Proceedings Institution of Mechanical Engineers:
1920-1929
Back to key file
Robson, P.W.
Road transport by steam-vehicles. 639-61. Disc.: 661-72. + Plates 5 and 6
(6 illus.). 9 diagrs.
Sir Henry Fowler (662-3) said that, having
been the first observer of a steam-driven lorry which went out on official
trial in this country, at which trials he had the pleasure of meeting a prominent
Member of the Council, he could not help looking back and seeing the great
developments which had taken place in these vehicles since that time. He
had been particularly interested in what the Author had said with regard
to electric vehicles, because he represented a firm which had, he believed,
the largest fleet of this type of motors in the country, which they found
extremely useful for town deliveries. He was sorry the figures which he could
put forward, and which had been published quite recently in Motor
Transport, could not be compared with those the Author had given, because
the latter had evidently been chosen from typical heavy working under good
conditions of loading; these conditions were one of the great essentials
for getting the best service not only out of steam-vehicles but any type
of motor, and one which railway companies had very gwat difficulty in finding.
In view of the constant changes in the rates paid for labour at the present
time it would add materially to the usefulness of the Paper if the Author
would state, in reference to the figures given on page 642, the date to which
these figures applied, as this would be of use for future reference.
With regard to the life of vehicles, his firm purchased two motor vans in
1903 which had only just been disposed of, although for a very considerable
time they ran for twenty hours out of the twenty-four. They had a few
steam-vehicles, one of which had already had a life of sixteen or seventeen
years. A tractor built at Lincoln had a life of about ten years and was still
working satisfactorily. One point which had not been touched upon, but which
was of vital interest from a warehousing standpoint, was the fire risk with
steam-vehicles. That subject had received much greater consideration of late
years than in earlier times, but it was a factor which militated against
the use of steam-vehicles under certain conditions. He was sorry that from
a purely railway standpoint he could not discuss the question which the Author
had touched upon in the early part of his Paper in the time at present at
his disposal. It must be remembered, however, that motor-vehicles at present
ran on a permanent way–the roads–which was practically speaking
free. He lived on the side of a main road between two cities about 60 miles
apart, and he knew the difficulty he experienced in using a push-bicycle
over that road at the present time, and more so with a fairly light car on
four wheels. Undoubtedly this question of roads was a subject which must
be handled before the motor-vehicle could be satisfactorily dealt with on
the lines suggested by the Author, as many of the roads were at present in
a disgraceful state. Until a central authority was established, the roads
would not be put into a condition in which they could be used for steam or
petrol traction to the greatest advantage, and the question naturally arose
as to who was to pay for this. He did not wish to discuss the question of
the new taxation of vehicles, but he thought it would hardly meet the state
of things which the Author laid down as likely to occur in the future.
Perry, T.B.
The uniflow steam-engine. 731-64.
Nelson, Robert and John Dewrance
Waste-heat utilization. 643-7.
Fowler, Henry and John Dewrance
Superheating. 649-52.
Ormandy, W.R. and Loughnan St L Pendred
Liquid, powdered and colloidal fuels. 653-7
Dalby, W.E. and Stanton, T.E.
The indicator as an aid to economy
Fowler, Henry
The electrification of English main line railways: Joint Meeting of the Midland
Branch of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Birmingham and District
Association of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and of the South Midland
Centre of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, in the Council Chamber
of the Birmingham Corporation on Friday 20 January 1922.. 317-30.
A discussion meeting chaired by Sir Henry Fowler. Individual contributions
were made by: Gresley (317-19) who was
strongly in favour of the electrification of suburban railways, and railways
where it was necessary to spend a large amount of money in doubling lines.
In those cases he thought it was very likely that the electrification could
show a great advantage. For long lines of railways, with traffic which was
not dense, it appeared to him that unless the cost of electric supply could
be reduced very much below the present figure, there was not likely to be
sufficient financial return for the money which would be involved in carrying
out the scheme.
William Willox (former Chief Engineer, Metropolitan
Railway, 319-20): since 1913 the price of coal, the cost of materials,
and the wage rates had risen greatly, and passenger and freight prices had
risen causing railways were to lose traffic. Competition from road traction
had arisen, and was as serious as competition from electric tramways and
motor omnibuses. Gradually suburban railways were electrified at a considerable
cost (mostly owing to each railway having to provide its own power station),
and were successful. Electrification had taken place on a number of railways.
The Metropolitan Railway in 1913 carried nearly 122 million passengers, and
182 millions in 1919. The Lancashire and Yorkshire trebled its traffic. Sir
W. Forbes of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, stated that his
electrified lines broaght 150% more traffic and 200% more money, and showed
on the capital expended a return of over 15%. and wanted to electrify the
main line to the coast towns. The East London Railway–in the electrifying
of which he himself had a hand–was largely in tunnel and passed under
the Thames in Brunel's tunnel. This line was electrified without interfering
with the traffic. Up to 1913 it was worked by steam, and carried 5,506,664
passengers; after this the number of passengers steadily increased, and in
1920 the number was 16,307,382, an increase of 184%. The London and South
Western Railway electrification increased their passenger traffic by 100%.
In 1915 the North Eastern Railway equipped their Shildon-Newport line, which
with sidings was 50 miles long, with overhead electrical track equipment.
This line dealt with heavy mineral traffic drawn by powerful electric
locomotives, five of which did the work of thirteen steam locomotives. In
America there were a number of cases where main line working had been and
was being turned to electric working, with most favourable results, especially
where there were heavy gradients and tunnels. In South Africa the railway
from Glencoe Junction to Pietermaritzburg, 171 miles, was to be
electrified.
Owing to the continuous increase of traffic into terminal stations the question
of accommodation arose. This might be solved by costly extension of the terminus
or by electrification. The Metropolitan Railway hauled its main line steam
trains from 7 or 9 miles out by electric locomotives and the same thing would
have to precede main line electrification in many cases. The cost of the
electrification on such railways as the Metropolitan, including power-house
and everything, was somewhere about .£20,000 a mile pre-war cost. The
cost of electrifying the East London Railway, which received current from
Lots Road, was about £5,400 per mile pre-WW1. The power-houses were
intended to be built near the coal fields where coal should be plentiful
and cheap. There was no engineering difficulty in electrifying existing steam
railways, even when the traffic was dense, with either the contact-rail system
or the overhead-track equipment. No cases were known on the Metropolitan
Railway where men had been killed or injured if ordinary care were taken.
The cost of ordinary maintenance of a rail-contact line was found to be
£12.64 per mile per annum. There were over 600 trains a day in and out
of the main line part of Baker Street Station. The old station was pulled
down and every line in the station was altered in position. A new station
and new offices were built on columns over the lines and platform, and no
serious accident happened to any man and no train was delayed. On the West
London line, electrification was carried out while the traffic was carried
on regularly, and, with the added 2s. per week per man " juice )) money,
maintenance amounted to £13.1 per mile per annum. As to increase of
staff only one gang of five men was added, and this was in the densest 9
miles of line. With power supplied for electrification, signalling could
be electric or electro-pneumatic, and track-circuiting could be readily installed
throughout, thus adding additional safeguards, and the sections might be
lengthened or shortened in order to accommodate more trains.
Concluding, Sir Henry welcomed the pertinent points raised by Dr. Kapp. There
were many points with regard to the criticism of steam and electric locomotives
which might be dealt with if there was time, but the consideration they wanted
to lay hold upon was whether it was going to pay to electrify our main lines.
There was no insuperable electrical or mechanical difficulty in the
electrification of main lines, but there was a difficulty in regard to the
financial side of the problem when they were dealing with a low density of
traffic. He would again quote his friend, Mr. A.W. Gibbs, who said the
difficulties were more mechanical than electrical. The electrical side of
the problem seemed to be perfectly sound. There were certain mechanical
difficulties. One of them, unfortunately, had not been touched upon, that
was the question of low centre of gravity and wheel arrangement.
Fowler, Henry and H.S. Hele-Shaw
Metallurgy in relation to mechanical engineering. 331-5.
Dewhurst, P.C.
British and American locomotive design and practice: some comparative comments
thereon from practical experience. 375-511.
Sauvage, Edouard
Feed-water heaters for locomotives. 715-26. Disc.: 727-34. 9 diagrs.
With the exception of the exhaust steam injector, pumps were required
as adjuncts to the heaters. Disregarding pumps set in motion by the mechanism
of the engine direct acting steam-pumps, similar to the Westinghouse
air-compressor, were used. The steam consumption of these pumps, in proportion
to the work done, was large. They exhausted into the heater, but the heat
from that source, coming out of the boiler, reduced the recuperation due
to the main exhaust. Temperature measurements showed that out of eighty calories,
twenty came from live steam and sixty were recuperated. An advantage of the
pump was that it made regulation of a continuous feed, at whatever rate wanted,
with ease.
Amongst earlier heaters, the Kirchweger had been largely used to warm water
in the tender tank. The same plan had been used for a long time on the London,
Brighton and South Coast Railway. Couche also cites the pumps of Clarke,
of Bouch, and the Ehrhardt heater. The Chiazzari pump took water from the
tender and delivered it to a heater, receiving also exhaust steam, and then
returned the hot water to the boiler. It worked from the engine mechanism.
The Mazza injector took water at a very high temperature, and worked in connexion
with a Kirchweger heater. The Koerting double injector took water warmed
up to 75° in a tubular heater. The Lencauchez system had, like the
Chiazzari, a cold-water pump, a heater condensing steam in the water, and
a hot-water pump delivering into the boiler. Exhaust steam passed first through
an oil separator, working on the principle of changes of direction. The pumps
were worked from the engine mechanism, but as at high speeds their action
is inefficient, Lencauchez proposed to reduce the speed by gearing..
Principal appliances in actual use were the Davies and Metcalfe injector,
Weir heater, Caille-Potonie Heater, Worthington heater and Knorr heater.
Raven, Vincent L.
Electric locomotives. 735-81.
Volume 105 (1923)
Bond, Roland C.
The Walschaert locomotive valve-gear. 1137-41.
Author awarded a prize of £3 for this Paper, which was read in
Manchester on 14th December 1922, and in London on 19th March 1923.
Diamond, E.L.
Recent improvements in the efficiency of the steam-locomotive. 53-68.
Author awarded a prize of £5 for this paper, which was read in
Manchester on 8th November 1923, and in London on 21st January 1924.
General meeting [the welcoming of President Sir Vincent Raven] by William Henry Patchell.. 607-10.
Gresley, Herbert N.
The three-cylinder high-pressure locomotive. 927-67. Disc.: 968-86. 9 illus.,
15 diagrs., 6 tables.
This paper is of great significance as in it he attempts to outline
his design philosophy in a way in which only the greatest engineers were
prepared to do (Churchward, Maunsell, Stanier and Bulleid were others).
Advantages of the three-cylinder locomotive were summarized as under:
During the discussion, opened by James Clayton Gresley had to withstand a sharp attack on (1) the Patent priority of the derived valve gear (Holcroft 1909), and (2) the inherent weakness of the derived gear (at least as developed by Holcroft). Clayton (968-70) gave details of the satisfactory performance of No. A822 in service, but stated his preference for three independent sets of valve gear. This may explain the change from conjugated gears, on the S.R. Clayton was critical of the irregularity of the derived motion. Nevertheless, Clayton did support Gresley on the advantages of three cyclinders,.. Support for derived systems came from H.P.M. Beames (976-7): " it was the experience of all locomotive engineers that the less they got inside the frames the better. It was difficult to get a man to spend more time inside the frames than was necessary.". McDermid (J. Instn Loco. Engrs, 1932, 22, 291 (Paper 291) quoted this paper and this led to further discussion on the draught in three-cylinder locomotives.
Raven (p. 978) noted that "there was a great similarity between the three-cylinder engines which he built and those which Mr. Gresley built to-day, with the exception of the valve-gear. So far as that was concerned, he always adhered to the Stephenson valve-gear, as he believed in simplicity. He used the three sets of valve-gear, and if he went back to railwork to-day, he would do the same again. The reason why he built three-cylinder engines was because they had on the North Eastern Railway a three-cylinder compound engine designed by Mr. Smith, who was the chief draughtsman to them in the days gone by, and it was on account of the even starting effort given by the 120° crank they were able to get with a three-cylinder engine, which led him to adopt it. One also realized that one was getting within the limit of gauges for high-power engines. The cylinders of the very large two-cylinder engines often struck the platforms, and therefore it was necessary to make some alteration. The particular advantages were the balancing of the engine, the starting effort, and the reduction of hammer effect on the permanent way. He was pleased indeed to be able to study the details of the advantages so admirably carried out by Mr. Gresley in his dynamometer-car tests. They bore out what his own experience had been, and he really thought the distinct advantages of the three-cylinder engine for locomotive purposes had been proved. The advantages of that engine could not be more clearly set forth than as given on page 946.
Mr. Clayton drew attention to the valve-gear. He did discover, after designing his arrangement, that Mr. Holcroft had devised a valve-gear for- three-cylinder engines, but it had not the same arrangement of levers. Mr. Holcroft had far more levers than he used. ' The other point Mr. Clayton referred to was very important, namely, the over-running of the valve-gear. He had had the same experience as they had had on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, that was when running at high speeds excessive travel on the middle valve occurred when steam was shut off and the engine put into full gear, and the steam-chest covers were either broken or damaged. The trouble was overcome by allowing more clearance, and by using ball-bearings in all the working parts. The levers of the central valve-gear on the three-cylinder engines which he had built had all ball-bearings of the Hoffman type. He had built an engine with roller bearings fitted to all pins of the Walschaerts gear.
After five years' work, with one exception, the rest of the bearings were the same as those originally put in; the wear was so slight.
Of course, they were expensive, but they had been so successful that he was extending the experiment by fitting more engines up in the same way.
Another question raised by Mr. Clayton was also important: He said there were eight points where there were pins in the Author's particular valve-gear, and he said there were only eight points if they introduced an ordinary separate valve-gear for the middle cylinder. He (Mr. Gresley) quite agreed, but in his gear there were eight pin-joints, only requiring little attention for lubrication, the ball bearings having grease cups which ran f9r a long time without any attention. With a separate valve-gear for inside cylinders' having eight working points, one of these would be an eccentric on the axle,
In replying to Mr. Sisson (page 972) Gresley referred to the question of triple expansion. Of course, that could not be used successfully on a locomotive because they could not condense, and the whole success of that system was contingent upon having a condenser. Mr. Webb built a triple-expansion engine at Crewe, and they at Crewe in those days thought there was no engine like the three-cylinder compound, but when he built a triple-expansion and it did not work quite so well, and although it was hoped it would be better than the compounds, the hopes were not realized and it got the name of Ichabod, because the glory had departed from Israel. (Laughter.) Mr. Bowden (page 973) raised the question of a reduced boiler repair bill. He (Mr. Gresley) had not taken that as being one of the advantages, although obviously it followed as one. of the subsidiary advantages of the use of the three-cyli:p.der engine.
Advantage had not been taken of the increased weight permissible on bridges due to better balancing. The engineers of the country imposed certain limits to the weight taken on a single pair of wheels, and they had not cared to increase the weights if the engines were three-cylinder, because it had not been proved that the hammer-blow was less. The Bridge Research Committee had found that th~ three-cylinder engine gave very much less hammer-blow on the bridges than the two-cylinder engines, and when they came to issue their report he hoped they would bear that in mind in considering the question of allowing greater weights with properly balanced three-cylinder engines.
Raven, Vincent L.
Address by the President [of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers]. 1085-6.
Aspinall, John A.F..
Some railway notes old and new. (The 12th Thomas Hawksley Lecture). 1107-51.
Guy, H.L.
The economic value of increased steam pressure. 99-213.
Kitson Clark, E.
An internal-combustion locomotive. 333-98.
Diamond, E.L.
An investigation into the cylinder losses on a compound locomotive. 465-79.
Disc.: 480-517. 10 diagrs., 5 tables.
Excursions [Birmingham Summer Meeting]. 647-717.
Messrs. Allen Everitt and Sons, Kingston Metal Works,
Smethwick. 672-3
From a modest foundation in 1769, Messrs. Everitt had built up a modern
factory covering sixteen acres for the production of non-ferrous metals,
and especially tubes. Since WW1 tube mills had been rebuilt and had been
equipped with the most recent appliances for economic production. They had
also rebuilt and refurnished their research department and installed melting
and heating furnaces of the latest designs. The firm was the first in this
country to employ electrically heated furnaces for the production of tube
castings. Within recent years they had made a speciality of cupro-nickel
condenser tubes, and these were successful in resisting corrosion and erosion
and were installed in several important power stations around the
world.
The Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company,
Saltley Works, Birmingham. 682-3.
Works established by Joseph Wright, a coach-builder, in 1845, to meet
demand for simple wooden four-wheeled carriages and wagons then in use. Since
then the works had expanded to meet the growing demands of the railways,
and then covered about fifty acres. Due to increasing scarcity of best quality
timber, steel and aluminium were being used for body construction, the
body-framing being sometimes of wood covered with steel panels, sometimes
of metal throughout, but more often a steel framework finished internally
with wood. A special feature of the carriages built for the tube railways
in this country was that all timber was fireproof, and the cars were usually
lined with sound and heat insulation.
To meet world-wide competition, the works had concentrated on speed of
production. Two examples were the delivery of 200 Indian four-wheeled
steel-covered goods wagons in eight weeks, and 500 forty-ton steel bogie
grain-wagons for South Africa in twenty weeks. Such output demanded an extensive
plant, and the shops were arranged for the progressive passage of a great
variety of vehicles through the works. The drawing office contained a staff
of over a hundred draughtsmen. In designing, great attention was being given
to the reduction of weight, whilst maintaining adequate strength. Another
aid to rapidity of construction was the extensive range of bushed drilling
templates and tools provided for each order. This ensured interchangeability
of parts, so that a complete vehicle can be quickly assembled from pieces
taken at random.
Raw materials entered the works at the outer end, and were distributed by
a cross-gantry, steel and iron being dealt with on the left, and timber on
the right. The sections and plates were straightened and machined, assembled
and riveted in large shops equipped with overhead cranes. Adjoining was the
smithy, and the waste heat from the coal-fired furnaces was used to generate
steam for the steam-hammers and the power house. In the saw-mill over 30,000
ft3 of timber were handled per month. After machining and sanding,
the wood parts were delivered to the finishing and body shops for assembly.
The final, and one of the most important stages of production was painting.
Here great skill and the very best materials were required to withstand corrosion
and the heat of foreign climates; several coats of paint being applied, and
a specially heated and dustfree shop was provided. The majority of coaches
manufactured for export had to be completely dismantled and packed, but some
were shipped complete. In most cases these coaches fouled the English loading
gauge and special tranship bogies had to be constructed with screw-gear,
to give lateral movement, and all transport to the port of shipment was done
over the week-end. In conjunction with the other works controlled by the
Metropolitan Carriage Company, an estimated annual output up to 15,000 wagons
and 600 coaches could be achieved.
The Midland Railway-carriage and Wagon Company,
Midland Works, Washwood Heath. 684.
This was one of the oldest railway rolling-stock firms in Britain,
having been established in 1853. Then works were completed in 1912 and were
up-to-date in lay-out and equipment. The establishment on the iron side included
wheel forge, general forge, smithy, and press shop, die shop, foundry, machine
shop, steel erection shop, and power station ; these together covered an
area of nearly nine acres. The buildings on the wood side comprised a timber
shed and gantry, saw-mill, wood wagon-building shops, carriage body-building
shop, coach finishing shop, paint shop, polishing and trimming shop, and
general stores, which occupied an area of about eight acres.
The saw-mill included a sixty spindle drill for drilling all holes in wagon
sole-bars simultaneously, and double-ended tenoning machines, one of which
was specialIy designed to include trenching in its operations. AlI scrap,
sawdust and shavings were collected underground and conveyed to the power
house boilers. The latest timber-drying plant was installed. The wagon shop
was capable of dealing with 120 standard coal wagons a week, all components
being made to jigs and templates. Electrical power was distributed by a
three-wire direct-current system at 440 volts. Steam was generated at 175
psi with 150° superheat, and was taken from the power house through
a reducing-valve at 100 psi into the forge and smithy. The exhaust from the
hammers and drop-stamps was returned to a steam-accumulator and finally passed
through mixed pressure turbines to condensers. There were also vertical
high-pressure reciprocating engines which could work in series with the turbines,
either alone or in parallel with the smithy, or else could exhaust direct
to the condensers. These arrangements reduce to a minimum the chance of total
failure.
London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company, Chief
Mechanical' Engineer's Department's Works, Derby. 699-702.
These works are mainly concerned with the building and repairing of the 3,000
locomotives in service on the Midland Division of the London Midland and
Scottish Railway, and occupy an area of eighty acres, of which about twenty
are covered by shops, stores and offices. When fully occupied 4,500 men and
youths are employed. Some of the shops have been in existence since 1839.
A particularly interesting one of this period is No. 1 Round Shed, where
light boiler repairs are now carried out ; this wa>s built in 1839, and
was the first engine-shed 60 be constructed with a central turntable and
with radiating trac,ks. The works have been addcd to from 6ime to time, the
largest extension taking place, in 1874, and consequently the lay-out is
not an ideal one. An important feature of the shops is the progress system,
whereby the position of various components is shown on cards which are
conspicuously displayed. These show daily the progress of t>he work and
indicate when it should be completed.
A central power station provides power and light to the Chief Mechanical
Engineer’s, the Carriage and Wagon, and the Signal departments. The
installation consists of one 2,000 k.v.a. and two 1,500 k.v.a. generators
and turbines and one 600-900 k.v.a. mixedpressure turbine (the latter being
driven chiefly by the exhaust steam from the forge and smithy) and two Willans
central-valve engines, as a shndby for light loads. Steam is provided by
five Stirling water-tube boilers, two working at 210 lb. per sq. inch and
three at 170 lb. per sq. inch, superheated to 640°F. and 520°F.
respectively. Four of these boilers supply 24,000 and one 16,000 Ib. of steam
per hour. The heavier machines in the works are driven by separate niotors,
and the lighter ones are run in groups from short lengths of shafting.
The smithy and forge are equipped with steam- and drophammers. The brass
foundry has four Morgan furnaces, fired by oil-gas tar, a by-product from
the oil-gas works; each of these furnaces has a capacity of 600 Ib. There
are also two pit-type crucible furnaces. The total capacity is from 25 to
30 tons per week, a,nd of this output about 76 per cent of the castings are
machinemoulded. A chair foundry has two cupolas, used on alternate days,
each giving an output of 250 tons per week, and produces about 13,000 chairs
per week for the permanent way of the Midland Division. The iron foundry
has two cupolas, also used on alternate days, each having a capacity of 150
tons per week. Jolt-ramniers and moulding machines are installed.
The wheel and axle shops do all the rnacliining necessary for wheel-centres,
tyres, crankpins, straight axles and both solid and built-up crank-axles.
An interesting machine is the wheel-prcss ; its ram can exert a force of
200 tons, and an a~t~ornatriocc order indicates the pressure at any position
of the whecl as it is bring forced on to the axlc. The boiler shops are provided
with furnaces gas-fired from a gas-producer pla.nt, and two hydraulic presses
of 550 and 260 tons capacity for flanging boiler plates. A particularly good
example of this work is the throat-plate which connects the Belpaire firebox
to the boilcr barrel. The tender tanks are made in this shop, and in their
construction angle-iron work has been almost ein5rely superseded by flanging
the plates and stays. The splashers for the wheels of goods locomotives are
now also pressed out of a flat sheet instead of being built up from plates
and angles. Two vertical drilling machines are installcd in a pit for drilling
an assembled boiler shell and firebox in any direction. A single vertical
roller bending press, with an hydraulically operated pressure-bar is used
for hending the outer steel wrapper plates of Belpaire fireboxes ; this is
sptAcially adaptable for the sharp bends in the upper corners of the plat(,.
There are also hydraulic riveters and large forging presses, the latter bending,
setting, and welding foundation rings. The plant in these shops is capable
of making seven new boilers and dealing with heavy repairs to sixteen boilers
per week. In the boiler mounting shop the position of the mountings is located
by teniplates temporarily attached to the boiler.
The machine and fitting shops, built in 1874, are well-lighted buildings
and contain a large range of modern machine-tools, a few of the principal
being a frame-slotting machine capable of making four cuts simultaneously
through a set of twenty engine frames, each one inch in thicknws; a drilling
and tapping machine for cylinders ; a niaehine which can bore simultaneously
the cylinder and piston-valve chest, the boring-bar for the latter being
capable of adjustment to any angle rclative to the cylinder axis ; an a11-
electrically-driven planing machine ; heavy milling machines, and a series
of automatic and semi-automatic lathes. The lay-out of these tools is arranged
with special regard to the sequence of the machining operations. Prom the
marking-out tables the work flows along reglilar paths, until it enters the
erecting shop. The tool room is a specid fvature of the machine shop. To
it is attached a standard room in which are kept all types of gauges, measuring
machines, and a shadow projector for screw-threads.
The crecting shop has three bays and can accommodate seventytwo locomotives
on six longitudinal pits. Twelve of these pits (at the ends of two of the
bays) are reserved for the examination of engines prior to repair ; an additional
central road in each bay is used for wheeling the engines and carrying them
in and out of the shop. The output from this shop is twenty-two engines each
full week, including two new locomotives and twenty heavily repaired or rebuilt
ones. In the paint shop the engines are completed ready for the road. There
are a large staff of millwrights with their own shop, an electrical shop
in which is manufactured and irmintained the electrical plant required in
the works and elsewhere, anibulance and mess rooms, a photographic department
and well-equipped test rooms and chemical laboratories.
London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company, Carriage and Wagon
Works, Derby. 702-3
The works were originally laid out in 1876 and have been added to from time
to time. The lifting and stamping shops, which are the most recent, were
built in 1910. The general lay-out is as follows: wood-working shops are
on the west side of the main sidings, iron-working shops on the east side
and painting shops at the south end. The whole of the plant is electrically
driven. Hydraulic power is also supplied at 750 and 1,200 lb. per sq. inch
and compressed air at 100 lb. per sq. inch.
,'3azu-mill.-Timber is purchasedas trees, square logs and scantlings, and
is obtained as far as possible from Empire sources. Some is bought dry, the
rest is subsequently dried either naturally in stack, or artificially by
the moist air process (Erith's). The stacks for natural drying are arranged
on the " pigeon-hole " principle, i.e. gaps between the edges of the scantlings,
etc. but no gaps between rows. No marking-out is done ; the timber is worked
to stops and templates. All articles are finished to final size and the tolerance
allowcd is k0.002 inch. The machines are grouped according to operation and
not by type as was usually the case in British practice. Waqon Buildinq
Shop.-Each man is engaged on a particular part of the work, and each operation
is carried out at a fixed point, the work being moved to the man. No fitting
or finishing is necessary, and all parts are delivered to the point required,
and mainly to the height required, so as to avoid all unnecessary lifting.
Only one road in the shop is actually used for erection, instead of ten roads
under the old methods. Each of the main operations (of which there are ten)
takes approximately the same time, and a wagon is turned out every thirty
minutes. Simultaneously with the completion of the tenth operation, the wagon
is ready for moving away for painting and lettering. Hydraulic power is used
for cramping operations, and pneumatic power for boring and nuttightening.
Carriuge Building A'hop.-In this case there are nineteen positions for erection,
finishing and painting. The end-framing, seat-framing All screws are driven
by machines. and doors are placed in power cramps, and screws are put in
by automatic screw-driving machines before pressure is released. The steel
underframe is delivered complete on its own bogies to the carria.ge building
shop. At the first operation the wooden floor is fitted and upon this the
ends, quarters, partitions, etc. are erected, including the complete jig-made
roof. The time taken for the actual assembly on the carriage underframe is
twenty-two minutes. Carrimre Finishing Shop.-This shop deals with the
construction of sliding doors, partition frames, photograph frames, door-lights,
etc. These articles are put together in cramps, after which they are taken
to the triple-drum sander and a good surface prepared for polishing. They
are then taken to the polishing shop. Carriage Polishing Shop.-The first
operation here is staining, and the second filling, after which the articles
are spray-polished or sprayvarnished. The articles which have been
spray-varnished are put into a special drying room at a humid temperature
of 95" 8. The spray-polished work is rubbed down by flatting machines. When
the work is completed on these machines it is taken to the benches for the
final polish.
Painting Shop.-No lead is used in painting carriages and wagons. There are
for inspection in this shop a kitchen car with steel panelling and " Decolite
" floor, and a third-class corridor brake. Liffing Shop-This shop was built
in 1910 on modern lines. There are no pits for examination purposes, as the
vehicles are lifted by two electrically driven cranes on to trestles, at
a convenient height for working underneath. The bogies are dealt with by
5-ton floor-operated cranes. Whilst the bogies and frames are being cleaned
and any necessary replacements of worn parts made, the wheels are dealt with
in the turning shop. Seventy-nine carriages and one hundred wagons are lifted
each week. In the underframe, bogie, and steel-frame erecting bay, operation
timings are adopted in the same way as in the erection of carriages and wagons.
The component parts are assembled on jigs and afterwards built as a complete
underframe or bogie. Hydraulic and pneumatic riveters are employed, and two
machines are utilized for electrically heating the rivets.
Turning Shop.-Axles, tyres and wheel-centres are bought in the rough state
and machined and assembled on modern machines. Wheels are pressed on to the
axles by hydraulic pressure, fifty to sixty tons being used for wheels without
tyres, and sixty to seventy tons for wheels fitted with tyres. Wheels are
condemned when the tyres are worn to less than one-inch thickness.
Fowler, H.
[Presidential Address]. 723-47.
Fry, Lawford H.
Some experimental results from a three-cylinder compound locomotive. 923-54.
Disc.: 955-1024. 5 illus., 22 diagrs. 17 tables.
Thorough series of tests on the Pennsylvania Railway locomotive testing
plant at Altoona and trials in road service. On pp.955-61
Fowler gave details of compound locomotive performance on the
LMS.
Beames, H.P.M.
The reorganization of Crewe Works. 245-62. Discussion: 245-88. 5 illus.,
5 diagrs., 2 plans.
Maunsell, R.E.L.
The trend of modern steam-locomotive design. 465-77.
Lecture delivered before the graduates' section in London on 26th
March 1928, and repeated in Birmingham on 13th April 1928.
Stanier, W.A.
A pageant of railroad engineering. 495-8.
Address delivered at Western Branch in Bristol on 8th December
1927.
Herbert, T.M.
Locomotive firebox conditions: gas compositions and temperatures close to
copper plates. 985-1006
Metallurgist who became in charge of research on LMS
Volume 117 (1929)
Johnson, W. Arnold
Alloy steels for locomotive construction. 1087-97.
Awarded a prize of £5 for this Paper, which was read before the
Graduates' Section, North Western Branch, in Manchester on 11th October
1928.