Railway World Volume 32 (1971)
Key file

Number 368 (January 1971)

4-4-0 No. 171 crosssing runway of Ballykelly Airfield  with Londonderry/Derry to Belfast RPSI Columcille tour in front of a Shackleton aircraft. 4; 5.

Cecil J. Allen. Timekeeping and City of Truro. Locomotive running, past and present—No. 220. 6-9..
Comment on the slow runninng encountered on journey from Liverpool Street to Norwich hauled by Type 47 No. 1527 and on return behind No.1523: in both cases arrivals were late. The date was 9 October 1970.
The following is something that KPJ clearly missed and is reproduced virtually as it appeared. And now, for a complete change of subject, I want to deal with a communication of very considerable interest which I discovered recently among my records during one of the periodical turnouts which my study requires if I am not to be completely buried in paper. From where this particular document originated I have no record; I have no recollection, either, of ever having seen it published when the subject to which it refers was very much in the eye of the railway public.
It was in the July 1934 issue of the Railway Magazine, in my "British Locomotive Practice and Performance" article, that I published a letter from A.H. Holden which submitted to a critical analysis the claim of the late Charles Rous-Marten that the Great Western Railway 4-4-0 locomotive City of Truro, on 9 May 1904, had worked a mail special up to a speed of 102.3 mph in the descent of Wellington bank in Somerset. The conclusion of this analysis, which had been most carefully made, was that the 100 mph level had never actually been reached. Needless to say, the effect of this revelation was sensational. For months afterwards my article quoted from readers' letters, both supporting Mr Holden's contentions and also violently opposing them, but with the light that has been thrown since on various inaccuracies in Reus-Marten's records, the general consensus of opinion now is that Mr Holden's arguments against the record were soundly based.
I have looked up my articles in the second half of 1934, and have verified that the communication that I am now about to quote never appeared in any of them; why I never used it I am unable to say. Anyway, here it is. "Mr Y. arrived at Plymouth on the Saturday night from India, coming ashore at just after 10 o'clock", it begins, without any explanation as to who "Mr Y", was or of his his relationship with Rous-Marten. "His baggage was addressed through a forwarding agent; he was only carrying a small case of necessities for one night in the hotel, but before deciding to stop in Plymouth he went to Millbay Station to enquire if any London train was available before the Sunday Mail Special. There was a train, but a very poor one—many stops, picking up milk—arriving only a few hours before the Mail. In view of the uncertainty of Sunday trains on his own line, Mr Y. decided to remain at the Great Western Hotel. He was just about to return from MiIIbay when Mr Rous-Marten hailed him. After a few hearty greetings Mr Rous-Marten explained the momentous prospects of the run on Sunday, and prevailed on Mr Y. to remain to take part in it, which he did.
"No details whatever were mentioned of the early part of the run except that both records agree to 1/5th of a second. It was only after passing Wellington that differences arose. Speed was very high, and both timers were concentrating intensely—they were several feet apart and no remarks were possible". It should here be recalled, of course, that the two recorders were travelling in a mail van and not in an ordinary coach. "Suddenly and unexpectedly Mr Rous-Marten gave a great shout. Mr Y. called 'Wait a second', as the mile-post was just then in view. He took his record and turned to Mr Rous-Marten, who was most excited and was quoting 102.3 miles an hour as the speed.
"Mr Y. after a few seconds strongly disputed the figure and gave 95.8 miles an hour. He was at a loss to account for his friend's shout of exultation before the mile-post came into view and suggested that the latter had taken his reading from some other post. Mr Rous-Marten was exceedingly angry at his version even being questioned and the quarrel persisted till arrival at Paddington. Here they consulted the engine-crew and the inspector on the footplate. All three agreed that they were travelling very fast, but would not admit that any very extraordinary speed was attained.
They had been much more exercised about a gang of platelayers who took no notice of their approach and were nearly run down. Mr. Rous-Marten became furious when he received no support from the locomen and dashed away with every appearance of anger.
"Mr Y. was so positive that he was right that within a week he took a train to Wellington, and saw the stationmaster who laughed when he heard the story, and said they often heard such tales; he ascribed all the trouble to a permanent way section post close to the mile-post. He very kindly sent a messenger to fetch the permanent way ganger and all three set off up the line to the spot. Having located the section post, they paced along the line to the mile-post. They then re-measured the distance back to the mile-post. Their estimates varied from 108 to 110 yards. This reading of, say, 109 yards reduces Mr Rous Marten's figure to agree within a minute fraction of 95.8 miles an hour, as given by Mr Y. The permanent way section post was still in position four or five years ago, though the old metal mile-post had been replaced by one of modern standard pattern.
"Mr Y. describes his old friend Mr Rous-Marten as very 'pontifical' and highly choleric in his later years, and adds that the Rev W. J. Scott"—another well-known recorder of locomotive performance at that period—"found his attitude intolerable, his bad temper, abuse, and refusal to see any other point of view than his own having lost him all his friends".
Now there are various weaknesses in this lively account. In the first place, 9 May 1904, was a Monday and not a Sunday. Also the Mail Special started from MiIlbay at 9.23 in the morning, and not, as might be inferred from the "few hours before the Mail" Paddington arrival of the rejected slower train, well on in the day. Thirdly, the mails were from a Transatlantic liner, whereas "Mr Y." is represented as having arrived at Plymouth from India, although this may have been by another ship. One can only assume that when Mr Rous-Marten persuaded "Mr Y" to remain at his hotel, it was overnight from the Sunday to the Monday, and that in this matter the letter I have quoted was in error. But the worst mistake is the claim that "Mr Y" and Rous-Marten interviewed the engine-crew of City of Truro on arrival at Paddington; this was, of course, impossible, as engines had been changed at Pylle Hill, Bristol, and the engine into Paddington was the single-driver Duke of Connaught, with another crew altogether. Locomotive Inspector Flewellen (incidentally called "Llewellyn" by Rous-Marten in his subsequent articles) was the only observer who had ridden on both footplates throughout from Plymouth.
The only point of major interest in the account from which I have quoted is the paragraph relating to the critical mile- post and section post, just under llOyd apart. It is unfor- tunate that this paragraph does not reveal which was the precise mile-post concerned. It seems generally agreed that the maximum speed was attained after passing Welling- ton and not before, which the latter confirms. The brake application necessitated by the platelayers on the line seems to have been made as the train was passing Poole Siding, and this would suggest the i-mile between posts 169!- and 169t, or possibly that between posts 169i and 169, as the critical length. Well, Charles Rous-Marten has left us a puzzle for which a conclusive solution may never be found. Incidentally, in correspondence which took place in 1934 following the publication of my July article in that year, C.B. Collett, the then Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western, made the following comment. "There is one point which I do not think is sufficiently appreciated by some of the advocates of very high speed runs, and that is the great importance of having the outer rail of the curves correctly superelevated for the speeds. This, on any railway where varying speeds are run, has, of course, to be compromised, and is never really sufficient for the normal high speeds, and (what I think is not appreciated) is quite inadequate for the extra high speeds.
"In this connection, the matter was brought home to me very vividly when we were recently carrying out a preliminary run for a high speed trip which was to have taken place with the mail train a little while ago, and we found that in running down a grade of 1 in 300 between Badminton and Somerford, where there are several curves, but of fairly flat radius, the insufficiency of the superelevation of the outer rail caused terrific flange friction, and this grinding against the outer rail absorbed, in running at high speed down this grade, as much power as pulling a heavy train up one of the steep banks in the West of England, and under these circum- stances the risk of mounting the rail is, of course, very serious".
In another letter at about the same time, Mr Collett remarked, concerning the possibility of the engine City of Truro having attained 102.3 mph, "Neither I nor any of my colleagues are able to express any opinion on the matter, as the only information we ever have had are the records made by Mr Rous-Marten which were published some few years ago. The question which is continually being raised as to whether the steam locomotive with reciprocating pistons can really attain a speed of over 100 miles per hour can, I think, be very readily settled by making a trial under plenty of expert observation. We believe in the past that we have many times exceeded this speed, but have never taken any special precautions for making the record, having merely been guided by the ordinary method of using the stop-watch in conjunction with the mile-posts.
"Personally, I do not like these high speed tests ..The risk with the locomotive is considerably greater than with most other modern types of engines, on account of the difficulty of satisfactorily maintaining lubrication at very high speeds of the valve-gear and driving mechanism, which is entirely unprotected, it being impossible to encase it in an oil bath like other modern machines. Although we have successfully made high speed runs for short periods in the past, we have had very numerous failures in the course of our experiments in that direction, and, as you will know, the failure of oil to any part of the valve-gear leads to the complete smashing up of the mechanism in a very few seconds". Collett was not to know that seven years later Bulleid would have built for the Southern Railway the first locomotives with their motion enclosed in an oil-bath but without ultimate success; nor that his forecast of a serious motion failure due to inadequate lubrication on a high speed run would find fulfilment two years later with the near disaster experienced by the Gresley A4 Pacific Silver Fox after the attainment of l13mph in 1936.
"It is only in recent times that we have so improved our lubricating arrangements", Collett's letter continued, "that we are able to run with regularity a high speed service like the Cheltenham Flyer, and this, even with the same engines that are doing it to-day, could not have been carried out under the conditions of only a few years ago. Thus we are in a better position now than ever to make a high speed test from a locomotive point of view, and our main concern of recent times has been connected with the track." From this Mr Collett went on once again to stress the matter of superelevation on curves, and what would need to be done in preparation for 100mph speeds. Well, what needed to be done now has been done, and with both safety of operation and comfort to passengers 100 mph has become a standard speed over many miles of line in Great Britain.
[The Author gratefully acknowledges the receipt, to November 18, of letters from Richard J. Bourne, S. Cane, A. Davies, F.J. Field, A.J. Foale, J. Gornall, Rev. R.S. Haines, L.C. Holmes, C.R. Moore (2), C.M. Napper, Ronald I. Nelson, C.H.E. Owen, T. Pearson, Colin Starkey, A.F. Smeaton, J.B. Wearmouth, T.S. Williams, and A.S. Wilson-Jones)

C.P. Atkins. Post-War North American steam power. Part three. 10-15.
Illustrations: Virginian 2-6-6-6 bought from Lima in 1945; First American Mallet compound 0-6-6-0 built for B & O in 1904; three B & O 2-8-8-4 Mallet simples on coal train; Virginian Allegheny 2-6-6-6 on coal empties; Norfolk & Western high speed 2-6-6-4 built in 1949/50; Norfolk & Western 2-8-8-2 No. 2143 with second tender for water; Baltimore & Ohio EM1 2-8-8-4 No. 7602 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works; Western Maryland Shay 4-4-4 built by Lima in 1943; Norfolk & Western Class Y6B 2-8-8-2 No. 2172 on  a freight train and Delaware & Hudson 4-6-6-4 on  a coal train.

G.M. Kitchenside. Surbiton power box commissioned. 16-19.
Actual structure not illustrated but entrance exit panel is; other illustratiions show new signls and layouts and former manual signal boxes./

Robin Russell. On tour with Flying Scotsman. 20-3.
Author had worked with preserved locomotive in England, but had moved to Toronto in Canada where he volunteered in the summer of 1970 and met the locomotive in Kansas City and moved with it to Chicago. Duties included cleaning the locomotive and showing visitors through the train and onto the locomotive

Snow and steam. 24-31.

J.M. Tolson. The end of steam in Denmark. 32-6.

W.K. Davies. Light railway news. 37-8.

Number 371 (April)

J.N. Young. 100 years of the Enfield branch, 148-53.

A.B. Macleod. 32640—a historic locomotive. 156

Cecil J. Allen. East Coast running then and now. Locomotive running, past and present—No. 223. 173-7.
Slowing of West  Coast route London to Glasgow services due to electrification and divertion off Beattock route to Glasgow & South Western. Fast run from Peterborough to King's Cross behind Type 47 No. 1533 on train from Leeds. Very fast run behind Deltic No. 9011 The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers on 15.55 Kin's Cross to Leeds with 106 mph at St. Neots and Little Bytham. Also comment on No. 4472 Flying Scotsman in 1934 on record breaking run and by N0. 2509 Silver Link in 1935.

David Shepherd. The Zambesi Sawmills Railway. 178-9
Former Rhodesian Railways 4-8-0 illustrated.

Number 372 (June)

Notes of the month. 234

Mersey rail link. 234
Mersey Loop from James Street through Moorfields (Exchange), Lime Steet and Central and returning via James Street with  a burowing junction at Hamilton Square would greatly increase capacity.

Manchester  Piccadilly-Victoria Tunnel. 234
Ardwick Junction to Bury Line at Queens Road Junction with undeground stations at Piccadilly Station, Princess Street/Whitworth Street, St. Peters Square/Albert Square, Market Street  and Victoria. The Picc-Vic lline was to be 2.75 miles long with services to Hazel Grove and Wilmslow  via Styal and Stockport and to Bolton via Radcliffe.

West Coast electrification starts. 234
Weaver Junction to Glasgow with simpler catenary (headspan wires instead of steel portals for multiple tracks)

Level crossing TV. 234

West Coast Mystery Tours. 235

Accidents. 235-6
On 15 July 1970 an empty four-car 4BEP collided with a lorry on a level crossing at Shalmsford Street occupation level crossing in which the lorry drivver and the guard of the train were killed. Lt Col A.G. Townsend-Rose blamed the crossing keeper for failing to close the gates.  On 23 October 1969 a Cla ss 6 special freight carrying military ammunition from Basiungstoke to Felixstowe left the track while passsing through Chelmsford Station at 45 mile/h. Lt Col I.K.A. McNaughton comsidered that this was due to a fault in one of the wagon wheels

Kemp Town branch service. 236
To mark the complete closure of the branch due to the removal of te coal depot to a new concentration depot a one day passenger service on 26 June would operate at two hour intervals using a diesel electric multiple unit with the fare proceeds going to the Southern Railwaymen's Homes.

South Kensington improvements begin. 236
London Transport contractors John Cochrane & Sons Ltd. started work on new booking hall a nd replacement of lifts by two flights of escalators to serve District and Circle lines and Piccadilly line.

Waverley Route dismantled. 236
Isolation of Hawick disgrace

Cecil J. Allen, British diesel prototypes. Locomotive running past and present — No. 225. 238-41.
Tables of Oxford to Paddington behind Hymek BB with 12 coaches non-stop with  speed in high 80s from Reading to Ealing and Newport to Paddington behind Class 52 CC No. 1015 Western Champion diesel hydraulic with speed in nineties from Hullavington to Ealing. "like good wine the performance of the Deltics has matured". Illustratiions: DP2 on 19.15 near North Wembley on 19.15 Euston to Perth in June 1962 (M. Pope); Hawker Siddeley HS 4000 Kestrel passing Durham on down express (I.S. Carr); Brush Falcon on 12.15 Paddington to Bristol on 4 July 1968  (J.H. Cooper-Smith); prototype Deltic on down Shamrock for Liverpool passing Watford Junction in May 1957 (C.R.L. Coles)

D.R. Thornhill. A West European steam survey. 242-7.

Book reviews. 272

Talyllyn adventure. L.T.C. Rolt. David & Charles. 289pp. Reviewed by G.M.K..[Kitchenside]
Combination of Railway adventure and Tallyyn century.

The runaway train — Armagh 1899. J.R.L. Currie. David & Charles. 148pp. Reviewed by G.M.K..[Kitchenside]
Summarises the inquest and trial of the train crews involved and analyses the Board of Trade report. An interesting and learned account.

Number 375 (August)

News of the month. 330

APT progress. 330

Parkeston Quay extension. 330

More Mark IID coaches, 330

Swindon modernisation. 330

Cornish horticultural hire trains. 330

Bradford Bus/Rail Interchange. 330-1

Bristol resignalling. 331

Less smoking on LT. 331

York facelift. 331-2

New WR travel centres. 332

Merseyside quiz. 332

Standards for turnouts. 332

DVR information board. 332

L.F.E. Coombs. The driver's place: a survey of driving cab practice from early days. 334-9.

Cecil J. Allen. More Scottish runs. Locomotive running, past and present—No. 227. 340-3.

A. Donaldson. RPSI railtour revival. 344

The GCR — still extant. 347-51.

Highland round-up. 352-7.

Brian Perren. Railway catering in Switzerland.

New book. 366 -7

Letters. 367-8

Number 377 (October)

London electrification goes ahead. 430-1
Initial announcement of Great Northern electrification to Royston, via main line and Hertford Loop, including dual voltage link to Moorgate via Drayton Park. Also mentions possible new high level terminal at King's Cross to accommodate airport traffic from Foulness: anyone for Boris?

Trevor Bailey. The oddest things strike me. 432-5.
Undergraduate days in lazy, late 1930s Cambridge where the author, Alan Pegler and Jo Lever enjoyed themselves travelling by train for the joy of it.Article reproduced below (minus excellent photographs: listed at end: (times & format as per original)
The oddest things strike me at times; and on this particular occasion I was thinking what an indignity the North Country Continental has had to suffer by having the inevitable cup-and-saucer symbol at the head of its column in the timetable.
I do not know if the name stiII applies to what remains of this train—indeed, officially it probably never did—but it was a fine train during my undergraduate days, even though it did take its time wandering from Parkeston Quay to Liverpool. The point was it had a magnificent dining car and it served superb breakfasts. We sometimes got up to catch the 7.30 from Cambridge to Bury St Edmunds for the sole purpose of breakfasting in the diner of the Continental between there and March (it needed more than the cup-and-saucer symbol to get us up that early) and we would feast ourselves on porridge, kippers, bacon and eggs and the rest, whilst lounging back in our luxurious first class seats listening to the music of the gleaming B17 trundling us across the Fens.
My companions on these journeys were Alan Pegler and a mutual friend, Jo Lever, all of us students at the time, but inclined more to the pleasureable pursuits of train-watching in all its forms than to the rigours of the lecture-hall. Cambridge in those distant days immediately preceding the outbreak of war was one of the finest centres in the country for the railway enthusiast. It had been served in pre-grouping days by the GE the GN, the Midland and the LNW; and many examples of locomotives and rolling stock from all those companies were to be seen regularly in addition to modern LNE and LMS equipment—Precursors and Prince of Wales from the Sandy direction and even KirtIey and Johnson antiques from the Midland.
During this period an interesting new visitor was the LMS 3-car dmu painted bright red and cream, which ran between Cambridge and Oxford to the unprecedented timing of 105 minutes for the 78 miles, calling, as far as I recall, only at Sandy, Bedford and Bletchley. We travelled on it once or twice, as a novelty, though without much enthusiasm but the real fun used to occur on the frequent occasions when it failed, the substitute equipment normally being a Stanier 2-6-4 tank and two modern low-waisted corridors. I forget the details of the schedule, but I remember that it was quite usual to record speeds of 82-84 mph between Cambridge and Sandy, and even then there wasn't much slack in the timing. We rarely went beyond Sandy (except for an occasional visit to Bletchley to satisfy Jo, who was an LMS fanatic); we used the service mostly to get to the GN main line, which was the main object of our attention. This was the period when the streamliners were at the zenith of their fame, and there was no limit to the number of times one could watch and photograph them without getting bored. Their time-keeping was really precise, and their appearance striking in the extreme, so brightly did they shine. We found many good vantage points during those days, but favourites were Arlesey, Sandy, Offord curves, or Abbot's Ripton.
We always went to our viewing points by train, and therefore were a bit restricted as even then there were not many "parties", and one was liable to be marooned at isolated stations for considerable periods. And we preferred a station where there was a reasonable pub close at hand—at least one where they could cut a good sandwich. We used to go out at all times of the year, and in all weathers; and in fact some of the best photographs I ever took were during the winter, muffled up in the crisp winter sunshine. I suppose it did rain sometimes, but, as on all pre-war holidays, in retrospect the sun was always shining; and I think that some of my pleasantest train-watching memories are of the hours spent on balmy summer days sitting in the meadows between the Ouse and the main line. I rely too much on my memory to be able to give details of exact times of the trains there—but the northbound procession used to start with the Queen of Scots followed by the 1.20 Scotsman, 1.30 Leeds and 1.40 Harrogate, in rapid succession.
In the up direction, the Jubilee and the West Riding would come by about 1.15 and 1.30, and there seemed to be plenty of other activity; details are but vague memories, except that I do recall there being a 10.59 from Doncaster, which always struck me as a very odd departure time. I'm sure it must have come from somewhere else. We were not often in position early enough to see the 10 o'clock Scotsman go down, nor late enough for the 4 o'clock Coronation; but there was no shortage of motive power variety, on freights as well as passengers. One particularly interesting train which stays firmly rooted in my memory was the 3.4 from Peterborough due into Kings Cross at 4.20—the only train at that time, as far as I know, to do the up journey in under even time. It came, I believe, from Cleethorpes, was invariably hauled by an Ivatt large Atlantic and always seemed to be going well; though it hadn't a very arduous task, as it rarely had more than six on. The overbridge north of Abbots Ripton station was a good place to see and hear this one in action.
At this time, the LNER operated a cheap half-day return fare from Cambridge to London on Thursdays and Sundays for the princely sum of 4s 2d, and this led to one of the most interesting locomotive workings of that period. The famous Garden Cities & Cambridge Buffet Expresses (known to the non-railway minded undergraduates as "Beer Trains", and to railwaymen as either "Buffies" or "Buffetts", depending) had been running for a number of years, and were generally very well patronized, certain ones more so than others. Mostly they were operated through the nineteen-thirties by Ivatt Atlantics, and some of the timings were pretty sharp. The 12.30 pm up, for example was allowed only 72 min to Kings Cross, though its normal load was very modest. It was, however, booked to pass Royston (13 miles) in 15 minutes and with a 45 mph slack at Shepreth Branch Junction and a 60 mph limit on the branch, this timing was impossible. Brisk running at something over the 60 mark would nevertheless see them right time by Letchworth. As a result of the cheap facilities to London on a Thursday, the 12.30 (the first train on which the cheap tickets could be used) began to grow, and might have 8, 9, 10 or 11 bogies on .. Clearly, the Atlantics were unable to cope, and first B17s, then AI and A3 Pacifies were tried, until ultimately it became a regular A4 working operated by the Leeds link from Kings Cross, including such redoubtable characters as Raiment, Kitchener and Charlie Waite. The loco worked the morning "Buffet" from Kings Cross, and returned on the 12.30, and we had many a run to London just for the fireworks. (On one occasion we managed a footplate trip via the corridor tender on 4493).
The 12.30 stopped at Letchworth, Hitchin and Welwyn Garden City, and there were thrills all the way with the right crew. We once timed 4902 Seagull from Welwyn Garden City to Kings Cross in 20 min 47 sec start-to-stop (20.2 miles), including an 87 through New Southgate. And we had many a spirited climb from Hitchin to Stevenage since the 11.7 miles from Hitchin to Welwyn Garden City had to be covered in 14 min start-to-stop. There can rarely have been a better four-and-twopence-worth. We used to get the 2.10 Buffet back, and eat on it; the excitement on the up journey was too intense to allow for eating on that one.
Our journeys on the GE section were less frequent, and generally less lively, except for one hectic run to Liverpool St on the 65 min non-stop one Thursday, with a "Claud" and a light load. But after our end-of-term exams in June, we invested in a weekly area rover ticket for 15s 9d first class which enabled us to travel from Cambridge as far as Hunstanton, March, Huntingdon via St Ives, Mildenhall, Bury St Edmunds and Thetford. It had no southward availability.
We used this ticket on a variety of journeys, but on one day set out to see how many miles we could cover in the day, wholly within the area. Our final mileage was 364, and calculating the cost of the ticket at 2s 3d per day, this worked out at almost exactly 13½ miles to the penny, first class, which must be an all-time record. The details of the journey are too far behind me to recaJl, but I know that we started on the 7.30 to Bury St Edmunds, thence by the Continental (with breakfast!) to March, then to Wisbech, Kings Lynn, Ely, Cambridge and off again. Our final taJly was brought up by an evening return to MildenhaJl and back, with an E4.
During this particular week we had what we came to refer to as our "lucky escape". We had planned to travel on the day in question from Kings Lynn to Cambridge by the 11.2 ex-Hunstanton; but at the last minute Alan Pegler, who wielded an oar as stroke of the Jesus Fourth boat, had to go rowing, so Jo and I changed out itinerary and went to March instead.
On arriving at Ely in the early afternoon, having suffered some fearful checks and running very late, we were told by a porter at Ely that there was an engine off the road at Hilgay. We reached Cambridge, after a side trip to Thetford, on the up Norwich at 3.51, and were joined by Alan; simultaneously we were greeted by newspaper placards proclaiming "London Express Disaster". We bought a paper and learned that our 11.2 from Hunstanton had hit a lorry on an occupation crossing at Hilgay, derailed the loco and all five coaches, and killed five passengers. We leapt on to the 4.5 to Kings Lynn, made slow progress beyond Ely, and finaJly arrived at Hilgay to see the results of the encounter. The loco involved was one of the Royal "Clauds", No 8783, and it had heeled over to the left and struck some wagons parked in a siding. The coaches had done likewise, and had their near sides badly ripped and shattered. The walls of the compo, in whose first class we should have been, were demolished.
The breakdown train moved into position shortly after our arrival, and we watched the loco and tender re-railed, after which we hitched a lift back to Cambridge by car and only just got back to the coJlege in time to avoid a gate-fine. Ron Garraway was DMPS at Cambridge at the time. The two Royal engines were his pride and joy, and one can imagine how he felt seeing 8783 so knocked about and forlorn. I have seen his photographs of the wreck in recent times, and there's no doubt that it was a shambles which we were well out of.
We went down at the end of the May term, eagerly looking forward to the next one. We had many things planned, including a flight in a Gipsy Moth alongside the Coronation, since Alan had a private pilot's licence. But it was not to be. By the time the term started, there were no streamliners, no high speeds, no photography, and for me no term-at least for another six years, by which time work was a serious matter, and the railways had to go by the board. But it was great while it lasted
Illustrations (all by Author):
B17 No. 2827 Aske Hall piloted by D16/3 No. 8810 leaving Cambridge with long train fom Hunstanton for Liverpool Street
C1 Atlantic No. 3301 on beer train for King's Cross next to D16/3 at head of Liverpool Street slow and LMS train for Bletchley
E4 2-4-0 No. 7477 on train for Mildenhall
A3 No. 2752 Spion Kop on 10.59 from Doncaster passing Arlesey
A4 No. 2512 Silver Fox on up Siver Jubilee formed of spare Coronation set at Offord
LMS 3-car red and cream dmu at Sandy while operating an experimental 1 05min service between Cambridge and Oxford in the late 1930s.

S.C. Townroe. More light on the Leader class. 436-8.
Mention of the Leader class locomotive, the last to be built under Southern Railway auspices just before nationalisation, arouses among steam locomotive enthusiasts visions of a revolutionary machine which could have kept the diesel locomotive at bay for many years. That such hopes were a long way from fulfilment has not been made clear, from the limited information so far published; instead there has grown up a belief in some quarters that the project was prematurely scrapped by a nationalised body without any attempt to persevere with the problems of a radically new design.
In fact, as will be explained in this article, there arose in the course of the trials of the one and only Leader class to be constructed and tested, No 36001, an impasse over excessive weight, which proved impossible to resolve. In passing, other examples come to mind of original steam locomotives (for example, the Paget and Ljüngstrom machines) which were brilliantly conceived but which ended in disappointment for one reason or another.
The story began in 1946. The Southern Railway had reviewed its post-war motive power requirements and the operating authorities put forward a request for tank locomotives for working passenger traffic on secondary routes and branch lines. The intention was to replace a variety of small tank locomotives, almost all of which were of Victorian or Edwardian vintage, by such types as the BR classes 3 and 4 tanks which were later to be produced under nationalisation The SR Chief Mechanical Engineer at that time, O.V.S. Bulleid, decided that the proposition could be taken a good deal further, by having a type of large tank locomotive which would be capable of working both main line and lesser trains through to destinations on secondary routes. To this end, the locomotive would be double-ended, to avoid the need for turntables. It would be mounted on two six-wheeled power bogies—an 0-6-6-0 or C-C in today's parlance—all wheels driven and braked, giving adhesion for working unbraked freight trains as well as passenger trains. The power bogie was to have all its parts working enclosed in oil baths and would be like an electric motor-coach, interchangeable, and requiring no attention outside main workshops.
A single underframe 65ft long carried the boiler, smoke-box, bunker for four tons of coal, tank for 4,000 gallons of water, a driving cab at each end and a fireman's cab in the space between the boiler and the bunker. A corridor was provided on one side. The boiler was of locomotive pattern except that the side and back water spaces of the conventional firebox were replaced by plain sheet steel lined with refractory material; four thermic syphons joined the crown of the firebox to the underside of the barrel. The object was to avoid the maintenance associated with stayed firebox water spaces, but the experiment was to prove a real hot-spot in more ways than one. Boiler pressure was 280 psi. 
Each bogie carried three cylinders 12-!in diameter by 15in stroke. Valve gear, a smaller version of the Bulleid- Walschaerts gear as fitted to his Pacifies, operated sleeve valves with separate admission and exhaust ports. The wheels were 5ft lin in diameter. The centre axle was a three-throw crank and carried a chain sprocket at each end, outside the wheels. The outer and inner axles were plain, each with a sprocket at opposite ends, so that chains re- placed conventional coupling rods, one on each side of the bogie. This unsymmetrical drive must have added to the stresses in the three-throw crank, supported in two end bearings, whereby failures occured after running a low mileage.
The maximum permitted axle load on secondary lines was 19t tons, to which the West Country class conformed; if the Leader was to have the required route availability, the total weight in working order would have to be kept down to 112-!- tons (or 90 tons without coal or water). A conventional tank locomotive of equivalent power and weight could be taken as a 4-6-4 but by comparison the Leader design carried a superstructure with three cabs, six cylinders and six sets of valve gear, brake equipment for twelve wheels and 4,000 gallons (nearly 18 tons) of water-an exceptional quantity for a tank locomotive.
The calculated tractive effort was 26,350Ib, which would have placed it within the BR power classification 5 and thus hardly capable of main-line loads and schedules. The West Country class was rated as 7. With a fleet of 150 Pacifies (MN, WC and BB classes) the Southern did not need more main-line passenger locomotives. Hence, unless the Leader class could be made light enough to work on secondary routes and some branch lines, there was really no urgent need for it. To its courageous designer, however, the combination of so many new features, most of them potentially successful in theory, was evidently so alluring that the locomotive simply had to be built to prove itself. No calculated or actual weight figures were officially pub- lished.
The use of sleeve valves enabled the designer to have three cylinders en bloc between the bogie frames. Sleeve valves had proved satisfactory on stationary steam engines but they required special attention to lubrication; they were liable to distort at high temperatures, and to keep them steam- tight in the cylinder between the ports each valve on the Leader had 36 rings. To tryout the sleeve valves former LBSC Class HI Atlantic No 32039 Hart/and Point was fitted with them and during 1948 worked stock trains bet- ween Eastleigh and Lancing Works. Each sleeve valve had an extension through the front cover attached to a canted die-block which gave the sleeve a slight axial rotation at each stroke; this mechanism suffered breakages. No 32039's 3,500 gallon tender was insufficient for the 50 mile trips, thus indicating very high water consumption, and there was considerable steam leakage caused by broken rings.
Whether rings broke in service or were broken in the difficult process of assembly, with so many, was not established, but it was clear that much more development was needed to make this type of valve, new to locomotive use, a workable proposition for this particular application. Nevertheless, no time was available for prolonged experiments for No 36001 was already under construction at Brighton Works. No doubt Bulleid felt that the trouble with the sleeves was a matter of workmanship, or materials, which would be solved. The first trial runs took place in the Brighton area during 1949, but by June 1950 No 36001 had proved far from serviceable and was transferred to Eastleigh Works where, it was hoped, the staff would have more success with it. At the same time the ex-North Eastern dynamometer car and testing crew were sent from York to Eastleigh mpd to observe trial running on the main line between Eastleigh and Woking. The intention was to test No 36001 on an empty train, during the first fortnight of July 1950 and to take similar records, for comparison, with Maunsell U class 2-6-0 No 31618 during the second fortnight.
No one was anxious to drive or fire No 36001, which had earned the nickname of "The Chinese Laundry" from the heat and humidity inside it. The heat, radiated from the boiler and smokebox, and from internal steam pipes, made the interior only bearable by running with plenty of ventilation; even so, the temperature in the fireman's compartment was recorded as 120 deg F. The fireman had a window on one side only; he could not see, or be seen, by the driver. If a gauge-glass burst or a steam joint failed, the consequencies for the fireman might have been more serious than on a normal footplate.
The Locomen's staff representatives were not at all happy about the conditions under which No 36001 would have to be operated, and made it clear that, while they would not prevent one volunteer crew from working the trials, they would call for drastic alterations before the locomotive entered service. It has since been suggested that oil firing would have made things more congenial for the fireman; certainly, he would have been freed from the exertion of firing but he would still have had to operate the boiler controls in solitary confinement.
On trials, No 36001 did not maintain steam pressure with 10 coaches on the 1 in 250 gradient from Eastleigh to Basingstoke. Shortage of steam was aggravated by portions of the firebox lining becoming detached, allowing the steel firebox sides to become red hot. The refractory lining had to be increased in thickness and by so doing the grate area was reduced, with further detriment to steaming. The dynamometer car staff were unable to obtain any useful records because at no time did the locomotive run consis- tently over a distance. The trials were interrupted also by breakage of the 9in diameter crank axles; they were replaced by axles made for No 36002 but the latter broke after about the same mileage as the first set.
While No 36001 was in workshops for crank axle attention and for other lesser defects, the opportunity was taken to place it on the weighbridge. This revealed a disparity in wheel weights between one side and the other, and to effect a balance the corridor (the lighter) side had to be ballasted with cast iron weights. When the locomotive was weighed in this condition, it was obviously far in excess of the heaviest permitted axle-load, and further development, which held no prospect of weight reduction but rather the reverse, was pointless. In November 1950 the project was terminated, and in due course No 36001 and the other four Leaders in various stages of completion were cut up for scrap.
Even assuming that in due course all the purely mechanical teething troubles could have been overcome, and the total weight reduced, the principle of enslosing a large boiler within a superstructure was unsound; it made the living quarters for the enginemen intolerable; it involved within these quarters all the dirty operations of boiler washouts, smokebox cleaning, tube cleaning, repairs and examinations. The latter could not have been carried out properly without dismantling large parts of the superstructure. It may be some consolation to reflect that the steam locomotive was dying anyway, not for lack of progressive improvement but because it was replaced by forms of traction affording superior performance accompanied by more congenial conditions for the human element. No official announcement was made about the choice of eminent persons whose names were to be conferred on the Leaders. It was understood that the first would be Winston Churchill, with name plates to be removed from Battle of Britain class, No 34051, already bearing his name, and the second would be Field Marshal Montgomery. As always, the workshop wags had plenty of suggestions, including Fred Karno, W. Heath Robinsan, Roland Emmett (with due respect to the latter two gentlemen there was nothing personal in this, merely that the Leader locomotives seemed to share certain features of their designs), and other less worthy titles! Illustrations:photograph from author's collection shows members of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers grouped in front of No 36001 during their visit to Eastleigh in 1950; Leader class No 36001 passes Eastleigh South box with empty stock in August, 1950. Assistant Works Manager Clifford at the open cab window is getting as far away as he can from the torrid interior of the locomotive. first (and only) Leader runs trials with a dynamometer car in September 1950. In this view it is on the up main line at Allbrook. Eastleigh.
bell has tolled, and No 36001 is being dismantled in Eastleigh Works. This rare view is taken from the smoke box end, showing the boiler, side corridor with ballast and firebox. The fireman's compartment with its single side window is beyond, between the bunker and water tank.(all S.C. Townroe)

L.G. Marshall. Journey to the Himalayas—1. 448-53.
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

M. Dunnett. Three Durham wagonways. 454-6.
South Hetton wagonway; Bowes Railway and the Pelaw Main wagonway.

Number 378 (November 1971)

News of the month. 466-9

RHDR preservation scheme. 367-8
Railwway in danger of returning a loss. Threat to close section with high land value and limit operation to New Romney to Dugeness. W, McAlpine becoming involved in syndicate to organize a rescue railwa y with David Lye Chairman of Company

Cecil J. Allen. Steam, diesel and electric exploits. Locomotive running, past and present—No. 230. 470-3.
As one who envisages Trans-Essex journeys as involving bus rides from Ingatestone (does it really exist) to Newbury Park for London transits by steam train in less than an hour look like rocket science, but CJ tabulates a journey from London to Colchester behind No. 70000 Britannia in 54 minutes and 14 seconds with a maximum speed of 96 mile/h near Witham. Another table records a Class 86 hauled journey from Euston to Wilmslow in just over two hours with 100 mile/h running most of the way.

Brian Perren. Five years "under the wire"—1. 474-8.

John A. Lines. Locomotive portraits—3: GSWR No. 131 (later 331 and LMSR 14510). 479
Peter Drummond design with similarity to Dugald Drunnond D15 class

L.G. Marshall. Journey to the Himalayas—2. 480-4
Main aim appears to have been to travel on 2ft 6in gauge based on Calcutta, but this was thwarted by strikes and riots and had to be content with travel on Dehri Rohtas Light Railway opeerated by Rohtas Industries and at Bhavnagar for metre gauge Bhavnagar State Railway.

S.W. Smith. Midland revival. 485-7.
Midland Railway Project in association with Derby Corporation

Historioc Derbyshire locomotives. 487. illustration
0-4-0ST Gladys built by Markham of Chesterfield: WN 109/1894: acquired from Stanton & Staveley. Also efforts to preserve last Stanton crane locomotive No. 24: Andrew Barclay WN 1875/1925..

Coal by gravity. P.J. Fowler. 488-9
Black & white photo-feature of Kilmersdon Colliery in North Somerset near Radstock: gravity worked incline and Peckett 0-4-0ST

SR high-capacity prototype train on trial. 498-9
PEP Southern Region units with sliding doors, gangway connections, and motors on all axles

G.J. Holt. Still extant—the six-wheel coach. 500-1.
In the former North Eastern area and near Edinburgh. Other specific locatiuons: Hull, York, Darlington , Consett and Leith Walk. Painted black or grey. Illustrations

New books. 505

Preserved steam locomotives of Western Europe. P. Ransome-Wallis. lan Allan Two volumes. 335pp and 283pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper
Volume 1 covers Austria to West Germany, and Volume 2 Italy to Switzerland. Locomotives are grouped under countries by wheel arrangement, and illustrated with accompanying historical and technical details. Sometimes the locomotive shown is not the actual one to be preserved which may not have been in a fit condition for photography at the right moment, but is of the same class and identical appearance. The text states the site where it is intended to preserve each locomotive, but this site may be a museum still only in the planning stage. Therefore there is an index of present locations according to information available at December 1970.
Many will find these volumes an irresistible inducement to go abroad and see for themselves. Those who cannot do so have the pleasure of studying a portrait with unique appeal to the romantic in the railway enthusiast, for many of these locomotives hauled the famous international expresses in their day, or were to be seen from the carriage windows as these elegant trains coursed across Europe under skies where an aeroplane was still a novelty. The specialist will attach equal importance to the records compiled by the author of preserved narrow-gauge locomotives, and to the particulars of little-known systems and tourist lines which appear with them.

The Cambrian Railways Vol. 1:1852-1888. Rex Christiansen and R. W. Miller. David & Charles. 178 pp. Reviewed by NG.
Early plans for a railway through Central Wales were aimed at traffic to and from Ireland and America. After manoeuvres typical of the period all that emerged at first was a 12-mile line between Llandidloes and Newtown, opened in 1859. Eventually four companies were involved in extending this isolated line in each direction until there was a continuous railway from Whitchurch to the shores of Cardigan Bay. These four companies combined to form The Cambrian Railways in 1864.
In their first volume of this new edition the authors take the story up to 1888, when the Cambrian took over the working of the Mid Wales Railway from L1andidloes to Talyllyn, It is often a record of ambitions only partly realised, and the chapter headings reflect the alternations of optimism and disillusion—"The Prize beyond Reach", "A Rich Vision", "The Weak Reality". But the railways never lost heart. They stirred up Euston to promote traffic to Barmouth and Aberystwyth by means of the'LNW connections with the Cambrian at Whitchurch and over the Shrewsbury and Welshpool Joint; and they advertised the attractions of summer tours in South Wales as far afield as Scotland.
Details of working the line and of its locomotives and rolling stock follow the historical chapters. Many of the photographs are hitherto unpublished. Other illustrations include gradient profiles and reproductions or a working timetable.

Derby Works and Midland locomotives. J.B. Radford. lan AIIan. 239pp.
The author takes the story of Derby Works from the opening of the North Midland workshops and offices in 1839 to the end of steam in 1963, tracing en route the evolution of Midland locomotive design and its influence on the LMSR after Grouping. The accounts of locomotives are detailed and the achievements of the "big names" of Derby and their personalities come to life again. Many others who contributed to the fame of Derby, but whose names are less well known, receive due recognition, including two chief locomotive draughtsmen. This is a works as well as a locomotive history, covering the development of equipment and methods. Some rare views are reproduced among the 48 pages of illustrations. Included in the six appendices are details of Kirtley 0-6-0 well and saddle tank locomotives, the development of MR and LMS boilers, and a summary of diesel locomotive construction at Derby between 1953 and 1967.

Industrial archaeology of the Peak District. Helen Harris. David & Charles. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper
542 square miles of the Peak Distric—"where the Midlands end and the Pennines begin"—comprise the Peak District National Park. Those who visit it for relaxation will find added pleasure and interest in a knowledge of its industrial history. Lead was certainly mined in the area by the Romans if not before and other minerals have been tapped on a smaller scale. A history of paper making goes back three hundred years and the textile industry—first in the homes and then in the mills—can be traced to the Fourteenth Century. Roads and packways existed early in the area, not only for access to its minerals but also because the district had to be traversed on many journeys from East to West.
On the archaeological scale the railway era is short indeed, beginning with the Cromford & High Peak Line linking the Cromford and Peak Forest Canals in 1830/31. Eight years later the first Woodhead Tunnel was being built by the Sheffield, Ashton under Lyne & Manchester Railway, and the Midland and LNW soon penetrated the area. Part I of the book ends with the railways. Part 2 comprises a gazetter, references and bibliography. The railway enthusiast will find industrial archaeology an extension of his interests rather than a rival for them

Steam in the landscape Kenneth Westcott Jones. Blandford Press. 187pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper
The heart of this book is a collection of 187 colour illustrations showing steam locomotives at work in many British and some Continental settings. In introductory essays the author recalls how permanent a feature the steam locomotive once seemed not only of the landscape but of a way of life ... "This was one changeless thing in a changing world". He hints that had there not been some manoeuvres to damp enthusiasm for the Giesl injector, which appeared at an inconvenient moment when British Railways was already committed to a diesel policy, Corydon might still be sporting with Phyllis against an Arcadian backcloth dotted with the white plumes of steam locomotives in action. The pictures are prefaced by four logs of notable steam performances. They are followed by a commentary on each illustration in which the author draws widely on his railway knowledge, reminiscences and impressions. His comments are some- times controversial, not only when on his favourite theme of the modern railway iconoclast. Unfortunately the theme of the book is not backed up as well as it might be by the standard of colour reproduction.

Steam into Wessex. Mike Esau. lan AIIan. Reviewed by K.H.S. 506
Today's main line to Weymouth is an efficient conveyor belt but it is doubtful if it stirs emotions in the minds of observing artists such as those which moved Mike Esau when he created these pages of pictures. Every photograph is a composition with a purpose, and he tells us in his intro- duction that he has used " light and setting to maximum effect to convey texture, dimension or mood." For some he will bring the past to life more effectively than the most dedicated band of preservationists labouring with treasures salved from the Barry scrapyard. The only reader who may be disappointed is he with a magnifying glass trying to identify every locomotive by number. Silhouette effects, shadows and escaping steam often veil these minutiae. A picture of a train "slipping by almost unnoticed across the mist-shrouded Down land north of Winchester" is typical of an approach to train photography which is both flexible and individual.

The railway traveller's handy book; edited by Jack Simmons. Bath: Adams & Dart. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper. 506
The author of this highly practical guide for the railway traveller of the 1860s is unknown. In his introduction the editor tells us it was published in 1862 for eighteenpence and entered areas covered only incidentally by some of the better-known guides, which were mainly topographical or even frankly commercial. The Handy Book, on the other hand gets down to what the traveller needs to know before, during and at the end of his journey. How should he attire himself? How much money should he have with him, and in what form? If accompanied by wife and children, how should he safeguard them during " the noise, bustle and confusion inseparably attendant on the arrival of the train"? Advice on all this and much more is to be found in these unfailingly entertaining pages. Often the author illustrates his precepts with anecdotes. His advice on the treatment of unpleasant travelling companions is enlivened by the story of " a big hulking fellow with bully written all over his face" who was thrown out of the carriage window into a horse pond. Those were robust days, for which railwaymen today must sometimes sigh when viewing rolling stock on the morning after vandals have been at work..

Lancashire & Yorkshire album. Noel Coates and Martin Waters. lan AIIan. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper. 506
The sober livery and often sombre surroundings of the "Lanky" earned it fewer friends outside its immediate area than other railways, but there is much curiosity about what it looked like. The answer is here in a comprehensive collection of photographs of locomotives, rolling stock, buildings, and so on. The record begins in the days of Bury engines and ends before Grouping. A foreword by M.W. Northampton and N.G.C. Burnley recalls some of the railway's technical innovations. Appendices list shed codes, locomotive classes with their nicknames, and brief data covering all the locomotives illustrated.

Loco Profiles
No 12, BR Britannias, No 15, The Crewe Type
Profile Publications. 24pp.
With the appearance of Britannia on January 2, 1951, steam seemed set for a distinguished future on the recently nationalised railways of Britain. Brian Haresnape tells how the design was developed and how it performed in practice, not omitting the "teething troubles" of which so much was soon to be heard in other connections. D.H. Stuart and Brian Reed collaborate in the history of the Crewe Type, bringing a famous epoch to life in their narrative and the illustrations. A reproduction of David Joys original sketch of Hecla shows that the back-of-envelope scribble in which today's electronic engineer outlines a new circuit has a long ancestry.

Stock book of the Dart Valley Railway Dart Valley Railway Association.
IIllustrated record of motive power and rolling stock on the DVR gives potted histories of the various items in their previous working life as well as the usual dimensional details. Shed allocations of the locomotives are listed.

Steaming on! Bluebell Railway Preservation Society
Second edition of the Bluebell Railway's guide brings the history of the line up to the present time and describes its equipment with numerous illustrations. It is an im- pressive record of the preservation society's achievements and a look into the future which offers much interest and activity for those who take an active part in supporting the railway.

Railway prints
GN Single and Jones Goods Available from D. Burge, 6B Redcliffe Square, London, SW10
In the days when the specialist railway press was con- cerned mainly with finance and management, the most detailed technical articles on locomotives appeared in general engineering papers. Those in The Engineer in the late 19th century were illustrated by handsome and accurate engravings of the completed locomotives as well as by engineering drawings. Two of the original engravings came to light recently on an antique stall and have been reproduced as prints. They show a Stirling single of the GNR and a Jones Goods 4-6-0 of the Highland Railway. For convenience in reproduction the size has been reduced slightly to an image width of 22½in. Smaller photographic reproductions on document paper, 13in by 5in, are also available

December 1971 Number  379

King George V on Hatton Bank enroutee to Tyseley on week-long tour with Bulmers Cider Pullman train on 2 October 1971 (David Huntriss: colour). front cover

Austerity 2-8-0 No. 90508 in unidentified autumn countryside on freight (A. Stewart: colour)

News of the month. 514-

BR to lease locomotives and rolling stock. 514
Agreement with Morgan Grenfell and Williams and Glyn's Bank Ltd and Railway Finance Ltd.

Cecil J. Allen. Western Region raises speed limits. Locomotive running, past and present—No. 231. 518-21
On the cross country route from Birmingham to Bristol much of the line had beenn raised too 90 mile/h standards and the Class 46 nd Class 47 were able to run at this speed

Scorpio pseud. A Christmas fantasy. 522

Alan Turner. Raailway relics — 2. 523.
Share certificates: engraving plates for Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock & Ayr Railway of the 1840s and one for Glasgow & South Western Railway of 1865.

Derek Cross. Butlins (Ayr)  to Bressingham: the road back! 524-7.
The movement of Duchess Pacific No. 6233 Duchess of Sutherland from Heads of Ayr to Thetford and thence to Bressingham by rail as an out-of-gauge load hauled by D5355 as far as Carlisle.

Brian Perreen. Five years "under the wire" — 2. 528-31
Work by the Class 50 in pairs between Crewe and Glasgow. Illustrations. Nos. 409 and 412 on 16.00 Glasgow to London arrive at crewe on 19 May 1971 (J.H. Cooper-Smith); Nos. 412 and 419 on 14.00 Glasgow to London approaching Warrington on 22 March 1971 (J.H. Cooper-Smith); electric locomotive on Halewood to Dagenham company train.

T.G. Flinders. Vivat Rex! Reflections oon the return of King George V.  532-6

Books for Christmas. 551-2

Railway World Annual; edited by G.M. Kichenside. 136pp. Reviewed by KHS
Reminiscences of Plymouth to Paddington in the late 1940s; twenty years of Paddington to Weymouth main line services; Metroland in 1916; oil-fired steam; C. Hamilton Ellis on the splendour of the 2-4-0 express locomotive in its  prime illustrated in colour by some of his paintings and NCB tank engines at a Welsh colliery

LMS Album Number Two. Brian Stephenson. Ian Allan. 128pp. Reviewed by BKC [Basil K. Cooper]

4-8-0 tender locomotives. D. Rock Carling. David & Charles, 112 pp. Reviewed by BKC [Basil K. Cooper]
Notes some of the Mainland British unfulfilled proposals: Maunsell's mixed traffic design for the Southern, Beames' proposal using the enlarged Claughton boiler and J,M, Doherty's six-cylinder design published in the Locomotive Mag,

The birth of the Great Western Railway. Jack Simmons. Adam & Dart. 96pp. Reviewed by BKC [Basil K. Cooper]
Based on George Henry Gibbs' diary

Rapid transit systems of the world. H.F. Howson. London: Allen & Unwin, 1971. 183pp. Reviewed by BKC [Basil K. Cooper]

Magnus Volk of Brighton. Brighton:  Phillimore & Co. Ltd. Reviewed by BKC [Basil K. Cooper] 551-2

Guide to the Great Siberian Railway. David & Charles. 532pp. Reviewed by BKC [Basil K. Cooper] 552

The London & North Eastern Railway. Cecil  J. Allen. Ian Allan. 228pp, Reviewed by BKC [Basil K. Cooper] 552
Paperback edition