THE BRITISH OVERSEAS RAILWAYS HISTORICAL TRUST   A UK Registered Educational Charity

Locomotive Railway & Carriage Review

Volume 58 (1952)

Indexing incomplete.

Number 713 (January)

Number 714 (February)

Brockhouse Engineering. Uniline train.?
Cited by Macnair Backtrack, 2020, 34, 580 with illuustration

British Railways class 4-6-2 locomotives. 20-1. 2 illustrations, diagram (side elevaion)
Clan class

Number 715 (March)

Major Sells on Rhodesian railway locomotives. Articles on German Federal Railways, Norwegian trains (item for sale in California).

Number 718 (June)

[Cafeteria car British Railways]. 91
Use of Formica in interior: cited from Volume 61, pp. 10-11

B.R. standard class "3" 2-6-2T. 93-4. illustration, diagram (side elevaion)

Number 719 (July)

John Poole. Locomotives of the Buenos Aires Western Railway, 1890-1947.  -97

[SECR Pullman cars]. J.T. Howard Turner
Letter cited by John Pelham Maitland

Number 721 (September)

Motive power. 135-6.
Mr. C.M. Cock, M.I.E.E., M.I.Mech.E., M.I.Loco.E. A.M.I.E.(Aust.), President of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers for the 1952/53 session, chose "Motive Power for Railways" as the subject of his address, delivered to the Institution in London on the 24 September. His remarks mainly concerned some alternatives to the reciprocating steam locomotive and he ventured to assume, in view of his long association with the alternatives, that members would have been dis- appointed if he had not addressed them on that basis. The President explained that a very careful assess- ment is necessary to determine real values of traction in respect of cost, and efficient and reliable movement of traffic. The assessment must also take into account the suitability of the tractor to the particular territory. In the President's opinion there is a good deal of misconception regarding railcars, probably arising from a belief that they are mere 'buses on a railway. The fact is that important developments have been made in diesel-powered units in recent years and they have become firmly established in many countries. Multiple unit sets, in a sense, are something between electrification and the ordinary steam hauled passenger train and it was stated that there seemed to be great scope on British Railways for this kind of development.
Although on equation the electric locomotive is easily the most powerful and efficient of all types of locomotive, and the cheapest to maintain, the cost and characteristics of the locomotive itself cannot be excepted in any fair comparison with other forms of traction. Unlike steam and other locomotives it does not contain a prime mover so that a high-priced fixed installation is required to enable it continuously to receive electrical energy. This equipment comprising a contact line, sub-stations and possibly a high-voltage distribution system, is a charge against the running costs of the locomotive, when compared with other forms of traction and the same, of course, applies to multiple unit electric trains. Nevertheless electrification under favourable conditions can be the cheapest and most efficient of all forms of .traction. Reference was made to the three basic electrical systems applied to railway traction, viz., direct current, alternating current single phase, alternating current three phase. As to which of these is the best, no hard and fast dogmatic principles can be laid down; it has been proved beyond any doubt whatever that both the d.c. systems and the a.c single phase low frequency systems can work with maximum reliability and efficiency. There is also promise in the 50 cycle a.c. single phase system. The issue can be decided quite clearly and logically on examination of facts. The justification for the electrification of any railway, and the system to be adopted is primarily, but not entirely, economic; the value of electrification as a capital investment is determined by comparing the working expenses after electrification with those of steam operation under similar conditions, and a reduction in working expenses must be found more than sufficient to meet the additional fixed charges due to electrification. This applies principally to such main line electrification where no increase in traffic due to electrification may be expected. With suburban electrification, however, the track capacity can always be increased. More trains can be run to provide a faster and more frequent service than that provided by the displaced steam service. Although this may result in increased working expenses and so appear speculative, experience has shown, both in this country and abroad, that the improved but more costly services attract substantial increases in traffic with consequent increased nett revenue despite' the greater working expenses due to the improved services.
Electrification has assisted in the development of cheap power in some countries; a good example is South Africa where the primary traction electricity supply system was designed to accommodate the general demand throughout the area traversed by the electric railway. The growth of the traction load, which may be considered the base load, resulted in a reduction of from 0.816d. to 0.48d. in the average price per unit of electrical energy for all purposes on this system between 1927 and 1949 in spite of rising costs of coal used for generation.
The Weir Committee (1931) estimated that complete electrification of British Railways would require some 5,700M units of electrical energy per annum and a recent check confirms that this figure still holds good.
The main items making up first costs of electrification were outlined; in general, the higher the operating voltage the lower are the first costs and the resultant capital charges of the fixed installation. On the other hand, with an increase in operating voltage there is an increase in the cost of the electric locomotives and electrical equipment of coaches; so that to determine the economic effect of the variables on any proposed system of electrification for any particular line or territory the actual case must be worked out, and estimates of costs must be calculated for various voltages. High traffic density tends to favour the adoption of low voltage, and conversely, low traffic density favours a high voltage, but the balance can only be assessed by taking into account the actual conditions of a particular scheme. . The use of single phase SO cycle current was con- sidered and reference given to the progress made. In Britain trials with multiple unit coaches operating on 50 cycles are about to commence on the Lancaster-Morecambe-Heysham line; in this case the d.c. traction motors are fed from rectifiers.
While the 50 cycles system may be attractive insofar as the cost of the fixed installation is concerned, there are on the other harrd disadvantages with the electrical equipment of the vehicles, and the effect of unbalance on the main three phase power network of the single phase traction supply. For various reasons, including economic considerations, the British Transport Commission has accepted the 1,500v. d.c. system as standard for British Railways but the 50 cycles system has not been ruled out for electrification of secondarylines with light traffic.' Considering the diesel electric 'locomotive the President pointed out that the diesel is the most efficient heat engine available at present for practical application in a locomotive but the overall cost of translating efficiency into useful work at the wheel rim must be weighed when determining whether this type of locomotive is indeed more economical than the steam locomotive. There has been a phenomenal growth of diesel traction on the main line railways of North America. During the first six months of 1951 the builders produced an average of 330 units a month of all types above 100 tons and 600 h.p. Reference was made to fuel costs and it was stated that the differential in cost per B. T. U. as between oil and coal is rather more in the U.S.A. than it is in Britain. The average cost per horse power for diesel locomotives in Britain is rather more than double that for steam locomotives whereas in the U.S.A. the contrast is more favourable to diesel locomotives. Of all the factors contributing to the economy of diesel traction in the U.S.A., it would seem that chiefly those concerning capital costs and utilisation might be unfavourable perhaps in Britain.
Taking into account the reiative costs and calorific values of diesel fuel and coal in Britain, a theoretical evaluation indicates that for equivalent work the cost of fuel for the diesel electric locomotive is less than the steam locomotive by about only 10% and this is supported by actual tests. When the respective capital charges are added to the account the higher first cost of the diesel locomotive swings the balance in favour of the steam locomotive to the order of 25% But such conclusions when drawn from particular and individual comparisons are unrealistic. The real general and total costs must take into account the many contributing auxiliary factors when a large number of diesel locomotives displace a larger number of steam engines for equivalent work. So far as steam turbine locomotives are concerned some of the experiments have been costly, but in spite of persistent and patient endeavour nothing so far has emerged as a permanently better substitute for the reciprocating steam locomotive. Attention has been turned to the gas turbine which shows greater promise for locomotive applications, the ultimate hope being that it will enable smaller, cheaper and more powerful locomotives to be built within the limits of existing axle weights and load gauges. The thermal efficiency of gas turbines is limited in practice, at the present stage the best figure yet achieved for the restricted space in a locomotive is 19% at the turbine shaft. The full power efficiency is reduced with electrical transmission to 15.5% at the rail. The French 1,000 h.p. locomotive is claimed to have a thermal efficiency at the turbine shaft, of 33-35% using non-distillate fuel, but the free piston compressor system has not yet been proved in rail service nor are any overall efficiency figures yet available. At the present stage of development the gas turbine locomotive holds some promise of economy in capital and maintenance charges as compared with the diesel locomotive, but until the all day thermal efficiency at the rail can be improved considerably, the margin of overall economy is unlikely to give the gas turbine locomotive superiority over the diesel locomotive. Torque conversion received consideration and the President then dealt with the important subject of energy for traction. The Federation of British Industries estimate that the true shortage of coal in Britain is now between 10M and 20M tons per year and on the present trend will grow to about 50M tons by 1960-65. Apart from conservation, the cost of coal must be a factor of some influence in regard to extravagance in its use and ability to compete with other forms of energy. In 1951 the cost of fuel (exclusive of carriage charges) for operating British Railways was nearly £38M, i.e., 11.2% of the total working expenses.
In conclusion the President stated that he had tried, objectively, to set out the facts as he found them and to clarify some matters of controversy or doubt. concerning the forms of motive power which can be applied to railways today. The steam locomotive has survived for so long, not by any claim to technical superiority but because it is cheap, sturdy, and simple. For these reasons, and for some time ahead, it will remain on many railways in accordance with the concept of George Stephenson. Our coal must be conserved. Unless the Coal Board magically cap. produce more coal of satisfactory quality from yet unknown fields, the position will degenerate from one of gravity to .utmost gravity. Electrification at least will assist in easing the position; complete electrification in this country would save at least 8½M tons. of coal per annum, which is 4% of the present national production. Should nuclear energy become available, electric traction would appear to be [he most convenient way to use it.
This is, of necessity, a considerably abbreviated report on this very interesting address which covered a subject of great importance today.

255 ton British-built locomotives for New South Wales. 137-9. 3 illustrations, diagram (side elevation).
2-8-4+4-8-2  Beyer Garratt supplied by Beyer Peacock for New South Wales Government Railways. Built with cast steel beds supplied by General Steel Castings of America: these weighed 13 tons. The boilers operated at 200 psi, had 63.4ft² grate area and the second batch of 25 were scheduled to incoporate thermic syphons. The total heating surface was 2799ft² with 748ft² of superheat. The locomotives were fitted with mechanical stokers. The four cylinders were 19¼ x 26 in. They were constructed under the authority of the foremer CME Harold Young and his successor W.H. Armstrong.

O.S. Nock, Locomotives of R.E.L. Maunsell, 1912-1947. Part 8. 139-40. illustration
Approximates to Chapter 7 of  The Locomotives of R.E.L. Maunsell, 1911-1937

J.M. Doherty. Diesel locomotives for light railways. 141-4. 3 diagrams, 2 tables
Double bogie design with R. Hornsby & Sons engine and Self Changing Gear Co. transmission

Institution of Locomotive Engineers.  144
Papers announced to be presented at general meetings during the 1952-53 session: 22 October The Development of the Oil Fired Locomotive, W.C. Ikeson, 19 November Stresses in Locomotive Coupling and Connecting Rods, H.I. Andrews, 17 December Recent Developments in the Use of Rubber in Railway Engineering, S.W. Marsh. 1953: 14 January Limitations on Train Performance with Electric Traction, A.S. Robertson. 18 February Operating Experiences with Two Gas Turbine Locomotives, A.W.J. Dymond. 18 March AnnuaI Generall Meeting) Locomotive Maintenance, R.C. Bond. 15 April Running Tests of a 500 H.P. Diesel Mechanical Locomotive, B. Reed . The Sir Seymour Biscoe Tritton Lecture will be delivered by Mr. F.Q. den Hollander, President, The Netherlands Railway Co.

Kings Cross 1852-1952. 144
To commemorate the centeriarv of the opening of Kings Cross Station an Exhibition relating primarily to the Great Northern main line-and to a lesser extent to the East Coast route generally-will be held at the station from October 13-18 inclusive. This will be divided into two sections, one of which will, it is hoped, include examples of rolling stock, while the other will be devoted to models, documents, photographs and small exhibits. It is believed that a number of items which would be of great interest are in private ownership and anyone possessing relics, etc., which they would be prepared to lend is asked to offer these, before 30 September . M. B. Thomas, Public Relations and Publicitv Officer, Room 30, Marylebone Station, London, N.W.1. Every care will be taken of loan exhibits.

Exhibition of Railroadiana. 144
The National Book League is staging an exhibition of railway books, prints and relics at 7, Albernarle Street, London, W1, from 10 September to 5 November, In conjunction with this a series of lectures is being given each Tuesday evening at 7.30 p.m. from September 16th to October 14th; the speakers are all well known in the realm of railway history. The exhibition is open 11.0 a.m. to 5.0 p.m. on weekdays except Tuesdays and Thursdays when it will close at 8.0 p.m. The lectures will commence at 7.30 p.m. [Ottley 7827]

Sells. Sierra Leone Government Rly.145-7. 4 illustrations, diagram (side elevation)
There were eight 2-6-2+2-6-2 Beyer Garratt locomotives in service plus five 2-8-0+0-8-2 locomotives which had been converted from the former in 1943-5 to enable heavier trains to be hauled, but at the loss of ease of working over sharp curvature. Photographs include Banya Junction.

Austerity 0-6-0 saddle tank, B.R. 147. illustration.
Describes them as J94 class which is not strictly true as built for National Coal Board by Hunslet Engine Co. to same dimensions, but with better quality fittings. Order for twelve locomotives in hand and order for further 37 placed by NCB at cost of £350,000. Illustration shows J94 in York Yard with a large "A" on the bunker. See also feature in Locomotive October 1950.

John Poole. Locomotives of the Buenos Aires Western Railway, 1890-1947. 148-9. diagram (side elevation)
Continued from page 97. Class 15 4-8-0 was supplied by Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth in 1931. Originally cast steel beds had been specified, but the manufacturer could not supply them and the specification had to be modified. The design was described in the 15 May 1931 Issue p. 147. The locomotives were later fitted with double chimneys and "blinkers" (smoke deflectors). They had 20½ x 28 in. cylinders. There were problems with the piston valves and the tail-rods were removed. The railway was sold to the Argentine Government on 1 March 1948.

British Railways. Western Region. 149
0-6-0T (0-6-0PT) Nos. 8487-90 and 9477-9 had been completed by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns Ltd.

British Railways. Southern Region. 149
2-6-2T Nos. 82011-13 (built at Swindon) had entered service.

British Railways. Eastern Region. 149
Class 4 2-6-0 Nos. 42155-60; diesel mechanical Class DM1 No. 11103  and 0-4-4-0 EM1 Nos. 26045-6 had entered service

Franco-Crosti type boiler. 149.
To be fitted to some 9F Class 2-10-0

Fibreglass insulation. 149-51. 3 illustrations.
Boiler insulation, insulation for dining and sleeping cars and tank wagons. Use in resin glass plastic laminates. Refers to a convention held at Leamington.

M. Han. Repair of wheels by welding. 151-2. diagram.

Obituary. 152
We regret we have to record the passing, on August 23, at the age of 81, of Mr. C. B. Collett, O.B.E., C.M.E. of the Great Western Railway from 1922 to 1941. Not only did he perpetuate the tradition associated with Swindon but himself made considerable contributions to the cause of standardisation. During his tenure of office considerable improvements were made in rolling stock generally but his" Castle" and " King" class locomotives will ensure him a foremost place among locomotive designers.

L.M.R. rebuilt turbomotive No. 46202  Princess Anne. 152
Known familiarly as the Turbomotive former L.M.S. No. 6202 was a remarkable and in many ways a successful locomotive. The engine and its operation were comprehensively dealt with in the paper presented in 1946 to the Institution of Locomotive Engineers by Mr. R. C. Bond. British Railways have recently rebuilt this engine as a " Princess" class 4-cylinder reciprocating one and it has now been named Princess Anne.

Correspondence. 152
[SECR Pullman cars]. J. Pelham Maitland.
Referring to the letter from J.T. Howard Turner in the issue of Locomotive Mag for July 15, relative to the S.E.R. Car Trains, it is of interest to point out that the car Carmen involved in the Sevenoaks accident, stood up to the shock in a remarkable manner, despite the fact that it hit the intermediate pier of Shoreham Lane bridge broadside. Its behaviour was in vivid contrast to the ordinary coach (5518) immediately preceding, which broke up almost completely, with a heavy list of fatalities.

Reviews. 152
Directory of Railway Officials & Year Book, 1952-53. Tothill Press.
The new edition of this valuable reference book, now in its 58th year of publication, generally follows the pattern of previous editions, but it has been thoroughly revised. Some new entries are included and in other instances information is considerably amplified. Statistics specially prepared by the British Transport Commission are among the many features which contribute to the indispensibility of this work in so many establishments.

Modern Locomotives. Brian Reed. Temple Press
This is a further edition of the popular book which first appeared three years ago. It has been extensively revised and contains many new illustrations. Explaining in simple language the technical whys and wherefores of the construction and operation of all types of locomotives, this book will be in considerable demand by boys—if they can get it away from their fathers.

British Trains In Pictures.
Thirty-two pages of photogravure reproductions depicting railway trains in motion and at rest. London; Ian Allan, Ltd.

Davey, Paxman & Co., Ltd., 152
Latest traction brochure, No. 1270. This pamphlet refers to the Paxman range of diesel engines for varying traction duties of 250-1,500 B.H.P., or combinations of engines for installation as multiple units. Engines of this make are fitted to many of the diesel locomotives which have been described in our pages, including the Fell locomotive, B.R .. No. 10800, and the Hunslet Engine Company's heavy duty eight-coupled locomotives for Peru .

Number 723 (November)

Performance and efficiency tests. 167.
Editorial comment on Bulletins puiblished by Railway Executive on locomotive types following tests on the Rugby or Swindon plants and on the road.

Indian metre gauge Pacifics. 168-9. illustration, diagram (side elevaion)
In June 1952 the first of an order for 100 locomotives was completed by the North British Locomotice Company for the Indian Railways under the consultants Rendel, Palmer & Tritton. The locomotives had welded steel fireboxes with thermic syphons, 15¼ x 24in. cylinders, 28ft² grate area and operated at 210 psi.

English Electric Co. Ltd. 169.
Produced pamphlets to publicize the Company's involvement in electrification of Polish State Railways Warsaw suburban lines; the Liverpool to Southport service  (probably Ottley 697) and the Liverpool Street to Shenfield service  (probably Ottley 683).

2-8-2 oil-fired locomotives, Hedjaz Railways. 170-1. 2 illustrations.
105 cm gauge line which operated between Amman in Jordan to Deraa on the Syrian frontier where they worked forward to Damscus. The locomotive stock was nine: mainly six North British Locomotive Co. 4-6-4T engines built for the the railways in Malaya. Three further 2-8-2 locomotives (of the Indian YD type) had been supplied by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns Ltd. They incorporated Laidlaw Drew oil burners and enabled the trains to be accelaerated. They were unloaded by floating crane at Beirut, hauled to Damascus over the rack operated route through Rayak and thence delivered to Amman. The engines are painted black and lined in red, and are exceptionally well maintained by the Mechanical Engineer, Spiro Psorulla. The administration of the Railway is under the General Manager Ali Bey Khrenou.

Freight handling—B.R. 171. 2 illustrations.
At a demonstration held at Battersea, the latest types of BR freight wagons were exhibited, in addition to many devicesemployed to speed-up handling in goods depots. The range of 20 types of wagon exhibited showed progress made since 1948, when British Railways took. over 1,200,000 wagons formerly owned by the railway compames or by private firms. There were 480 different types in production, and despite the necessity to provide many special types for the needs of individual traf£ics, it is intended eventually to replace these 480 designs by not more than about 150, thus obtaining great economies in design and production. 65 types of British Railways standard freight wagons had already been produced. Among the new wagons were two coal-carrying ones With a capacity of 24½ tons (instead of the normal 13-16 tons) , which was intended to be the standard for this class of traffic, in the years to come. One of the types was hoppered and the other had four side doors and one end door. Each wagon loaded weighed 35 tons. In both instances all-steel welded construction was employed, but in the case of the fiat bottom wagon there was an alternative riveted design for body and frame: Both types were illustrated. The size of wagons for general merchan- dise continued to be governed by the demands of trade, and for this reason the existing capacities of 12-tons for covered vans and 13-tons for open wagons were being retained.

B.R. London Midland Region. 171.
New locomotives into traffic: class 7 4-6-2 No. 70025 (built at Crewe for Western Region), and class 4 2-6-4 tank No. 80000 (built at Derby for Scottish Region) and Nos. 80046-7 (built at Bnghton for L.M. Region). The last survivor of the L&Y 2-4-2 tanks had been withdrawn from service. Built at Horwich in 1910 as No. 1536, it became L.M.S. No. 10925 after the amalgamation and, latterly, No. 50925 until withdrawn.

B.R. Eastern Region. 171.
The following engines had recently been placed in service: 0-4-4-0 electric class EM1, Nos. 26048, 27049; 0-6-0 diesel class DES1, Nos. 12123-12125.

Motor coaches for the Solothurne-Berne Railway. 174. illustration
Three Oerlikon motor coaches with driving trailers supplied for metre gauge railway which operated on three voltages: 1200V dc Solothurne to Zollikofen; at 85V dc from there to Berne and at 600 v dc in urban Berne.

The Model Engineer Exhibition. 174.
Held at New Horticultural Hall. Opened on 20 October by Duke of Edinburgh. Lists  recipents of awards.

Sells. The Gold Coast Government Railway and is locomotives. 175-7. map, gradient profile.
522 miles of 3ft 6in gauge route with lines connecting Kumasi with Sekondi and Accra. The main freight handled was cocoa, manganese, bauxite and timber.

The Steel Company of Wales Ltd. 178-9. illustration

Stainless steel coaches in France and Algeria. 179. illustration
Budd-type carriages constracted by Carel Fouché & Cie, Paris.

955 h.p. diesel-electric locos. with 10-ton axle load. 180-1. illustration, diagram (side & front elevations), plan
A1A-A1A type developed jointly by Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. Ltd, Crompton Parkinsn Ltd and Sulzer Bros. (London) Ltd. Nineteen locomotives being supplied to narrow gauge railways in West Africa and Australia.

BR London Midland Region. 181.
New Class 4 2-6-4 mixed traffic  locomotives into service: Nos. 80044 and 80045 (built at Brighton)

B.R. light diesel trains. 181.
Announcement that the West Riding of Yorkshire would be the location for the 16 motor car units using Leylands Motors 125 h.p. bus engines and Walker Bros. (Wigan) mechanical transmissions. Each two car unit would accommodate 16 first class and 124 third class passengers.

BR Scottish Region. 181
New Class 4 2-6-4 mixed traffic locomotive into service: Nos. 80000.