Journal of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers
Volume 44 (1954)

Back to main file

Journal No. 237

Manser, A.W. (Paper No. 530)
The wearing parts of electric rolling stock (a review of experience on the London Transport System). 12-53. Disc.: 53-91. 29 illius., 8 diagrs. Bibliog.
Fifth Ordinary General Meeting of the Session 1953-54 was held at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London, S.W.1. on 20 January 1954, at 5.30 p.m., R.C. Bond, President, in the Chair.
Tyres, wheel centres, axles, axleboxes, bogie suspension spring systems (leaf springs were then being replaced by rubber chevron units), bogie frames, collector shoe gear, bogie brake gear, bolster suspension, traction motors, bogie bolsters, draw and buffer gear, foundation brake rigging and brake cylinders, sliding doors and door engines, electro-magnetic valves for door operation, traction control equipment, brake control equipment, flooring, panelling (interior and exterior), and upholstery.

Andrews, H.I. (Paper No. 531)
The measurement of train resistance. 91-144. Disc.: 144-66. 9 illus., 40 diagrs., 5 tables. Bibliog.
General Meeting of the Institution was held at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1 Birdcage Walk, London, S.W.1 on Wednesday 10th February 1954, at 5.30 pm. Mr. A. Campbell, C.B.E., M.1.Mech.E. M.1.Loco.E. ( Vice-President) occupied the Chair. The Chairman apologised for the absence of the President who had been delayed at a meeting. The Minutes of the previous meeting were read by the Secretary and were confirmed and signed as correct. The Chairman then introduced Dr. H. I. Andrews, Ph.D., M.Sc., M.I.Mech.E., M.I.E.E. (Member
The use of the Mobile Testing Plant, together with the Fen lines of the Eastern Region, and the statistical method of analysis adopted enabled the running resistance of these vehicles, including the wind resistance, to be determined with a convenience and accuracy not hitherto possible. Separate determination of wind resistance is particularly important in that it enables the maximum resistance likely to be encountered in high winds to be estimated. This is an important factor in railway working, and must be within the maximum capabilities of the locomotive if timings are to be maintained. The results in general are self-explanatory and many other interesting conclusions may be drawn from their study. The results obtained from passenger coaches can generally be applied directly to calculating the probable resistance of any particular passenger train, while the method of applying the goods vehicle results to particular circumstances are demonstrated in Appendix IV. The values of resistance for average working conditions may be compared with the results of previous investigators as is done for passenger coaches in Fig..42. The results obtained were much lower than those of Schmidt and Clarke, probably indicating that the resistance of passenger trains in Great Briatin was less than in India or the Middle Western states of America. In comparison with these and earlier results over the last hundred years there appears to have been a progressive decline in passenger train resistance. Similarly the resistance of goods vehicles, as measured by both Schmidt and Clarke, were higher than those obtained in Great Britain, but in comparing these results consideration must be given to the great differences in working conditions in those countries. One feature of these results of particular interest is that all the values of air resistance measured are considerably lower than those generally forecast from wind tunnel experiments. Peacock has suggested that this is probably due to the difficulty of interpreting the scale effect of wind tunnel experiments, and possibly, to some extent, to the well known difficulty of reproducing the effect of the ground in a wind tunnel. As the vehicles tested were all selected more or less at random from types of vehicle which will in future be standardised on British Railways, and which were in differing states of repair, while the tests were carried out over lines with greatly differing subsoil, the results may reasonably be regarded as typical of normal circumstances on British Railways
Cited John Aspinall. Train resistance. Min Proc. Instn civ. Engrs.,1901, 147, 155-277. Discussion: D.R. Carling (152-3); E. O'Brien (153-4) noted that he was an observer at Aspinall's experiments; J.L. Koffman (154-6); A.J. Powell (158); G.W. Carpenter (169-70).

Journal No. 238

Cox, E.S. (Paper No. 532)
Experiences with British Railways standard locomotives. 212-54. Disc.: 254-305. + folding plate. 4 illus., 31 diagrs., 7 tables.
Presented in London on 17 March 1954; Manchester on 24 March 1954; Doncaster on 8 April 1954; Derby on 14 April 1954; Newcastle-on-Tyne on 22 April 1954; and Glasgow on 28 April 1954
Analysis of the performance of the locomotives in service and on test. On page 246 rectification of lack of pre-compression on rubber drawbar springs: graphs show the effect of modifications to No. 70004 whilst working Golden Arrow before modification on 3 June 1952 and following modification on 14 July 1952.
At the end of the paper Cox summarised what he believed had been achieved and the general state of the art of steam locomotive development. The steam locomotive appears once again to have attained an almost uniform level of potential efficiency. This point had been reached in the later designs of the former Companies, and the B.R. locomotives working over the same temperature range and following the same basic design, equal but do not materially exceed the possible achievements of their immediate predecessors. It would indeed be surprising were it otherwise, for seven out of the twelve standard types are in essence the designs of former Companies altered only in detail, and the other five follow the same school of design in different dimensions. This is not to belittle the cumulative effect of small gains due to refinements in detail, but the data set out in this paper emphasises the close identity in efficiency between simple expansion locomotives working in the initial temperature range 670°-750°F. in spite of the widest possible difterences in general arrangements. Whether twin or multi-cylinders, large or small wheels, wide or narrow grates, through considerable variations in back pressure, and either British, German or American design, a minimum steam consumption of 13 to 14 lb. per ihp-hour encompasses the lot, and boiler efficiencies at normal rates of working are closely alike. Especially interesting are the German results where an entirely independent post-war design has, as was the case with Britannia, endeavoured to express the best which was attainable in the conventional form. In spite of considerable differences in some features often thought to be very important, the end result in minimum steam consumption is very similar.
It was not always thus and a good deal of thinking on the subject is based on conditions which no longer obtain. In 1923 and for some years afterwards, the difference in the performance and efficiency of the products of different designers was very real. Where steam could only get into the cylinders with varying amounts of difficulty, and exhaust was hampered by different degrees of obstruction, where freedom of gas flow and the whole draughting mechanism was less well understood, then the most interesting differences occurred in locomotive results.
Re-reading of Gresley's classic paper [not stated which] reminds us of how valuable three paths for the steam flow instead of two were to such locomotives as the old NER Atlantics, subject as they were to serious internal obstruction. Other engineers found it necessary to provide fine graduations in coupled wheel size in relation to speed which led to the idea that certain locomotives were more suitable for particular geographical areas as indeed they were then. With more knowledge and better materials these and other similar conceptions have sunk back into irrelevance.
Churchward of course led the big step forward which has brought the locomotive to its present state of relative equality. But the pupils have sat at the feet of the master, whose familiars have in turn sat at the feet of the pupils in the matter of superheating and a few other small matters and now all have attained an equal state of grace, in all essentials, even if not as regards brass-beaded splashers. Any "back to Churchward" movement would seem therefore to be dictated more by the heart than by the head.
Compounding still offers a further reduction in steam consumption of up to 16 per cent, as the SNCF results indicate, but at a cost in complexity and loss in availability which not only would be unacceptable in this country, but which was partially abandoned in France in the last phase of steam in post-war reconstruction. Further rearrangements of simple expansion without condensing have led nowhere. The "Merchant Navy" engine has produced performance equal to the best in the British tradition, but with a loss in efficiency which is clearly seen in the figures quoted in this paper. The drastic changes of the Leader could not be made to achieve even revenue earning operation.
The construction for British Railways of a single series of steam locomotives can thus now be supported in a manner which it could not have been formerly, on the grounds that little is to be gained from mere diversity. Controversy naturally surrounds this question, however, the more responsible part of which is concerned lest in exchanging four lines of development for one, something valuable might be lost.
In January 1948, the former Companies had very little in the way of new steam design on the stocks. Apart from the "Leader" at Brighton which was already well in hand a class 4 2-cylinder 2-6-0 at Doncaster and small light weight 0-6-0 tank and tender engines at Swindon represents all. It can be claimed, but not easily supported, that more advance would have been made for steam had each regional office worked upon further versions of the previous standard than has resulted from their working together on the B.R. series. This latter has at least retained efficiency and performance at its present best level and has reclothed the locomotives in a mechanical form capable of highest route availability, of quantity production and of eventual reduction in stores stock. To do this has required the making of a number of jigs and patterns and the overcoming of some teething troubles, non-recurrent events which together cost only an infinitesimal percentage of steam locomotive building costs over, say a three-year run.
In the future, therefore, it would seem equally valid to harness the resources of the design staffs to the further advances which seem still open- to steam traction, amongst which may be quoted:
1. The gathering up of different sources of waste heat in the boiler -the "Crosti" boiler now under design is an example of this.
2. Higher superheat at low rates of working.
3. Abandonment of the piston valve to solve at once both lubrication and steam leakage problems.
4. Better understanding of adhesion, and its control under operating conditions.
5. A further onslaught on the unreliability of small details.
6. Continued attack on wearing parts for improved mileage between repairs.
CONCLUSION
We are undoubtedly entering upon the last phase of steam traction in this country. Its disadvantages have been sufficiently publicised, and this paper does not underplay this aspect. On the other hand, while it lasts it has certain good features which it serves no useful purpose to 'ignore. These are that it can be overloaded to stalling point without doing itself injury, that its defects are easy to diagnose and seldom expensive to rectify, that it is cheap in first cost, and, in a coal bearing country, is nearly as cheap in fuel costs for many duties as its much more efficient and high priced rivals. The liquidation of 19,000 steam locomotives is bound to take a number of years, and in the meantime a certain amount of new construction will be justified by the traffic needs. Against this background the BR series of locomotives have made a modest contribution to our knowledge and have in a general way achieved what they set out to do, as listed in the original paper*. The Author sees no future whatever for marked increase in the temperature range which alone could raise the general efficiency level, but which requires increased space and weight which is not available, neither does there seem any promise in novel arrangements of the conventional ingredients. There remain, however, a number of useful refinements capable, if proved, of application both to existing and to any further new locomotives, which can raise the level of achievement within the “ Stephensonian ” concept, to its optimum value, and there is hard cash in pursuing this matter, even when the number of steam units becomes reduced to a fraction of its present value.
Discussion: K.J. Cook (p. 254-6) noted that Cox "was still hankering after poppet valves"; Cook also made sharp comments on teething troubles. C.M. Cock (256-7); J.F. Harrison (257-8) noted the lack of double blast pipes and the patching of frames. T. Henry Turner (260) was critical of failure to mention boiler problems; D.R. Carling (260-1) noted that the Willans Lines related to No. 73030 not 73008; E.V.M. Powell (261) reception of type by men; R.C. Bond (262-3);. K. Cantlie (263-4). E.J. Beavor (264-5). E. Beavor (264-5) was bluntly critical of the design method adopted: that is of spreading it over several drawing offices. R. Howard (267) that fitting roller bearings as on the LMS and BR class 5 4-6-0s and LNER A1s required a change in the wheel seat diameter. F.R.M. Fysh asked about the tests involving the Dean Goods and Cox cited Carlings paper (Paper No. 521 Volume 40) on locomotive testing (page 521) where the two types were compared. Tuplin (278-82) spoke at length about the King class boiler; G.W. Carpenter (282-3) advocated the 2-8-2 design which had failed to materialise, compared the King and Britannia class boilers and queried why poppet valves had not been used.
(Mr. T. Henry Turner, MSc. (M.) said that Mr. Cox’s reference to the “ writing on the wall ” must have intrigued all those who had read the Paper. He recalled that recently there had been reports of a 150 miles per hour record speed run by a standard model of the French electric locomotive. What was unexpected to him in the Paper was that boiler water had ceased to be reported as a trouble. These new British Standard steam locomotives were presented as failing only for mechanical reasons; whereas twenty years ago it had been the boiler that limited the useful life of a locomotive on the track, owing to internal boiler scale and corrosion. Apparently the internal cleanliness of the, boilers did not now deserve mention. He asked Mr. Cox whether this was merely because the Author could not get everything into the Paper, or whether boiler scale and corrosion should not still have headed the list of factors on page 217, which brought the locomotive into the reDair show and therefore required urgent attention. He felt that standardising the types of steam locomotives did not go far enough without at the same time standardising direct-steaming or feed-water treatment and steel fireboxes. Those needed standardising for the maximum economy of steam locomotive operation. Would it not be fair to add that there was still another type of British Railways standard locomotive, because hundreds of dieselelectric shunting locomotives were being ordered? The Report of the Government’s Committee on Air Pollution, HMSO December 1953, was another piece of writing on the wall, having regard to the tragic seriousness of the atmospheric pollution in Great Britain; for on that account the almost smokeless diesel-electric shunting locomotives would be still more encouraged.
E.S. Beavor (264) wrote that considerable reductions in the cost of BR Standard Locomotives could be made. The following items are but a few of those which appear to be very expensive, bearing in mind the present severe restrictions on capital expenditure:
(a) Trailing truck on the Pacifics
(b) Belpaire fireboxes.
(c) Reversing mechanism.
These locomotives have numerous small pipes for remote lubrication by oil and grease. It is very desirable that grease should be applied from a point whence the oozing of the grease from the bearing can be observed. If this cannot be observed then excess grease may be applied and cracked pipes may not be noticed. The provision of so many lengthy pipes must surely add to the cost of these engines. The writer would point out that there are a number of inconsistencies due to various parts of the same engine being designed in different drawing offices. A good example of this may be found in the fastening of the valve crosshead guides, where the bolts are fitted with split flat cotters. Yet on those engines having underslung crossheads of LNER type the slide bar bolts are only fitted with split, pins! Clearly the slide bar bolts carry much greater vibrating forces than do the bolts of the valve crosshead guides. It wouId seem that early opportunity should be taken to fit the slide bar bolts also with split flat cotters. There is, no doubt, further scope for detailed investigation to remove similar anomalies in the design of existing and future BR Standard Locomotives.
Cox's reply: Mr. E.S. Beavor criticises three features as being unduly costly. The trailing truck, based on the SR design is not specially expensive as trailing trucks go. The Cartazzi arrangement is cheaper, but is technically less satisfactory and is seldom used over the world in general. The Belpaire firebox may be marginally dearer to build but is more economical in maintenance cost, and gives much better steam release conditions at high rates of working. It is significant that three out of the four former Companies used it. The reversing mechanism was made more expensive deliberately to try to get improved service out of what is often a rackety piece of mechanism. It has shown certain defects it is true, but these are not necessarily best overcome by making the job cheaper. The grease lubrication system is working very well, which it certainly would not do if the nipples were tucked away out of sight so that their greasing was overlooked. It would be miraculous if there were no inconsistencies, especially as a good number of actual regional parts have been incorporated. The Author notes the example of the slide bar bolt split pins.

Seventh Ordinary General Meeting of the Midlands Centre held at the Midland Hotel, Derby on Wednesday 14 April 1954 at 7.0 p.m., Chair being taken by R.S. Hall.
(Chairman) said he thought Members would all agree that they had heard a most interesting and instructive Paper. It was a little controversial, certainly informative and very definitely analytical. On the issue of “ controversy ” he would like to make one criticism-the Author said his Paper was “ a modest contribution to a fuller knowledge of a locomotive.” The Chairman thought this was rather an understatement, it was definitely a very good contribution and he knew everyone would agree with that. No doubt when this Paper was published in the Journal it would be studied very closely in locomotive design and drawing offices and whenever such questions as blastpipe orifices, steam pressure, grate area, etc. were discussed a remark would surely be made “ See what Mr. Cox has to say about this,” and his Paper would be referred to for guidance and a solution to the problem. FIG. 35 In the Paper the Author referred to regulator valve difficulties, and wheel slip when starting with heavy loads. That seemed to be a constant problem. He had recently had occasion to be interested in regulator valves for passenger engines for the Nigerian Railway and the amount of valve opening was critical and difficult to judge in providing enough steam to give a steady acceleration without slip. The difficulty was overcome for the time being by the provision of a smaller regulator valve, but he thought there must be a better method of approach to a problem of this type which required a restricted flow of steam when starting from a standstill and a full and adequate flow when on long grades. The Author also referred to front end lubrication. He was not sure whether reference was made to long distance trains or to local or stopping trains. It brought back memories of a time when he made a few experiments on the then GIP Railway, some drivers complained that the piston valves were not getting enough oil when on local trains, whereas on express trains piston valve squeak disappeared or did not call for comment. The locomotives concerned were fitted with mechanical lubricators supplying oil to the pistons and also to the piston valves. To obtain, if possible, some idea of the regularity of oil flow he interposed a sight feed glass at the end of a delivery pipe immediately above one of the piston valves as shown in Fig. 35. Observation fortunately was possible as whenever steam was admitted to the steam chest the glass tube cleared of oil and remained clear until the cylinder oil escaped past the non-return valve which was just behind the sight feed glass. There was no doubt about the point of release as the glass suddenly filled with oil. This occurred after 5 to 6 full revolutions of the oil pump shaft which, with the locomotives under observation, equalled a distance of about a mile from each starting point. By inference it appeared that the cylinder vacuum was abstracting some of the oil from the oil delivery pipes whenever the regulator was closed and the engine was coasting. On re-starting a certain amount of build-up in oil pressure was necessary before the non-return valve opened and again admitted oil to the steam chest and 1 or piston valves. A stronger non-return valve spring seemed necessary or possibly a type of double check valve, but certainly the oil flow at the delivery ends of the oil pipes was irregular however steady it may have been at the oil pump end. He very much regretted that the circumstances at the time, now many years ago, did not permit further investigation and trials with alternative fittings. The Chairman said that many thanks were due to Mr. Cox for preparing this Paper and for the generous manner in which he had explained the various defects which had developed on the new standard locomotives and which had been put right. Mr. Hall referred to page 253 of the Paper, and under paragraph 3 the Author favoured the “ Abandonment of the piston valve to solve at once both lubrication and steam leakage problems.” In view of his previous remarks he was rather intrigued by that statement which seemed rather sweeping. With superheated steam he wondered what alternative means Mr. Cox had in mind for satisfactory steam distribution. Perhaps a previous speaker had supplied the answer when he referred to Caprotti or other types of poppet valves. With the advent of manganese liners there appeared to be a tendency on the part of designers to increase the clearances between the axlebox and the horn guides. He could recollect at one time axleboxes were fitted so that they almost supported their own weight in the horn guides, now-a-days it seemed permissible to allow 0.030 in. 0.040 in. which figure, if a little high for steam locomotives, was certainly modern practice for the axleboxes of the bogies of dieselelectric locomotives.
J. W. Caldwell (287) said that many of them must have envied the magnificent opportunities that Mr. Cox had of reading interesting papers. But they must agree that he made the very best use of the opportunities given to him. The engines concerned had suffered a number of teething troubles, and whilst one appreciated that with the outset of failures speedy action was desirable if more than prototypes were in service, it did seem doubtful whether some of the modifications made were really necessary. In regard to fracturing of the pistons due to carry-over of water, it was thought that this was due, in part at any rate, to crews carrying too high a water level, and because of this the effective length of the gauge glass was reduced. This seemed to be a retrograde step; surely it was better to know where the water was, even if it were too high, rather than lose it altogether. However, apparently some engine crews could not be trusted to run with a lower maximum level which could have been indicated by a red line or some other means. Since water carry-over was apparently the trouble, it would appear that there was no need to change to steel pistons. A point that should be brought out in regard to water carry-over was that with the original arrangement it was possible for water to get into the main internal steam pipe in small quantities and accumulate there when the regulator was closed and then come through “en bloc” when the regulator was opened.
In regard to the shifting of the wheels on the axles, if it were agreed that the holes in the axle were too big, although the press-on loads were presumably obtained, it seemed a pity to have discarded the fluted coupling rods. Whilst one can appreciate that, at the time, the trouble must be eliminated almost at any cost, any design feature which was discarded for a wrong reason is a betrayal of designers everywhere and a set-back to progress generally. In connection with this trouble, he referred to the Author’s inference from the faultless running of engine number 70005 that to have built a single engine for initial trial would have been useless and said, as one who inclined to the view that a minimum of engines for a new type should be built initially, that the natural corollary of this was that they should be tested in such a way as to expose their defects quickly by overloading, overspeeding, and by intensive working. Admittedly, this is, or was, a rather difficult thing to do, but had it been done over the long years of the past, progress would have been quicker and more consistent and the “ writing on the wall ” that the Author referred to could have been “ rubbed off.” To the best of his knowledge and belief, he said, no other producers of powered vehicles expect a new product to go into normal traffic immediately. The necessity to change the control of the atomiser steam from the regulator to the cylinder cock actuating gear seemed to be another case where a change was unnecessary if the co-operation of the engine crews could have been obtained. Over many years the GWR had, he understood, used a regulator controlled system of cylinder lubrication and their road had, in certain parts, many gradients.
In regard to the cracking of the frames, he feared that this was a just retribution; whilst he was not against welding, as such, it seemed a little strange, of all the connections to the frame, to use welding for the horn guides and nothing else, the circumstances being such that it was doubtful if adequate preheating and stress relieving could be carried out. This seemed to be invoking all the hazards of welding to very little purpose. The only advantage seemed to have been a small saving in weight and a strengthening of the gap. In regard to the latter surely the keep should be the lower stringer of the frame and if it were so the gap was not a weakness except at lifting.
He thought that one could take exception to the Author's statement on page 230 that no reason existed for using more cylinders than two except where the tractive effort required was so high as to prevent its being obtained in two cylinders that would come within the loading gauge. He thought that a designer might legitimately use three or four cylinders for the purpose of eliminating hammerblow in order to get the maximum powered locomotive for a given weight of track and standard of permanent way and still be absolved from indulging " personal fancies. "
From the Paper it would appear that a peculiar transformation had taken place in regard to the Caprotti valve gear. Some little time ago it was looked to as a means of getting better valve events than those given by the Walschaert gear at the expense, perhaps, of increased complication. Now, apparently, the best the Caprotti gear could be expected to do was to imitate the valve events given by a good Walschaert gear and its claim to virtue was decreased maintenance costs. It would be interesting to know if this were the true state of affairs.
When these engines were designed a coupled wheel diameter of 6 ft. 2 in. was chosen for the faster engines. He noticed from the curves in the Paper that the drawbar horsepower-speed curves peaked at 40145 m.p.h. which he thought was a little low and he asked if the Author thought the correct wheel diameter had been chosen. In the early stages of the design of the BR standard range of locomotives the advisability of making the Class 5 a " Pacific " was considered. Had anything occurred, in the testing and running of these engines which made the Author think it might have been better as a " Pacific "? On the contrary, the Class 6 had been built as a " Pacific," whereas there were Region engines on ten wheels developing as much, or more, power with reputations as excellent locomotives. Could the Class 6 have been a 4-6-0 with advantage? In other words has the line between 4-6-0's and " Pacifics " been drawn at the right place?

Sixth Ordinary General Meeting of the Scottish Centre was held at St. Enoch Hotel, Glasgow on Wednesday 28 April 1954 at 7.0 p.m., the Chair being taken by A. Hood.
Mr. W. F. D. Hart (G.) said there were 330 BR standard locomotives in service, this number being made up of twelve different classes, representing 1.5 per cent of the total number of locomotives in service, and he wondered what the proportion of BR standard locomotives was likely to be. Meanwhile he found it difficult to understand how the introduction of 12 additional classes could lead to big reductions in maintenance on British Railways. Twelve new classes must have meant a lot of design work and also the differing troubles mentioned by Mr. Cox. One of the original projects was the reduction of maintenance charges on these locomotives by improved shopping methods and he asked if Mr. Cox could give comparative figures for maintenance costs with other British locomotives. He said the limit of the boiler was regardless of the draught. He could see that it could reach a limiting figure for the blastpipe pressure, but with regard to the draught, he could not see that the limit could be reached in the ordinary locomotive.
The wide firebox was positioned to get the maximum quantity of air to the coal, without the disadvantage of having high air velocities, and this was a point in favour of the wide box.
With regard to the blastpipe curve shown, he noticed that the curve referred to 55 m.p.h., was there any change in these characteristics for differing speeds?
The whole business of blastpipe pressure versus steam consumption was rather puzzling. Mr. Cox said that obviously the introduction of a smaller blastpipe nozzle put up the pressure on the cylinder and reduced the cylinder efficiency, which was offset by an improvement in superheat temperature. It would appear there is a considerable field for improvement there. Mr. Cox said it would be advantageous to introduce superheater temperature at lower steam rate. The draught and superheater temperature was fixed, dependent on the steam rate of the boiler, and Mr. Hart asked if it would not bear investigation to see if the draught could be increased at low steam rates and hence the superheater temperature could be increased. Whilst it was realised that the maximum performance of the steam locomotive was limited to the boiler temperature, what was not so clear was what efficiency the locomotive worked at under part load. There still appeared to be scope for improvement of the steam locomotive at part load performance.
A separation of smokebox draught from the steam rate seemed to be a very desirable advantage.
J.B. Aird (303.) mentioned the question of fore and aft motion which was experienced when travelling behind BR standard locomotives. He said that when travelling behind the new 2-6-4 T type, the surging was no greater than was experienced behind any other locomotive. He said he had made four trips on the Clan Class and it had reached a speed of 70 m.p.h. On one occasion, when he was in the first compartment, there was no appreciable fore and aft motion to be felt, but one thing was felt by the passengers, which had a bearing on what Mr. Welborn had said, and that was the amount of coal that particular Clan Class locomotive shed when travelling at high speed. He suggested that possibly a modification to the coal space in the tender might cut down the “ Clan ” Class locomotives’ coal consumption.
Mr. J. M. D. Warren (G.) asked if there had been any complaints from the footplate staff of the weakening caused through the increase in diameter of the wheels on the standard Class 5 from 6 ft. to 6 ft. 2 in. on the standard locomotive. He said he understood one or two had complained that these locomotives had not the same tractive effort as the LMS locomotive.

Simpson, C.E. (Paper No. 533)
Specially constructed railway wagons. 305-35. Disc.: 535-41.
Sixth Ordinary General Meeting of the Midlands Centre was held at the Queen’s Hotel, Birmingham on Wednesday 17 March 1954 at 6.45 p.m., the Chair being taken by R. S. Hall.
Mainly bogie vehicles, but many special purpose vehicles considered including many types of tipping wagon. Wagons for conveying plate glass, bulk liquids, transformers and ingots. Self-propelled wagons built for the Steel Company of Wales. Hoppers and trolkeys. Wagons built by Hurst Nelson and Head Wrightson. Cited paper by C.A. Gammon: Standardisation and design of goods and mineral wagons (Volume 40 Paper 496)..

Journal No. 239

Welborn, L.C. (Paper No. 534)
Locomotive diagramming and utilisation with special reference to British Railways. 364-415. Disc.: 415-24.
General Meeting held at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London SWl on Wednesday 21 April 1954 at 5.30 p.m.: R.C. Bond (President) was in the Chair.
Link working of enginemen as then experienced did not always exist, either through link progression or promotion by seniority. In early times railway staff worked a 12-hour shift. These circumstances permitted the policy being adopted of allocating an engine to one or perhaps two drivers. Admirable as this might have been, it was not conducive to extensive engine diagramming. Cyclic working or remanning en route was not considered desirable or perhaps necessary. The 12-hour day was superceded by one of 10 hours and in 1919 the 8-hour shift was introduced. Amalgamation of the many Railways in 1923 into the four main line companies permitted greater distances being operated by one organisation. Locomotives became larger and more powerful enabling greater mileages being worked between servicing. However, together with these improvements, costs increased considerably. The modern locomotive was a very expensive machine. Wages had risen on a corresponding scale. One of the means therefore of recovering this ever increasing expenditure was to make greater use of the machine. The locomotive represents a substantial amount of invested capital and it is only while working on the line that it can be said to be earning interest and it is with this object in view that the policy of increasing the locomotive availability and more intensified diagramming waa being pursued with such vigour. A measure of the work performed by the locomotive can be represented by the miles per day per engine in use. That this policy had been successful was reflected in the increase of the figure in varying degrees almost every year. Progress resulted in all fields: Table 1 showed that. the  operating stock at end of years between 1929 and  1938 fell from 9,908 to 7,637 in 1934 to 7,259  in 1938 and miles per day per engine in use averaged 94.60; 110.48 and 117.87 in the same years.
The LMS had introduced a programme of intensified locomotive diagramming in the 1930s; the success of which was indicated in Table I. Comparable figures for British Railways were not available; nevertheless, the total operating stock continues to decrease from 20,445 in 1947 to 18,729 in 1952, resulting in a total reduction of 1,716 engines. It will be appreciated that the task of compiling locomotive diagrams will be greatly simplified if there were available a stud of locomotives suitable for working a variety of trains, such as express and local passenger, mixed and mineral freight trains. It is the policy, therefore, to build the locomotive referred to as the Mixed Traffic class of both tender and tank design.
Five new “ Clan ” class locomotives were allocated to Polmadie Motive Power Depot, Scottish Region, at the beginning of 1952. During the first twelve months of the two years at the depot they achieved an availability of 82.8%. and over the whole period an availability of 81.3%. This does not include days in workshops–the engines returned to the shops on odd occasions for minor adjustments and modifications, also repairs as the result of mishaps. The overall availability for the two years amounted to 70.12%. Four booked turns were allocated for the five engines leaving one spare, the diagrammed turns being Glasgow to Manchester and Liverpool and back. The mileage for each booked turn was 229 and the average miles per day per engine in use over this period was 273, the actual average mileage per engine for the two years amounting to 112,036. It will be noted that the mileage for each engine per day exceeded the booked diagrammed work which indicated that use was made of the engine between rostered workings. The Author wished to emphasise that these figures were in no way claimed to be exceptional and were doubtless exceeded by many classes of engines at many depots.
Discussion: R.F. Harvey: (416- )The Author mentioned a reduction in working days from 12 to 10 hours and later to 8 hours. Mr. Harvey had some experience of the 10-hour period and it was rather surprising how useful that 10-hour period was. Although perhaps in those days the preparation and disposal of locomotives was carried out largely by enginemen, the eight hours or so which they spent on the footplate was a most useful period. It seemed to fit in with the geography of Great Britain very conveniently, and it was possible to go to a place and back again in eight hours on the footplate which was not the case with the present 8-hour day. It was not now possible to work many of the useful and profitable diagrams which once operated.
In preparing the diagrams great care should be exercised to see that not more than the number of locomotives of any particular type which could be guaranteed were available. In other words, it was no good if there were ten locomotives at a depot of which eight might be expected to be available to produce a diagram requiring ten. It was noticed that the Author instanced an example where five locomotives were diagrammed to work five trains but this was only for a short seasonal period.
The men and the locomotives, as the Author showed, did not always keep together. It was necessary to obtain greater use from the locomotives and work them at a greater rate and for a larger number of hours than the enginemen, but it did not necessarily mean that it was essential to resort to the somewhat complicated cyclic diagrams, examples of which had been shown by the Author. They were arranged for rather special purposes, but there were many places, for instance, between points A and B where locomotives worked backwards and forwards and where the locomotives arrived back at the shed long before the enginemen had finished. Therefore the procedure could be simplified and was, of course, in many instances. With regard to the allocation of two sets of men to a locomotive, in his view it had everything to recommend it. It was done in many instances, but it was, of course, done at district or shed level and was purely a domestic matter.
With reference to preparation and disposal, at the present moment those marginal times seriously ate into the 8-hour day. If he might be forgiven for repeating something to which reference had been made on more than one occasion it was to say that the time might not be too far distant when the preparation and disposal of locomotives would be done by men other than those in line for promotion. That had already happened with certain classes of locomotives such as diesels and it would be done with diesel railcars. It was difficult to see any reason why a mechanic should not be capable of preparing a steam locomotive and somebody in the nature of shed staff dispose of it when it came on the depot. One more might be added, namely, diesel railcars. Mr. S. E. Parkhouse,
E. Trask (418-19) stated regarding locomotive requirements and allocation that something like 350 Class 9 freight tender engines would be required for the "ideal" types. He did, however, venture to suggest that it would be necessary to wait a long time before that figure was reached and before other ideal types were obtainable. It was rather disconcerting at times to think that it was necessary to cover the workings with types of locomotives which were not entirely suitable for the particular job. The Author did not state how that was done. In a great number of cases it was done with double heading. In other cases it was done by running additional trains to those booked for traffic left over or, all too often, perhaps, by overloading particular engines. Double heading was one of the biggest vices in locomotive working and he would like to see it eliminated by simply having a suitable engine for a particular turn.
It was gratifying to note that the Author had, to a certain extent, covered the uses which were being made of diesels, and it might be of interest to know that the use of diesels was being extended quite rapidly, particulacy of the shunting types. The stage would soon be reached when the number at work would be a matter of great satisfaction. There was great pride at the present time in the fact that they were coming along quite well, and in that connection a debt was owed to the President and other members of the British Transport Commission for their farsighted policy in that particular realm

It will be noted they are on a Regional basis and as already mentioned it is not correct to compare one Region with another. The one on which the work is predominately freight will in consequence be less than where the majority of trains are passenger, e.g. NE Region and Southern Region. With regard to the question of the utilisation of the main line diesel locomotives; the loading of the trains between London and Glasgow in relation to the gradients to be negotiated, i.e. Shap and Beattock is such that unfortunately one of the former LhTS 1,600 h.p. diesel locomotives was insufficient to maintain regularly the booked schedules in the event of signal or other checks on the gradients and it was necessary, therefore, to work the units in tandem. It is considered that the operating conditions on the Southern Region offer better scope for their more economical utilisation. In addition it is desirable, when as at the present time the number of units is limited, to have them shedded at the one depot. It will be appreciated that this will greatly facilitate the training of the footplate staff also the advantage to be gained from the maintenance point of view in connection with the experience of artisan staff and the concentration of stores and spare

1951 92.0

1952 92.0

1953 98.0.

Clapp, C.M. (Paper No. 535)
A designer's impressions on a motive power depot. 425-42. Disc.: 442-7.
Annual General Meeting of the Manchester Centre was held at the College of Technology on Wednesday 21st April 1954 at 6.30 p.m., the Chair being taken by Col. G. Rigby, O.B.E., G.M., E.R.D.
LMR Western Division

Journal No 240

Campbell, A. (Presidential Address)
"Growing up" — Colonial railways past and present. 463-93.
Work at the Crown Agents on behalf of a large number of Colonial railways: Hong Kong, Malaya (Malaysia), Ceylon (Sri Lanka), North Borneo, Mauritius, Iraq (Iraqi State), West Indies, Africa (Gold Coast (Ghana), Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Beyer Garratts.

Thring, J.F. (Paper No. 536)
The design of light alloy coaches for East African Railways. 495-521. Disc.: 522-240.
Presented in London on 20 October 1954; in Birmingham on 17 November 1954; and Newcastle-on-Tyne Centre in Darlington on 1 December 1954. Second Ordinary General Meeting of the Session 1954-55 was held at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1 Birdcage Walk, London, S.W.l, on Wednesday 20th October 1954 at 5.30 p.m., Mr. A. Campbell, C.B.E. (Presideent) occupying the chair.
The Railways required a coach of the lightest construction for first class travel giving trouble-free service and long life; and the relative merits of steel and aluminium alloys were considered for the structure.

Journal No. 241

Fett, R.H. (Paper No. 537)
A modern hydraulic drive for locomotives. 545-78. Disc.: 578-654.
Presented in London on 17 November 1954 and repeated in Glasgow on 24 November 1954; Derby on 9 December 1954; Newcastle-on-Tyne on 19th January 1955; Manchester on 26 January 1955; and Leeds on 2 December 1954. Third Ordinary General Meeting of the Session 1954-55 was held at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1 Birdcage Walk, London, S.W.l, on Wednesday 17th November 1954 at 5.30 p.m., Mr. A. Campbell, C.B.E . , ill. I.Mech.E., M.I.Loco .E., President, occupying the chair.
Author was Diesel Traction Chief, North British Locomotive Co. (NBL):
Criteria:
(a) Transmission should possess uniform stepless output torque.
(b) Efficiency should be reasonably high.
(c) It should be robust in construction and low in maintenance.
(d) Transmission should be compact and light in weight.
(e) It should function automatically.
The Author claimed the modern Voith-North British hydraulic torque converter transmission has now reached a stage of development based on many years of experience where it fulfils the foregoing requirementsmost creditably. It is, in fact, today, a serious competitor of the established electric transmission.

Journal No. 242

Turner, A. (Paper No. 538).
Materials used in locomotive, carriage and wagon construction. 659-73. Disc. : 674-709. 6 illus., 5 diagrs., table.
General Meeting held at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London, SW1 on Wednesday 8 December 1954 at 5.30 p.m. Mr. E. S. Cox (Vice-Presidenf) was in the Chair. The Chairman explained that his presence in the Chair was due to the President being called away.
It should be realised, however, that although the British Standards provide excellent general specifications, they are always a compromise between what the user really wants, the research organisations think he should have, and what the manufacturer would like to supply. As is stated in many of the British Standard Specifications: “ The specification is intended to include the technical provisions necessary for the supply of material herein referred to, but does not purport to include the necessary provision of a contract.”
After due consideration it was decided to formulate a new series of British Railways Specifications which would, whenever possible, be based on the equivalent B.S.S., but defining the requirements which the B.S.S. leaves to be agreed between the manufacturer and the purchaser.
Where a suitable B.S.S. does not exist for a particular material, or where the existing B.S.S. does not cover the British Railways requirements, then a suitable British Railways Specification is produced.
In all cases copies of the B.R. Specifications are supplied to the British Standards Institution, so that they may consider the revision of existing standards, or the issue of new specifications with regard to the development of British Railways.
E. Woodbridge (687) speaking as a member of the British Standards Institution staff, said it was unfortunate that British Standards appeared to be somewhat disparaged in the Paper. The Author referred to BR standards as being better than those of the British Standards Institution. They might well be different but It was a moot point as to whether they were better.
Reference was also made to the need for a standard low alloy steel having resistance to corrosion. It should be pointed out that any responsible body which felt a need for a standard had only to make the request, and the British Standards Institution would take it up. In that connection, he had made a quick check on the steels given in the appendix to the Paper, and in the revision of BS 24- the well known British Standard for railway materials-the first six steels were being covered. As far as he could gather, all the remaining steels were covered in the EN series in BS 970
Again, so far as the table in the Appendix was concerned, it was a pity that the Author did not amplify a little by making reference to the ‘ruling section.’ Ruling section was quoted quite a good deal in British Standards for steels, and according to the ruling section different ultimate strength results were obtained on the steel. To quote one for instance, EN 29 steel, which was a 3 per cent chrome and molybdenum steel, ranged from 45 tons per square inch for a ruling section of 6 inches to 100 tons per square inch for a ruling section of 2½ inches. He suggested that in order to get a true appreciation of the reference to standards a little amplification was required.

Blakeney-Britter, W.C. (Paper No. 539)
Thermodynamic road tests with steam locomotives on the Western Australia Government Railways. 710-30. Disc.: 730-6.
General Meeting of the Western Australian Branch of the Institution was held at the Shell Theatrette, Perth, Western Australia on Friday 30th April 1954. The Chair was taken by Mr. T. Marsland, Chairman, Western Australian Branch,
Cited: Lawford H. Fry. Experimental results from a three-cylinder compound locomotive. Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs., 1927; C.W. Clarke: Service tests to determine locomotive efficiency; and Riddles Development of the engineer in railway practice. Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs, 1953

Black, R.H. (Paper No. 540)
The locomotive mechanical stoker. 737-54. Disc.: 754-67.
General Meeting of the Rhodesian Centre was held at the Railway Institute, Bulawayo, on 6th July 1954, the chair being taken by Mr. F. E. Hough, C.B.E., Chairman of the Rhodesia Centre.
Experience on Rhodesian Railways at Bulawayo. Considered Street, Duplex and Elvin types (and last was favoured). There were communications from K. Cantlie (758-9) who stated that a skilled firemen consumed less coal than a mechanical stoker, and that the Japanese had removed the stokers from the 2-8-2s on the South Manchurian Railway. R.C. Bond (759-60) cited the Merchant Navy experiment: the stoker-fitted locomotive used 25% more fuel (2% was attributable to powering the stoker drive).