to convey the exhaust steam
to the water tank placed in the bunker, the ventilating pipe of which can
just be seen behind the cab.
Brackets to support the destination boards are fixed on the leading sandboxes,
and there is a knob to assist in opening the smokebox door. Engine No. 562,
one of 50 built by Messrs. Sharp, Stewart & Co. and Messrs. Kitson &
Co. in 1875-6, came from the former in 1875, bearing their number 2575. It
was as shewn afterwards provided with a brake on the engine, and the footsteps
made safer; it was withdrawn in 1905. No. 547. This photo shews the engine
on a down train, and calls for no special comment except that it represents
one of the class in its original condition and shews the old types of signals.
I am indebted to K.A. Ledbury for the loan of the photographs, and to Mr.
Thompson, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the L. &N.E.R., for the dates
on which the engines were broken up. Illustrations: GNR 0-4-2T No. 242A built
by Avonside Engine Co.; 0-4-2 mixed traffic engine No. 11; 0-4-2 No. 102A
built by R. & W. Hawthorn in 1848 andrebuilt with Stirling boiler; 0-4-2
No. 562 bui;t by Sharp, Stewart & Co. in 1875; Stirling 8-ft single 4-2-2
No. 587? at Hatfield on northbound t rain.
G.W.R. 46
Three further 4-6-0 engines, Nos. 1007-1008 and 1009, had been completed
at Swindon. Nos. 9628 to 9632 were new 0-6-0 tanks. No. 3865 had been converted
to burn oil fuel. The following engines had been withdrawn: No. 2921 St.
Dunstan, No. 2525 (0-6-0); No. 207 0-6-2T; No. 2758 0-6-0T; No, 3573
and 3580, 0-4-2T.
Mr. Robert Angus McLellan. 46
With the death at Church Stretton on 7 December 1945 of Mr. R. A,
McLellan, at the advanced age of 84, another link with what may perhaps be
termed the early Middle Ages of the Locomotive has been severed. McLellan,
who was born in 1861, served his apprenticeship at the Stoke-on-Trent Works
of the North Stafford- shire Railway, of which his maternal grandfather,
Robert Angus, was Locomotive Superintendent. On the completion of his
apprenticeship, he studied under Prof. .Osborn Reynolds at Owens College,
Manchester, and afterwards obtained marine engineering experience with the
Barrow Shipbuilding Company. Following this he was engaged at the Bute Docks,
Cardiff, and later returned to Barrow as a marine engineering draughtsman.
In 1886 he entered the service of the Locomotive Department of the London
&North Western Railway at Rugby, where he remained until 1895, and in
that year was appointed Locomotive Foreman at Burton, being promoted to
Shrewsbury in 1902, and Willesden in 1914. In 1916 he was transferred to
Abergavenny, from which place he retired in 1922 with the rank of District
Locomotive Superintendent.
As a young man, Mr. McLellan had met a number of locomotive celebrities,
among whom were David Joy, Henry Dubs, Geo. Brittain, Robert Mason, Benjamin
Conner and others. After joining the L.N. W .R., his work brought him into
contact with Messrs. F.W. Webb, A.L. Mumford , Geo. Whale and Bowen Cooke,
and when at Rugby he assisted the latter in the preparation of his book,
British Locomotives,
being responsible for most of the diagrams of engine details, and for the
chapter on valve gears. He also collaborated with Mr. Cooke in designing
a 4-4-0 express passenger engine which foreshadowed, in a remarkable degree,
the "Precursor" of 1904.
McLellan was one of the pioneers of technical education for enginemen and
for many years ran classes, into which he .put an enormous amount o( work
at the various sheds at which he was stationed. At Abergavenny he also ran
a technical class for the apprentices under his super- , vision. He was very
interested in any of his staff who were at all' ambi tious, and after his
retirement liked to keep in touch with them, although he was of a somewhat
retiring disposition.
. In addition to his keen interest in railway and locomotive matters, McLellan
was an enthusiastic antiquarian. He was buried on December 20, 1945, at Church
Stretton, where he had resided since his retirement.
Eastern. Early coupling and brake. 47. diagram
One of the earliest records of a screw coupling for use between vehicles
is a patent obtained by Henry Booth, of Liverpool, on 23 January 1836, and the drawing, taken from an authentic
source, explains the arrangement. The design is interesting as it includes
a lip on the hook to prevent the shackle inadvertently lift- ing off, a detail
which was not adopted until the beginning of the present century, after many
cases of freight trains parting by the link lifting off. The same patent
included a system for retarding the motion of a locomotive which was later
copied by Richard Allen. The specification reads as follows: "And my improvement
applicable to the locomotive which draws the carriages I declare to be a
new mode of checking the speed of the engine or stopping it altogether which
is effected by introducing a throttle valve, slide or damper into the exhausting
steam pipe of the engine, commonly called the blast pipe, which is usually
placed in the chimney in front of the engine and which throttle valve may
be most conveniently introduced when the two exhausting pipes are united
into one below the place where the pipe is contracted in area for the purpose
of producing a blast in the furnace. "From the throttle valve must proceed
a rod or long handle extending through the chimney to the back part of the
boiler, so as to lie within convenient reach of the engineman, who by moving
the said handle can close the slide or throttle valve either partially or
altogether as may be required. "And the throttle valve need not be steam
tight, but should be made to work freely in its place. "The engineman when
he wishes to stop or slacken the speed of the engine closes or contracts
his throttle valve without shutting off the steam in its passage from the
boiler to the engine. The pistons by that means are speedily, but not suddenly
or violently, checked, and the driving wheels of the engine no longer revolving
or revolving very slowly, the engine is soon brought to a stand." Diagram
gives date as 23 January 1836
L.N.E.R. 47
A comprehensive re-numbering scheme designed to place all engines
of one type in numerical groups so that engine types may be readily identified
by the locomotive number is to be introduced by the L.N.E.R. Although the
scheme is not to be carried out in its entirety at the present time, certain
locomotives have been, or will be, re-numbered so that a large fleet of class
B.l standard mixed traffic 4-6-0 locomotives now on order from the North
British Locomotive Co., Ltd., may be given the numbers allocated to them
under the scheme.
When the new re-numbering is completed, locomotives will be numerically grouped
as follows:
Classes. | Nos.allocated. |
4-6-2 (classes A1, A2, A3, A4 and A10) and 2-6-2 (class V2)' tender engines and future high-powered passenger and mixed traffic tender engines | 1-999 |
4-6-0, 2-6-0 and 2-6-2 .(class V4) tender engines and future 4-6-0 (such as B1) tender engines | 1000-1999 |
4-4-2, 4-4-0 and 2-4-0 tender engines | 2000-2999 |
2-8-0 and 0-8-0 tender engines and future 2-8-0 tender engines | 3000-3999 |
0-6-0 tender engines | 4000-5999 |
Electric locomotives | 6000-6999 |
2-6-2, 4-4-2, 2-4-2, 0-4-4 and 4-4-4 tank engines and future tank engines other than 0-6-0 | 7000-7999 |
0-4-0, 0-4-2 and 0-6-0 tank engines, future 0-6-0 tank engines and existing and future diesel shunting locomotives (the latter having the earlier numbers) | 8000-8999 |
4-6-2, 2-6-4, 0-6-4, 0-6-2, 0-8-0, 0-8-4, 4-8-0 tank engines and 2-8-8-2 (Beyer Garratt) ... | 9000-9999 |
It will be seen that all tender engines will be numbered below 6000
and tank engines from 7000 upwards, with the solitary exception of class
W1 4-6-4 tender locoruotive No. 1000'0, whose number will remain unaltered.
L.N.E.R. 47
With the approval of His Majesty the King, L.N.E.R. locomotive No.
1671 (formerly No, 2871) Manchester City, which has been allocated
to haul the Royal train, is to be re-named Royal Sovereign. The engine
has been repainted apple green.
Canadian Pacific Rly. 47.
F.A. Benger had been appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer and R.A.
Smith had been appointed Mechanical Engineer (locomotive)
L.M.S.R.
A record of achievements during the .23 years of its existence
has recently been issued by the L.M.S. in the form of a booklet of 20
pages.
In 1923 the L.M.S. had 10,316 locomotives of many different designs, which
fell into about 400 different classes. At the end of 1945 the stack had been
reduced to 8,049 steam and 40 diesel locomotives comprising 133 classes.
Of these 8,049 steam locomotives, 4,438 fall into the 17 classes which are
the company's standard types. With reduced numbers, however, the average
daily mileage of each locomotive increased between 1923 and 1938 by 30 per
cent. Time spent in the running sheds has been considerably reduced, and
the provision of good boiler water reduced the servicing which the boilers
require. The time spent in the works during heavy overhauls has, too, been
greatly improved by a complete change of practice, which, in addition to
reducing the stock of locomotives needed, enabled several of the smaller
works to be closed since the output from the main worksCrewe, Derby,
Horwich and St. Rolloxcould be increased sufficiently to meet the needs
of the whole system. This essential change of practice was the introduction
of a "progressive" system of repair. Under this new system, the locomotive
moves through the erecting shop in a series of steps according to a strict
schedule, at each stage the allotted part of the work being completed by
a set time. This provides a strong safeguard against delay, not only in the
erecting shops, but also in the subsidiary shops which deal with the components.
Several other innovations have been introduced.
Correspondence. 48
[Locomotive exchanges]. Albert E. Clow]. 48
In your issue for August, 1945, I read with great interest the first
page on the interchange of locomotives on the British railways. A few pages
on, in the article on Standardising S.R. Locomotives, Central Section, therein
was an account of the trials between George Whale's L.N.W. "Precursor" class
saturator 4-4-0 Titan No. 7 and one of Marsh's 13 superheater tanks,
each working the Sunny South express in turn south of Rugby. I have before
me a letter from Peter Clow, of Rugby, dated May 27, 1910, wherein he gives
certain details of these trials. He was working the L.N.W. engine
Titan No. 7, while the L.B. & S.C. men had two superheater tank
engines: the latter had two failures and lost time on several occasions through
avoiding to stop for water before reaching Croydon. Coal consumption for
the L.N.W. engine was 30 lb. per mile, while the L.B. & S.C. was under
2 lb. per mile less. I may say that I hold the Stephenson Centenary Medal
given to Clow for this work by the L.B. & S.C. Superintendent, J. J.
Richardson, of whom he writes most highly. Clow was mv uncle, one of five
brothers all drivers on the L.N.W. Rly·. in days now past. This
I think should prove interesting to some of your readers.
[Appreciation]. Lionel E. Willis.
I started as a subscriber with the January, 1898, number of "The
Locomotive Magazine," when I was an apprentice to the old Great Northern
Railway, and have taken every number since. What, a wealth of information
one gets by browsing over the old issues; and what a feast for the eyes looking
at the beauties' of a bygone age before the days of streamlining and dirt!
Young people to-day cannot realise what an engine looked like beautifully
cleaned and gleaming in the old Companies' liveries. A valuable, feature
of the "L.M." has ,been the various "locomotive histories" and technical
essays, many since issued in book form. So here is wishing continued success
to the good old "Locomotive," even though we may be condemned to only a few
standard types of locomotive if State ownership ever comes.
Compound locomotives. L. Derens
Referring to the interesting discussion on compound locomotives in
the November, 1945, issue about the maximum cylinder dimensions with regard
to the available space, none of the correspondents seems to recall the two
4-6-4 Baltic type compound express locomotives built in 1910 by the Nord
France to the designs of Asselin. In these engines, which were the most powerful
then built on the Continent,. L.P. cylinders as large as 620 mm. dia. were
required between the frames. As the position of the large inclined L.P. slide
valves, overhanging the frames, did not allow slotting the frames, Asselin
solved the problem by the simple method of "stepping" the cylinders one behind
the other, not only avoiding the slotting of the frames, but also narrowing
the distance between the frame plates to 1,095 mm. (A complete description
of these engines appeared in "The Locomotive" of October, 1910, July and
December, 1911, and June, 1912, as well as in "The Engineer" of November
25, 1910, February 10, September 1 and December 29, 1911.)
On the P.O. 4-8-0 locomotives the width of the outside firebox is 1,205 mm.
and the distance between the frames thus probably 1,245 mm., between which
the 640 mm. L.P. cylinders cannot be placed without making slot-holes. With
the Nord arrangement, however, cylinders as large as 695 mm. could be got
into the available space. The limit of power in compounding is thus as yet
by no means reached. The Nord engines, with their symmetrical outline, through
the uniform construction of all the bogies for both engine and tender, presented
a very handsome appearance. Their power was far in excess of what was needed
then. In ordinary service they' easily worked 800-ton trains at 125 km. (78
m.p.h.) and on a trial run No. 31.102, the engine with the Brotan water-tube
firebox, hauled a train of 1,200 tons at a speed of 110 km. (68 m.p.h.).
Reviews. 48
British Railways. Arthur Elton.
Worthy addition to the "Britain in Pictures" series, with which 'many
of our readers will he already familiar. The task of condensing the salient
features of Britain's railway history into 48 pages cannot have been an easy
one, but it has been carried out very well. The took is excellently produced
and the illustrations well chosen and reproduced—especially'so the
coloured ones. There are a few minor points upon which some readers will
disagree with the author. On page 14 Brunton is credited with the construction
of two locomotives, in 1813, with mechanical legs. Dendy Marshall, in his
book "Early British Locomotives," expressed the opinion after a careful survey
of all the available evidence, that it was uncertain whether more than one
"walking engine" was constructed. On page 23 the caption below the illustration
refers to the "Rocket and train"; while this title is no doubt taken from
the picture reproduced, the fact still remains that the engine depicted is
the "North Star." , This book may be relied upon to arouse an interest in
railways. among many as yet uninterested, while at the same time it is worthy
of a place in the library of anyone whose interest is serious and of long
standing.
Number 644 (15 April 1946)
L.M.S. locomotives. 49-50
The history of the locomotive on the L.M.S. Railway during the first
ten years of its existence after grouping in 1923 is told in an exceedingly
able manner by E. S. Cox in a paper recently
read before the Institution of Locomotive Engineers. In evolving what
ultim- ately became fourteen standard locomotive designs suitable for the
requirements of so vast a railway system as the L.M.S., much hard and patient
work had to be done and this unifying process, as Cox calls it, was notso
we are toldachieved without "stress and strain." Quite apart, however,.
from the subject of Personalities and Policies, we learn much about the
development of the different L.M.S. locomotive designs which have actually
been put into service. This is itself of great interest, but what perhaps
is of even greater interest is the account given by Cox of others which never
advanced beyond the drawing board stage.
Those engines actually built have, as Cox points out, all, at one time or
another been described in the technical journals, our own pages included,
but those projected but never built are not so well known; in fact, in some
cases, probably not at all. It is for this latter reason, therefore, that
in alludmg to the paper elsewhere in this issue we refer more particularly
to suggestions embracmg theconstruction of certain compound types in the
belief that the information given by Cox will be considered interesting by
our readers. The first locomotive engineer of the L.M.S. was, of George Hughes,
who, it is of interest to learn, had so long ago as 1924 developed a
four-cylinder "Pacific" locomotive for express passenger traffic, thus
ante-dating by some nine years the "Pacifics" designed by Sir W. Stanier,
which have smce proved of such sterling worth to the traffic department of
the L.M.S. Railway. Further subsequent events have shown that had Hughes
been allowed to have his way, it is probable that the traffic department
might have been saved from those difficulties which they faced before the
commg of the "Royal Scots" in 1927. As Cox so ~ustly observed: "Hughes knew
the value of the big engme, master of its job. While the Hughes "Pacific"
and also a large freight engme of his design were never built, there is,
.however, .the Horwich 2-6-0 Mixed traffic engme, of which 245 are at work
all over the line. They remain a tribute to his designing genius and, as
Cox puts it, "the best monument to hIS work" and "the only non-Derby inspired
design to become a standard type in the period under review."
Hughes, who had been C.M.E. of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway since
1904, retired from the L.M.S. in 1925 and was followed by Sir Henry Fowler,
himself a Harwich man. Under Fowler, Midland locomotive practice now became
paramount and, in fact, save for the Horwich 2-6-0 engines, which themselves
received Midland standard fittings, all the real L.M.S. standard engines
were based entirely upon Derby practice. This policy of taking as a standard
the designs of one only of the constituent Companies rather than branch out
on completely new standard parts' 'produced overnight a block of 3019 engines
having standard parts."
But Midland practice was not adopted as a basis for L.M.S. standard engines
due to Fowler's influence alone. The system of Individual Costing, summarised
in our review of the ,paper, had indicated that Derby designs were demonstrably
productive of the lowest repair costs and that coal consumption was, in general,
lower for comparable power due, it seems, in a measure to ruggedly designed
valve gear producing accurate 'valve events and to boilers well endowed with
grate area, giving reasonable rates of combustion. Concerning details, Cox
has something to say regarding valve gears, and mentions that Stephenson
and Walschaerts motions both give good results and are low in maintenance
costs. Narrow rings for piston valves are preferred as retaining a better
degree of steam tightness between shoppings compared with those having wide
rings. While no direct tests have been made, it is stated that it seems probable
that poppet valves may maintain a higher standard of steam tightness than
the piston valve. Small or negative savings shown when all is new, in comparison
with greater savings apparent over a period of years, seem to indicate a
better average tightness.
Apart from the various proposals for different designs of compound engines,
fully described by Cox and reprinted on another page, Fowler's work is recent
history and; as such, is well known. The circumstances surrounding the
introduction of the "Royal Scot" engines during 1927, while "somewhat dramatic,"
to say the least of it, were fairly well known at the time to many who follow
locomotive development, and from all accounts the railway company was fortunate
in finding at what was, apparently, short notice a firm of locomotive builders
with the capacity required for quick construction.
Before the conception 'of the "Royal Scot," there appeared in September,
1926, in daily working on the L.M.S.,. G.W.R. "Castle" Class engine No. 5000,
first, between London and Crewe and, later, on the Carlisle road. The performance
of ibis engine, we are told, made a profound impression, so much so that
work on the Compound "Pacific" was stopped and a decision made that the new
engine should conform to the Operating Department requirements: "Thus was
the ' Royal Scot' engine born, owing its inception to a measure of G.W.R.
experience, foreshadowing the much more extensive G.W. influence which came
with Stanier five years later."
Queensland Railways 2-8-2 Type AC16 class locomotives. 50-1. illustration,
diagram (side elevation)
In June, 1943, No. 223A, the first of a series of 20 locomotives built
by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of U.S.A. was placed in service on the 3
ft. 6 in. gauge Queensland Railways System. These 2-8-2 type engines, the
second of which is illustrated, are not by any means the most powerful on
the system, but are as large and heavy as can ·be permitted to operate
over branch lines laid with only 40 lb. rails and carrying an intensity of
traffic for which they were never intended.
A bar frame was employed, and the cylinders which have a diameter of
16 in. and a stroke of 24 in., were cast in two pieces in the usual American
style incorporating the smokebox saddle. The 8 in. diameter inside admission
piston valves were actuated by conventional Walschaerts valve gear, and lever
type reversing gear for manual operation was mounted at the right-hand side
of the cab, right-hand drive being a feature of Queensland locomotive practice.
The boiler was wagon top type with a grate 6 ft. 0¼ in. in length and
having an area of 27.7 ft2. The working pressure was 185 psi,
the 95 two in. diameter tubes provided a heating surface of 817
ft2. and the 19 53/8 in. diameter superheater flues
added 439 ft2. Firebox heating surface was 107 ft2
and the two 3 in. diameter arch tubes contributed 8 ft2. to an
evaporative total of 1,371 ft2. The 19 type A superheater elements
provided 374 ft2 of superheating surface, giving a ratio of
evaporative to superheating surface equal to 3.66. The tractive force at
85 percent. of boiler pressure was 20,128 lb., the factor of adhesion being
4.11.
Pyle National electric lighting equipment was fitted, the turbo-generator
being situated on top of the smokebox immediately behind the stack. Mechanical
lubricators were mounted just behind the steam chest back covers and driven
by links coupled to extensions on top of the valve gear combination levers.
The Westinghouse American 6 ET brake system was employed.
A modern locomotive history. 51-55. 7 diagrams including
4 side elevations.
Long precis of Cox classic ILocoE
Paper 457 which concentrates upon the Fowler proposed large compound
designs which viewed from the 21st century have a remarkable likeness to
the Royal Scot class and the Stanier Pacifics. See also
letter from G. Carpenter.
A paper of quite unusual interest was read before the Institution
of Locomotive Engineers on 2 January by E.S. Cox of the Chief Mechanical
and Electrical Department of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway,
beanng the above title, with a sub-title: "Ten Years' Development on the
L.M.S. 1923 to 1932." We give below a few extracts dealing with :that
part of the paper which describes the means adopted to decide the merits
of the chief engine types and classes taken 'over on the formation of the
new Company and which formed the basis of the standardisation of locomotive
types to meet the varied requirements of a great railway system. When the
L.M.S. came into being, there were in all 10,316 locomotives owned by the
Company, made up of 393 different types (classes). During the period 1923-1932,
being the period under review, 2,165 new locomotives were built for the L.M.S.
and, of these, 1,387 were constructed in the Company's shops. "The construction
of these locomotives, amongst other factors, allowed of 4,123 existing engines
of inferior performance and effiiciency being broken up, so that with various
subsidiary adjustments the stock fell to 8;450 by the end of 1932, a reduction
of 18 per cent. The number of different classes came down at the same time
from 392 to 230. No less than 2,002 of these new engines were to 14 standard
designs. It is the account of the development of these standards that forms
the main theme of Cox's paper. Under the sub-heading "Personalities and
Policies," Cox states that five men particularly influenced what was done
in the first ten years George Hughes, the first C.M.E., Sir Henry
Fowler, who succeeded him, and J. E. Anderson, the first Superintendent of
Motive Power, H.P.M. Beames, former CM.E. of the L.N.W.R., and John Barr,
in charge of Motive Power on the old Caledonian and subsequently on the Northern
Division of the L.M.S. The influence. of these men was great, but the selection
of engme types finally standardised and built, as well as those broken up,
was not based on their personal opinions alone. The-principal means adopted
to decide the merits of the various locomotive types and designs taken over
at groupings was the trymg-out of different locomotives over different sections
of the line where clearance limits would permit, by intensive dynamometer
car test- mg and a system of statistics initiated some time after grouping,
called "Individual Costing," which aggregated and related to mileage run
every pound of coal used, and every penny spent' on repairs for each individual
engine on the system. sub-divided to throw up the figures for the principal
parts.
."Coal Consumption and Repairs, Costs, Yard- sticks of Efficiency. The Fowler
designs for 4-cylinder compound 4-6-2 and 2-8-2 reflected French practice
for which Cox states some cylinders were cast were impressive looking and
certain components were fitted into the Stanier Pacifics, notable thr trailing
trucks and the long combustion chambers (Coronation type mainly). Diagrams:
4-4-0 4P compound (side elevation); regulator of previous; enlarge Midland
comound 4-6-0 (side elevation); Fowler 4-cylinder compound 4-6-2 (side
elevation); composite diagram of cylinders and bearing centres for previous;
2-8-2 freight 4-cylinder compound; cylinder block of No. 10456 Hughes 4-cylinder
compound 4-6-0.
L.N.E.R. 55
B. Holroyde appointed Carriage and Wagon Works Manager. Stratford.
E.H. Baker appointed District Locomotive Superintendent. Gorton.
L.M.S.R. 55
Skipton made the concentration depot for Sheds 20F (Skipton).
20G (Hellifield) and 20H (Lancaster). These depots were previously under
the control of Leeds (20A).
G.W.R. 55
H. Randle appointed works manager (Carriage and Wagon) Swindon. A.G.
Snell appointed divisional locomotive superintendent Oswestry, and L.G. Morris
succeeded . R.J. Armstrong at Worcester. J.C. Metcalfe appointed locomotive
works manager. Caerphilly.
3ft. 6in. gauge Beyer-Garratt locomotives, South African
Railways. 56-8. 3 illustrations
Beyer Peacock & Co. order for fifty 4-8-2+2-8-4 articulated locomitces
with a tractive force in excess of 60,000 lbs. Cast iron was used for the
four 18½ x 26in cylinders. Designed to meet requirements of M.M. Loubser,
Chief Mechanical Engineer under inspection of W.H. Maass Acting Advisory
Engineer, but latterly th under L. Douglas, the present Advisory Engineer.
The first locomotives had been shipped to Port Elizabeth for erection at
Uitenhage, from where they were distributed.
G.W.R. 58
Five further 4-6-0 engines, Nos. 1010 to 1014, had been completed
at Swindon. Nos. 9633 to 9639 were new 0-6-0 tanks .. The 1000 class engines
were being named after English and Welsh counties. The first is County
of Middlesex. The other twenty-nine to be named after the following counties:
Bucks, Berks. Wilts, Oxford, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Brecknock,
Cardigan, Carmarthen, Carnarvon, Cheshire, Denbigh, Glamorgan, Merioneth,
Monmouth Gloucester Hereford Leicester, Northampton, Hants, Montgomery, Pembroke,
Radnor, Salop, Stafford, Warwick and Worcester. The following engines had
been withdrawn: 4-6-0, Nos. 2914 and 2971; 2-6-0, Nos. 2619 and 2660; 0-6-2T,
No. 242 (ex Barry 44); 0-6-0T, Nos; 1712 and 2725.
R.A. Whitehead. Miniature railways (II). 58-60.
2 illustrations
Since the previous notes (see Vol. 48)
appeared on the Eaton Hall Railway, it has been brought to the Author's
notice that they were not complete. In addition to the 0-4-0T Katie and
the 0-6-0T Shelagh mentioned there was a further 0-6-0T Ursula,
also a product of Duffield Bank Works (1916). Sir Arthur Heywood died in
1916, so this engme must have been his last piece of work. The locomotives
were:
Katie0-4-0T built Duffield, 1890. Sold and later appeared (in
the twenties) on the Fairbourne Miniature Railway, where its chassis survives
as a truck.
Shelagh0-6-0T built Duffield , 1904. Name changed to
Katie when the original Katie was sold. Finally scrapped 1942.
Ursula0-6-0T built Duffield 1916. Finally scrapped 1942.
As mentioned in a recent letter from a correspondent, the Cuckoo's Nest Branch
had been dismantled and presumably the materials had been utilised as
replacements for the main line.
The Surrey .Border & Camberley Railway had its begmmngs in the
Farnborough Miniature Railway, the property of A. Kinloch, When first begun
in 1934, it was merely an ordinary pleasure line of the 10¼ in. gauge,
but as successive additions were made to the layout, it became quite a formidable
system. The main line was roughly a mile in length and was situated in fields
bordering on the Frimley-Farnborough road. It was mainly single track, except
at stations, and these were very elaborate. The main station was "Foxhill,"
where there were three island platforms served by five tracks, with two running
round lines in addition. Other features of this station were a running shed,
including a turntable, a long covered siding for carriage stock,. and a signal
box controlling the station points and signals, which were in conformity
with orthodox main-line practice. The other terminus of the line was "Hawley,"
where there was a large turning circle, on the far side of which the station
was situated. It was on much simpler lines than "Foxhill," possessing a platform
and booking office and a passing loop, although once again signalling was
installed. Midway between the two termini there was a passing loop, with
signals and signal box, the latter having telephone communication with "Foxhill."
The line excited such interest among the public that in 1938 it was decided
to transfer its ownership to a company and reorganise it on a larger scale.
The new owners were the Surrey Border & Camberley Railway Ltd., of which
the directors were Messrs. A. Kinloch, H.M. Gulland, E.H. Edwards and D.V.
Frank. The length of the line was increased by rather more than a mile, and
at the same time approximately one mile was doubled. Later a branch was laid
to Blackwater, and this was brought into use in 1939. The new terminals were
Farnborough Green, close to the Southern Railway's Frimley Station, and
Camberley. At Farnborough Green there was a booking office, waiting rooms
and concourse, the latter covered by a 60 ft. x 40 ft. glass roof which extended
over the platforms. Loudspeakers and a train indicator were installed. Other
features of the layout were carriage sidings and a locomotive shed with a
turntable. As on the original line, very complete signalling was installed,
being controlled from a forty-lever frame. The intermediate stations were
Cove Woods and Watchett Woods between Farnborough Green and Cove Woods the
track was double, and a passing loop was installed at Watchett Woods, from
which station the branch ran to Blackwater. At Camberley station the line
had its loco. repair shop. The opening took place on July 23, 1938, but the
full layout was not finally completed until the end of the summer. A timetable
issued at the time read:
Farnborough Green. Camberley.
dep. 10.30 arr. 10.45
then hourly until'
2.30 2·45
then every thirty minutes.
Carnberley. Farnborough Green.
dep. 10.50
arr 11.5
then hourly until
2.50, 3·5
then every thirty minutes.
The line was laid with flat-bottomed rails, spiked direct to the wooden sleepers.
Its course was somewhat undulating and there were a number of curves. The
maximum gradient was 1 in 150. Through the woods a permanent speed restriction
was in force. The only bridge of any size on the line was over the River
Blackwater. but even this was only a. small girder bridge. The locomotives
of the line were as follows:
Farnborough Miniature Railway.
*4-6-2Harvester. Gresley type.
*4-6-2Western Queen. Free-lance.
*4-6-2King Edward. Free-lance.
4-4-4Princess Elizabeth. Free-lance.
4-4-0Wendy. Free-lance.
4-2-2Modelled on Stirling's G.N.R. type, but funnel cut down.
*0-6-0PTGreat Western type.
0-4-2T
* Retained on S.B. &C.R.
Surrey Border & Camberley.
4-6-2 H arvester 1934'
1003 4-6-2 Western Queen, Bullock 1934
2005 4-6-2 Silver Jubilee, Bullock 1938.
2006 4-6-2 Edward VII, Bullock 1934
2011 4-6-2 Coronation, Bullock 1938-
3008 0-6-0PT, Bullock 1934
4012 2-6-0+ 0-6-2, Kitson 1938
4013 2-6-0 + 0-6-2, Kitson 1938.
The 4-6-2s were of approximately 28 horse- power. The Kitson articulated
locomotives, which were a somewhat radical departure for, so small a gauge,
were of approximately 50 horsepower. Their leading dimensions were: cylinders
(four),. 3½ in. x 5 in.; boiler pressure, 140 lb.; weight, 2 tons 5
cwt. Steam brakes were applied to the engme.
The passenger coaches of the line consisted chiefly of eight-seater open
cars articulated into four-car sets, one of which formed the usual weekday
train .. There were in addition a number of closed coaches, but the space
in these was extremely restricted, and their use was generally confined to
wet weather.
The locomotives .were painted green with the: exception of the Garratts,
which were black lined in red, and were lettered "S.B. & C.R." A sad
fate overtook this interesting railway. The outbreak of .war made such. inroads
into the receipts of the railway that it was unable to carry on, and it passed
into receivership. Since this. event, the line has. been closed and much
of the stock has been sold, some of it wandering as far afield, so it is
rumoured, as India. Despite this setback, it is hoped to reopen later and
to bring at: least that part' of the line between Farnborough Green and Cove
Woods into use again.
The Trentham Miniature Railway (2 ft. gauge) is in Trentham Gardens,
on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent The miniature railway, which forms part
of the attractions of the gardens, was laid in 1934. It is roughly a mile
in length, and there were three stations. From the outset the line was a
great suocess, and the decision was taken in 1938 to relay it with heavier
rails and to ease the curves in order to permit the use of a six-coupled
locomotive. The expenditure was fully justified, and on Whit Monday, 1939,
a record day, no fewer than 5,028 people travelled on the line. The original
rails weighed only 18 lb. per yard, but those laid in 1938 are 30 lb. per
yard, flat bottomed. The track was supplied by the Stafford Coal & Iron
Co., Stoke-on-Trent. There was a passing loop midway along the line equipped
wirh spring-operated points. The main terminal is near the entrance to the
gardens and is roofed over. The other terminal is called The Chalet and is
beside the ornamental lake.
There were three locomotives, numbered 1, 2 and 3. All were built by E.E.
Baguley, Ltd., Burton-on-Trent, and are petrol-driven machines with the exterior
built to resemble a steam tank locomotive. Nos. 1 and 2 were 0-4-0 machines
built in 1934. No. 3 was a large six-coupled engine built in 1938. Main
dimensions are given.
James McEwan. Locomotives of the Caledonian Railway.
61-2. 2 illustrations
Continued from page 43. The next
addition to stock was an enlarged. design of the 0-4-2 type tender engine
for goods traffic, of which Dubs & Co. built ten in 1878 (WN 1138 to
1147) and twenty in 1881 (WN 1485 to 1504). The 1878 series were delivered
without tenders, being given tenders from other engines which in their turn
had received old tenders from engines being broken up. The 1881 series had
new tenders when delivered, and as time went on some of the class got tenders
from the close coupled 0-6-0 engines, while a few got for a time four-wheeled
tenders from engines being broken up. The entire class was reboilered, some
of the earlier rebuilds getting boilers which had been made from the shell
of old Drummond ones, but with new tubeplates and firebox. The safety valves
were retained on the dome. Of the few Drummond boilers used two or at the
most three were actually put on without alteration just as they had been
taken from the rebuilt 2-4-0 engines, but by 1912 any unaltered were made
standard with the others and equal to the Class, 29 0-6-0T boiler which was
regarded as standard for the rebuilds. When the class was reboilered, McIntosh
withdrew them from goods traffic and fitted. the engines with the Westing-
house brake so that they could be used on local passenger trains or on branch
line duties, although prior to this several had been fitted with the air
brake. Those fitted by 1900 were Nos. 249, 252, 276, 281,· 670, 672,
675, 676 and 678. By 1904 all had been fitted with the air brake and reboilered
or rebuilt; and had been re-classified as "small. or -large boiler," although
the difference originally had actually referred to the Drummond rebuild and
the class 29 boiler respectively, by : the end of 1920 the classes as such
had in reality disappeared and the variation or description meant boilers
with safety valves on the dome and over the firebox respectively. Just before
the end of WW1 the class came off the branch working and was put to station
pilot and other sundry duties at Perth, Glasgow and Edinburgh, replacing
the 2-4-0 engines. Just about the time of the amalgamation three went to
Arbroath, two to Carlisle, two to Hamilton, while two went to Irvine to work
the branch passenger traffic . Nos. 1716 to 1718 were the Glasgow pilots.
Hamilton in all had Nos. 675, 676, 711 and 705 in rotation. No. 717, while
stationed at Edinburgh in its final days, was not in traffic, and its. duty
was to supply air for tube cleaning, which was done by connecting the tube
cleaning rod to. the front hosepipe of the old brake system. No. 705 as L.M.S.
17003 was the last of the class to be regularly employed. Not long before
it was withdrawn it was used on the Strathaven passenger train one evening.
The rail motor (Sentinel) failed and a train had to be made up hurriedly,
No. 17003, which was shunting the yard, was requisitioned and with two light
bogie coaches set out upon its unusual job. When withdrawn, No. 706 and another,
thought to be No. 704, had their original stovepipe chimneys; all the others
had received the standard capped chimney at the re-boilering or rebuilding.
The running plate of the class was swept over the driving axles to give clearance
tothe coupling rod ends and bushes, and this feature gave the class a distinctive
appearance. A noticeable feature of difference between the first batch and
the later one was to be found in the size of the sandboxes, The first ten
engines had a sandbox which at the top came flush with the top of the driving
splasher, while the 1881 series had sandboxes with an increase in carrying
capacity made possible by the sweeping upwards of the box from the driving
splasher. The 1881 lot were ordered identical with the 1878 series, tanks
on the Oban road were becoming very prevalent and the locomotive department
decided to use the 0-4-2 type tender engines for the traffic on the section
until a new engine was built, and this was the reason for the fitting of
different styles of sandboxes to engines of the same class. The details of
the class as built and rebuilt were:
Built | Rebuilt | |
Cylinders | 17in. x 24in | 17in. x 24in |
Driving wheels, dia. | 5ft. 2in | 5ft. 2in |
Trailing wheels, dia | 3ft. 8in. | 3ft. 8in. |
Coupled wheelbase | 6ft. 5in. | 6ft. 5in. |
Total wheelbase | 13ft. 9in. | 13ft. 9in. |
Heating surface | ||
Tubes ... ... | 1026.2 ft2 | 975.0 ft2 |
Firebox | 91.9 ft2 | 110.9 ft2 |
Total | 1118.1 ft2 | 1085.9 ft2 |
Grate area | 13.48 ft2 | 17.0 ft2 |
Pressure | 140 psi | 150 psi |
Weight in working order | T. c. q. | T. c. q. |
Leading axle... 13 II 3 IS 2 2 ... 5 17 0 ... 34 | 13 11 3 | 13 15 3 |
Driving axle | 15 2 2 | 15 9 2 |
Trailing axle | 5 17 0 | 6 16 0 |
Total | 34 11 1 | 36 1 1 |
Tender | 4-wheeled | 6-wheeled |
Water capacity | 1,540 galls. | 1,840 galls. |
Coal capacity | 3.8 tons | 4 tons |
Tender wheelbase | 8 ft 6 in | 11 5½ in |
Weight | T. c. q. | T. c. q. |
Total engine and tender | 57 0 0 | 64 6 0 |
Total length over buffers, engine and tender· | 43ft. 6in | 46ft. 3¾in |
The block of No. 251 0-4-2 tender engine, rebuilt, shown on page 42, was accidently inserted instead of the one at the top of page 61 illustrating No. 126 4-4-0 rebuilt.
L.M.S.R. 62
The following new locomotives had been put into service: 4-6-0, Class
5, Nos. 4923 to 4930 (built at Crewe); Nos. 4947-9 (built at Horwich}: 2-6-4T,
Class 4, Nos. 2219 to 2222 (built at Derby).
British Timken, Ltd. 62
Of Aston, Birmingham, publication (No. 403) dealing with the application
of Timken axleboxes to rolling stock. Although barely 25 years have elapsed
since this type of bearing was first employed in railway axleboxes, to-day
there are many thousands in use. Details are given of some of the many
applications, and the salient features of these bearings are outlined.
H. Fayle. The Dublin & South Eastern Railway
and its locomotives. 62-4, 2 ilustrations
Concluded from page 26. In 1905 two
express engines of the 4-4-0 class were built by Beyer, Peacock & Co.
(WN 4645/6) for service on the mail trains between Bray and Wexford; they
carried numbers 67 Rathmore and 68 Rathcoole; the boilers were
similar to those fitted to the goods engines No. 65/6; cylinders 18 in. by
26 in., wheels 3 ft. 3 in. and 6 ft. 0 in., wheelbase coupled 8 ft. 10 in.,
total 21 ft. 7 in., boiler 10 ft. 3 in. by 4 ft. 8 in., heating surface 1,047.7
ft2 + 118.5ft2 = 1,193.2ft2, grate
area 20.0 ft2., length of firebox 6 ft. 0 in., boiler pressure
175 psi, weight of engine 45¼ tons; tender, with 2600 gals. and 3½
tons of coal, 30.4 tons. No. 67 was rebuilt in 1922 and became G.S.R. No.
454 in 1925; it was fitted with a Belpaire boiler in 1935, which had been
removed from a scrapped engine of the 451 class; the dimensions were 10 ft.
3 in. by 4 ft. 8 in., length of firebox casing 6 ft. 0 in., heating surface
1,047.7 ft2+118.5 ft2 =1,166.2 ft2.,
grate area 20.0 ft2., boiler pressure 160 psi., weight 49 tons
19 cwt. No. 68 was scrapped in 1925 as a result of damage received two years
before during the Irish Civil War, having been in collision with No. 25 near
Waterford.
Rail motor cars were rather in the news about this time, and the D.W. &
W.R. obtained two cars in 1906, the engine portions of which were built by
Manning, Wardle & Co. (WN 1692/3); the latter were of the 0-4-0 side
tank type, with outside cylinders, Walschaerts valve gear and Belpaire firebox;
the dimensions were: cylinders 12 in. by 16 in., coupled wheels 3 ft. 7 in.,
boiler pressure 175psi., tanks 500 gals., fuel 1 ton; the 1ength over frames,
including the car body, was 65 ft. 0 in., and the total weight 42 tons. The
car had accommodation for 16 first and 39. second class passengers, third
class passengers being accommodated in an ordinary six-wheeled trailer coach.
These cars, which carried the numbers 1 and 2, ran between Bray and Greystones,
a special intermediate halt being provided at Bray but while building the
failures of the 2-4-2 type Head the service connected with the ordinary trains
from Dublin at Bray. From the first there was excessive vibration in the
coach, so in under a year the engines were detached fro~ the carriage frames,
ordinary bogies taking their places. The two engines, numbered 69 and 70,
were rebuilt as 0-4-0 well tanks, the side tanks bemg removed, and in addition
heavy weights had to be provided at the rear to compensate for the removal
of the carriage. For a time the two units operated a push and pull service
between Dublin and Kingstown, but were later withdrawn, and the engmes used
for shunting purposes.
No. 69 was rebuilt in 1910 as a 2-4-0T; No. 70, still a 0-4-0, was sold in
1918 to the Dublin & Blessington Steam Tramway, but was found too heavy
for that track, and the outside motion was inclined to foul the points; the
latter company, therefore, exchanged it the same year for a 0-4-0ST named
Cambria, which had worked on the Wexford & Rosslare Railway, coming
into the possession of the G.S.W.R. in 1898. The G.S.W.R. did not number
No. 70 in their stock, regarding it as a departmental locomotive, and it
was allotted the name Imp; it was rebuilt at Inchicore in 1923, and
scrapped in 1928, the Belpaire boiler being transferred to an ex-Timoleague
& Courtmacsherry Light Railway engine named Argadeen, the latter
being still at work.
No. 69 came into the hands of the G.S.R. with the D.W. & W.R. stock in
1925, and was reconverted at Broadstone the same year to a 0-4-0T bearing
the name Elf without number; the boiler dimensions were 3 ft. 8 in.
by 5 ft. 8 in., firebox length 3 ft. 1 in., pressure 160 lb., and the weight
in working order 26.7 tons. After putting in some time shunting in Limerick
yard, Elf was scrapped in 1931.
In 1911 a new design of 4-4-2 tank engine was built at Grand Canal Street,
the cylinders, boiler and wheels being similar to the 4-4-0 class, Nos. 67/8;
the engine carried the number 20 King George, and the boiler and mountings
came complete from Kitson & Co.; the dimensions were: cylinders 18 in.
by 26 in., wheels 3 ft. 3 in., 6 ft. o in. and 3 ft. 8 in., wheelbase coupled
8 ft, 10 in., total 28 ft. 3 in., boiler 4 ft. 8 in. by 10: ft. 3 in., firebox
length 6 ft. 0 in., heating surface 1,075ft2 +
118.5ft2=1,194.2 ft2, boiler pressure 175 psu, grate
area 20.0 ft2, tanks 1,700 gals.; coal 3 tons, weight, 'adhesive
31.5 tons, total 61.5 tons. Unfortunately the engme was none too successful,
and its use was confined entirely to the Dublin local services in 1925 it
became G.S.R. No. 455, with classification C2.· It was rebuilt at Inchicore
the same year, and the boiler pressure lowered to 160 psi the heating surface
was now 1,160ft2+118.5ft2=1,278.5 ft2, and
the total weight 63.14 tons; the engine was still at work, but was
fitted with a 351 class boiler pressure 150 psi
No. 20 was the last engine built at Grand Canal Street; since 1841 , when
the Princess was turned out for the Dublin & Kingstown Railway,
about fifty engines had been built there, but none had appeared between 1852
and 1871, so the average was about one engine a year. The works continued
in use for repairs up to 1925, when the G.S.R. took over, and after remaining
closed for some time, are now in use by two commercial firms.
A 0-6-0 side tank engine,. carrying the name Blackburn, had been in
use in connection with the construction of. the diversion line at Bray Head;
It had been built by Manning, Wardle & Co. in 1888 (WN 1099) for the
contractor of the Manchester Ship Canal, who sold it to Naylor Bros.,
Huddersfield. The gauge was altered to 5 ft. 3 in. when the latter firm undertook
the Irish contract andthe engine was taken over by the D.S.E.R. 'in Apnl,
1916. It was considered as a departmental locomotive, and was never numbered
in the stock being .in use for ballast trains and tunnel work. In 1925 it
was removed to Inchicore and sold for scrap.
In 1917 Richard Cronin retired from the office of locomotive superintendent
and was succeeded by George F. Wild, who occupied the post down to .the time
of fusion WIth the G.S.R.; from about this time the nammg of locomotives
was discontinued and most of the existing names were removed. ' Two goods
engines of the 2-6-0 type were built by Beyer, Peacock & Co. in 1922
(6112/3) at a cost of £19,326; the numbers carried were 15 and 16; the
design was an enlargement of the standard goods type, brought up-to-date
with piston valves, superheater and Belpaue firebox; incidentally, these
were the only superheated engines the company ever possessed, WIth the exception
of the temporary fitting to No. 36 in 1911 the dimensions were: cylinders
19.in. by 26 in., wheels 3 ft. 0 in. and 5 ft. 1 m., boiler 4 ft. 10k in.
by 10 ft. 3 in., length of firebox 6 ft. 0 in., heating surface
952ft2 + 162ft2 (superheater) + 124
ft2(firebox) = 1,248 ft2, grate .area 20.0
ft2., boiler pressure 175 psi, weight, adhesive 42.05 tons, total
48.5 tons. Tender wheelbase 12 ft. 0 in., tanks 2,600 gals., coal 5 tons,
weight 32~· tons; total, engine and tender, 81 tons. It WIll be noted
that the length of the boiler and fi.reJ;>ox, and diameter of the coupled
wheels Were similar te:> the standard goods class. These engines were
mamly employed on the night goods trains between Dublin and Wexford, and
were still on that duty; the G.S.R. numbers were 461/2, and the classification
K3.
The last two engines built for the company were supplied by Beyer Peacock
& Co. in 1924 (6204/5) at a cost of £10,752; they were of the 4-4-2
tank type carrying the numbers 34/5, the design being similar to that of
No. 20 of 1911, with the exception of a Belpaire firebox. The dimensions
were: cylinders 18 in. by 26 in., wheels 3 ft. 3 in., 6 ft. 0 in. and 3 ft.
8 in., wheelbase coupled 8 ft. 10 in., total 28 ft. 3 in., boiler 10 ft.
3 in. by 4 ft. 8 in., length of firebox 6 ft. 0 in., heating surface 1,065
ft2+ 128ft2= 1193 ft2, grate area 20.0
ft2, boiler pressure 175 psi, tanks capacity 1,700 gals., coal
3 tons, weight in working order adhesive 35.4 tons, total 64.65 tons. These
engines became G.S.R. Nos. 456/7 with classification C 2, but the boilers
were changed from time to time'; No. 456 was fitted with a G.S.W. 351 class
round-topped boiler in 1935 having the following dimensions: barrel 10ft.
3¾ in. by 4 ft. 5¼ in., length of firebox 5 ft. 10 in., heating
surface 1129ft2 + 118ft2 = 1247 ft2 , grate
area 20.4 sft2 , boiler pressure 150 psi, weight in working order
64.8 tons, in 1938 this engine received a 351 Belpaire boiler pressure 160
psi, weight in working order 67.3 tons. No. 457 was rebuilt in 1936 with
a 442 class round-topped boiler 10 ft. 3 in. by 4 ft. 8 in., length of firebox
6 ft. 0 in., boiler pressure 175 psi, heating surface 1065ft2
+118.75ft2 =1183.74 ft2 , grate area 20.24
ft2 ., weight· in working order 63 tons 16 cwt. Both engines
were still at work on their original duties on the D.S.E.R. section.
Though D.S.E.R. locomotives were numbered up to 70, when taken over by the
G.S.R. in 1924 the authorised stock was 61, and this included No. 48 which
had been scrapped in 1914, though retained in the stock book; the following
numbers were vacant: 23, 31, 37, 59-63 and 70, while Nos. 19, 25, 39, 51
and 68 were casualties of the Irish Civil War, and only fit for scrap. The
G.S.R:- removed the few remaining names from the locomotives and proceeded
to scrap the following numbers: 1, 2, 6, 19, 22, 26, 32, 38, 41-44, while
Nos. 5, 7, 10, 13, 17, 24, 36, 50, 55-8, 64 and 69 had since followed. This
leaves but 29 ex-D.S.E.R. engines running at the time of writing, and, no
doubt, the number will very soon be further depleted.
The author would like to acknowledge the help given in the preparation of
this account by Messrs. K.A. Murray and C.J. Coghlan.
Reviews. 64
Great Eastern locomotives, past and present,
1862-1945. C. Langley Aldrich. 112 pp.
In our April, 1944, issue we reviewed Aldrich's earlier book on the
G.E.R. engines. He has now published a revised edition considerably enlarged
and copiously illustrated on art paper and bound in cloth. Numbers, dates
of building and withdrawals from service, with the leading dimensions, are
given, the whole comprising a useful outline of the G.E.R. locomotives from
1862 to date.
Narrow gauge railways of Ireland. H. Fayle.
Greenlake Publications.
'When so many of the smaller Irish railways have been closed of recent
years, it is fitting that the full description of them should be put on record
before they are forgotten. Who more fitted to do the job than Mr. Fayle,
who is so well known as an authority on the railways of Ireland? He has covered
the ground thoroughly and in an excellently produced volume of 200 pages
describes the various lines, their rolling stock, gradients and even their
tickets. There are no less than 177 half-tone illustrations and 17 maps,
besides line drawings, etc. Printed in Gill type throughout, the book evinces
well thought out planning.
Number 645 (15 May 1946)
"Liberation" locomotives. 65
UNRRA design
"Liberation" 2-8-0 locomotives. 65-6. illustration, diagram (side
elevation)
110 being built by Vulcan Foundry for UNRRA plus a further ten for
the Duchy of Luxembourg
A Current Mental Attitude. 68
Some years ago a transient literary fashion produced a convenient
but hypothetical man from Mars and, before him, there was Macaulay's extremely
knowledgeable schoolboy. Perhaps their present counterpart, differing only
in that he is a sentient being, is the demobilised ex-Serviceman, returned
to his home after many years' overseas service. He has come back to a very
strange homeland. He feels somewhat out of tune, but, knowing that his own
mental processes have been conditioned by a long period of Service life,
and realising that long absence may have made him unduly idealistic and very
uninformed on the details of current events, he hesitates to criticise. Yet
he sees at once that there is something. seriously wrong with many of his
countrymen. The returned ex-Serviceman knows there are extenuating circumstances
to explain this state of affairs: war weariness (and he will be the first
to admit that many civilians have had far more 'ex- perience of front line
conditions than he), shortage over a long and weary period of necessities,
and absence or excessive cost of the little luxuries which conspire to make
life so much more pleasant: the continuance of controls which, necessary
as they may be, are none the less irritating; the weary queueing up for this,
that and the other: a general monotony and greyness of life. If these are
a few of the causes, what of the effects? Some of the visible signs are lack
of cour- tesy, of a sense of duty, .30 tendency to demand one's privileges,
entirely unmindful of the duties which must go. hand in hand with them. Trains
have been cancelled because train crews were not prepared to' work even a
small amount of overtime, with little or no thought to the passenger who
may have urgent" business to transact, involving the employmentof many others,
or is visiting a friend or relation who is seriously ill: road transport
staff took the law into their own hands on the subject of the maximum permitted
number of standing passengers: there has been a wave of unofficial strikes:
canteen and other amenities (many of them non-existent before the war) in
factories are being abused.
The root cause of these surface disturbances appears to be an emergence,
individual and collective, of that spirit of grab and selfishness, so rightly
detested in the Services, where it is generally known as " [expletive] you,
Jack, I'm all right," and it must be exorcised. Deep down in the hearts of
the great majority of our countrymen is a fine patriotism which far transcends
any flag-waving ingoism. But if this country is to regain its material prosperity
and resume its. rightful place in the cornitv of nationsand both must
be done soon if at allthere must first be discipline in the nation
and, before that, self-discipline of the individual.. The sound of the word
discipline is anything but popular in many ears at the moment connoting as
it does that variety, harsh but unavoidable, which is essential for civilians
and Services alike when a nation is totally at war. But, on consideration,'
it will be agreed that discipline of a certain kind, properly administered,
is always essential arid not necessarily irksome to the conscientious. True
freedom, be it remembered, is always conditional; one's own must not interfere
with another's.
Yes, our ex-Serviceman knows that this country is very sick mentally, that
the period of convalescence must be accelerated and that anv drastic treatment
which may be necessary must be administered. We must turn our minds back
for a moment to the time of Dunkirk and the spirit which then swept through
the country like a flame, transforming it and sweeping away in a flash apathy,
self-interest, half-heartedness and many another mental and spiritual defect.
Once again that spirit must be revived and put to the even nobler purpose
which awaits it now and needs it urgently.
Southern Railway. 68
On 15 April the Golden Arrow was re-instated with seven first
and second class Pullman Cars and a new bar-car. This car, named the Trianon
Bar, is available to all passengers on the train irrespective of class.
The Golden Arrow leaves Victoria. at 10.00 each morning arriving Dover
Marine at 11.40. Passengers will then transfer to the S.S. Canterbury
which will cross the channel in just over one hour. The French portion of
the Golden Arrow"the Fleche d'Orleaves Calais at
14.45, and is due in Paris at 18.45. The journey throughout therefore occupies
8¾ hours.
Stephenson Locomotive Society.68
At a meeting in Glasgow, Sir Malcolm Barclay Harvey, K.C.M.G., gave
an interesting talk entitled "Some Aspects of the Railways of Australia,"
in which he stressed the geographical difficulties and great distances, the
reasons that led the respective States to adopt different gauges, the present
proposals to standardise the gauge. Traffic problems, track, gradients, the
main types of locomotives were all touched upon, followed by a display of
films. Other papers presented at provincial centres have included: "The
Southern Railway and Eastleigh," by R. Howard, at Leeds; "The Locomotives
of the Middle East," by . G. Harrop at Manchester.Sir Malcolm
Barclay-Harvey
Skefko Ball Bearing Co., Ltd., of Luton, 68
To distribute a £10,000 Victory Day Bonus to 3500 employees and
a number of former workers. The first big post-war factory extension will
be doubling their Sundon works. This factory, covering 100,000 square feet,
was provided as a dispersal unit during the war and has ample space for
development.
English Electric Company. 68
A tribute to the reliability of English Electric Diesel engines
is contained in a letter from A.T. Allen, of Alderney, Channel Islands, to
the English Electric Company: "In 1938 you installed for the Channel Islands
Granite Company, Alderney, to the order of S.H. Heywood, Manchester, two
6K 350 hp. 600 r.p.m. Diesels, and I assisted in their erection and afterwards
ran them until the evacuation in 1940 . During the occupation they have been
run by the Germans with very little attention and no spares. It might interest
you to know that one of the engines, No. IH 762, ran for two years without
stop."
R.A. Whitehead. Miniature railways (II). 69-72. 4
illustrations, 2 plans
Concluded from page 60. The Blakesley Hall Miniature Railway (15 in.
gauge) was built by the late C.W. Bartholomew on his estate at Blakesley
Hall, near Towcester, Northants, early in the twentieth century. It was between
half a mile and three-quarters of a mile in length, and was laid with
flat-bottomed rails clipped to iron sleepers, resembling somewhat the Duffield
line. The main line stretched from the Hall to the Blakesley station of the
East & West Junction Railway (later the Stratford-on-Avon & Midland
Junction Railway) and was roughly a quarter of a mile in length. This part
was practically straight and had easy grades, but the continuation had a
climb as steep in places as 1 in 24. Originally there was a circle commencing
at the Hall terminus and a line running from the top of this circle to join
the main line about 200 yards from the Hall. At the junction a third line
was laid to form a triangle for turning the
The station at Blakesley adjoined the main line company's station, with which
it was connected, and consisted of a platform and booking office. There was
a; line leading into the goods yard for transferring goods from the standard
to narrow gauge trucks. The railway was correctly signalled with Sykes electric
signals and was equipped with telephones and electric light.
The original steam locomotives (see
Locomotive. 12. page 78) were 4-4-0's of American
type built by the Miniature Railway Corporation, of 301, Broadway, New York.
A very similar locomotive is owned by the Rothesay Tramway Co. and was described
in the article which dealt with that lif\e.For goods work . Bartholomew designed
a petrol locomotive which was built under his supervision. The engine, named
Petrolia, had a single 4 in. x 8 in. cylinder. Considering its small
size, this locomotive was very powerful, and could haul six loaded hopper
wagons of coal or coke quite easily. Being more readily available than a
steam locomotive, it was sometimes used for passenger work. It must have
been this use of the Petrolia which made Bartholomew conceive the
idea of building a locomotive combining the attractive outlines of the scale
steam locomotive with the availability of the petrol machine. The upshot
of the idea was a neat 4-4-4 locomotive of tank design propelled by a petrol
engine cleverly concealed in the boiler and tanks. The builders were
Bassett-Lowke, Ltd., Northampton, from whose shops the engine emerged in
1909 illustrated). It was the first locomotive for a miniature railway in
which the features of steam stock. design and petrol propulsion were combined,
and was thus the forerunner of the virtual army of such machines at work
to-day. The miniature railway was sold some years after the death of Bartholomew
and continued its career afresh. Readers may recall the miniature railway
mentioned during the comparatively recent trial for fraud of a colliery company's
secretary. The locomotive involved was this one. At the sale of the property,
it was purchased by Younger, of Newcastle, by whom it has been reconditioned.
The passenger rolling stock of the line consisted originally of twelve
four-wheeled passenger cars built by the same makers as the locomotive. They
were not a very great success in this form, so they were stripped of their
wheels and longer frames constructed on which three of the wheel-less bodies
were mounted. These were then mounted on four- wheeled bogies, utilising
the wheels removed. The surplus wheels were used for the construction of
a bogie trolley for freight. The goods wagons of the line were of the steel
hopper type, as used by contractors, and flat platform wagons.
The Crowthorne Farm .Miniature Railwajl (9½in.
gauge) was laid by the late V. Burgoyne on his farm at Crowthorne, in Berkshire,
and used, apart from amusement purposes, for hauling materials required on
the estate. Burgoyne performed most of the construction with his own workmen
and built some of the rolling stock and locomotives. Being both designer
and builder, he was able to experiment to a considerable extent in his endeavour
to find the correct balance of fac- tors in miniature locomotive design.
The main difficulty in designing true to scale locomotives, especially those
following standard gauge practice, is that standard gauge locomotives are
limited as to loading gauge by factors which do not apply to a miniature
railway, so that when the scale machine is produced its dimensions by no
means reach the limit to which a locomotive might have been built, had the
restrictions of scale not been enforced. Burgoyne solved this problem in
a very neat way. Instead of comparing his 9½ in. gauge to standard,
he chose instead the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, on which, there are some very large
locomotives at work in proportion to the gauge. The scale thus arrived at
was about 1:4.25, and the resulting scale model stock, while satisfying the
requirements of the scale enthusiast, were also powerful. The track was of
the usual type found on 9½ in. gauge lines, i.e., flat-bottomed steel
rails on wooden sleepers. The maximum gradient was 1 in 50., and there were
also stretches of 1 in 60./65.
The four engines included some interesting examples of the modeller's art.
The most powerful . locomotive on the line was a 0-8-0. built to Burgoyne's
own design in his workshop about five years ago. It is one of the most powerful
locomotives on this gauge in the country. The leading dimensions are: diameter
of wheels, 9 in. (third pair flangeless for ease on curves) ; cylinders,
2¼in. by 4 in.; boiler pressure, 160. lb.; overall length, including
tender, 11 ft. 6 in.; total width, 24 in.; height, 32 in. The 14 in. diameter
boiler is built of 5/16 in. plate and contains 32 ¾ in.
tubes. Steam brakes are used on all wheels. The locomotive can haul six tons
on the level and two tons up a grade of 1 in 50.. Another locomotive on the
line was a Garratt type articulated machine. This had four cylinders (3½
in. by 5 in.) which gave it the high tractive effort at 80 per cent. boiler
pressure of 1050. lb. Other dimensions were: length, 19 ft.; width, 24 in.;
heght, 2,6 in. One of Burgoyne's locomotives, a small 4-4-2 tank, was probably
the first locomotive in Europe to have the Southern radial valve gear.
The passenger stock was modelled on old type South African Railways main
line stock. Each coach was 14 ft. long by 24 in. wide and seated six children
or twelve small children. They were seldom used for adults as the roof was
too low for them to ride in comfort. Other rolling stock included steel hopper
wagons carrying ½ ton, and a number of steel vans, all of bogie type.
Burgoyne unfortunately died in 1943, and the line and rolling stock have
been disposed of.
Hitherto these notes have been confined to miniature railways in these islands,
but the Geneva Railway (15 in. gauge) has been put in here as an exception,
because firstly it was laid and equipped by a British firm, Bassett-Lowke,
Ltd., and, secondly, it has very seldom been mentioned.
The line was built for the Exhibition which was held at Geneva in 1913, and
was laid in the Parc des Eaux Vives. The total length was slightly over half
a mile. In order to achieve this, a good deal of ingenuity had to be exercised,
as the site on which the railway was laid was limited in extent. The layout
adopted is shown in the plan, from which it will be seen that a good effect
was achieved by masking parts of the line in a cutting and by utilising a
screen of trees. There was a tunnel which carried the line for 170 ft. under
a cart road and was about 18 ft. below the road. It was lined with pit-props
and the entrances were designed in ferro-concrete. Another feature was a
100 ft. bridge over the Lake. This was built on concrete piers, in five spans,
each of wooden construction, bolted into lattice girder form. In addi- tion,
there were three overbndges.
The station had two platforms, as shown, and a wooden booking office was
used. The signal box was, some distance away on the other side of the tunnel.
The locomotive and carriage shed was on the bank of the lake. The roof of
the shed covered the running line, thus providing a shelter, under which
the rolling stock could be stored.
The line was laid with 16 lb. per yard flat-bottomed rails on wooden sleepers.
The locomotives used were of Bassett Lowke's Class 30. The dimensions were:
cylinders, 41/8 in. by 6 in. driving wheels, 20 in. j leading
and trailing, 9½ in. boiler, 19 in. diameter 1301b. pressure (superheated)
length overall, 16 ft. 4 in. and weight in working order 2 tons 5 cwt. The
engines had double bogie tenders carrying 50 gallons of water. The passenger
stock was the maker's standard teak bodied four-wheeled type on oak frames
and was fitted with vacuum brake.
The Belle Vue Miniature Railway (15 in. gauge) is
probably one of the best known in the North of England, since it is situated
in the well-known Zoological Gardens and Park at Belle Vue; Manchester, the
grounds and buildings of which house from time to time so many. events ranging
from boxing tournaments to band contests.
The grounds were first opened in 1836 and the railway is thus a comparatively
recent addition to· the attractions. The line was completed in March,
1927, and was opened at Easter of that year. The total length is 505 yards.
The track is composed of flat-bottomed rails weighing 16 lb. per yard, spiked
direct to wooden sleepers.
The accompanying plan, shows a double track station leaving wliich the track
becomes single and forms an elongated loop for the remainder of the distance,
the meeting- point being a few yards out of the station'. The sharpest curve
on the line is 105 ft. 0 in. radius. There is one tunnel, added to give variety
to the journey. A shed is provided for the rolling stock at the beignning
of the main curve.
The station is built in the formof a bay with a shelter on one side containing
seats. A traverser is provided for running the locomotive round its train,
and the operating. gear is placed at one end of the shelter.
As a correspondent mentioned in a letter to
Looomotive Mag. , 1944, 50 80, the line has had three locomotives: King George V (4-4-2), Railway
Queen (4-4-2) and No. 3 (4-4-2).
The passenger rolling stock consists of five open cars an articulated train
of four covered coaches and' one bogie covered coach.
The open cars are carried on two four-wheeled bogies spaced at' 7 ft. 4 in.
centre to centre. The bogie wheels are l0¼ in. in diameter and are spaced
at 1 ft. 6 in. centres. The bodies are 2 ft. 11½ in. wide and 13 ft.
8½ in. long overall, the height to the top of the seats being 4 ft.
0 in. Each car seats 15 passengers. The seats have reversible backs so that
passengers can face in the direction the train is going. The articulated
set consists of four cars carried on five bogies. The internal bogies have
8t in. diameter wheels spaced at 2 ft. 8i in. centres, while the two end
bogies are slightly smaller and have the axles spaced at only 1 ft. lit in.
centres. Each coach is divided into two compartments, but the two end cars
are slightly longer and have open observation platforms in addition. The
main dimensions are as following:
Inner Cars. | Outer Cars | |
Length | 9ft. 11½in. | 12ft. 3½in. |
Width | 3ft. 0¾in | 3ft. 0¾iin. |
Height | 4ft. 10in | 4ft. 10in |
The remaining coach is very much larger. It is carried on two four-wheeled
bogies with 10 in. diameter wheels spaced at 2 ft. 0 in. centres, the distance
from centre to centre of the bogies being 14 ft. 0 in. The body is divided
into four compartments and the main dimensions are: length (over.tbuffers)
18 ft. 5 in.; width, 3 ft. 3¾ in.; height, 4 ft. 8½in.
When the line is in operation the engine is run round the train after each
trip by means of the traverser and the second line in the station, and thus
runs funnel first and tender first on alternate Journeys.
The writer wishes to thank all those who have supplied material for these
notes, and in particular the following:
G.J. Humbert, of Trentham Gardens, Ltd., for details of the'Trentham Miniature
Railway. W.J. Bassett-Lowke, for details of the Geneva Railway and other
useful information. Wm. Ray, of Belle Vue (Manchester) Ltd., for details
of the Belle Vue Miniature Railway.
L.N.E.R 72
The North British Locomotive Co. Ltd. delivered the first of an order
for 4-6-0s [KPJ corrected] of the Springbok class. It was No. 1040 Roedeer
and was working on tbe Great Eastern section. Four Class B2 4-6-0
rebuilds were running: Nos. 2871 (now 1671), 2816, 2839 and 2815.
G.W.R. 72
Four further 4-6-0 engines Nos. 1015 to 1018 and two 0-6-0PT engines
Nos. 9640 and 9641 had been completed at Swindon. The following had been
withdrawn: No. 819 0-6-0T (Cambrian No. 24), Nos. 2103 and 2729; No. 2983
Redgauiulet 4-6-0.
To services rendered . 72-3
The salaries offered to mechanical engineers by railways have never
been high except In the cases of a few senior officers, and here, also, when
due consideration 1S given to the num- bers of staff controlled by them and
to the nature and extent of their responsibilities in other direc- tions,
comparison with similar positions held in other industries is far from favourable
as regards remuneration. It has always been accepted that railway employment
is "safe," and this does not infer that many so employed are not of an
adventurous nature. It is also undeniable that the life it ofters exercises
a particular and very potent fascination. In the past it has attracted to
its professional ranks many men with private incomes.' They belong, however,
to a category which is doomed by current economic conditions to 'certain
and rapid extinction. Further recruitment from this source is consequently
stopped; In their time many of them have given good service to the railways,
efficient because it was not affected by personal financial worries, and
have enjoyed acareer of great worth in that it was congenial.
If an engineer goes overseas he commands up to roughly three times the salary
for a given appoint- ment and, if he remains single, this represents a
considerable but not proportionate' gain. But if he marries (a common and
not unnatural fate) climatic and educational factors frequently demand that
his wife and family be sent home sooner or later. He then finds himself in
the posi- tion of having to maintain two establishments, with the ultimate
result that he has no more half- crowns to jingle in his pockets at the end
of the month than his confrere who has stayed at home and, further, his health
may be impaired by an inclement climate.
At home, increases in basic salaries do not keep step either with increases
in the cost of living (and there are disparities between those actually obtain-
ing and as officially calculated) or of railway wage rates. In consequence
it is by no means uncommon to find that the salary of a senior supervisor
is lower than the actual average earnings of many of the junior grades he
controls; the position is worsened if allowances be made for such factors
as the provision of free uniform clothing. This state of affairs introduces
a principle which, in -rnany other organisations, is regarded as so highly
undesirable that it is not allowed to persist. Quite apart from any sense
of grievance it may engender in the supervisors concerned, it is certainly
not conducive to good discipline when this fact is known, as it almost invariably
is, to the subordinate grades.
Direct comparison of the salary levels for traffic supervisors and for those
who have been mechanically trained and are engaged in the operation of
locomotives sometimes reveals ano- malies. In some cases the traffic man,
whose period of training has been much shorter, cornmands a higher salary
although he may control fewer and usually less skilled personnel and, in
any event, is not responsible for the maintenance of locomotives and plant
having a capital value of, perhaps, some hundreds of thousands of pounds.
There are two explanations for this state of affairs. The first is purely
historical, and any justification there may have been for it in the long
ago has been cancelled by the vast changes in conditions which have occurred
since. It dates back to the days when technical functions were rela- tively
very limited in extent and the Superintendent of the Line a very great god
wearing a top hat of the finest beaver. The second is a convention, equally
hard to justify now, but beloved of a certain type of traditionalist, that
salaries in the spending departments of a railway must always be less than
in those which earn revenue. The fatuity of these premises is recognised
on those railways which have adopted the divisional system and decreed that
the superintendents may be recruited from both the operating and the motive
power functions. Here it is necessary to add, but not in any carping spirit,
that although it is possible to convert a locoman into a traffic man, the
reverse does not hold good; at the same time, there is certainly no case
for reducing existing traffic salary levels.
Much has been said of the advantages to the staff of pension schemes and
free or cheap rail travel, but they do not bridge the gap in salary levels.
Pension schemes are by no means confined to railways, and the actual extent
of savings on travelling costs have frequently been over-estimated.
The engineering institutions have always adopted a sympathetic attitude towards
the subject of adequate remuneration for their members, and not only for
reasons of professional prestige, but it would be an extremely difficult
matter for them to take action on general lines owing, amongst other things,
to the many different varieties of specialisation embraced by their membership.
It is, however, indicated that the anomalies on the railways should be removed.
The necessary for ever greater efficiency and the committal, at home at least,
to a policy of rapidly increasing mechanisation emphasises the need for engineers
of the best type, not only highly qualified technically, but also leaders
of men with training and ability in organisation and administration of a
high order, the application of which need not be limited to their own specialised
sphere. To attract men of this calibre to what is essentially a fine career
is a question not only of the labourer being worthy of his hire, but equally
of the hire being worthy of the labourer.
To services rendered. 72-3
Remuneration for railway mechanical engineers: salaries, pensions
and fringe benefits, like free travel, See also letter
from Norman Duncan on page 112
L.N.E.R. appointments. 73.
E. H. Baker, & District Locomotive Superintendent, Peterborough
moved to District Locomotive Superintendent, Gorton where responsible for
484 locomotives and B. Adkinson formerly at Gorton moved to Doncaster
David L. Smith. The Girvan and Portpatrick Junction Railway. 73-6.
illustration. table
Further considering the question of working the line, the directors
seem to have inclined favourably to the G. & S.W., especially as that
company had now reduced its terms to 50 per cent. of receipts. With Scots
caution, however, they decided, before closing, to approach the Caledonian
Railway, which from 1864 had operated the Portpatrick Railway.
This was an unfortunate move. The Caledonian and G. & S.W. were on very
bad terms. The Caledonian, after consideration, declined the offer, and the
directors returned to the G. & S:W., to find that the terms had stiffened,
and that the G. & S.W. were now prepared to work the G. & P.J. at
nothing under cost price. Wheatley, convinced that the G. & P.J. would
now revert to his scheme, went ahead with the purchase of the four North
London engines, but to everyone's surprise the G. & P.J. continued
negotiations with the G. & S.W.
The C.R. now became alarmed. They had probably thought that by declining
to work the G. & P.J., they were aiding Wheatley, whose cause they favoured;
now it appeared that they had only exposed their citadel of Stranraer to
an invasion by their enemies, the G. & S.W. So began a grim campaign
of opposition to the entry of the G. & P.J., a campaign which dragged
on into 1877 and to which the Board of Trade unwittingly lent their aid by
their decree that an additional running line and platform be provided at
both Dunragit and Stranraer (Town) Stations for the accommodation of the
additional G. & P.J. traffic. Matters became so difficult that early
in 1877 it was seriously pro- posed that the G. & P.J. make its own line
as far as Dunragit Station, and there hand over its traf- fic to the Portpatrick
company, in fact for a time it seemed possible that the G. & P.J. might
have to make an independent line right through to Stranraer. But wiser counsels
prevailed, and early in the summer construction of the additional accommodation
on the Portpatrick section began. In May, 1877, another Bill was passed through
Parliament, the principal clause giving the G. & P.J. powers to borrow
another £100,000.
All this time, Wheatley waited hopefully with his four North London engines.
He had them fitted, presumably at Bow Works, with the extremely attenuated
cab favoured by him on the N.B., the bunkers appear to have been enlarged
and the engines repainted in black with boiler-bands picked out in red, a
livery just adopted by the N.L. for their duplicate stock and in which they
were probably the first engines to appear. But Wheatley's hopes were vain,
for on July 24 an agreement was signed whereby the G. & S.W. undertook
to staff, maintain and work the G. & P.J.
On 24 July 1877 Col. Hutchison inspected the line and the line opened officially
on 1 October 1877....
Change of engine was necessary at the shore end of Stranraer Pier, this being
presumably included in these schedules. The pier was then of wood, and nothing
heavier could be allowed upon it than a four-wheeled tank engme.
No local manager was apparently appointed for the G. & P.J., but the
secretarial duties were carried out by W. Graham, at first with an office
at Stranraer, but later from a Glasgow office. Then, in accordance with a
clause of the 1872 Act, three directors from the G. & P. J. and three
from the Portpatrick Railway were formed into a Committee, the Portpatrick
and Girvan Joint Committee, to look after the working on the section of line
from Challoch Junction to Stranraer jointly owned by the two companies and
thereafter known as "The Stranraer Section." Robert Beattie, previously
stationmaster at Motherwell, was appointed Secretary and Manager to this
Committee. Through various vicissitudes of its two components the P. &
G. Joint Committee continued to function until its abolition on January 1,
1895, and tickets printed in its name were issued up to the time of the grouping
of 1923 and probably later. .
The disposal of the engines used in the construction has some points of interest.
An auction sale of contractor's material was advertised for January 17-18,
1878, and two locomotives are listed. Hired engines being excluded; these
would be Sambo and Duchess. Boulton evidently got
Duchess, while it seems probable that Sambo was obtained by
J. H. Riddell & Co., of Glasgow, dealers in engineering material. But
very strangely, on March 8, 1878, there appears in The Engineer" an
announcement that Riddell & Co. have for a sale a "tank locomotive engine
called the Duchess, by Manning, Wardle & Co., 12 inch cylinder,
6-coupled," for the sum of £400. This 68-year-old conundrum is indeed
hard to solve, but the writer would offer the opinion that when Riddell &
Co. obtained Sambo, they also obtained Duchess's ornamental
name-plates, which were placed on Sambo, or some other Manning, Wardle
purchase. Duchess's cab, being of local material, was probably removed
also, hence her appearance in Fig. 84 of Chronicles of Boulton's Siding
(from a photograph taken at New Cross) nameless and cabless. There was a
story on the G. & P.J. that Sambo went to colliery owners, and
that Duchess went to "a small private line in Yorkshire." This may
have been her ultimate disposal, but she had evidently been in the London
area first. Amy and Black Knight went back to Boulton, Amy
being sold by him in January, 1878. Wheatley removed Lochinvar, and
one account says that she went to a purchaser in Kilmarnock, who fitted her
with six-coupled wheels about 3 ft. 9 in. diameter.
Another story says that "N.B. No. 20" worked at a Fife coal-pit. The stories
may be complementary. Bradb y , however, remained after the opening. Some
parts of the line, notably a slipping bank above; New Luce, were giving trouble,
and apparently the contractor agreed to retain the engine until matters had
been put right. There was a ballast quarry at Milepost 30¼ north of
Challoch Junction (the excavation can still be seen) and in a siding there
Bradby and some wagons were stationed, and made ballasting journeys
up the line. Three of the ballast wagons had brake-man's cabin at one end
in Continental fashion, brake-blocks operating on one side of the wagon only.
Bradby remained till the summer of 1878, when she was removed by Wheatley,
and is believed to have gone, like Sambo and Lochinvar, to
colliery work. She reappeared on the Wigtownshire Railway in 1884. The Challoch
ballast quarry continued in use by G. & S.W. engines until about 1882-3,
when the siding was removed.
Two G. & S.W. tender engines of James Stirling's design were the first
to be stabled at Stranraer, a 2-4-0 believed to be No. 71, and a 0-4-2, No.
240. 71 worked the morning passenger train as far as Ayr, did a trip to
Kilmarnock, and returned with the 4.15 p.m. ex Glasgow. 240 worked a through
goods to Eglinton Street, Glasgow. The morning boat train to Stranraer was
run by Glasgow men, with similar 2-4-0s, and in 1877-8 these were returning
on the 8.20 p.m. (nick-named "The Paddy") from Stranraer Harbour, though
by 1879 the return trip was made on the 11.15 a.m. from Stranraer, continuing
from Girvan on the 3 p.m. to Glasgow. 2-4-0 No. 83 was on this job- in 1879,
and when she was laid up for six weeks' overhaul, her crew received as a
modest substitute a small 0-4-2, No. 188. The boat trains, however, were
very light. When "The Paddy" was in collision with a goods at Barassie on
November 18, 1878, the load was given as three small- coaches and van. Girvan
men had at least one passenger turn to Stranraer.
-Photograph by H. C. Casserley: G. & S.W.R. No. 637 (formerly No. 240)
Post-War locomotive design: Central Uruguay Railway. 76-8. illustration,
2 diagrams. (side and front elevations & plan)
Includes detailed drawings
L.M.S.R. 79
The following new engines had been put into service: 4-6-0 Class 5,
Nos. 4931, 4967 and 4968 (built at 'Crewe); Nos. 4953 to 4955 (built at Horwich);
2-6-4T class 4P, Nos. 2223 and 2234 (built at Derby).
The following locomotives had been withdrawn: 4-4-0 Class 3P, No. 760 (Midland
Rly.); 0-4-4 Class 2PT, Nos. 15120, 15163, 15205 {Caledonian Rly.); 0-4-4
Class 1PT, Nos. 1294, 1395 (Midland Rly.); 0-6-0 Class 3F, Nos. 3768 (Midland
Railway), 12187, 12206, 12295, 12367, 12424, 12550 (L. & Y .R.), 17248
(Caledonian Rly.); 0-6-0 Class 2F, Nos. 3139, 3649 (Midland Rly.), 28209,
28347, 28410, 28533 (L. & N.W.R.); 0-6-2 Class 2FT, Nos. 7763, 7827,
27605, 27609 (L. & N.W.R.); 0-6-0 Class 1FT, No. 1864 (Midland Rly.);
0-4-0 Class 0FT; No. 16009 (Caledonian Rly.).
Altered Motive Power Classification. 0-8-0 Class 6F, Nos. 9189 and 9202 to
Class 7F.
L.N.E.R. 79
Facilities for coaling, turning and servicing engines at Dunfermline
Upper Locomotive Depot were being improved. New equipment included a mechanical
coaling plant of 250 tons hopper capacity and a 70ft. articulated turntable
capable of dealing with modern locomotives. In addition to an improved track
layout, an existing building will accommodate workshops and stores, whilst
staff amenities will be improved by the erection of a new building. During
1946 579 miles of L.N E.R. lines were to be completely or partially renewed.
Over 300 passenger stations. goods depots and other buildings were to be
repainted. Roofing glass removed soon after the outbreak of war is to go
back, and work is in progress at King's Cross and Edinburgh (Waverley).
A plan to improve Newcastle Central Station included the conversion of four
of the bay platforms to two through platforms, the provision of an additional
platform and of a passenger subway to replace the existing footbridge .and
the replacement of the signalling by a modern installation.
The existing electro-pneumatic signalling installed in 1906, to be replaced
by modern colour light signals controlled from one signal box in the Central
station, this enabling the present Newcastle Nos. 1, 2 and 3 and Manors Junction
boxes to be closed.
G.W.R. 79.
St. Mellons, near Cardiff, one of the secret "inland" ports which
during the war handled hundreds of thousands of tons of traffic passing between
the South Wales ports and the rest of the country, had closed down. Vast
tonnages of miscellaneous cargoes, representing all that goes to feed a nation,
as well as to arm, equip .and maintain its fighting services, had commenced
to pour into the ports of Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Barry and Port Talbot,
with the result that in 1941 a commencement was made upon the construction
of the "Inland Port Sorting Depot" at St. Mellons. Four large transit sheds
were constructed and extensive rail and road accommodation installed, the
Depot extending over all to 85 acres. In the early part of 1942 the Depot
was put into operation.
Correspondence. 79
Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Joint Rly. H.F. Hilton
I have a list of engines belonging to this railway about the year
1847, but it makes no mention of the builders. Perhaps some of your readers
can add this information and complete the record. All were 2-2-2 and all
had 5ft. 6in. driving wheels other than No. 9 (5ft.)
1 Wirral with 13 x 18in cylinders
2 Zillah with 12 x 18in cylinders
3 Touchstone with 12 x 18in cylinders
4 Commodore with 13 x 18in cylinders
5 Hirondelle with 12 x 18in cylinders
6 Lupus with 13 x 18in cylinders
7 Druid with 13¾ x 22in cylinders
8 Monk with 13½ x 22in cylinders
9 Victoria with 13 x 18in cylinders
St. Helens Railway Locomotives. C. Williams.
In the February issue of " The Locomotive," E. K. Kirby suggests that
Baxter is wrong in assuming that the old U. & B. 2-2-2 Sharp locomotive,
L.N.W. No. 419, was taken over by the St. Helens Railway, and adds that this
engine was renumbered 1174 in 2/65, and later 181A (? 1814) . As a matter
of fact these particulars refer to another engine bearing L.N.W. No. 419,
which replaced the one mentioned by Baxter. It came from the Birkenhead Railway,
and was a 0-4-2 built by Stephenson. According to official inforrnation ,
this- engine was renumbered 1814 in 1872 and scrapped in 9/79.
The evidence so far submitted has not, in my opinion, proved the case that
U. & B. No. 419 was purchased by the St. Helens Company. Data in my
possession shows that when replaced by the Birkenhead engine in 1860, it
became No. 419A. Later, in 4/62, following the abolition of the letter" A
" for duplicates, it was allotted No. 1125 in the new duplicate list. This
number the engine retained until early in 1863, when it was taken from stock,
and, as far as is known, was then broken up.
A former correspondent, Abbott, has wrongly stated that St. Helens No. 28
was broken up in 1868; this was given correctly as 1864 by Marshall , Of
the other St. Helens engines, No. 4 and 23 had 4ft. 6in. wheels and were
0-6-0T type. No. 10 was scrapped in 4/64 (not September) and No. 13 on 17/1/65.
The L. N . W . R. official stock totals as at 31 /8/64 i nclude 24 St. Helens
engines, four having then apparently been disposed of. These were Nos. 3,
8, 10 and one other, probably No. 2.
Compound locomotives. Henry W. Davis.
80
There is a misprint in line 17 of my letter on page 32 of your February
issue. I stated: "it will be found necessary on a six-coupled engine to offset
the axes of the connecting rods from the axes of the piston rods (on the
L.M:S. Pacifies the centre line of the coupling rods is l07/8
in. from the frame) ... " If you will refer to my letter as published you
will see that in line 17 "coupling rods" has been inserted in place of
"connecting rods." The reference to "coupling rods" in that part in parentheses
in the next line is correct. I shall be obliged if you will have the error
corrected.
C. M. Keiller. 80
I am afraid Henry W. Davis is quite incorrect in asserting that my
suggested arrangement would necessitate the outside connecting" rods being
offset from the piston line. I think he must have overlooked the fact that
in my arrangement the inside cylinders are at 1ft. 5in. centres instead of
1ft. 9in. as on the L.M.S. design thus allowing the wheel boss to be moved
2in , towards the centre line of the loco. without altering any bearing or
wheel seat length, and as the outside cylinders are also the same distance
nearer together, 6ft. 8in. instead of 7ft. 0in., the piston line would
automatically come into line with the new position of the outside crank pins
and of course no offsetting would be needed. The essential thing is that
there is the same distance between the inside and outside. cylinders on each
'side as on the L.M.S. design, the only difference being that the driving
wheel centres would be flat instead of dished and the centre portion of the
crank axle shorter.
As regards power output., the cylinder volume is certainly less than that
of the L.M.S.7 P class but if the Chapelon efficiency were realised, and
this is the chief reason for the compound cylinders, then the I.H.P. should
be around 3500 which is quite as much as the above class have so far produced.
I do not think it can be contended that the balance should give trouble,
after all there have been quite a lot of two cylinder locos on express service
with 22in. by 28in. outside cylinders and in this case the outside reciprocating
weight would be at least 75% balanced by the inside motion.
L.M.S. signalling demonstration. 80
At a public exhibition of modern signalling and communications equipment
held in the Shareholders' Meeting Room, Euston. Alfred Barnes, Minister of
Transport, performed the opening ceremony.
The layout of the demonstration was supervised by
W. Wood, signal and telegraph engineer,
(retired at that time?) in conjunction with W. K. Wallace, Chief Civil Engineer
and Jos. O'Neill publicity officer.
Railway history. 80
Two well-known collectors, Messrs. J. Phillimore and C. F. Dendy Marshall,
both assembled important collections, consisting mainly of pictures, documents
and medals relating to railways. Since their death, however, these collections
have been dispersed, and the Science Museum and Science Library have been
able to acquire many interesting items which, together with examples previously
in the National Collections form a most valuable reference collection.
G.W.R. 80
Two new 3,000-ton cross-Channel passenger and cargo ships were being
built to replace the S.S. St. Patrick and the S.S. St. Andrew
lost during the war and are expected to be in service in about 15 months'
time. The Cornish Riviera non-stop between Paddington and Plymouth
and the Torbay expresses have been reinstated, also several additional
main-line and local trains have appeared in the summer-time tables issued
this month.
Reviews. 80
The Paget locomotive. James Clayton. The
Railway Gazette.
Hitherto very little has been known of this exceptionally interesting
departure from orthodox locomotive design. This reprint from The Railway
Gazette, to which has been added an article from the Stephenson Locomotive
Society's Journal, is profusely illustrated and contains much information
previously kept behind a veil of secrecy. The engine concerned was certainly
one of the most outstanding experi- mental locomotives ever built and this
account of its design, construction and performance is a welcome—if
belated—addition to locomotive literature.
Unsere lokomotiven: Zurich: Orell Fussli Verlag
The increasing interest 'in railway matters by the general public
is not confined to Great Britain and the U.S.A. for the Swiss authorities
have published the first of a series of booklets dealing in semi-technical
manner with their locomotives. It is written in the German language and well
illustrated.
The duplicate locomotives of the L.S.W.R. Published by Railway Hobbies
Ltd.
A booklet of nineteen interesting photographs by Casserley together
with the numbers of the duplicate stock of the old South Western line taken
over at the grouping; building and withdrawal dates are given; there is no
reading matter.
Tube Investments Limited. 80
Production started on a contract for 5,000 tons of locomotive boiler
tubes placed by the French Government in connection with the rehabilitation
of the French State Railways. Production is being undertaken at Birmingham,
Walsall and Jarrow.
Number 646 (15 June 1946)
L.M.S. locomotive improvements. 81.
2,000th loco. built at Doncaster. 82. illustration
Thompson Pacific No. 500
Recent developments in L.M.S. locomotive practice. 82-5. 3 illustrations,
2 diagrams.
Rocking grates and self-cleaning smokeboxes
Arthur L. Stead. French rail re-equipment. 85-7. 2 illustrations
Arthur G. Wells. The paper railway. 87-90. 7 illustrations
2ft 6in gauge railway owned by Edward Lloyd Ltd (better kown by later
name of Bowater's) at Sittingbourne on the Swale.
Southern Railway. 90. illustration
Lighting installation over the Golden Arrow continental platform
at Victoria Station using ninety-six Osram fluorescent tubes giving an
intermediate white quality of light (i.e., midway between the "daylight"
and "warm white" colours) are arranged in two lines each covering 250 feet
of platform. They are spaced 8 feet apart and mounted under a canopy I4 feet
high. One line of tubes is positioned near the edge of the platform to provide
adequate lighting for passengers getting in or out of trains, while the other
line gives general illumination on the platform and lights the benches used
by the customs offices.
This system gives even illumination, with minimum shadow, over the whole
of the platform and is proving a great help to the railway staff. The scheme
was prepared by the Illuminating Engineering Department of The General Electric
Co. Ltd., to the requirements of A. Cunnington, Southern Railway Lighting
Engineer. Photograph of Bulleid Pacific with Golden Arrow insignia
with lighting.
L.M.S.R. 90
The formation of new Motive Power Districts for Bletchley and Blackpool
is a feature of a partial reorganisation of Motive Power Districts. Bletchley
District, formed of Bletchley (2B). Oxford (2B), Newport Pagnell (2B), Cambridge
(2B), Aylesbury (2B), and Northampton (2C). Until this reorganisation,
Northampton came within the Rugby District. Rugby District, comprising Rugby
(2A), Market Harborough (2A), Seaton (2A), Nuneaton (2D), Warwick (2E), and
Coventry (2F). Blackpool District, formed by depots transferred from the
Accrington District, namely, Blackpool Central and Blackpool North (24E),
and Fleetwood (24F). Accrington District. formed by Accrington (24A), Rose
Grove (24B), Lostock Hall (24C) , and Lower Darwen (24D) . Bank Hall District,
consisting of Bank Hall (23A)', Aintree (23B), Southport (23C) and Wigan
Central (23D).
L.N.E.R. B1 class 4-6-0 No. 1040 "Roedeer", built by the North British Locomotive Co. Ltd. 90. illustration
The first 8-coupled locomotive in Europe. 91-3. 3 diagrams (side
elevations)
John Haswell 0-8-0 designed for Semmering trials. Vindobona.
It was fitted with counter pressure braking.
L.M.S.R. Advertising and Publicity Department. 93
Why? The L.M.S Answers your Questions: pamphlet
explaining why services were neither fast nor punctual.
L.M.S.R. appointments. 93
J.E. Wood appointed District Locomotive Superintendent Leeds in place
of A.W.F. Rogerson who had retired; N.R. Peach appointed District Locomotive
Superintendent Kentish Town; D.D. Scott appointed District Locomotive
Superintendent Plaistow, and A. Jeffrey appointed Assistant District Locomotive
Superintendent Carlisle (Kingmoor).
David L. Smith. The Girvan and Portpatrick Junction Railway.
93-6. 2 diagrams (side elevations)
Continued page 120. The report to
the shareholders' meeting on 30 April 1878, therefore, could express satisfaction
with the rolling-stock provided, and with the traffic returns, which during
the year increased from 1s. 10¾d. to 2s. 2½d. per train mile. But
with the charges for working it was far otherwise. These were simply enormous,
amounting to over 90 per cent. of the gross receipts. To go on under these
conditions was ruinous. Again the possibility of working the line with stock
of their own was canvassed, and again it was discarded. But no time was lost
in drafting a new agreement with the G. & S.W. This was signed on 18
March 1879, for one year from 31 January previous, and amended the working
charges to the following figures: For all services, 10d. per train mile;
for all goods and mineral trains, 1s. per train mile; mixed trains, 11d.
This promised to be more reasonable, but it seemed as if relief was coming
too late. Difficulties were accumulating thick and fast. Mr. Miller, original
engineer of the G. & P.J., was claiming a large sum due to him for his
services; Lloyd's Bank and other creditors were clamouring, while over all
loomed the shadow of that huge debt owiog to the Portpatrick Railway for
interest on cost of the Stranraer section. So on 3 July 1879, on petition
of the creditors, the Court of Session appointed Mr. James Haldane, C.A.,
Edinburgh, as judicial factor, to manage the undertaking of the G. and P.
J. in lieu of the directors.
Mr. Haldane's task was not enviable. The working agreement of 1879 had produced
no improvement. There was, it is true, a saving of £1,075 in locomotive
expenses during the half-year to 31 January 1880, but this had been more
than offset by the G. & S. W. spending £1,606 more in maintenance.
On 11 June 1880, Sir Thomas Bouch issued his award on the question of the
sum due to the Portpatrick Railway under the Act of 1872, assessing that
sum at £47,017 7s. 9d. The payment of this simply had to be tackled.
The biggest drain on the company's resources was obviously the working agreement
with the G. & S.W., and Mr. Haldane gave notice to terminate this at
31 January 1881. His action was at once questioned by the shareholders,
and Mr. Haldane had to fight an action in a court of law in order to establish
his authority to manage the affairs of, the G. & P.J. A later action
between the judicial factor and the shareholders gave to the former the power
to sell the line. Meantime the working agreement had expired, but no better
arrangement having been made, the G. & S.W. continued working the line
on the same terms on a month-to-month basis. The G. & S.W. wished to
renew the agreement for a period of six years, but Mr. Haldane would not
agree,and the directors, with whom the G. & S.W. subsequently negotiated,
had no powers of management. So matters dragged on throughout 1881, and at
last, on January 6, 1882, a meeting was -called at which the shareholders
were asked to give their support to one of three Bills which it was proposed
to present to Parliament. These were:
(1) A Bill, promoted by the judicial factor, to sell the line.
(2) A Bill, promoted by the shareholders, to raise £50,000 in order
to pay the Portpatrick Company's claim, and to provide plant and rolling-stock.
(3) A Bill to incorporate a new company.
At a further meeting on 24 January it was :resolved to give support to (2)
This promised at last to overcome the difficulty with the Portpatrick Company,
but it was .only a promise. The Portpatrick people had had enough of promises.
They had waited ten years for their money, they would wait no longer. On
-February 1, 1882, they had an interdict served 'upon the G. & P.J.,
preventing them from using .the Portpatrick Railway after February 7. On
this date traffic upon the G. & P. J. came peremptorily to a stop.
It was a terribly heavy blow, and the G. & P.J. might well have abandoned
the struggle as hopeless. 'But these dour men of Galloway refused to be beaten.
Arrangements were hurriedly made, the 'G. & S.W. brought its Stranraer
passenger engine, Stirling 2-4-0 No. 59, back to New Luce, stabled it in
the goods shed there, and for the next eighteen months Driver Peter Carruth
and Fireman Torn Barry ran a passenger service twice a day each way between
New Luce and Girvan. This involved .running no fewer than 50 miles each day,
tender first, over these high moors, as cruel a job in a 'winter as men ever
tackled. These trains worked to and from the Old Station at Girvan, the New
Station being closed for a period. Additional sidings were laid in at New
Luce on each side of the line to the south of the station, and passengers
.and goods conveyed thence to Stranraer by the road over the hill to Castle
Kennedy, Goods trains were worked to New Luce by Girvan men with two Stirling
0-4-2s, 145 and 148 of the 1865 batch with Allan valve-motion, and farmers
living adjacent to the line between New Luce and Challoch could usually get
a wagon delivered to a convenient point in their section by private payment
of whisky to the train crew! Later this traffic was conducted officially
at level crossings.
But the G. & P.J. could not exist on its local traffic. At all costs
the line must be re-opened to Stranraer. The Bill promoted by the shareholders
was now submitted to Parliament in 1882, and when passed on 18 August of
that year, gave permission for the borrowing of £30,000,. to be applied
to the paying of the debt to the Portpatrick Railway and to the purchase
of rollingstock. Of this sum the G. & S.W. agreed to contribute
£20,000, on condition that the remainder be subscribed by land-owners
adjacent to the line. A clause also provided that, four years from the passing
of the Act, the holders of £40,000 worth of G. & P.]. debentures
might apply for the appointment of a judicial factor, who would have power
to close the line for six months and thereafter sell it for a fraction of
its cost as a monbund concern.
There was concluded, also, with the G. & S.W., a new working agreement
which gave promise of more reasonable conditions. Under it, the G. &
S.W. were to staff, work, manage and maintain the G. & P.J. as formerly,
collecting all tolls and charges and applying them as follows:
(1) Pay all rates and taxes.
(2) Pay each year, to the Portpatrick Company, £9,765 17s. 9d. in settlement
of claim.
(3) Retain for themselves, in payment of working, etc., a sum varying from
75 to 55 per cent. of the gross receipts, according to the amount of said
receipts, the remainder to go to the G. & P. J. for distribution to
shareholders.
The agreement was signed on 26 May 1883, to expire at 30 September 1885.
These new conditions were apparently satisfactory to the Portpatrick Railway,
the interdict was withdrawn, and the full Glasgow-Stranraer train service
recommenced on 1 August 1883. Mr. Beattie, Secretary and Manager of the
Portpatrick & Girvan Joint Committee, having obtained another post, these
duties were thereafter performed by the Stranraer stationmaster, Mr. Fred.
W. Hutchinson, in addition to his own. And now for a brief period fortune
smiled upon the little G. & P.J. The directors resumed control, and on
31 October 1884, were able to announce the payment to the holders of A debenture
stock a dividend of 1 per cent. It was very small, but it was the first in
the history of the line, and they were rather proud of it. But their satisfaction
was short-lived.
On 19 August 1885, the G. & S.W. gave notice that they would terminate
the working agreement in six months from that date, and intimated the withdrawal
of the £20,000 advanced under the Act of 1882, on the grounds that the
remaining £10,000 had not been subscribed. The Portpatrick &
Wigtownshire Joint Railway was then in process of constitution, and the G.
& S.W. was. about to establish itself at Stranraer, not as a timidly
sponsored guest, but as a working partner. In view of this, and of the
unfortunate clause concerning the selling of the line, the G. & P.J.
shrewdly suspected that the G. & S.W., having got them hemmed in, was
now manoeuvring towards a closing of the line and its purchase at a disastrously
low figure. The G. & P.J., therefore, took immediate counter-measures.
A Bill was drafted for presentation to Parliament. This provided for (1)
The acquiring of running powers over the G. & S.W. from Girvan to Ayr
and thence to Kilwinning and Kilmarnock. At these places contact could be
made with the Caledonian, who, if they saw a chance of thus running a Caledonian
Glasgow-Stranraer service, might be induced to work the G. & P.J. (2)
The acquiring of additional ground at Guvan G: & P.J. Station, on which
to erect a goods station, independent of the G. & S.W. (3) The borrowmg
of a sum not exceeding £25,.000 for the purpose of working the line.
(4) The repeal of the 1882 clause, the power of selling the line to be solely
m the hands of the directors.
It was resolved, also, to appoint for the first time a General Manager, and
early m 1886 approach was made to one whose name was destined to be associated
with this railway long after the other sturdy pioneers had been forgotten.
This was Mr. William Thomas Wheatley, who had succeeded his father in 1883
as lessee and manager of the Wigtownshire Railway. After the absorption of
that system by the Portpatrick & Wigtownshire Joint Railway, Mr. Wheatley
was glven the post of locomotive foreman at Stranraer, which post he now
relinquished to take the helm of the sorely-tried G. & P.J.
By this time it was becoming increasingly clear that the G. & S.W.' s
threat to discontinue the working was no idle one. The G. & P.J. inquired
the reason, and were informed that the line was unsafethe lining of
Pinmore tunnel and one of the piers of the Stinchar viaduct being cited as
particular examples. There was some truth m these assertions, but as no previous
complaint had been made on the subject, the present attitude was only that
of seeking an excuse. By the end of February the G. & S.W. refused to
continue further working, but on appeal from the G. & P.J., consented
to hire rolling-stock. This proved to be of the poorest description, and
a full service could not be maintained. Meanwhile, the G. & P.J. Bill
was being passed through Parliament, and in early April was being examined
by a select committee of the House of Lords. On April 13, 1886 it was passed
in all clauses except that referring to running powers. But the previous
day, after six troubled weeks of working, the train service had come to a
stop, and the G. & P. J. again closed. But this time there was bold,
independent action; no more treaties; no more compromise. At once the new
General Mariager embarked upon the formidable task of providing engines,
coaches, wagons and an entire staff. In a remarkably short time an order
was placed with Neilson & Co., Glasgow, for two 0-6-0 tender engines.
The design was partly due to Mr. Wheatley, but the use of existing patterns
was permitted in order to expedite delivery. At best, however, this could
not take place before late autumn and Mr. Wheatley would not be content with
that. So from some unknown hiding-place, believed to be in London, Mr. Wheatley
produced three 4-4-0 side-tank engines, none other than three of the four
that his father, Mr. Thomas Wheatley, had purchased from the North London
Railway in 1877.
What had happened to Thomas Wheatley's North London tanks during the years
1877 to 1886 is an almost complete mystery. The four engines had certainly
been replaced on the N. L., No. 34 in 1874 and Nos. 30, 31 and 32 in 1875,
and all had been placed at least nominally in the N.L. duplicate list, either
the "A" list of 1870-5 or the "101" list which succeeded it, and in which
Nos. 30, 31, 32 and 34 were allotted duplicate numbers 101, 102, 103 and
105.
The three which reached the G. & P. J. in 1886 bore Slaughter Gruning's
Nos. 439, 440 and 442, and were therefore the N. L. 31, 32 and 34. The G.
& P.J. renumbered them 1, 3 and 2 respectively. They seemed little changed
from 1877, being still in their black paint and red lining, with their very
high blast-pipes, and with condensmg gear either still fitted or but recently
removed. Presumably Mr. Wheatley hired them out. during the intervening nine
years, but of their domgs we have only the vaguest of rumours. There is a
story that a bogie tank engine worked at a colliery of Colin Dunlop, near
Glasgow during this penod. Now, apart from Mr. Drummond's new engines on
the N. B., the N. L.s could be the only bogie tanks then in Scotland. There
is a story, too, that a similar engine worked at Solway Colliery, Seascale,
Cumberland.
These were presumably the Wheatley engines, for the remaining four of the
eight Slaughter, Gruning engines are fully accounted for, No. 35 (then No.
106) being sold by the N.L. in 1880 to the Joint Committee of the Cowes &
Newport & Ryde Railways, Isle of Wight, while Nos. 33, 36 and 37 (104,
107 and 108) were sold to the Marquis of Bute Railway in 1880-2.
Of the history of No. 30 (later No. 101) we have some curiously disjointed
fragments. In Locomotive Mag. of September,
1943, page 134, it is stated that she was sold by Mr. Wheatley in 1877
to the Ebbw Vale Steel & Iron Co. Then in 1889 she appeared on the Golden
Valley Railway, and for a very short time worked passenger trains on the
newly-opened Dorstone-Hay extension. She was then in her livery of black
with red lining, and still carried her N.L. number-plate 101, together with
the plate of her owner, C. Chambers, contractor, London. Mr. Chambers had
constructed the Dorstone-Hay section, and then apparently undertook its working.
Then, for no less than twenty years, history is silent regarding 101, till
in the year 1909 Mr. A.C.W. Lowe, on a visit to the works of Messrs. Guest,
Keen & Nettlefold at Dowlais, was shown what he called the "ruins" of
a 4-4-0 tank engine,. still recognisable as a North London of the Slaughter
batch, and there is a recollection that a blank number in the Dowlais stock
was once fined by an engine from the Golden Valley Iine, . .
These ex-North London 4-4-0s were quite substantial engines. Inside cylinders
were 16½ in. by 22 in., coupled wheels 5 ft. 3 in., bogie wheels 3 ft.
0 in. Heating surface was made up of tubes,
888ft2.; firebox,
81ft2; total, 969
ft2. Grate area was
14ft2. and working pressure 120 psi. Tanks contained
850 gallons of water, and nearly two tons of coal could be squeezed irito
the bunker. Weight in working order is given as 37 tons: The engines were
not repainted on coming to the G. &, P.J., and bore their livery of North
London black with red lining to the end of their career. All these carried
the sandbox on top of the boiler, but soon after arrival on the G. &
P.J. No. 3 'had her sandbox violently rernovqd by collision with a clumsily-swung
coal- bucket, after which No. 3's sand was-contained in more lowly but more
British receptacles, A fourth engine was purchased from Boulton, but she
was very small, a 0-4-0 saddle-tank called Nantmawr, a little thing
with cylinders 10 in. by 15 in. and wheels 3 ft. 0 in. Nantmawr,
illustrated on page 164 of The Chronicles of Boulton's Siding, had
been built, probably about 1864; by Hughes & Co., of Loughborough, and
had belonged originally to the ill-fated Potteries, Shrewsbury & North
Wales Railway. Being found too small for useful work, she was sold in 1873
to Walker Brothers, engineers, Wigan, and by devious routes reached Boulton's
hands in 1877.
Eight third-class carriages, six composites and four luggage vans were purchased
second-hand, mostly, if not all, ex-North London stock, of their usual
four-wheeled type, equipped with the Clark & Webb chain-brake. Some
miscellaneous coaching vehicles and a quantity of ,goods rolling-stock were
also purchased, and a start was made with a train service on June 14, 1886.
lIllustrations: G. and P.J.R. No. 1 (Ex-N.L.R. No, 31),; : G. & P.J.R.
No. 4 Nantmawr.
Correspondence. 96
Geared locomotive, Russell's Timber Line, Gembrook, Victoria. James. C.M.
Rolland. illustration
Greater part of the Eastern half of state of Victoria is mountainous
and mostly covered with eucalyptus forests, which include some of the highest
trees in the world. The timber to be won from the trees is all what we call
"hardwood" as contrasted with pine and oregon for instance, but the most
varied use is made of it in anything from handsome figured and highly polished
office fittings to massive joists and piles. Licences to cut out various
areas are granted to saw millers and all through the forests there are, or
were, to be found little narrow gauge lines of very primitive and tortuous
and steeply graded type and early in the century there might have been reaped
quite a harvest of snapshots of small steam locos, horse haulage also doing
a part. As time went on internal combustion tractors of all sorts and manageable
by all sorts of staff took the place of the old steam engines and more recently
still heavy road and caterpillar haulers have largely put to flight even
the primitive lines. Besides many small tank engines of ordinary types and
mostly extremely second hand, a few strange special designs were to be found,
including "Shays" and a "Climax" or two imported from the States, but also
several very queer local productions.
One of these is the subject of the photograph. It was locally (in Melbourne)
designed by the Day Engineering Works, South Melbourne about 14 years ago
for Mr. Russell, sawmiller at Gembrook, which is the terminus of one of the
narrow gauge (2 ft. 6 in.) lines of the Victorian Railways. Though in the
picture escaping steam rather masks the cylinders, it will be seen that the
design was on the Heisler principle, with the two 8 in. cylinders set "V"
style one on each side of the boiler and both driving the one longitudinal
shaft, which in turn was extended to engage through gears the nearest axle.
The two sets of wheels, six in each bogie, are coupled in their own groups
and are 20½ in diam. :rhe boiler was designed for 145 lb. pressure and
the total weight when at work was 16½ tons. A notable feature both to
the eye and the ear was the big steam siren stretched longways ahead of the
dome and said to have come off a steamer. In its daily journeys it use4 to
run some twelve miles East in heavy forest and the big siren was a most striking
announcement of its approach or its returun. After some years it was replaced
by an internal combustion affair on railway wheels, chain driven. The gauge
was 3 ft. More recently still and perhaps only because of war difficulties,
the whole working was stopped and the engines stored away m a shed at Gembrook.
Number 647 (15 July 1946)
"Statesmen" class locomotives Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac R.R.
100. illustration
At end of March, 1945 the first of the new 4-8-4 Statesmen class
locomotives was put into service on the Capital Cities Route. Ten were
constructed in 1945 for the R.F. and P.R.R. Co. by the Baldwin Locomotive
Works, and the first engine, No. 613 John Marshall (illustrated) was
the 71, 992nd locomotive manufactured at the Baldwin Works. The ten locomotives
which have been named after notable Virginia statesmen have all been assigned
to regular passenger service between Richmond and Washington and are a worthy
addition to the five Genera" and twelve Governor class 4-8-4 locomotives
supplied by The Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1937 and 1938-42 respectively.
L.M.S.R. 100
The following new locomotives had been put into service: 4-6-0 Mixed
Traffic, Class 5, Nos. 4969, 4970, 4971, 4972, 4973 (built at Crewe); Nos.
4956, 4957, 4958 (built at Horwich ) ;2-6-4 Tank, Class 4, Nos. 2225, 2226,
2227, 2228 (built at Derby).
The following locomotives had been withdrawn: 0-6-2 Class 2PT, Nos. 6866,
6935 (L. and N.W.R.); 2-4-2 Class 2PT, No. 10878 (L. and Y.R.); 0-4-4 Class
2PT, No. 15128 (Caledonian); 2-4-2 Class 1PT, No. 6741. (L. and N.W.R.),
0-4-4 Class 1PT, Nos. 1277 and 1407 (MIdland); 4-6-0 Class 4F, No. 28786
(L. and N.W.R.); 0-6-0 Class 3F, No. 12332 (L. and ·Y.R.); 0-6-0 Class
2F, No. 12025 (L. and Y.R.), No. 28226 (L. and N.W.R.); 0-8-4 Class 7FT,
No. 7934 (L and N.W.R.); 0-6-0 Class 2FT, No. 11434 (L. and Y .R.); 0-6-0
Class 1FT, No. 1681 (Midland).
L.N.E.R. 100
A branch line specially to serve Butlin's holiday camp at Filey was
being constructed about halfway between Filey and Hunrnanby Sta.tions on
the Hull and Scarborough line. The new camp station. is to be provided with
four platform lines and sidings, engme pits and water columns.
G.W.R. 100
No. 1019 County of Merioneth was a recent addition to the new 4-6-0
1000 class. Four further 0-6-0 tank engines Nos 9642-9645 were in service.
The following engines had been withdrawn: 0-6-0T No. 1287, No. 1585 and No.
1624; 2-6-0 No. 2677 and 4-4-0 No. 3313 Jupiter.
James McEwan. Locomotives of the Caledonian
Railway.101-4. 2 illustrations, diagram (side elevation), table
Table lists building, rebuilding and withdrawal dates for Brittain
670 class 0-4-2s
L. Derens. The Dutch State Railways Co. 104-7. 3 illustrations, 3 diagrams (side elevations)
R. Opie. Locomotive power, performance and rating. 107-10.
P.C.D. The earliest loco. in Paraguay. 110. illustration
Institute of Transport. 110
2-8-2 locomotives for France. 111. illustration
The French Railways suffered very severely during the war in all ways,
by no means least in the locomotive department where more than 80 per cent.
of the stock was destroyed. Realising that the basic requirement of recovery
was trans. port the French Provisional Government arranged for the production
of these engines early in 11944, some 700 being ordered from America. The
design was based by the French on the 2-8-2 type, known as the 141 P, already
in extensive use, as this machine had displayed its ability to handle mixed
traffic at comparatively high speeds.
The contracts have been awarded to the American Locomotive Co., the Baldwin
Locomotive Works and the Lima Locomotive Co. and we are in- debted to the
last mentioned for their kindness in furnishing us with the reproduced photograph
and particulars of these useful engines. Although delivery only commenced
in November, 1945 it is anticipated that the whole 700 will be delivered
before the end of this year. These locomotives have been designated the
Liberation. Classan appellation calculated to lead to confusion with
the engines constructed for U.N.R.R.A and described in our May Issue; the
classification is 141R.
Correspondence. 111
The first locomotive in Natal. John Poole.
G.V. Bulkeleys letter in February Issue, throws an interesting light
on the early history of the Natal Rys. It has been accepted by many that
the only 4 ft. 8½ in. locomotive to work in Natal was the 4-4-0T, Kitson's
No. 2037 (1875), Cyls. 14 x 20 and 4 ft. 3in. coupled wheels. However, the
Point line was opened in 1866, and in Kitsons list, No. 1271 of 1865 is.
given as for Natal: 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge, Cyls. 12 x 18, and 4 ft. coupled
wheels, which would appear to tally with the illustration, which moreover
shows certain Kitson characteristics.
It would be of interest if Bulkeley could discover anything about a locomotive
said to have been built at Durban in the early days of the N.G.R. An old
four wheeled tender lying at Greytown in 1908 was said to have belonged to
this engine, about which little seemed to be known. See
letter from M.M. Loubser on page 194
St. Helens Railway locomotives. R. Abbott
The error which called forth the letter of Baxter in the December,
1945 and that of Kirby in the February, 1946 issues was that in my notes
on the St. Helens Railway locomotives, the Works No. of Trent
was given as Sharp, Roberts' 193 instead of 199. Trent was originally
one of four 0-4-2 locomotives built in 1842 for the Manchester and Birmingham
Railway and numbered 21-24 on that line. Of these Nos. 21-23 became Northern
Division Nos. 421-423 in 1857, when the North-Eastern Division of the L.
and N.W. was absorbed into the Northern. No. 423 was renumbered 423A in March,
1860 and was sold to the St. Helens Railway later in the same year, and became
their No. 2 Trent. On being again acquired by the L. and N.W. in July,
1864 it was allotted the number 1368 and sold during the same year to I.W.
Boulton of Ashton-under-Lyne.
The Dublin and South Eastern Railway and its locomotives. John Carr. 112
Re the concluding article and the statement that No. 20 (King
George) was not a success. As a retired driver of 46 years' footplate
experience, and who has worked this Engine over all the various sections
of the old D.S.E.R. with very heavy trains, I can confidently say that No.
20 was the most successful and economical loco. on coal and water that was
ever turned out of Grand Canal Street works.
Proof of this lies in the fact that George H. Wild, when Loco. Superintendent
ordered two identical engines from Beyer, Peacock and Co. in 1924, except
that they were fitted with Belpaire boilers, and these. two, with No. 20
(now 455 with reduced pressure) work daily the crowded express trams of seven
bogie coaches between Dublin and Greystones without any trouble and in spite
of the very inferior fuel. Thus No. 20 has been constantly running for 35
years and is still a splendid machine. Also, the author's statement was not
quite correct about the working pressure which was 160 lb., not 175.
Services rendered-traffic versus loco. Norman
Duncan
As a railwayman of 38 years' experience in the Goods Manager's and
Operating departments (formerly Goods Manager's Dept., Hull 1946. and Barnsley
Railway, Hull). I do not agree with the dictum that it is possible
to convert a Loco. man into a Traffic man, but not the reverse. I would very
much like to know of a single instance where a Loco man has emerged into
a successful traffic officer. It is not necessary really to argue about the
reverse for so far as a traffic man becoming a loco. man is concerned, the
beginning and end of that is the Loco. Dept. wouldn't have them at any price,
On the other hand, however, it is a fact that Loco. men have been appointed
to posts in the Traffic Departments under a new "Joint organisation" or
co-ordination of departments tried out on certain systems but the only result
I have seen is that the traffic office in question under a Loco. chief speedily
becomes "locomotivised" and after a bit you would have to go round with a
large magnifying glass to discover any traces of its former Traffic "glory".
The title of the office would be the same but the atmospherics entirely
different. I worked in such an office for two and a half years of late and
saw that transition take place, but it wasn't good for the traffic man.
Take the case of the larger railways of India. Before the introduction of
the Divisional system of organisation in that country after the 1914-18 war
it was a common enough thing for Engineers (but not Loco. men) to be appointed
Traffic Managers and Agents of the largest lines, it being generally laid
down in that country that a man with engineering experience was superior
to any other for the purose of filling any high executive post. That many
of these men did well is indisputable hut none the less for the occupancy
of such responsible posts as those which were formerlv known under the titles
of Chief Supt. of Transportation ard General Traffic Manager respectively
of the big broad gauge lines. the best remembered names to this day are those
of the men holding those posts for very often lengthy periods and who were
Traffic born and bred. They were big noises whose equal was not to be met
in any other depaitment and they know their jobs from A to Z. Now, to-day,
in this country we are grappling with tt. problem of co-ordinating Locomotive
Running Superintendents, Goods Managers and Passenger Managers into one
harmonious whole. But until the Traffic men get their rightful bite of the
apple and fill the responsible posts for which they have worked from their
earliest years of service, the scheme, admirable though it may be in theory,
will in practice fall short of ·expectations. Knowledge of rates and
fares, general railway classification, canvassing, development and train
and traffic control involves to my way of reasoning just as much skill as
that implied by the term "mechanical training".
It is true we are living in the present and not the past but your mention
of the Superintendent of the Line of by-gone days with his very special top
hat rather makes me wistfully wish once again for the days of the big bearded
giants who as Goods Managers and Superintendents ruled the roost in days
of yore and were allowed to manage their own departments to the best advantage,
,untrammelled by the interference of other departmental chiefs. . . Without
wishing to belittle the present style of executive railway officials, I would
like to ask where to-day are the
Scotters, the
Nicholls, the
C.T. Smith's, the
L.W. Horne's, the
Finlay Scott's and
F. H. Dent's of bygone days ..
Gone but not forgotten.
Reviews. 112
Building the Inner Circle Railway.The Railway Gazette
A series of pictures of very great interest (to Londoners in particular)
were published in the Railway Gazette during the latter part of last
year illustrating the construction of the Praed Street-Mansion House section
of the old Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Railways. These have. now
been reprinted in book form together with a few brief particulars of the
contracts, etc. The "cut-and-cover" method of construction is very clearly
shown and the brochure is well worth acquiring as a. memento of what was
then a novel system of construction.
The 2-8-0 and 2-10-0 locomotives of the War Department
1939-1945. Published by the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society;
Technical descriptions and illustrations of these engines have appeared
in our pages, but in this brochure we find chronicled a com- plete list of
numbers, builders, dates, where employed and present whereabouts of all the
tender engines built in this country for war service overseas during the
late war, together with all other known facts-a complete historical record
in fact; and one regrets that no similar record appears to have been made
of the engines similarly employed in the 1914-18 campaign. The only criticism
we have to offer is the use of the term A.F.V. which, together with a large
number of other combinations of initials, gained currency during the war
years and which are as Greek to the uninitiated.
The story of British Railways by Barrington Tatford, London; Sampson
Low,
The author presents a general survey of the British railway system,
but as the foreword states it is intended to be only a very rough sketch.
The illustrations are numerous. [Ottley 116: who mentioned 24 colour
plates]
Name plates of the Southern: by Frank Burridge. Published by Sydenham
and Co. Ltd.
A list of all the Southern named engines detailing the style of name
plate fitted to each together with dimensions. It is copiously
illustrated.
Superheater Co , Ltd. 112
Closed their temporary wartime offices at Altrincham, Cheshire, and
have moved to 53, Haymarket, London
Number 648 (15 August 1946)
The written word. 113.
Editorial criticism of standard of railway letter writing
L. Derens. Three-cylinder passenger locomotives, Netherlands Railways. 114-16. illustration, diagram (side elevation)
Supplied by Nydvist & Holm (ordered by Dutch Government in exile)
and similar to locomotives supplied to Berslagernas Railway
Swedish steam locomotives. 116
For the first time in twenty years new steam locomotives were being
built in Sweden for the Swedish State Railways, on which 86 per cent. of
the traffic is now hauled electrically. Nydqvist and Holm were building 10
large three-cylinder 4-8-0 engines, and the tenders were being built at Fahen
works. The weight in working order is given as 74 tons for the locomotive
and 116 tons for engine and tender; maximum axle load is 12.8 tons.
Argentine fuel. 116
According to the chairman of the Buenos Ayres Pacific Railway, that
company had been burning as locomotive fuel during the past four or five
years maize, linseed oil, sludge from oil refineries, and many other
combustibles; but the mainstay was firewood, some hundreds of thousands of
tons of which had been secured.
L.M.S.R 116
New locomotives in service were: 4-6-0 Mixed Traffic Class 5 (built
at Crewe) Nos 4974, 4975, 4976, 4977, 4978; (built at Horwich) Nos 4959,
4960, 4961, 4962; 2-6-4 Tank Class 4 (built at Derby) Nos 2229, 2230, 2231,
2232.
The following engines had been withdrawn: 4-6-0 Class 5P. No. 10446 (L. &
Y.R.); 4-6-2 Class 4PT. No. 15358 (Caledonian); 2-4-2 Class 2PT. No. 10881
(L. & Y.R.); 2-4-2 Class 1PT. No. 6755 (L. & N.W.R.); No. 12838 (L.
&Y.R.); 0-6-0 Class 3F. Nos. 12282, 12614 (L. & Y.R.); 0-6-0 Class
2 F. Nos. 28186, 28303 (L. & N.W.R.); No. 22979 (Midland); 0-8-2 Class
6 FT, No. 7891 (L. & N.W.R.); 0-6-2 Class 2 FT. No. 27624 (L. & N.W.R.);
0-6-0 Class 2 FT. No. 11448 (L. & Y.R.); 0-6-0 Class I FT. No. 1871
(Midland).
All locomotives were to be painted black, and with the exception of the Pacific,
Royal Scot, Patriot and Jubilee classes, would be unlined. These express
passenger classes will be painted black and lined-out in maroon and straw
colour. Carriage stock to be painted maroon instead of a shade often described
as Midland red, with straw coloured lining. Gill Sans lettering to become
standard.
L.N.E.R. 116
0-6-0 saddle tanks, built to the order of the Ministry of Supply and
not required for overseas, were being taken over by the company for shunting
in colliery sidings and similar duties.
Loco. modernisation on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. 117-19.
4 illustrations, diagram (side elevation)
History of the locomotives of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway published
in Locomotive Mag, Volumes 32-35 (beginning
April 1926 page 110). This article mainly describes the Class XA light
Pacific built by Vulcan Foundry in 1929: they had 16 x 26 in cylinders, 5ft
1½ coupled wheels, a total heating area of 1747ft2 including
348ft2 superheater. The grate area was 32ft2
. A Belpaire firebox was fitted. One photograph shows an XA Pacific being
unloaded at Bombay from the SS Belray. The larger XB Cllass Pacific
is illustrate, but was described in Locomotive
Mag, Vol. 33, p. 375 and 34, p. 240 The XD Class is also illustrated and was described in
Locomitive Mag., 1928, 34, 376
G.W.R. new engjne:s. 119
4-6-0 No. 5098 Clifford Castle; No. 5099 Compton Castle;
No. 7000 Viscount Portal; No. 7001 Denbigh Castle; 0-6-0 Nos.
9646 to 9648.
The following engines have been withdrawn: 2·6·0, No. 2639 and
No. 2673; 0-6·0 No. 876 (ex Cambrian); 0-4-2T No. 1163; 2-4-0T No. 1499;
0-4-0T No. 13.
Furness Railway. 119
At the time of its opening the Furness line was not connected with
any other railway system, and the first engines supplied to the line had
to be brought from Liverpool to Barrow by sea. These locomotives were built
by the firm of Bury, Curtis and Kennedy and were known as the Coppernobs;
one of them was exhibited as an historic relic at the Empire Exhibiton, Wembley,
in 1924, and after being bombed out of Barrow during WW2, was still preserved
at the L.M.S. Locomotive Works at Crewe, whence it would shortly be sent
to Horwich Locomotive Works pending its return to its original site at Barrow.
(See Locomotive Mag, Vol. V, The Locomotive History
of the Furness Railway).
David L. Smith. The Girvan and Portpatrick Junction
Railway. 120-2
Previous part began page 93. Neilson
supplied 0-6-0 WN 3584-5: they had 5ft 1½ coupled wheels, 17 x 26in
cylinders, total heating surface of 1065ft2, grate area 16.5ft2
and 150 psi boiler pressure. These received running numbers 4 and 5
and were painted dark green. No. 7 was an 0-4-0 tramway engine of the Wigan
type with vertical boiler with water tubes and 7 x 12in cylinders. It was
built by the Yorkshie Engine Co. Wheatley took it from Challoch Junction
to Girvan and back where it remained for nine years. The line was taken over
by the Ayrshire & Wigtownshire Railway which had been incorporated on
23 May 1887. The Chairman was James H. Renton and the Directors were Colonel
Barnett and Duncan McCallum. The Secretary was James Fulton Jackson who later
steered the North British Railway. Two locomotives orrdered by the oldrer
company were not delivered until after the take-over . They came from the
Clyde Locomotive Co. in its brief separate existence and were WN 12 and 13
of 1887 and became Nos. 6 and 7. It is noted that No. 1 was worked very hard
and relied upon the Clark & Webb chain brake.
Centenary of the Edinburgh-Berwick line, N.B.R.
122-3
An important event in the history of British Railways took place on
r Sth June, 1846, when the first section of line laid down by the North British
Railway was formally opened. This was the Edinburgh to Berwick line which
formed the first railway to run over the Border between Scotland and England
and by joining up two years later with the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway
the through- out East Coast route between Edinburgh and London was completed.
On that memorable day 100 years ago crowds of spectators lined the North
Bridge and the slopes of the Calton Hill, Edinburgh, to witness two trains,
made up in all of 38 carriages and 9 locomotives, depart from the station
which was situated on the east side of the North Bridge. These trains conveyed
700 guests to Berwick who, on the return journey, were entertained at Dunbar
on the lavish scale customary at that period. A few days later, on zznd June,
1846, the line was opened to public traffic. The Act incorporating the North
British Railway received the Royal Assent in July, 1844, and construction
commenced on 12 August of the same year. The work was entrusted to 12 contractors
each with a separate section to complete and the construction, which was
on boldly conceived lines, did not present the difficulties later to be
encountered in bridging the Rivers Forth and Tay. Nevertheless, the building
of the steep bank culmmatmg at Grantshouse Station, approximately 385 feet
above sea level, was not easily achieved.
The North British Station in Edinburgh in 1846 was an unpretentious affair
not to be compared with the present Waverley Station. It had only been open
for some six weeks when the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, whose management,
foreseeing the advantages to be gamed from .the building of the new railway,
had obtained powers sometime previously to construct an extension from. their
terminus at Haymarket to link up with the North British, brought the line
into use, thus enabling passengers to travel between Glasgow and Berwick
without changmg stations. From that time onwards the station was shared by
both companies and was designated the General Station. The following year
saw the advent of yet a third railway company, which opened Canal Street
Station adjoining the General Station. This was the Edinburgh, Leith and
Granton which wIth its system of drawing trains through the steep incline
of Scotland Street tunnel by means of statIonary engine and cable formed
an unusual feaure of travellmg in the capital for a number of years. A brief
span of time had elapsed and there were thus three railways occupymg one
site now contained within the boundaries of the Waverley Staion. By 1869
the growth of traffic necessitated the provision of improved facilities for
these these railways, the Edinburgh and Glasgow and Edinburgh, Leith and
Granton havmg by now been absorhed by the North Bnhsh.
The opening of the Forth Bridge and the expansion and popularity of railway
travellIng heralded the projection of plans for a new station to be built
upon this site, and thus evolved the Waverley, largely as it is today, at
a cost of £1.5 million. Until the building of Waterloo Station m London,.
Waverley enjoyed the distinction of being the largest station m the British
Isles. It is still the largest on the L.N.E.R.
From its inception the North British pursued a progressive .polIcy and, through
fluctuating fortunes, eventually became the largest railway in Scotland With
the two famous bridges over the Forth and Tay giving it further distinction.
The building of new lines and the absorption of other cornpanies gave the
North British access to Hawick and later to Carlisle and Silloth, whilst
it penetrated England at other points to Hexham, Rothbury and Morpeth. Stirling,
Perth and Dundee were reached in the north and, by running powers over the
Caledonian Railway, access was gained to Aberdeen. To the north west the
lines to Fort William, Fort Augustus and Mallaig were acquired and it may
be said, hat the North British had attained a solid position in the economic
life of Scotland.
L.N.E.R. 123.
Edward Thompson, Chief Mechanical Engineer, retired on 30 June, after
a career which has included service on the Midland, North Eastern, Great
Northern and London and North Eastern Railways. A.H. Peppercorn appointed
as his successor. Peppercorn started as a premium apprentice at Doncaster
in 1905, and after gaining experience in the running sheds at Colwick he
was appointed District Locomotive Superintendent at Ardsley and later at
Peterborough. After serving with the Royal Engineers in the 1914-1918 war,
he became District Locomotive Superintendent at Retford and subsequently
returned to Doncaster where in 1923 he became Carriage and Wagon Works Manager.
In 1933 he was appointed Assistant Mechanical Engineer at Stratford and in
1937 became Locomotive Running Superintendent of the L.N.E.R. Southern Area.
A year later he was promoted to Mechanical Engineer, North Eastern Area,
Darlington. Peppercorn returned to Doncaster again in 1941 as Assistant Chief
Mechanical Engineer.
L.M.S.R. 123
During WW2 there were 2,063 occasions on which bomb damage was caused,
and running lines were obstructed 725 times causing blockage. One hundred
passenger, goods and engine depots were severely damaged. Seventeen passengers
and 51 L.M.S. staff were killed, 138 passengers and 567 staff were injured.
2,000 vehicles, including one locomotive were destroyed and 11,000 vehicles,
including 73 locomotives were damaged. Poplar L.M.S. Goods Depot was the
most bombed station, receiving 17 major attacks and many other minor incidents.
Three large warehouses containing huge quantities of flour, grain, wool and
crockery, were completely destroyed.
Forth Bridge repairs. 123.
Major work on the Forth Bridge was in progress and will continue for
some time. The ends of all the main girders of the approach viaducts were
being given attention. The work consisted of reconditioning the girder bearings
and strengthening them in accordance with modern practice, as well as replacing
the cast iron bedplates on the tops of the piers with cast steel bed plates
of modern design. It is hoped that the work will be completed before the
end of 1947, the southern approach being dealt with this year, and the northern
approach next year.
The execution of the work has been so arranged as to cause the minimum of
interference with rail services, but the lines over the Bridge will have
to be closed to traffic from 12.01 to 10.00 each Sunday and for two periods
of four hours in mid-week. At all. times trains will require to pass over
the portion of the Bndge under repair at a greatly reduced speed.
L.N.E.R. appointment. 123
J. Blundell appointed District Locomotive Superintendent at Peterborough
in succession to E. H. Baker who was recently appointed 'District Locomotive
Superintendent, Gorton.
R. Opie Locomotive power, performance and rating. 123-5.
American Boiler House Power formula, also calculations of train
resistance. Continued Volume 53 p. 73.
J.T. Clarke. Further French recollections. 126. 2 diagrams (side
elevations)
Refers back to late 1890s and motive power used from Gare St. Lazare
in Paris to Gisors via Pontoise. Outside cylinder 0-4-2 built at Chartreux
in 1847. The Dieppe boat trains were powered by 2-4-0 built by Fives-Lille
in 1888. Also refers to Paris Exhibition of 1900.
R.B. Fellows. The Granville Express. 127-8
Postulates that Granville Express noted in the official timetables
in was the first train to receive an official title. It ran from Charing
Cross to Ramsgate.
Correspondence. 128
A modern locomotive history. G.
Carpenter
Re article entitled "A Modern Locomotive History"
[based on Cox ILocoE Paper 457] was
of special interest in that it divulged full details of the various designs
produced by the earlier Chief Mechanical Engineers of the L.M.S.R., and which
never appeared in traffic, for the first time. The publication of this
information, on which considerable speculation and rumour has occurred from
time to time, makes one realise how the various restricting influences which
caused the non-appearance of these machines retarded locomotive development
in the pre-Stanier era.
Perhaps the most interesting of these projected designs were the four cylinder
compound 4-6-2 and 2-8-2 machines, whose dimensions are such that they appear
to effectively dispose of the oft repeated argument that four cylinder compound
machines of maximum dimensions cannot be constructed within the confines
of the British loading gauge, as did the construction of the larger Great
Western Atlantics Alliance and President some years earlier.
It may be noted that the cylinders of the proposed Fowler Pacific are not
greatly dissimilar in dimensions from those of the P.O.-Midi 4-8-0s of Chapelon
design and that the ratio between the high and low pressure cylinder volumes
is practically the same. From the cross-sectional drawings of the cylinders
given in your article it would also appear that adequate bearing surfaces
were obtained without the necessity for offsetting the axes of the coupling
and piston rods, which is strictured as being bad practice. It would be highly
interesting to know how one of these projected machines would compare with,
say, one of the latest Duchess Pacifies on the same railway, of roughly
comparable dimensions. This unfortunately can only be a matter for conjecture,
but one would imagine that the absence of independent valve gears for the
high and low pressure cylinders, whilst having the advantages of simplicity
and economy in weight, would.prevent the most efficient use being made of
compound workmg m conjunction with a high working pressure and modern front
end design. The efficiency of the Midland compounds with this arrangement
may of course be cited against this argument, but these engines do not fulfil
either of the conditions mentioned and the inflexibility of the Deeley design
with fixed relative cut offs, whilst admirable for fast passenger working
with moderate loads, has. been reflected in their lesser success on duties
of a more intermediate nature.
Both from the aspects of power output and thermal efficiency the most modern
types of compound express locomotive, such as the Paris-Orleans 4-6-2 and
4-8-0 designs appear to have a considerable advantage .over British simple
types of similar dimensions. Sir William Stanier has stated that the closest
approach to the overall thermal efficiency of 14%, claimed for the Chapelon
4-8-0s, is that of 11% in the L.M.S.R. Pacifies of latest type and of greater
weight than the French engines menboned. Similarly no British design has,
on published performance, equalled or closely approached the maximum power
output of the French 4-8-0s which is in the region of 4000 i.h.p. One would
imagine that compounding would produce similar results if applied to locomotives
used on main line freight and mixed duties and the Fowler 2-8-2 design seems
to confirm possibilities in this direction.
Whilst it seems reasonable to assume from the large Fowler designs referred
to in your .article, and the dimensions of the earlier Great Western De Glehn
Atlantics, that there is no serious constructional difficulty in producing
compound machines of almost equal power and efficiency within the British
loading gauge, there would have to be a drastic revolution in driving method
to produce the best results from such machines unless the fixed ratio of
cut off and Derby regulator of Midland design was used. Unless adequate
theoretical instruction in compound design and handling were given, as is
the case on the Continent, it is likely that results similar to those which
attended the introduction of engines with modern front end arrangements on
lines where conventional driving methods prevailed would occur again. Shed
staff would also need special instruction for maintenance of the rather more
complicated mechanism of compound engines although neither of these difficulties
should be insurmountable.
Present day conditions of maintenance would also hamper the compounds which
would seem more susceptible to the effects of poor maintenance in particular
valve setting and receiver leakages. Here again, however, the present
difficulties should only be temporary and can hardly be the basis of locomotive
design which otherwise would be re- stricted limits of extreme simplicity
for easy maintenance. Whilst all the foregoing conditions can only be accurately
assessed by those in possession of detailed information it does, however,
seem regrettable that no attempt has been made to incorporate compounding
as applied .so successfu.lly to leading designs abroad in modern Bntish
locomotive construction for comparative purpose with existing designs. This
makes it the more regrettable that neither of the large Fowler designs mentioned
materialised, but even the published details of their design show conclusively
that there is no unsurmountable constructional difficulty if it is ever desired
to introduce engines of this type.
L.M.S.R. appointments. 128
E.C. Watson Assistant Superintendent, Motive Power, Derby; W.H. Ensor
Assistant Superintendent Motive Power, Watford; J.W. Phillips, District
Locomotive Superintendent, Derby; A. Udell, District Locomotive Superintendent,
Blackpool; F.M. Binns, ;Assistant District Locomotive Superintendent, Accrington;
W.J. Legg, District Locomotive Superintendent, Bletchley, J.A.W. Knapman,
Assistant Locomotive Superintendent, Kentish Town, V.W. Furber Assistant
Locomotive Superintendent, Wellingborough.
Number 649 (14 September 1946)
Preservation of historic locomotives. 129-30
Editorial prompted by reprieve of Midland Railway No. 158 (Kirtley
locomotive built in 1866). Notes importance of public access and cites Darlington
station and dangerws of open air display and cites Invicta. Questions
whether restoration to tyhe original state should be attepted and cites
Aerolite.
New saloons for the Royal Train. 130-2. 2 illustrations, 2 diagrams
(side elevations and plans)
The King and Queen's saloons are illustrated, but not the power car
(electricity generator) and staff accommodation car. All ran on six wheel
bogies, had Pullman gangways and Buckeye couplers. The sallons were fitted
with armour plated glass and had steel shutters. Wide double doors enabled
regal entrances and exits. Rubber bushes were fiited to reduce vibration.
Asbestos insulation was widely used.
L.M.S.R. 132
At Euston Station, locomotive No. 5633 Jubilee Class, was formally
named Aden by Lt.-Col. Sir Bernard Reilly, K.C.M.G., C.I.E., O.B.E., who
was the first Governor of Aden when it became a Colony in 1937. Sir Robert
Burrows, Chairman of the L.M.S. Railway, presided, and was supported by other
L.M.S. officers. The guests included J. M. Martin, C.B. C.V.O., Assistant
Under-Secretary of State, and Trafford Smith, Head of the Middle East Department,
Colonial Office.
The locomotive Aden is one of 189 units of the L.M.S. Jubilee class,
a large number of which are named after Dominions, Colonies and Mandated
Territories of the British Empire. It was a red-letter day for Driver A.T.W.
Castle, for not only was he selected to man No. 5633 for the ceremony, but
it was also his 44th birthday. Driver Castle entered the railway service
in 1917 and has been a driver for ten years; in September, 1945, he returned
to the L.M.S. after 6 years Army service, in the course of which he became
C.S.M. of an Indian Railway Operating Unit, and spent some time at Aden on
his way to India. Assisting Driver Castle was Fireman J. Page, who entered
the railway service in 1934 and became fireman in 1937. He served in the
Army from September, 1939, until June of this year, being a Driver Instructor
in the South African Royal Engineers. The flag covering the name-plate was
the Blue Ensign, with the Union Jack in the left-hand upper corner. The badge
is a circle, the background of which is sky blue. A dhow with two sails is
superimposed on six wavy lines in alternate blue and white lines.
L.M.S. and L.N.E.R. Testing Station. 132
D.W. Stanford appointed Superintending Engineer of the locomotive
testing station at Rugby: entered the Midland Railway works, Derby, in 1912,
and later became chief draughtsman there.
James McEwan. Locomotives of the Caledonian Railway.135-7. 4
illustrations
Brittain 0-6-0STs supplied by Neilson & Co. in 1881 (WN2697-2702;
RN 486-491) were known on Clydeside as steamboats due to their large hand
brake. They had 18 x 22in outside cylinders, 4ft coupled wheels;
1050ft2 total heating surface and 14.75ft2 grate area.
Three were rebuilt with a lightly larger boiler (1090.7ft2 total
heating surface) and for a time higher (150 psi) boiler pressure. These were
Nos. 486, 487 and 489. In 1913 Nos. 486 and 487 were sold to United Collieries
Ltd for use at Quarter Colliery where they became Nos. 10 and 11. No. 10
received a new firebox in 1929 at Arnott & Co.'s works in Airdrie, No.
489 was kept at Motherwell shed as a spare and became LMS No. 16150, but
this number was never carried: it was scrapped in 1928, but the other two
lasted until 1935 and 1938.
The Brittain Oban Bogie or 179 class and were built by Dubs & Co. in
1882 (WN 1672-1681; RN 179-188). When built they were fitted with Stirling's
steam reversing gear. They had an axle load of only 14½ tons and
were fitted with four-wheel tenders as only 40ft turntables were available.
Originally they had a small enamelled medallion with the Lion of Scotland
rampant fixed on the cab side sheet. The class both as built and rebuilt
presented a very neat and singular appearance and were never heavy on
maintenance. This was the last passenger class to have outside cylinders
until Pickersgill brought out the 60 class of 4-6-0 in 1916, thirty-four
years later. They had 18 in. by 24 in. cylinders; 5 ft. 2 in. coupled wheels;
1146.42ft2 total heating surface and 14.4ft2 grate
area. They were rebuilt between 1898 and 1901 with new boilers with
1085.9ft2 total heating surface and 17ft2 grate area
with the boiler pressure raised to 150 psi, from 130psi. Folloowing the
introduction of the McIntosh 4-6-0s to the Oban line the class was moved
to working branch lines, such as the Blairgowrie, Moffat and Solway Junction
lines. Eight survived to enter LMS stock and three carried LMS livery: the
last were withdrawn in 1930.
G.W.R. 137
New engines in service: 4-6-0 No. 7002 Devizes Castle; No.
7003 Elmley Castle; No. 7004 Eastnor Castle; No. 7005 Lamphey
Castle; No. 7006 Lydford Castle. 0-6-0T Nos. 9649-9651.
L.M.S.R. 137
New locomotives in service: 4-6-0 Mixed Traffic, Class 5 (built at
Crewe) 4979, 4980, 4981; (built at Horwich) 4963, 4964, 4965, 4966; 2-6-4
Tank, Class 4 (built at Derby) 2233, 2234, 2235. The following engines have
been withdrawn: 4-6-0 Class 3P 14686 (Highland); 4-4-0 Class 3P 755 (Midland)
14442 (Caledonian) ; Class 2P 14332 (Caledonian); 4-6-2 Class 4PT 15357
(Caledonian); 2-4-2 Class 3PT 10935, 10941 (L. & Y.); Class 2PT 10787,
10809, 10871, 10874 (L. & Y.); Class 'PT 6607 (L. & N.W.); 0-6-2
Class 2PT 6893, 6925 (L. & N:W.); 0-4-4 Class 1PT 1286 (Midland); Class
2PT 15131 (Caledonian); 0-6-0 Class 2F 3055, 3056, 3121, 3352, 3416, 3518,
3695, 22928 (Midland). 12039 (L. & Y.), 28420 (L. & N.W.); Class
3F 12143 (L. & Y.); 0-8-4 Class 7FT 7950, 7955 (L. & N.W.); 0-8-2
Class 6FT 7897 (L. & N.W.); 0-6-2 Class 2FT 27571, 27662 (L. & N.W.);
0-6-0 Class 1FT 1751, 1771, 1876 (Midland).
R.A.S. Abbott. The broad-gauge locomotives of the Vale
of Neath Railway. 140-1. 2 diagrams (side elevations)
According to RCTS. Locomotives
of the Great Western Railway. V. 2 this account contains some
inaccuracies. Two wheel arrangements: 4-4-0ST for passenger work and 0-6-0ST
(both illustrated, but other drawings, also by Abbott in RCTS publication!)..
Also refers to Locomotive Mag., 1902,
7, 18.
Number 650 (15 October 1946)
Influence of the rear truck. 145-6
Feature of Great Northern Railway, notably the Ivatt Atlantics which
permitted a greater grate area and firebox volume; but led to some loss of
adhesion; although gave comfort to the footplate crew through better ride
and possibly less harm to the track.
L.M.S. No.6254 "City of Stoke-on-Trent". 146.
illustration, diagram. (side & front elevations)
Ceremony held at Stoke-on-Trent station on Friday, 20 September 1946,
the new 4-6-2 locomotive No. 6254 was formally named City of
Stoke-on-Trent by the Lord Mayor (Councillor Percy Williams, J .P .).
Sir Francis Joseph, a director of the L:M.S., presided and was supported
by T. W. Royle (Vice-President), H. G. Ivatt (Chief Mechanical Engineer)
and other officers of the Company, whilst the guests included a number of
prominent representatives of the civic and industrial life of Stoke-on-Trent.
The locomotive was manned for the ceremony by Driver Henry Brindley and Passed
Fireman Clive Robinson of Stoke-on-Trent, both of whom have distinguished
records of public service in the city. Driver Brindley was a City Councillor
1919-22; he has been in the railway service since 1899 and a driver for 27
years. No. 6254 was one of three Class 7P 4-6-2 express passenger engines
which are being constructed at Crewe Works in 1946.
Lancaster and Carlisle Railway. 146
The opening for traffic of the first completed section of the Lancaster
and Carlisle Railway between Lancaster and Oxenholme, a distance of 20 miles,
took place on 22 September 1846. There was brought into use the first 2 miles,
between Oxenholme and Kendal, of the Windermere branch, which was constructed
by the Kendal and Windermere Railway Company. With the opening of the railway
from Lancaster to Oxenholme, what is now the main L.M.S. West Coast route
to Scotland, was brought to within 50 miles of the Border City of Carlisle,
to which the railway was extended in December 1846. At the time of the opening
of the L. & C.A., Carnforth which has since become one of the most important
junctions on the West Coast, was merely a wayside halt. The principal engineering
feature between Lancaster and Oxenholme was the bridge carrying the railway
60 ft. above the River Lune immediately North of Lancaster. The Lancaster
and Carlisle Railway began at a junction with the Lancaster and Preston Junction
Railway about one mile south of Lancaster (Castle) Station, and with the
opening of the latter, passenger traffic ceased to use Lancaster's original
railway station—the terminus of the Lancaster and Preston Junction
Railway, opened in 1846. It has since been used as a goods station.
New saloons for the Royal Train. 147-50. 7 illustrations, diagram
(side elevation and plan)
Illustrations show the King's bathroom and bedroom, the Queen's bedroom
and both of their lounges, and the exterior of the staff car cum brake van
and generator car, and the interior of the last. Text describes air conditioning
and services.
Tractors at Crewe Works, L.M.S.R. 150-1. 2 illustrations
Lancing Bagnall Ltd. tractors with petrol engines
Shoe beams on London Transport rolling stock. 152.
illustration
Steel used in place of teak. Sp ring suspension
see 53., 12.
Loco modernisation on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. 153-5. 3 illustrations, diagram. (side elevation)
High frequency generator. 155. diagram
David L. Smith. The Girvan and Portpatrick Junction Railway. 156-8. 3 illustrations
L.M.S.R. 158
New locomotives in service: 2-6-4 Tank —Class 4 Nos. 2236,
2237, 2238, 2239 and 2240 (built at Derby). The following engines had been
withdrawn: 4-6-0 Class 4P No. 25818 (L. & N.W.R. Prince of Wales Class;
4-4-0 Class 3P No. 25277 Oberon (L. & N.W.R. Precursor Class);
2-4-2 Class 1PT Nos. 6652, 6713 (L. & N.W.R.); 0-6-2 Class 2PT No. 6936
(L. & N.W.); 0-4-4 (class 1PT No. 1253 (Midland); 0-8-0 Class 7F Nos.
12920, 12981, Class 6F No. 12790 (L. & Y.R.); 0-6-0 Class 2F No. 17376
(Caledonian), Class 3F Nos. 12257, 12375 (L. & Y.R.); 0-6-2 Class 2FT
Nos. 7778, 27631 (L. & N.W.R.).
A steelwork contract in connection with the renewal of engine-shed roofs
at Cricklewood (N.W. London), Belle Vue (Manchester), Saltley (Birmingham),
and Stourton (Leeds) had been placed with a Henley-in-Arden (Warwickshire)
firm.
Personal. 158
C. A. Lyon appointed Press and Publications Officer to the London
Passenger Transport Board.
Cecil J. Allen, F.R.S.A., retired from the L.N.E.R. Chief Engineer's Department after a railway career of 43 years. Allen will be known to many readers as an author on railway subjects.
A delegation of five representatives of the Danish State Railways recently visited England to confer with L.M.S. technical experts regarding smoke abatement and disposal at locomotive sheds.
The Institute of Transport. 158
Railway Companies Association 1946 Awards (f designor Graduates and
Students). 1. To E.S. Hutchins (Graduate), Buenos Aires Great Southern and
Western Railways. 2. To A.R. Smith (Graduate), L.M.S. Railway,
Manchester.
Obituary. 158
We regret to record the death of Malcolm Patrick of the L.M.S. (N.C.C.)
Belfast. Patrick was appointed locomotive superintendent of the Northern
Counties Committee in 1933.
Correspondence.160
The Granville Express. Vickery
See also letter from Reginald
Fellows
Number 651 (15 November 1946)
Reconstructed from index
Bedford's first railway. 166
A proposed constant adhesion articulated locomotive. 167
Centenary of the East Anglian Railway. 169-70
Illustrations: 2-2-2 Kite and 0-4-2 Lion
Northampton & Banbury Junction Rly. 171. illustration
Towcester station and 2-2-2ST illustrated
American-built 0-6-0 tank locomotive. 175. illustration
No. 1417 illustrated
Correspondence. 176
Dutch State Railways. Keelhoff. 176
See letter from L. Derens in Volume 53
page 13
Girvan and Port Patrick Junction Railway. 176
Reviews. 176
The early history of the locomotive.
Number 652 (14 December 1946)
The L.M.S. turbine locomotive. 177-8.
Editorial comment on the Bond
ILocoE Paper. Main observation was that a higher steam temperatures and
pressures were essential
German 2-10-0 locomotive. 178. diagram (side elevation)
Class 50 design modified to become the Class 52. Production times
reduced: 8000 man-hours achieved. Increased reliance on welding. Low axle
loading and ability to negotiate sharp curves.
Loco modernisation on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. 179-82.
9 illustrations
D/3 and D/4 4-6-0 classes modified with poppet valve gear. Five D/3
fitted with Lenntz poppet valves and ten D/4 fitted wth Caprotti valve gear.
Experiments were also made with feedwater heating. Dabeg, Heinl and ACFI
were tried but the ACFI was found to be the best, but required sensible
management by the footplate crews. Coal consumption could be reduced by 13%.
Grease lubrication improved performance,
Lnstltutlon of Locomotive Engineers. Presidential Address. 182
On 16 October F.S. Whalley ,
at a well-attended meeting of the above mentioned Institution held in
London, delivered his Presidential address which he entitled
"The Work of Their Craft." This address dealt with the evolution and design
of the Liberation locomotives built by the Vulcan Foundry for use on the
Continent and traced their derivation from Sir William Stanier's 2-8-0
locomotives and on through the Ministry of Supply engines of the same wheel
arrangement. The story was exceedingly well told and was illustrated by
exceptionally goorl lantern slides.
As we dealt at some length wi th the "Liberation" locomotive on page 66 et
seq of the current volume we refer readers to that article for particulars
of these fine engines.
Atmospheric railways. 182
On 18 October L.P. Walter read a paper to the Junior Institution of
Engineers, in London, on this subject. The author had obviouslv gone to
considerable trouble to collect a large amount of informa- tion and this,
in conjunction with numerous interesting illustrations, resulted in a
comprehensive paper on a comparatively little known page of railway
history.
Newcomen Society, 25-139, 182
At a meeting held in London.
Mr. E.W. Swan. O.B.E., read a paper on "Nicholas Woods' MS. Report Book."
The volume consists of about 600 pages 16¼ x 10¼ inches. An
item of the greatest interest is the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Competition
report which includes the "Stipulations and Conditions" of the
Competition.
Welded boilers. 182
Robt. B. McColl, president of the American Locomotive Company, says
that the company's new facilities at Schenectady enable a completely welded
locomotive boiler of any size to be built. The first ever welded locomotive
boiler, on the Delaware and Hudson 2-8-0 locomotive, has been in successful
service since 1937.
James McEwan. Locomotives of the Caledonian Railway. 183-4. illustration
On 6 August 1882, Dugald Drummond became Locomotive Superintendent
at St. Rollox. Brittain was retiring but had offered to remain in the post
until a suitable suocessor had teen found, although his health would let
him act little more than in an advisory capacity. It is probably not so well
known out of Glasgow that Drummond was not happy at Cowlairs during the seven
years he was there. The men regarded him as a "rough" man after the more
friendly type of Tom Wheatley and at times there were crises. By force of
circumstances or the man manipulated hand of fate, Drummond found himself
staying at the same hotel in the Midlands as were two directors of the Caley.
According to legend agreement about the post at St. Rollox was amicably settled
ere the first course had been completed.
On taking over, Drummond became custodian of a good but rather antiquated
design of locomotives. The average load of the passenger trains was in keeping
with the power available even if the main line trains were hauled by Conner's
"eight feet" singles. There were plenty of secondary train locomotives and
the only need was for a larger passenger design to permit of heavier passenger
train loading but there was no need to rush a design. When Brittain resigned
there was a scheme design out for a 4-4-0 tender engine which was a cross
between the Dundee and the Oban bogie classes and in a way, not dissimilar
to the Adams' engines of the London and South Western Rly. built about 1880
by Neilson and Co, The coupled wheels were 6 ft. 6 in. Drummond cancelled
all further work on the design and his first job was the rebuilding of several
2-4-0 tender engines of class 417 with 6 ft. wheels. These were to amplify
the pilot engine stock on the main line and secondary services. Whether or
not this rebuilding was really necessary is doubtful, but the rebuilding
certainly made better engines of those treated although the frames broke
on many owing to the higher pressure of the boiler. The bell topped chimney
and boiler with safety valves on the dome appeared with this rebuilding and
after the stovepipe regime the effect was very pleasing. Details of the
rebuilding are to be found on page 250,
Locomotive,' December,1941. The road numbers of the locomotives
so treated were: 420, 423, 427, 432, 1883; 422, 428, 429, 431, 433, 435,
1884; 419, 421, 424, 425, 426, 430, 473, 476, 479, 480, 483, 1885; 475, 477,
478, 484, 1886.
After the rebuilding the class became known as the Rebuild to all and this
moniker remained until the last one had gone, and was used semi-officially.
The greatest urgency was for a goods engine of ample dimensions which would
permit ot heavier loadmg and the removal ot double-heading. The few six coupled
engines on the system were mainly mineral engines on short distance traffic
in the coal field areas, so that the main line trains had to be hauled by
2-4-0 and 0-4-2 classes, a goodly number of which were on the small side
for the requirements of the traffic.
The first new design by Drummond was the 294 class
goods six coupled engine which, with a few minor alterations was
to become the largest class, numerically, to run on the Caledonian Rly. system.
The design was a complete breakaway from Crewe or Allan tradition and was
based on the 18 inoh goods engines built for the North British Rly. to his
design in 1876 and 1877. The cylinders were inside the frames and were 18
inch diameter by 26 inch stroke. The valves were operated by Stephenson link
motion and these were placed between the cylinders. In the engines built
between 1884 and 1886 the exhaust was split, part going round the cylinders
before escaping up the blast pipe. The intention was to keep the cylinders
warm and prevent heat losses by radiation. The cost of maintenance of these
steam jacketed cylinders was rather heavy and all the engines fitted with
them had new cylinders fitted in course of the next few years. The wheels
were 5 ft. 0 in. diameter spaced at 7 ft. 6 in. plus 8 ft. 9 in. centres,
making a wheelbase of 16 ft. 3 in. The boiler barrel was 10ft.
31/8 in. long and 4 ft. 51/8,. in. minimum
inside diameter, and the centre line 7 ft. 3 in, from rail level. The distance
between the tubeplates was 10 ft. 7 in. There were 242 tubes 1¾ in.
diameter giving a heating surface of 1,089.68 ft2. The firebox
added a further 112.62 ft2., making a total of 1,202.3
ft2. The grate area was 19.50 ft2 and the working pressure
150 psi. The safety valves were 3 in. diameter and were located on the dome.
The safety valves were of Ramsbottorn pattern and this type of safety valve
was used by Drummond on aill the engines he built' for the Caledonian Rly.
Weight of engine in working order was 41 tons 6 cwt., made up as follows:
leading coupled axle 14 tons 5 cwt. 3 qrs., driving axle 15 tons 2 cwt. 1
q r. , rear coupled axle 11 tons 18 cwt. The weight of the tender in working
order was 34 tons 17 cwt., made up as follows: leading axle 10 tons 9 cwt.
, middle axle 13 tons 6 cwt. I qr., rear axle 11 tons 1 cwt. 3 qr. The total
wheelbase of the engine and tender was 37 ft. 4½in., total length over
buffers 49 ft. 10¾in.
The tender had a toolbox placed at the rear of the frame.
The Drummond type fender had underhung springs, and the tank plates are little
higher than the door, only the coping being above. The Lambie tender introduced
with o. 199 had the springs above the axleboxes and were otherwise similar.
Shortly afterwards a further tender was introduced with a register of 2,800
gals. of water. This tender was much higher in the tank sheets Image and
the framing was cut like the original Drummond one,. that is with the large
slots, but was much deeper. This tender was attached to passenger and goods
engines. These engines were referred to as "maids of all work," "dividend
earners" or either Blue Jumbos or Black Jumbos accarding to the colour of
paint applied to them. At their introduction the habit of painting the coupling
rods of all engines stationed at Motherwell a red lead colour was adapted
and up to the date of the amalgamation of the railways a Motherwell engine
wa:s easily located. Similarly Perth used a lighter shade of blue on passenger
engines. Apart from the adoption of the divided blast cylinders in the earlier
engines the only change made by Drummond was to fit, shortly before leaving
the Caledonian Rly., the last six with the Westinghouse pump and brake equipment
for passenger train working. The engines so treated were as. 410 to 415.
These were turned out double lined black, but afterwards were painted blue.
When Smellie succeeded Drummand he ordered twelve identical engines, Nos.
372 to 379, and 540 to 543, and these were fitted with the steam brake only
like the Drummond built lats (with the exception of the six engines referred
to already). The Smellie engines were only being laid down when Lambie became
the Locomotive Superintendent, and all were finished similar to' Drummond's.
The steam brake handle for engines so fitted, was placed on the right hand
side of the foot- plate, and the fireman then had to crass the cab and attend
to the reversing lever if any shunting was being undertaken.
Lambie laid dawn identical engines, Nos. 544 to 563 whioh he fitted with
the steam brake, and Nos. 691 to 6196 which were fitted with the Westinghouse
brake and pump far passenger warkings. The class began to make a name for
itself on passenger workings and some tests were undertaken on the Gourock
and Edinburgh "roads." The engine established its claim ta be regarded as
a mixed traffic one and from then on, the class took its share in excursion
working, regular Coast traffic bookings and as pilot on trains to the North
from Glasgow (Buchanan. Street Station) and also Stirling. One point which
showed itself in the trials was that the boiler was over-tubed for really
good steaming on passenger work and with the Drummond type of reversing handle
it became the established system of working, to set the reversing lever back
about three notches and to drive from the regulator. Pyrotechnic displays
were provided thereby, and jn the darkness of an evening the class of engine
hauling a passenger tram was never uncertain if " the sparks were flying."
Lambie redesigned the boiler and shifted the safety valves from the dome
too over the firebox for further engines of the class built, and reduced
the number of tubes. The Larnbie boiler shell was of the same dimensionsas
that of Drumrnond, but there were now only 218 tubes l¾in. diameter
with a heating surface of 1,056.8 ft2. The fire- box still gave
112.62 ft2 of heatmg surface making a total of 1169.42
ft2. The boiler pressure and grate area were unaltered. The weight
in working order became 40 tons 6 cwt., made up as follows: leading coupled
axle 14 tons and 1 qr., driving axle 14 tons 17 cwt. 3 qr., rear coupled
axle 11 tons 8 cwt.
Proposed double deck sleeping car.. 184
A new type of 3rd class sleeping car has been designed by
Misha Black. and W.G.V. Vaughan,
of Design Research Unit. The new design of car provides twenty private cabins,
fourteen two-berth and six single-berth. This compares with provision for
32 passengers in four bunk compartments now normal in 3rd class sleeping
cars and the 8-10 passengers in single-berth cabins in 1st class sleeping
cars, built within the limits imposed by the British main line loading gauge.
An excellent model made by Messrs. Bassett-Lowke, Northampton, on a scale
of 2-inch to the foot is on view at the "Britain Can Make It" exhibition
in London.
R.A.H. Weight. The Kent and East Sussex Railway in 1946.
185-6. 4 illustrations
Includes details of proposed extensions: to Tovil on outskirts of
Maidstone, upon which some work had started: severe gradients led to purchase
of 0-8-0T. Othe proposed extensions included Tenterden to Appledore; Northam
to Rye and Robertsbridge to Pevensey. Lists loccomotive stock and liveries
applied
London Transport. 186.
Conversion of boilers at Neasden Generating Station from pulverized
coal to oil firing: initially oil was to be delivered by road but with full
operation would be delivered by rail from Purfleet to a modified goods yard
at Neasden
R.C. Bond. Ten years' experience with the L.M.S. 4-6-2 non-condensing turbine locomotive, No. 6202. 187-9. 3 tables
L.N.E.R. 189
Appointments within Chief Mechanical Engineer's Department: S. King
Assistant to Chief Mechanical Engineer (General) to be Assistant to Chief
Mechanical Engineer (Cost Control); R. Hart-Davis moved from
Doncaster to be Assistant to Chief Mechanical Engineer (Locomotive and General)
and W. Featherstone, formerly Assistant Works Manager, Doncaster to be Head
of the C.M.E.'s Section, Purchasing Agent's Office
L.M.S.R. 189
New locomotives into service: built at Crewe class 7P passenger tender
No. 6255 City of Hereford, at Derby 2-6-4 tank class 4P Nos. 2246
to 2252; and at Horwich Class 5 4-6-0 No. 4986. Also retirement of Driver
L.A. Earl of Camden MPD.
L. Derrens. The Dutch State Railways Co. 190-3. 2 illustrations, 2
diagrams (side elevations)
Trains from Utrecht to Amsterdam used to arrive at the Weesperpoort
Station and reverse before going forward to Central Station. There was a
stop signal on the sharp curve at Muiderpoort station where trains were liable
to stall and in 1915 nine locomotives were obtained from the Hohenzollern
Company of Dusseldorf. These were outside cylinder 0-6-0Ts. This first batch
was numbered 221-9. In 1920 six further engines, Nos. 230-5 were obtained
from Henschel of Kassel. Five outside cylinder 0-10-0Ts were obtained from
the Hohenzollern Company. They were numbered 9501-5 and employed for hump
shunting at Susteren in South Limburg. The first and fifth axles were Golsdorf
sliding axles with water lubricated flanges. The cab was totally enclosed
and provided with tip up seats and fascilities for warming food.
News of the month. 193
Luxembourg locomotives. 193
The Luxembourg railway administration received five new 2-10-0 steam
locomotives from the Belgian National Railways in May, 1946, and another
four later in the summer. Of the 40 steam locomotives of the old Prince Henri
Railway removed by the Germans, 18 had been returned by last summer. At that
time the Luxembourg motive power stock stood at 126- engines (10 of them
foreign-owned), of which 47 were under or awaiting repair.
Polish locomotives. 193
At the beginning of the summer the locomotive stock of the Polish
State Railways totalled 5,975, but of these only 2,608 Polish-owned plus
576 foreign-owned engines were in service; 223 of them were of 5 ft.
gauge.
Italian electric locomotives. 193
The latest returns indicate that 768 electric locomotives are actually
in service on the Italian State Railways, and that 32 of these are foreign-owned.
Another 698 are under or awaiting repair, including 22 that are
foreign-owned.
Norwegian locomotive statistics. 193
Retums for mid- summer, 1946, show that the Norwegian State Railways
then had in traffic 268 steam locomotives (38 foreign-owned), 48 electric
locomotives, 25 electric motor coaches and 22 other railcars. Corresponding
totals for stock under repair were 227 (69), 11, 11, and 49: The foreign
locomotives were all German. Total daily locomotive kilometrage amounted
to 79,658 km.
American-built locos for U.S.S.R. 193
Up to well on in 1946 powerful steam locomotives were still being
built for the U.S.S.R. by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. They were of the
2-10-0 type with two 25 in. by 28 in. cylinders, 52-in. wheels, 180 lb. pressure,
and 218,500 lb. weight,. of which 192,500 lb. was on the coupled wheels.
Mechanical' stokers were standard equipment. The American Locomotive Company
also has delivered 13 locomotives of the 2-10-0 type to the U.S.S.R. during
1946.
Biggest diesel locomotive. 193
The Kansas City Southern Railroad had put into traffic in a steeply-graded
division a four-unit diesel electric locomotive of 8,000 b.h.p., the power
units being four 2,000 b.h.p. Fairbanks-Morse oil engines. The locomotive
is 259 ft. 4 in. long, weighs 560 tons, and has a top speed of 65
m.p.h.
Chilean locomotive order. 193
The Chilean State Railways placed an order with the Baldwin Locomotive
Works for 12 steam locomotives of the 4-8-2 wheel arrangement for the 5 ft.
3 in. gauge lines.
Egyptian proposals. 193
In addition to the orders placed in England for about £1 million
worth of diesel locomotives and diesel trains, the Egyptian State Railways
had been enquiring for eight 2-4-2 steam locomotives, two of the- 2-8-2 type.
and from 10 to 30 of the 4-6-0 type.
Correspondence, 194
R.O.D. reminiscence. N. Duncan.
Arthur L. Stead's "Light Railway Memories" brought home to me very
vividly certain memories of my own regarding the R.O.D. in WW1. On the docks
at Le Havre an old friend of mine was the Baldwin 0-4-0 saddletank No. 97
which alternated with the French Etat shunting engines in the task of shunting
that portion of Havre Docks under British Military control. No 97 with its
outside cylinders and brown ochre livery was a noisy, good natured little
engine which. if it did n?t display the hauling capacities of its very much
older French confreres, made up. for its deficiencies by a " We must win
the war" complex. With its clanging bell it was at its best when careering
along the dockside at top speed with one or two large four-wheeled French
box cars. Later, in 1918, a Baldwin 0-6-0 outside cylinder side tank No.
115 R.O.D. appeared but I believe this engine was stationed at Gare Maritime.
Apropos the light railway organisation it was a common sight on Havre Docks
in those days to see two of the 4-6-0 side tanks for the 60 centimetre lines
" going up the Ime" loaded two apiece, standing chimney to chimney, on a
large bogie flat wagon such as were used for conveying tanks to. the front
line. I echo Mr. Stead's remarks re the good fellowship which prevailed amongst
all ranks in World War 1 and only wish we could recover it today.
The first locomotive in Natal. M.M.
Loubser
In reply to John Poole's letter which appeared in July Issue I have
to state that the first locomotive to work in South Africa was the
Natal engir:e. This little engine, of approximately 24 tons in full
working order, was purchased by the Natal Railway Com:pany (private enterprise)
in 1860. The cylinders, 10 inch diameter by 16 inch stroke, were arranged
at an angle and fitted outside the 5/8 in. thick plate frame.
An interesting feature of the Natal is that the Stephensou's link
motion was arranged between the driving wheels and axleboxes.
The second engine purchased by the Company was named Persever:ance
and worked the extension of the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge line between Durban
and the Umgeni River, a distance of approximately four miles. This engine
had a wheel arrangement of 4-4-0 type and driving wheels 4 ft. 3 in. diameter.
The cylinders were 14 in. diameter by 20 in. stroke. During 1876 the Natal
Government Railways purchased all assets of the Railway Company and replaced
the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge with 3 ft. 6 in. gauge. The Perseuerance
engine was. later converted into a stationary engine and used for driving
machinery and plant in the Durban Workshops (N.G.R.) being finally scrapped
in 1887. The small four-wheeled tender referred to was built in the Durban
Workshops (N.G.R.) during 1887 for the Havelock. engine. This engine
was the first designed and built in South Afnca. The small tender was later
used at Greytown to hold bunker coal for a stationary pumping plant at that
station. . I shall be glad to know the name of the makers of the Natal
engine.
Reviews. 194
Furness railway: its rise and development, W.
McGowan Gradon
A history of the Furness Railway from 1846 up to the groupmg
of the railways in 1923. There are in all 14 chapters and a number of
illustrations, largely of different locomotives, and several maps, indicating
different stages of development of the line and proposed routes. On the whole,
the author has succeeded in putting together a very interesting account of
the history of this railway, which was one of the more important of the smaller
companies which now go to make up the London Midland and Scottish undertaking.
Here and there in the course of his narrative there are some slight mistakes;
for instance, A. Aslett went to the Furness line from the Cambrian not as
Secretary but as General Manager; the position of General Manager and Secretary
was not assumed till later. Further, . W.F. Pettigrew went to Barrow in 1897
to take up duties of Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent, thus
taking the place of R. Mason, who formerly had charge of the locomotives,
and Sutton, who had been Carriage and Wagon Superintendent.
In general, the locomotive history of the Furness and of the small West
Cumberland lines which ultimately became part of the Furness line is well
told. Here again, however, there are one or two slight mistakes. As a case
in point, the 4-4-0 engines of 1901, Nos. 126, 127, 128 and 129, had 6 ft.
6 in. driving wheels and were built by Sharp, Stewart and Co., Ltd., Glasgow,
not by the North British Locomotive Co., Ltd., which, at that date, had not
been formed; further, the 4-4-0 engines of the 130 class had 6 ft. 0 in.
coupled wheels.
The Hull and Barnsley Railway. G.D.
Parkes. Oakwood Press,
A well-produced booklet (based on a lecture given to the Oxford University
Railway Society) which recapitulates succinctly the history of this railway
during the forty-two years of its separate existence. Particulars of the
locomotives are included.
L.M.S. Advertising and Publicity Department 194
Attractive folders on the Barrow Harbour and Docks, Fleetwood Harbour
and Wyre Docks, Grangemouth, and the Harbours of Ayr and Troon. Each folder
includes a large scale map showing port accommodation, cranage equipment,
etc., also text and illustrations describing their main features.
Trade news and notes. 194
British Timken Ltd. 194
Films exhibited by British Timken Ltd. which dealt with slipping tests
of locomotives, conducted on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincey Railroad,
the application and assembly of Timken bearings on locomotives of the same
road and research in the fatigue of metals-the last mentioned being based
on work carried out in the Timken Research Laboratory. Clifford L. Eastbury
of the Railway Division of the Timken Roller Bearing Company, of Canton,
U.S.A., has played a leading part in the development of Timken bearing
applications, was present and in addition to add- ing considerably to the
interest of the filmsthemselves of very great interestby his
explanation of various matters, also dealt with various points afterwards
raised by the many locomotive engineers present.
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