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Kevin Jones' Steam Index

Locomotive Magazine and Railway Carriage and Wagon Review

Volume 57 (1951)

Number 701 (15 January 1951)

Railway departmental organisation. 1-2.

Diesel-electric trains for Egypt. 3-4. illoustration

Obituary. 4
Major Robert Leonard Green.

2-6-2 type side tank locos Tanganyika Railways. 4-5. illustration, diagram (side elevation)
Constructed by W.G. Bagnall Ltd

"Metcalfe" steram brake lubricator. 6. diagram

British Railways standard 4-6-2 locomotive. 22-3 + col. plate. f.p. 22. illus., diagr. (s. el.)

B.R. No. 70000 : an engineman's impressions. 44-6. illus., 2 diagrs. (incl. s. el.), plan.
Includes sectionalized diagrams.

Fell locomotive. 96
Cited from Volume 61 p. 210

BRITISH Railways' standard class "4" 4-6-0. Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1951, 57, 103. 4. illus.

The Inspecting Engineer. 165
J.S. Tritton delivered his Presidential Address to the Institution of Locomotive Engineers in London, on 17 October. It will be recollected that the President also occupied this distinguished position during the 1947-1948 session and, as on that occasion, his address was of great interest.
In the introductory remarks it was pointed out that it is usual for the author of a Presidential Address to choose a subject on which he can speak from long personal experience and in selecting Inspection accepted practice was being followed. The President expanded the title to "The Inspecting Engineer's Contribution to Railway Economy"; although inspection in its technical aspect is of interest to all members of the Institution, he showed that it provides a service which is of value to other Railway Departments.
It is a long time since the subject of Inspection figured in the Institution's proceedings and no doubt many of the parties concerned with it have had an imperfect grasp of the matter as a whore. This able exposition showed that the services of the Inspecting Engineer, when rightly used, are a good investment for all parties to an Engineering contract. The President examined the functions of the Inspecting Engineer, the requirements which bring those functions into being, and how they are fulfilled. It was explained "What manner of men these are," what their training and experience gives them and some examples of their work were described. Finally an estimate of the cost and value of their services was given. The procedure built up during over half-a-century's experience was explained and many of the tests, checks: analyses, etc., described. The excellent locomotive mspector's notebook evolved by W.A. Lelean, a past President of the Institution, was outlined. This formed the subject of a paper by J Lelean as far back as 1915, but it was commended by Tntton as worthy of careful study. The President suggested that shop and shed inspectors on Railways would find booklets of the form outlined of considerable assistance in settling any points in dispute when engines received in shed after periodic shopping do not come up to expectations.
The final step in the procedure of inspection is the signing or countersigning of the inspection certificate. This most important document serves several purposes, which were described.
The most oft quoted objection to inspection is that it "wastes time." Efficient inspection obviously "takes" time, but should not "waste" it. One of the most frequent difficulties the Inspecting Engineer encounters is that of working to a loose specification. Sir Alexander Rendel, the eminent Consulting Engineer, used to say, "a good specification saves money. What is the use of starting on half-a-sheet of notepaper and ending in the law courts?" In addition to the maintenance of standards the Inspecting Engineer is usually called upon to perform a number of subsidiary duties. The most common of these are:—the submission of progress reports, providing forecasts of delivery, advising the client on any unusual rejections and suggestmg Improvements in his specification, and assisting both client and contractor by "chasing" delayed sublet material.
The benefits resulting from Inspection to Client, Contractor and Consulting Engineer were considered under their respective headings. The old argument that a tenderer puts 10 per cent. on to his price if the contract is subject to inspection is usually discredited. If taken seriously it is a compliment to inspection. Naturally it implies that the Contractor will be working to finer limits with a higher percentage of rejects and, consequently, the Purchaser gets better value.
In the President's experience good inspection by a competent authority is generally welcomed by Contractors, for reasons which he explained. All Designers should be encouraged to visit the works where their contracts are under inspection. Similarly Inspecting Engineers should pay frequent visits to their Designer's Office so that when they have interpretations to make or borderline cases to deal with they may be fully cognisant of the Designer's intentions.
The cost of inspection was considered and the possible methods of charging explained. Theoretically, and from the professional point of view the time basis is the correct method of charging for inspection work. In practice it gives the Inspecting Engineer the free hand he should have in carrying out his duties conscientiously and, in the long run, it is generally cheaper for the client.
This excellent survey of a most important branch of mechanical engineering was wittily concluded by the apposite remark that there is more in inspection than meets the eye!

Tasmania. 165
Twelve English Electric diesel-electric locomotives of 660 h. p., built jointly with Vulcan Foundry,. Ltd., were running on the main lines of Tasmania. A total of 32 of these was on order.

Main line diesel-electric locos South Australian Government Railways. 166-7

Western Region. 167.
New engines into service included Standard Class 4 4-6-0 Nos. 75005-7 and 0-6-0PT Nos. 9453-6 (ex-R. Stephenson & Hawthorns Ltd.)

4-8-2 Gold Coast locomotives. 167-8
3ft 6in gauge [not stated in article]: order for thirty from Vulcan Foundry for Gold Coast Government Railway similar to 246 class of 1939.

500 h.p. diesel-mechanical locomotives. 169-70. illus., diagr. (s. & f. elevations)
Hunslet Engine Co. supplied two eight-coupled locomotives for the Paita-Piura Railway of the Peruvian Corporation which had severe gradients and sharp curvature. It was tested on shunting at British Railways Stourton and on the steeply graded lines to Yeadon and Guiseley where it was able to cope with loads normally handled by an 8F 2-8-0. The locomotives had Paxman diesel engines, a Bibby coupling and Hunslet clutch and gear box.

F.J.G. Haut. Swiss electric pilot-coaches. 177. illus.
What came to be known as a driving van trailer was called a pilot coach in Switzerland. It included a driver's cab or compartment, a luggage and postal compartment, and two compartments accommodating 32 thrird class passengers. They were built by S.I.G.—Neuhausen and Oerlikon.

British Railways standard wagons. 177-8. illus.
Designed at Swindon and built at Wolverton: 3000 12-ton covered goods vans with riveted underframes and softwood bodies, but capable of being adapted to welded iunderframes and steel or plywood bodies. 17ft 6in long over headstocks with a 10ft wheelbase. Spindle type buffers were fitted, but could accept either rubber or rubber and steel springs. Instanter couplings standardised for almost all vacuum-fitted stock for future construction in place of screw couplings, Brake gear consists of 18in. diameter vacuum brake cylinder for fast freight working and the Morton type handbrake operated from either side of the wagon, both hand and power brakes being applied through one brake block per wheel. Solid rolled steel wheels 3ft. l in. diameter and axles with 9in. by 4tin. journals were fitted with cast iron axleboxes of the spigot type, or alternatively, open fronted axleboxes of fabricated design. The bodies of these vehicles were sheeted in softwood.

Institute of Transport. 178
A.B.B. Valentine, member of the London Transport Executive, president for 1951-2, gave his Presidential address on 15 October. It was a comprehensivc survey of present-day conditions and difficulties. He emphasised how railways in particular were starved. of new capital to make overdue improvements and how without capital expenditure it was impossible to give at the same time better facilities and lower fares he also mentioned how the acute shortage of staff was not; helped by the tendency to emphasise the disadvantages of irregular hours and suchlike, while disregarding the many advantages and interests in the transport business.

Stephenson Locomotive Society. 178
An unusual 51 mile circular tour by rail around London was recently performed on behalf of the Society by British Railways. The ten corridor coach train was hauled by "Bl " type locomotive No. 61175 started from Kensington (Olympia) and included the following en route: Willesden, Canonbury, Stratford, South Tottenham, Cricklewood, Kew, Hounslow and Clapham Junction.

F.J.G. Haut.  Swiss light-weight locos. 178
The first 26 locomotives of series Re 4/4 (wheel arrangement Bo-Bo) were put into service be- tween 1946 and 1948, and since then the Swiss Federal Railways have purchased a further 24 units of the type embodying some interesting altera- tions. They have an increased weight and power- output mainly to avoid double-heading and to cope with heavier trains, In the earlier series the weight was 56.4 tonnes, now it is 58.4 tonnes. The new locomotives could haul trains up to 450 tonnes (formerly 350 tonnes): the l-hour rating being increased from 2240 h.p. to 2500 h.p. The body of the locomotive was slightly longer but the wheelbase remains unaltered, Previously it was possible to put the locomotive in the middle of push-and-pull trains. Doors being provided at the ends as well as a gangway, so that passengers could pass through. This had been changed and there were three large windows in front instead, For the main dimensions of these locomotives see "The Locomotive," page 136, vol. LV.

London Midland Region. 178
New locomotives in service included Class 7 4-6-2 mixed traffic tender (B.R. design) No, 70024 (built at Crewe for Western Region); Class 5 4-6-0 mixed traffic tender (B.R. design) Nos, 73015-73018 (built at Derby); Class 4 2-6-0 mixed traffic tender (L.M,R. design) Nos. 43124, 43125 and 43126 (built at Horwich for North Eastern Region); Class 2 2-6-2 mixed traffic tank (L.M.R. design) Nos. 41290-41296 (built at Crewe for Southern Region); 350 h.p. 0-6-0 diesel electric shunter No, 12094 (built at Derby); 1,600 h.p. main line diesel electric No, 10202 (built at Ashford for L.M. Region). The "Jubilee" class 4-6-0 No. 45700 "Britannia" has been renamed "Amethyst''' to commemorate the daring expioitof the frigate of that name which, in 1949, ran the gauntlet of continuous bombardment from the shore for over seven hours as she sailed down the Yangtse.

Dimensions of locomotives. Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1951, 57, 179-80.
The author concluded that, with the exception of gas passages, dimensions are not critical in steam locomotive design.

Correspondence. 182

Summers, Groves & Day. P C. Dewhurst
The letter from Mr. Pearce Higgins on page 84 establishes important points regarding this firm.
In the hearing before the H. of C. Committee on Steam Carriages, 1831 a Mr. W. Altoft Summers, Engineer, gave evidence, and is seen to be working with Nathaniel Ogle on the construction of locomotive engines for common roads; whilst the many references to Southampton made by both, indicate that they were operating at that place. Further, in a letter of 19 March 1832 (Mechanics Magazine No. 450), W.A. Summers refers to his "partner Mr. N. Ogle" and foots his letter "Milbrook Iron works." In the U.S.A. Congress Return of 1838 (referred to by Mr. Pearce Higgins), the actual entry respecting the locomotive Jefferson supplied to the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R. in 1837 gives the builders as "Summers Graves [sic] & Day, Southampton." These two contemporary sources provide conclusive evidence of the association of the Summers' firm with Millbrook Foundry, Southampton, and with locomotive building.
Respecting the locomotives built by the firm, a study of contemporary sources throws fresh light on its probable productions.
Combining the information in the October, 1841, B. of T Returns, the Gauge Report Returns, 1845, and Whishaw, 1840, together with two advertisements of locomotives for sale, the following particulars emerge:
London & Greenwich Rly. No. 8 (or 7), maker Day, 1839, 2-2-2, 11 x 18 in. cylinders, driving wheels 5 feet, carrying wheels 3ft 9in.
North Union Rly. St. George Bourne, Bartley & Co., 1839, 2-2-2, 12 x 18 in. cylinders, double-frames. driving wheels 5 feet, carrying wheels. 3ft 8in. and 2ft. 10in.
Bolton & Leigh Rly. St. David Bourne, Bartley & Co., 1839, 2-2-2, 12 x 18 in. cylinders,  double-frames. driving wheels 5 feet, carrying wheels. 3ft 0in.
Whilst the advertisements are:
Railway Times 17 December, 1839: "A new six-wheeled passenger locomotive for sale, 12 x 18 in. cylinders, 5 feet driving wheels, having Bourne, Bartley & Cos Patent wrought iron wheels—to be seen at London and Birmingham engine station, Camden Town. Apply J.F. Bourne, office of 'Railway Times'."
Railway Times 14 March, 1840: "—Bourne, Bartley & Co., have on sale the St. David. six-wheeled. passenger engine, quite new, with 12 inch cylinders and 5 feet driving wheels—."
The advertisement of March, 1840, definitely names the St. David and consequently identifies it with that engine on the Bolton & Leigh where it duly appears in the October, 1841, Returns., Whether that of December, 1839, refers to the same engine or to St. George is immaterial, because St., George is fully identified on the North Union by combining Whishaw and the 1841 Returns. What is significant is the seeming close correspondence of these two engines with that of the Day engine on the Greenwich Railway.
According to the list of Haigh Foundry Co's locomotives as published by C.E. Stretton in 1899, their only engine to Bourne, Bartley was Haigh Fdy. No. 31 of 1839 and it is given as a 4-2-0 with unequal bogie wheels, intended for America, but sold by B.B. & .Co. to. the North Union Railway. The St. George on that railway, however, is seen definitely from the Government Returns, etc., to have been an inside cylinder double-framed single, but having, carrying wheels of 3 ft. 8 in. and 2 ft. 10 in., as stated by Stretton, and this latter point at first sight appears to partly corroborate Stretton's list. In the same list the "Day" engine for the London & Greenwich is stated, to have been Haigh Fdy. No. 36, delivered to a Mr. Dav at London in 1839. In A.R Bennetts First Railway in London, 1913. this locomotive is shown as a 5 feet six-wheeled "single" having cylinders 11 x 18 and also given as built by "Day" (thus agreeing with Whishaw and as adopted by Stretton).
Bennett, however, adds a footnote "also described as Summers & Grove," and as he had access to the early Greenwich Railway documents it may safely be taken that the engine was actually built by Summers, Grove & Day, and the mythical "Mr. Day of London" becomes eliminated. We are thus confronted with two inexplicable errors in the Haigh Fdy. list and—unless it be assumed the No. 36 should be considered as representing the second of the engines to Bourne, Bartley, which is too remarkable a supposed coincidence for this writer to accept—consequently that list falls from its supposed authenticity and becomes merely a computed list with manifest errors.
It is, of course, possible to suppose that, having once discarded the infallibility of the Haigh Fdy. list, St. George and St. David were nevertheless in fact built by the Haigh Fdy.; this may have been so, but in view of the remarkable resemblance and circumstances of these two engines and that built by Summers, Groves & Day for the Greenwich Railway, it seems legitimate to speculate as to whether all three were built by the Southampton firm. .
The so far definitely known locomotive productions of the Southampton firm are therefore:-
1837. 1 loco. to the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R., U.S.A.
1839. 1 loco. to the Greenwich Railway.
1840. 1 loco. to the L.S.W. Railway Southampton, a single, later No. 16,
and the possible addition of:-
1839. 1 loco. to Bourne, Bartley & Co St. George, sold to North Union.
1839. 1 loco. to Bourne, Bartley & Co St. David, sold to Bolton & Leigh,
and that the Millbrook Foundry was of a fair capacity is evident from the fact that the L.S.W. Railway sent locomotives there for work as extensive as rebuilding, as late as 1852.

Locomotives by George England & Co. S.H.P. Higgins
Mr. Coles reference to a locomotive named Little England that worked as a contractor's engine in Sweden calls to mind the small 2-2-2 well tanks for which the firm of George England & Co. became so well known. In itself the name is a very uncertain guide, but its appearance on an engine in Sweden may revive speculation on the fate of the Little England that was sent to the Great Exhibition of 1851. In the mid-1860s an engme answenng its description seems to have turned up in Boultons siding at Ashton-under-Lyne, and there the matter rests. (See "The Chronicles of Boulton's Siding," A. R. Bennett.) The total output of locomotives of the Little England type is probably greater than is generally recognised. In September, 1850, an engine of this class was tried on the Liverpool, . Crosby. and Southport line; it was probably acquired by the L.C. & S., and may later—about 1855 — have passed to the L.Y.R. Contemporary press accounts record this engine as the sixth of the type to have been built.
At one time the L. & N.W.R. possessed an engine of the "Little England" class, named Dwarf.. Its earliest recorded appearance is in 1862. Perhaps this date is significant, for in 1862 the George England well tank Shannon, which is now preserved at Wantage Road station, came into L.N.W.R. stock. Could it be that Dwarf was acquired, together with Shannon, from the Sandy and ·Potton Railway? [The LNWR also possessed a second engine of this type named Carlisle. see The Locomotive, p. 8, 1911.-Ed.]