Locomotive Railway Carriage & Wagon Review

Volume 37 (1931)

"DX" goods engines, L.& N.W. Ry. 6.
Written to mark last locomotive to be withdrawn from service on LMS. Notes that No. 355 Hardman was completed in September 1858. 963 were manufactured for the LNWR plus 80 for the LYR.

Phillipson, E.A. Steam locomotive design: data and formulae. Chapter VI. Boiler mountings: steam using auxiliaries. 14-16

Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Ry. 17-20.

Transporting British-built locomotives for railways overseas, 22.
Photograph of Kitson-built Pacific for Sudan Government Railways on Scammell articulated lorry for conveyance to Manchester Docks.

New automatic slack adjuster for continuous brakes. 25. 2 diagrs.
Dabeg

Morris, T.E.R. The Forest of Dean tramroads. 26-9.
Includes a map.

Valve-setting for three-cylinder engines fitted with Walschaerts-Gresley gear. 30-2. 2 diagrs.

Correspondence. 34-5.
Steam locomotive design: data and formulae. D.W. Harvey.
Comment on steam tightness of valves.
Counterbalancing of British locomotives. Ernest F. Smith.
See Brewer p. 420 which noted that Webb introduced balanced crank axles in 1889: Stroudley had introduced them earlier, however.
Old Stockton and Darlington locomotives. W. Beckerlegge. 35.
See Vol. 33 page 252. No. 81 Miller was possibly rebuilt as a single-framed 0-6-0 in 1867. It was still extant in 1928 as Seaton Seaton Delaval Coal Co. No. 4. This locomotive may have been owned by Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway: carried plate: Robert Stephenson 104/1867. See Volume 34 page 192: No. 159 York: Seaton Harbour & Dock Co. locomotives Ajax and Clio were: Ajax had been ex- NER No. 1719, formerly 1308 and was built by the Blyth and Tyne Railway in 1867. It was scrapped in the late 1920s and the name was transferred to Clio which had been NER No. 1674, formerly 1159 and Stockton & Darlington No. 159, built by Gilks Wilson in 1862.

No. 462 (February)

Three-cylinder Pacific type locomotives, Central Argentine Ry. 37-8. Illus.
Constructed by Armstrong Whitworth at the Scotswood Works for the 5ft 6in gauge to the design of W.P. Deakin, Chief Mechanical Engineer under the supervision of Livesey, Son & Henderson, consulting engineers. Intended to haul 650 ton expresses between Buenos Aires and Cordoba. Fitted with Caprotti valve gear.

Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Abstract of paper relative to "High,Pressure Locomotives," and to L. &. N.E. Ry. locomotive No. 10,000, read hy Mr. H. N. Gresley, C.B.E. 38-9.
In his paper on "High-Pressure Locomotives," read on Friday evening, January 23, before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Mr. H. N. Gresley, chief mechanical engineer of the L. & N.E. Ry., described some special features of considerable interest relative to the water-tube boiler of the high-pressure engine No. 10,000, which was completed to his designs at the end of 1929 at the Darlington Works.

New locomotives for the San Paulo Ry. 40-1. 2 illus.
The 5ft 3in gauge railway connected the port of Santos with Jundiahy where a junction was made with the Paulista Railway: a feature of the railway was ths sharp rise of 800m via the Serra inclines which were cable operated. Two new locomotives were described: one of two twin axle cable gripping locomotives for operating on the Serra incline supplied by Robert Stephenson & Co., and five 2-8-4T locomotives built by North British for hauling freight.

South Shields, Marsden, and Whitburn Colliery Ry. 41
LNER sold engine No. 1486, an old MacDonneIl goods, to this line, where numbered 6 in its stock.

Past and Present Crewe Pupils and Premiums Annual Dinner. 41.
This year's dinner, the forty-first, to be held at the Mayfair Hotel on Friday, April 17, at 7-30 p.m. for 8 o'clock. The chairman will be Mr. H. N. Gresley, C.B.E., chief mechanical engineer of the London & North Eastern Ry., who served his time at Crewe Works, and the guest of honour will be Sir Josiah Stamp, President of the London, Midland & Scottish Ry. Mr. Reginald Terrell, 64 Victoria Street, Westminster, S. W.l, is hon. secretary for the.dinner, and he will be very glad to hear from any past Crewe pupils and premiums who would like to attend.

London, Midland & Scottish Ry. (L. & N.W. Section). 41.
The first ten of the new 0-8-0 standard superheater freight engines now being turned out at Crewe are for service on the Central Division (L. & Y. Secticn). Nos. 9600-4 have already been despatched, while Nos. 9605-6 are at present being broken in from the South shed. Three additional 2-6-2 passenger tank engines ex Derby have been delivered, Nos. 15517-9. The three-cylinder 4-6-0 No. 5902 Sir Frank Ree has been sent to Longsight for trial against one of the rebuilt 5X "Claughtons." Messrs. Hudswell, Clarke & Co., Leeds, have recently supplied a smaIl Diesel locomotive to Crewe Works. It replaces one of the 18-in. gauge steam tramway engines, all of which have now been broken up with the exception of two, viz., Pet (built 1862) and Billy (built 1875). It is understood that the older of these is to be withdrawn for preservation.
No. 6646 and 6679, 5 ft. 6 in.., 2-4-2 class, have been adapted for working motor trains. Engines recently altered to suit the Midland loading gauge include "Prince of Wales" class No. 5638 and "G1" class No. 9123. 18-in. goods No. 8352 has had the footplate raised owing to the provision of a larger tender than that with which it was previously fitted.
The 2-4-0 "Jumbos" are now reduced to twenty-two, including four only of the 6-ft. class. The total withdrawn during 1930 was thirteen, as against eight in 1929. In view of the approaching doom of this once famous class, it is to be hoped that one of them may be spared for preservation at Crewe. The celebrated Hardwicke, which is stilI running, would appear to be a very appropriate example for that purpose. As is weIl known, this engine achieved considerable fame during the great railway race of 1895, its final run from Crewe to Carlisle, 141¼ miles, being covered in 126 minutes, or at an average speed of 67¼ miles per hour.

Pacific type locomotyives, Sudan Government Rys. 42. illus.
Kitson locomotives: 3ft 6in gauge, built under supervision of C.G. Hodgson, advisory engineer for Sudan Government in London. Leading dimensions. See also transport from Leed to Manchester Docks.

Walker, Herbert T. The origin of the balanced locomotive. 42-4. diagr., plan.
See also Locomotive Mag., 1909 and 1910, 16, 58 and 246. Notes that the sledge or slipper brakes had to be changed. These had consisted of heavy brake shoes having A-shaped castings at the top, guided in angular brackets in the hornplate brace rods. The shoes were pivoted to beams linked to the axle boxes. Bodmer claimed this design was an improvement on the tender brake rigging shown on page 113 of THE LOCOMOTIVE MAGAZINE of June 15, 1909. When the shoes were raised, as shown, they hung clear of the rails. When, by means of the usual brake mechanism, the fireman lowered the shoes, they dragged along the rails. Their action was violent and caused derailments. Sometimes the shoes ran foul of the points. These brakes were soon abandoned. Sledge brakes were tried on the tank engines working the Ghat inclines of the Great Indian Peninsula Ry. Bodmer considered these goods engines as "powerful," and a description will be found in Sekon's Evolution of the Steam Locomotive, London, 1899. At least, some of them were built by Sharp, Roberts & Co., of Manchester, for the Manchester and Sheffield Ry. .

The Institution of Locomotive Engineers (London). 44-5.
A Paper on "The Development of the Piston Valve to improve Steam Distribution" was read by Mr. D.W. Sanford, B.A., Member, at the general meeting held at Denison House on January 29. Mr. H. Kelway-Bamber, president, was in the chair. After making suitable reference to the death of the late Hon. General Secretary, Mr. Jos. C. Sykes, the chairman called on Mr. Sanford for his paper. See J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1931, 21 Paper 273.
After considering the reasons which led to the introduction of piston valves the author directed attention to three features of interest connected with the flat slide valve which the piston valve had replaced: (1) the desirability of keeping the travel short, to avoid friction and reduce wear, notwithstanding the fact that this gave less satisfactory steam distribution; (2) to obviate the disadvantage of having large valves on which the steam pressure acted it was customary to bring the ports close together and make them long, thus increasing the clearance volume and the surfaces on which interchanges of heat between the metal of the cylinder casting and steam took place; (3) the advantage that the flat valve took up its own wear and, provided lubrication was satisfactory, the fact that it remained steam tight throughout its service. With piston valves the first two defects mentioned were overcome, although full advantage was not always taken, but as regards the third leakage quite a different problem presented itself. The author showed the effect of leakage by diagrams on the screen and then proceeded to give illustrations of the best arrangements of packing rings to prevent such losses. The employment of a number of narrow rings in place of one wide one he considered advisable.

The Quervel Mechanical Lubricator. 45 diagr.
Form of mechanical lubricator which has secured considerable popularity on the Continent.

Diesel-engined shunting locomotive, Central Argentine Ry. 46-8. illus., 2 diagrs. (s. & f. els.)
Constructed by D. Wickham & Co. of Ware for the 5ft 6in gauge railway, using a McLaren-Benz engine started by a J.A.P. petrol engine with a David Brown gearbox.

Southern Ry. 48.
New U1 (three-cylinder 2-6-0 with 6ft coupled wheels) A891 and A892 completed at Eastleigh Works.

Electrical equipment for Holland by train-ferry. 48-9. 2 illus.
Electrical generating machinery manufactured by C.A. Parsons in Newcastle transported in three train loads of LNER wagons via the Harwich to Zeebrugge train ferry and thence over the Belgian and Dutch railway systems to a power station under construction at Ymuiden.

Opening of a new Bulgarian Railway. 49. illus.
Line from Tvarditza to Sliven opened on 7 December 1930: train driven by King Boris.

Phillipson, E.A. Steam locomotive design: data and formulae. Chapter VI. Boiler mountings: steam using auxiliaries. 50-2. 4 tables.
Water gauges and injectors.

Metal cutting machine at Lancing Works, Southern Ry. 53.
Longitudinal profiler manufactured by Hancock & Co. of Croydon.

L.M. & S. Ry — Northern Counties Committee. 53.
Work started on Greenisland Loop.

The first locomotives of the Buenos Aires Great Southern Ry.  54-5. illus. (drawing), diagr.
4-4-0T designed and built by Robert Stephenson & Co. for services between Buenos Aires and Chascomas. The text notes that the drawing of the bogie (designed by J.D. Wardale, chief draughtsman of Robert Stephenson & Co.) was dated 9 January 1864 and thus pre-dated Adams' patent (No. 404 of 13 February 1865).

Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Ry. 55-6.
Lists Locomotive Superintendents: Thomas Simpson who died in an accident at Maesycwmmer in June 1869; Thomas Mason for the next four years; Charles Long until 1888; George C. Owen who was found decapitated on 18 April 1909; James Dunbar until his death on 26 February 1922, and H.F.H. Gibson who acted as locomotive superintentend until the Railway Grouping. Four locomotives were available when first section of line opened. Two 0-6-0 tender locomotives were supplied by Sharp Stewart in 1863 (WN 1408-9) and were named Alexandra and Brecknock. Two Sharp 0-6-0STs were also supplied for shunting and banking (WN 1471-2): these were named Jupiter and Pandora.

Two engines ordered by the "Old" Rumney were also taken into B&M stock: these were Sharp 0-6-0 tender engines WN 1587-8 and named Caerleon and Caerphilly.

Road-rail car, L.M. & S. Ry. 57-8. illus.
Built by Karrier Motors Ltd as a Ro-railer with the involvement of J. Shearman, the road motor engineer of the LMS. The vehicle was capable of running on either the road or on rails. It was demonstrated on the Harpenden to Hemel Hempstead and is shown at Redbourn. The bodywork was constructed by Cravens.

Southern Ry. Literary and Debating Society. 58
Lecture on the locomotives of the Southern Ry. was given by J. Clayton, on Wednesday evening, 21 January 1931. R.E.L. Maunsell presided. The development of the later types of locomotives in service on the Southern Ry. was described and illustrated with photographs and drawings. In opening the discussion, the chairman referred to the 107 different types of locomotives handed over at the time of grouping, and spoke of the benefits which had accrued from standardisation. At the close of the lecture a number of questions were asked by members of the large audience, and much interesting information regarding Southern Ry. locomotives was given in the replies.

The Railway Club. 58.
There was a large attendance of members at the January meeting of the Railway Club, when Lord Monkswell read a paper on Railway reform. While admitting that great advances had been made in the adoption of safety appliances, he contended that the railways were suffering from arrested development, and that, to take the instance of speed alone, the progress made during the last fifty years was far short of what it should have been, while many of the reforms had only been adopted after years of agitation on the part of users. He condemned the wages settlement forced on the railways by the Government after the War as deplorable, but considered that the railway remained the most efficient system of transport, and that the solution of the present position was for the directors to organise the shareholders and strike out a firm line. At the meeting held on February 6, Mr. W. A. Willox, vice-president, gave the Presidential address, in the unavoidable absence of Mr. Kenneth Brown, president. Mr. Willox took as his subject "The Future of British Railways," and made a number of pertinent and thoughtful suggestions as to what might be done so that, from the public point of view, the railways might appear more efficient, more punctual, and more attractive.

Morris, T.E.R. The Forest of Dean tramroads. 59-60. 2 illus.

Southern Ry. Pupils and Premium Apprentices Association. 60.
Sixth annual dinner to be held at the Charing Cross Hotel, London, on Friday, 6 March 1931. All former pupils and premium apprentices of the Southern Ry. or its constituent companies are invited to apply to Mr. Eric L. Forge, 34 North Street, Ashford, Kent, for further particulars.

The sixth annual dinner of the Southern Ry. Eastern Divisional Locomotive Running Department  60.
Held at Strand Palace Hotel on Wednesday, 28 January 1931. The gathering, which numbered over 180, was presided over by Mr. D. Sheppy, Eastern Divisional Locomotive Superintendent, who was supported by Mr. A. D. Jones, O.B.E., M.V.O., Mr. G. Oxley, Mr. G. Pullen, and Mr. E. W. Trangmar. After the loyal toast had been honoured Mr. W. Cole gave "The Chairman and the Eastern Division," to which Mr. Sheppy responded. The usual toasts having been given and responded to the company then proceeded to enjoy, an excellent musical programme provided by "The Checks" concert party, which, to judge from the generous applause, was highly appreciated.

[W.A. Stanier lecture]. 60
A comprehensive and interesting lecture was given by Mr. W. A. Stanier, M.I.Mech.E., Principal Assistant to the Chief Mechanical Engineer, G.W. Ry., before the G.W.Ry. (London) Lecture and Debating Society, at Paddington, on 15 January 1931. Mr. C.E. Lloyd, a director, and also an engineer, occupied the chair. Mr. Stanier's lecture was illustrated by many lantern slides, and the various locomotive types introduced by five successive C.M.E.'s were shown, and their work detailed. Mention was made of the development of the many types, from the old broad gauge North Star to the present-day e»press engines, including the "De Glehn" compounds, The Great Bear, "Castles" and "Kings."

[XA and XB type engines for India]. 60
Order placed with Vulcan Foundry by the India Store Department for seventeen "XA" type engines, ten of which are for the Great Indian Peninsula Ry. and seven for the North Western Ry., also ten "XB" type for the East Indian Ry., and ten "XC" type for the North Western Ry. The Madras and Southern Mahratta Ry. ordered six "XB" type engines from Vulcan. The Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Ry. placed an order for four "XD" type engines with the North British Locomotive Co. Ltd. and four "XC" type with the A.E.G. Co.

United States Rys. 60.
A.R.A. conducting series of service tests of "connector'! devices for automatically coupling up the train pipe for the brakes, steam heat, and air signal pipes, and any eleetrical conduits for lighting, telephoning, etc.

The disappearance of the locomotive chimney, and the problem of smoke deflection. 61-3. 4 illus.
Illustrated feature that showed Gresley K3 2-6-0 No. 1000 alongside Stirling 8ft single No. 1; Boston, Lowell & Nashua Railroad 4-4-0 Eagle with curved chimney which acted as spark arrester and smoke deflector; Southern Railway King Arthur type with down draught screens and LNER high pressure locomotive No. 10000 at speed. Also notes tests conducted by Professor W.E. Dalby on smoke deflection for No. 10000.

The first locomotive in South Africa. 63. illus.
Standard gauge 0-4-2 preserved at the Salt River Works of South African Railways near Cape Town. Manufactured by Hawthorn at Leith (WN 162/1859), but suggests that either number or date was incorrect.

Great Western Ry. 63.
From 1 January 1931 following unremunerative branch lines in Wales closed: Vale of Rheidol (Aberystwyth to Devils Bridge) for goods traffic and for passenger traffic until further notice (1 ft. 11 ½ in. gauge). Machynlleth to Corris and Aberllefeni for passenger traffic (2 ft. 3 in. gauge). Cemmaes Road to Dinas Mawddwy for passenger traffic (standard gauge). On Saturday, 7 February 1931 passenger traffic ceased on Welshpool and Llanfair narrow gauge line.

Recent special wagons constructed in France. 64-5. 4 illus.
Constructed by De Dietrich of Reichshoffen, Bas-Rhin for Alsace-Lorraine Railway. Three were bogie vehicles: one a 40 tonne hopper wagon for carrying coal; two enclosed hopper wagons, one for conveying chalk and another for potash traffic from Richwiller to to Strasburg, Dunkirk, and Antwerp. There was also a novel four-wheel tipping wagon. 

[Sir Charles Cust]. 65
Sir Charles Cust, who died recently, was a personal friend. of H.M. The King, and on one occasion acted as driver on the L. & N.W. Ry., and the "Claughton" locomotive bearing his name was frequently used to draw the Royal Train.

L. & N.E. RY. 65.
The following "Sentinel" locomotives were recently delivered to the L. & N.E. Ry.: Nos. 18, 21, 23, 35, 42, 45, 49, 55, 60 to 65, 78, 87, 94, 96, 98. They are all in the Southern area, except 45 (Sentinel 8332), which is at York. Several of the later ones are on the Great Eastern section, but No. 55 is at Hitchin and No. 42 at Bidston. In addition to No. 4737, which was transferred to the Great Eastern section some months ago, further "N2" tanks have come south from Scotland and are working from Hatfield shed. Nos. 4730, 2686, and 2689 are there, but have not yet been fitted with condensing gear. The engine shed at Thirsk has been closed and the four engines stabled there are now at Northallerton depot.

Mechanically Fired Locomotives: Polish State Rys. 65-7. 2 illus. diagr.
Mechanical stokers stated to originate in USA circa 1900 with development of Crawford underfeed system. Duplex D-4 type fitted to Ty-23 series of 2-10-0 (described May 1924) constructed by H. Cegielski.

Setting locomotive valves. 67.
Machine with electric motor which moved locomotive along a track, rather than using rollers: claimed to be more accurate.

Wastage of locomotive firebox stays and plates. 67-8. 3 diagrs.
The following conclusions were arrived at from the experiments made: .
I. The wastage of stayheads is primarily due to oxidation of the copper, but the effect of oxidation alone is generally not serious under dry conditions; it becomes so under the influence of leakage which causes the detachment, leading to removal of the otherwise hard and tenacious oxide scale.
2. The composition of the atmosphere of the firebox varies within wide limits; it is generally oxidising in character, although never containing high percentages of free oxygen, and is hardly ever, if at all, markedly reducing.
3. The surface temperature of stayheads has not been found to exceed 350°C., and is generally not over 300°C., even in the hottest part of the box.
4. Leakage from the stays is the result of plastic deformation of the plate and stay under thermal stresses set up in working.
Notes extracted from paper on "Properties of Locomotive Firebox Stays and Plates," by Messrs. Hudson, Herbert, Ball and Bucknall, read before the Institute of Metals at Dusseldorf.

London & North Eastern Ry. 68
No. 2822 Alnwick Castle and 2823 Lambton Castle, of the "Sandringham" class, have been completed at Darlington Works. No. 4349 is a further G.N. Ry. 4-4-0 working on the Tebay line. No. 2118, a class T 0-8-0, is stationed at Kirkby Stephen, working ore traffic from Penrith. As the eight-coupled engines are not allowed over Deepdale and Belah viaducts, this engine was taken over the Stainmoor summit with empty boiler and tender, on a goods train.

Whistle reflector, Missouri, Kansas & Texas RR. 69. 2 illus.
Photograph shows locomotive, No. 404, of the M.K.T. RR., provided with a novel form of whistle or sound reflecting device which has been used for securing some interesting data concerning the intensity of sound waves emitted from a locomotive whistle. As will be seen from the photograph, the whistle is placed horizontally within a parabolic reflector, cast of "lynite" and located immediately in front of the chimney. The object is to secure a more direct and intense sound from the whistle when used on approaching highway level crossings to warn motorists and others of the near approach of a train. Focussed ahead in this manner there is a corresponding reduction in sound or noise heard by the engine-men and passengers in the train behind, as well as those who may be in the neighbourhood on either side of the track. To measure the effect of the arrangement shown, an "Oscillograph" was used to record the tests.

[Messrs. Willoughby's model locomotive]. 69
Referring to description of Willoughby's model locomotive in the January issue (p. 33), it should have been stated that this is a reconstruction and thorough rebuild of a model said to have been made for the late Sir David Salamans, who used it for some signalling experiments. About 1885 the model was on view in Mr. C. Baker's shop in Holborn, and more recently at an amusement arcade at Blackpool. When the engine was on view at the last "Model Engineer" exhibition, parts of the original which had been scrapped were also shown: credit is due to Messrs. Willoughby for rebuilding the engine and all the good work they have put into it. A misprint occurred in the dimension given for the length of the steam port; this should be 7/32 in. wide.

Tank Locomotive, North British Ry. 70. illus.
0-4-2WT No. 20, illustrated was first of a class of eight tank engines, designed by W. Hurst, locomotive superintendent of the N.B. Ry. and built at St. Margaret's Works, Edinburgh: 1857, Nos. 20 and 22; 1860, Nos. 29 and 49; 1861, No. 96, and in 1862, Nos. 97, 98 and 99. As built, they had coupled wheels 4 ft. 9 in. dia. and cylinders 12 in. dia. by 18 in. stroke. They were rebuilt later with 13 in. dia. cylinders, and scrapped in the early 1880s by Wheatley. No. 20 was the third engine built at St. Margaret's, the previous two being single-driver tanks of similar design. No. 20 at one time worked the Jedburgh and Kelso service, and the driver in the photograph was Archie Lightbody, driver on this branch and was over seventy years of age when he retired. His son succeeded him on the same turn. One of these engines was involved in a disastrous collision at Penicuik, on the Peebles line, on October 29, 1863.

Correspondence. 70.
Model "Mail" class locomotive built by Messrs. Willoughby. G. Geo. Woodcock.
Re Model "Mail" class locomotive built by Willoughby: it seems a pity that such a fine piece of work should be inaccurate as regards relationship to prototype in several ways. The "Mail" class as designed by Cudworth in 1861 had no cab, but a plain waisted weather-board; they also were fitted with Salter safety valves on the dome and were, of course, tender engines, not tanks.

Reviews. 70.

Locomotives of the L.M.S. — past and present. London: Locomotive Publishing Co. Ltd.
This very interesting and excellently printed book has just been issued, and in it is given a concise history of each of the railways constituting the L.M.S. group, though necessarily, on account of space, only brief mention can be made of the smaller companies absorbed. There are eight colour plates and seventy-eight illustrations of locomotives, past and present, all of which are exceptionally well reproduced. A number of marginal pen and ink sketches of early locomotives enhance the interest, whilst at the head of each chapter is the "coat of arms" of the company being dealt with. For those who are interested there is a list of named engines, followed by a table of leading dimensions of the various L.M. & S. Ry. classes of standard locomotives, as well as the leading types of the constituent companies, forming a valuable adjunct to an attractive publication which should find a place in the library of every railway enthusiast.

Railway carriage and wagon handbook. London: Locomotive Publishing Co. Ltd. 274 pages, cloth.
Comprehensive book of reference covers a large field of information on a subject which has hitherto sadly lacked attention. It is a revised and much enlarged edition of the Railway Carriage and Wagon Builder's Pocket Book, brought up to date. The book opens with a section on carriage design and construction, followed by chapters on the varieties of timber in general use. Then there are sections on the trimming of carriage seats and backs; painting, with notes on painters' materials, followed by articles on the use of aluminium for panelling; fabric-covered bodies and enamelled-iron panels. There is a lengthy section on train lighting, heating, and ventilation, followed by extracts from the British standard specifications of materials used in carriage and wagon construction, including axles, tyres, springs, steel castings, plates, angles, and rivets. Space is devoted to the maintenance of carriage stock, as well as the examining and progressive repair of coaching stock in the shops. Chapters dealing with the design and constructional details of British standard wagons include a section on the mass production of steel wagons. Wheels, axles, axleboxes, buffing and drawgear, centre couplers, bearing springs, and metals and alloys for bearings are discussed in turn. Railway gauges and construction gauges. vacuum and air brakes, and roller bearings receive attention in the final sections. Nearly fifty pages of quite useful tables and miscellaneous shop notes are included. The book is well iliustrated, and is printed on good paper in clear type.

Great Western Ry. 70.
The following new engines have been put into service since the middle of December: 2-6-2 goods tanks Nos. 5170-5; 4-6-0 passenger Nos. 4981 Abberley Hall, and 4982 Acton Hall, all built at Swindon. 0-6-0 pannier tanks Nos. 6746-9 from the Yorkshire Engine Co.; Nos. 7788-99 from Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co. Ltd.; Nos. 8725-8 from W. G. Bagnall Ltd., and Nos. 7754, 7758-61 and 7763 from the North British Locomotive Co. Ltd.

British Industries Fair, Birmingham, Feb. 16 to Feb. 27. 71. illus.
Hadfield's exhibits including heat resistant steel superheater supports (illustrated).

No. 463 (March)

Condensing tank locomotive, L.M. & S. Ry.. Loco. Rly Carr.Wagon Rev., 1931, 37, 89. illus.
Condensing apparatus was fitted to locomotives engaged on the St. Pancras suburban services for working to Moorgate: No. 15524 illustrated.