Railway World Volume 36 (1975)
Key Volume

No. 417 (January 1975)

No. 6100 rebuilt Scot at Bressingham Steam Museum. M.L. Williams
Colour image with red livery and much "unauthentic detail" like The Royal Scot nameplate on smokebox door

Paul Drew. Two Paris Gares d'Orléans. 6-9.
Gare de Quai d'Orsay was designed solely for electric trains and had 19 platforms to serve the Paris Orleans Railway.  Also served by Gare d'Austerlitz

Museums in the making. 9
Photograph of Shutt End Railway Agenoria and a Stockton & Darlington Railway coach from the old Yotk Railway Museum to the new one by rail. Photograph of North Road Station, Darlington being restored as Museum.

A.C. Sharpe. Railway air brakes—1. 10-13.
Author member of staff of Westinghouse Brake and Signal Co. Ltd. Straight air brake was introduced by George Westinghouse in 1869. Introduced into Britain in 1871/2 where its main outlet was on the District Railway. Control was via a three-way cock. The automatic air brake was described in Engineering 1871 February. In 1887 the quick acting triple valve was introduced and demonstrated at the Burlington Brake Trials in the USA. Distributors were introduced for controlling trains on long descents and first made public in Humphrey's Patent of 1892. Synthetic rubber O ring seals make the system reliable.Illustrations: North Eastern Railway cab showing Westinghouse brake controls; diagram (elevation and plan) from Westinghouse technical manual showing Great Northern Atlantic with Caledoanian Railway eight-wheel tender.

D.E. Canning. Journey to Meppen.  14-17
Member of the Railway Photographic Society who went to Meppen, stayed with the stationmaster Kulloch and photographrd double-headed 2-10-0 hauling imported iron ore mainly in heavy rain. See also letter from I.F. Webb.

C.P. Boocock. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway. 18-22
Illustrations cover  a wide variety of motive power including diesel multiple units; P3 class 0-6-0; Lambton 0-6-2T and K1 class No. 2005. At time of visit the preserved railway was only recently open to the public. The locomotive stick is tabulated

Peter Grafton. Carnforth revisited. 23; 26
Became involved with Flying Scotsman Enterprises in 1974 which involved taking No. 4472 Flying Scotsman from Olympia to Carnforth via Banbury, Birmingham, Derby, Sheffield, Leeds and Skipton then taking charge of the locomotive whilst it gave footplate rides over about ¾ mile of track

F.S. Birch. More Canal Zone memories. 30-2
Employed at 169 Railway Workshops, Royal Engineers, near Suez where the 8F Stanier 2-8-0s were named after Crimean War Victoria Cross medal holders. These were subgected to Egyptian terrorist activities and some damaged locomotives were shipped back on the Ben Ledi from Abadiya. These were replaced by Robinson 2-8-0s which were popular with the footplate crews, and many were working on the Egyptian State Railways. Illustrations: L.D. McNaughton, photographer: ESR 2-6-0 derailed in saltmarsh after derailment near Suez; WD No. 34 Napoleon  (Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST of 1917); French-built 0-4-0T; Orenstein & Koppel 0-4-0WT Jasper used as shunter at Suez; ex-US Transportation 0-6-0T.

R.W. Thomson. A railtour bookings clerk reflects. 32
In the days of stamp addressed envelopes and cheques.

J.C. Locke. The Association of Railway Preservation Societies. 33-4
Full members listed

LMS passenger livery for a "Jinty". 34
Midland Railway Company's restored 0-6-0T No. 16440 in LMS crimson livery.

New books. 36

North Eastern album. K. Hoole. Ian Allan Ltd. 112pp Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper
It is all too easy for those who do not live in the North East to dismiss the North Eastern Railway as just a part of the East Coast Main Line and to have only a nebulous idea of its network east and west of that highway. Hoole has assembled illustrations from his own collection and other sources which give the railway its own image. An introduction tells the North Eastern story in outline from the formation of the company in 1854 to Grouping, and a full- page map shows its extent. The pictures are grouped by sources and subjects. For example, the book opens with the work of photographers specialising in the North Eastern scene, some of whom fortunately took freight and mineral trains at a period when views of this kind were rarely chosen. But trains and locomotives are only two of the subjects of the album. Lineside furniture, NER notices, rolling stock and miscellaneous items from the author's collection fill in the everyday background of a railway at work. Most of the photographs are more than fifty years old but we also see NER motive power in early LNER days and then LNER classes allocated to that com- pany's North Eastern Area. The colour frontispiece is from a painting of a North Eastern Atlantic and train by G. F. Heiron. All pictures have detailed captions and commentaries from which not only can much be learned about the North Eastern Railway but something of its atmosphere can be absorbed.

LMS Pacifics. J.W.P. Rowledge. Profile Publications Ltd 24pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper
The Stanier Pacific locomotives were built for the LMS between 1933 and the post-war 1940s. They fall roughly into the two categories of the original Princess Royal engines and the later Coronation class, streamlined and non-streamlined. The initial order was for three Princess Royals, but it was then decided to build the third as a turbine locomotive using as many parts of the others as practicable. and this divergence from the main stream is dealt with briefly. The four-cylinder engine designs are described in detail and well illustrated, with elevation drawings as well as photographs. Liveries, alloca- tions and performances are also covered. The subjects of the centre colour spread by David Warner are The Princess Royal in LMS red and Coronation in the blue and silver in which it worked the Coronation Scot. Fully maintaining the enthusiast's expectation of this series, LMS Pacifies intensifies interest in the steam locomotive by showing even the knowledgable that there is always more to know. This, indeed, has been the achievement of the Loco Profile series as a whole and one reads with regret that this Profile, No 37, is the last but one of these monographs in their present form.

WR diesel hydraulics. Norman E, Preedy and G.F. Gillham. D. Bradford Barton Ltd .96pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper
Modern rail album.
Two photographers, Norman E, Preedy and G.F. Gillham.have drawn on their files to illustrate a phase of WR motive power now fast fading. There is a short introduction on the stages of diesel-hydraulic development in the Region, and the illustrations show each class in turn with introductory notes on its characteristics. The difference between the Voith transmissions of the Warships, Westerns and NBL hydraulics and the Mekydro system in the Hymeks is insufficiently emphasised. A specialist pictorial book such as this, also, might well have included one or more cab views and perhaps workshop shots of locomotives stripped down to show what an hydraulic transmission and its system of cardan shafts and final drive gearboxes looked like. Pictorially however, the album is satisfying in subject and execution.

Modern Rail Album. A.W. Hobson, editor. D. Bradford Barton Ltd .96pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper
Edited by A. W. Hobson for the Phoenix Railway Photographic Circle, which was formed to show that when steam stopped, the art of railway photography continued to flower. Electric and diesel power are both represented in this gallery of members' work, which gives ample evidence that the faith which led to the society being formed was well founded. The informative captions suggest that members take more than an aesthetic interest in their subject.

The social and economic development of Crewe 1780-1823. W.H. Chaloner. Manchester University Press. 326pp. Reviewed by J.T.G.
Monks Coppenhall and Church Cop- penhall were Cheshire townships grow- ing slowly in the years before the railway age. In time their names were to be all but forgotten, submerged by the fame of Crewe and its railway works. The author has chapters on how the railway discharged its reponsibilities towards the populations that grew around its establishments, and on the history of the works and sheds. Most of the book takes a wider view of the social and industrial scene. There was a period when local politics were darkened by charges of intimidation of voters by foremen at the railway works. From 1845 the Co-operative Movement was active in the town. It supported the Mechanics' Institution and encouraged adult education. By the time of the First World War Crewe had experienced alternating periods of unemployment and comparative prosperity, but the inter-war years saw industrial stagnation, with the number of men employed in the railway works falling from over 10000 in 1920 to 6520 in 1938. In that year occurred "the most important event in the economic history of Crewe since 1843"-the decision to establish a Rolls Royce aero engine factory iin the town. The author first published his book in 1950. The present reprint concludes with his assessment of that date that "Crewe's industrial future seems assured". There will be no more "railway towns," and this account of the first of them provides necessary background for a full appreciation of the railway age as an historical epoch.

Steam over Switzerland. George Behrend. St Martin, Jersey: Jersey Artists Ltd, , 48pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper 
The author's informal style shepherd's the reader pleasantly on a tour of Swiss lines linking points where steam still operates at times. He is profuse with information, so much so that one is not always sure whether one is still on the Bodensee-Toggenburg Railway or somewhere else. The BT bulks large in the book because it was on this railway, at Degersheim, that a Steam Festival was held to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Swiss railways. Some sounds of this event were recorded by Peter Handford, and Steam over Switzerland has been written to complement the record, references to which and to its pictorial sleeve pop up from time to time in a manner puzzling to the less agile mind. When the BT train from Romanshorn, on Lake Constance, arrives at Lucerne, allusions to other railways come thick and fast—the SBB metre-gauge link with Interlaken, the Brienzer Rothorn, MOB, Blonay Chamby, and so on. The itinerary ends at Geneva. Newcomers to the country will find useful hints on getting there; and lists of locomotives, electric and steam, provide material for intelligent spotting. The number of pages has purposely been kept low to permit a modest price, but the author has perhaps tried to cram too much information into them..

A Great Western gallery. B.L. Davis and A.I. Rivers, editors. Great Western Society Ltd. 136pp. Reviewed by K.H.S.
Those who feel there can be nothing more to illustrate on the Great Western Railway will be agreeably surprised by the variety of views the editors of this book have assembled. They are grouped in sections with titles such as Great Western Enterprise, Commerce, London Suburban, Among the Staff, and so on, and collectively they build up the atmosphere of this famous railway for the pleasure of those who knew it and the enlightenment of those who did not. The time span extends from broad gauge days to the final years of steam, but the album ends on the happy note that Great Western steam can still be seen at work through the enterprise of the Great Western Society. An unusual view of No 111, The Grear Bear, shows it coupled smokebox-to-smokebox with a 111 class 2-4-0 for publicity purposes. Locomotives and trains are by no means the only aspects of the Great Western scene to be featured. Old posters and other publicity are recalled. We see signalbox and goods station interiors, and are perhaps reminded by a picture of road/rail freight interchange in 1933 of the more recent activity of the Great Western in developing zonal schemes for concentrating "smalls" traffic—an activity taken over by BR in its early days, who were sometimes not displeased if it was thought to be their own brainchild. The railway was also an early operator of road feeder services, and in later years aircraft in Great Western colours flew between Birmingham, Cardiff, Torquay and Plymouth. Among the pictures is one of the Westland Wessex six-seaters on this route, destined in later years to perambulate RAF trainee wireless operators above the Hampshire landscape for "air experience"..

Diesel-hydraulic locomotives of the Western Region. Brian Reed. David & Charles. 112pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper 
The era of diesel-hydraulic traction on the Western Region provides material for serious technical study rather than the glamour and heroics that often surround accounts of the steam locomotive. Here is all the detail, told with Brian Reed's characteristic objectivity. First there were the hybrid North British AlA-AlAs, cramping the potential of high-speed engines and hydraulic drive by allying them with the heavy mechanical construction insisted on by BR, and forced to have idle axles because the builder had not yet developed the practice of driving the centre axle of a six-wheel bogie. The D800 Warships were delivered with a bogie allowing insufficient freedom of lateral movement and many modifications were needed for safe running above 75mph. Western class bogies were similar in principle and most of them needed modification, while transmission troubles were experienced as well in the early days. Other transmission problems were met in the Hymeks, Reed describes each class in turn and then discusses performance in service, and from his account of how engines, transmissions and auxiliaries behaved in traffic conditions the reader gains an insight into these locomotives that will sharpen his appreciation of them. Designers, builders and opera- tors all made mistakes. Sometimes small troubles in auxiliary plant blew up into major ones affecting main equipment because they were not quickly reported and diagnosed, or their significance was missed. Reed's book is a technical education in itself, beginning on the "What are diesel-hydraulics?" level and leading on to an informed understanding. The illustrations include layout arrangementsof all classes and views of equipment which the average observer never saw. It is not all technicalities, however, and here will be found notes on liveries, external fittings, naming and other details which often exercise the mind more than the contemplation of oil acting on turbine blades.

Main line steam in the seventies. Rex Coffin. Steam in Hereford Ltd. 80pp Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper 
Steam runs on the main line have become so numerous that there is a risk of their being taken for granted. We should not however, forget, what went before the return of King George V to main line running in 1971, and the devoted work of the succeeding years that has made main line steam in the Seventies a reality. Coffin's pictorial history of this continuing episode has been excellently produced by the Oxford Publishing Company so that his 75 pictures are vibrant with life. They cover such significant events on the road travelled so far as the first use of two locomotives on a railtour, double-heading of the Atlantic Venturers' Express, and the first-ever photographic run past on BR. The record is brought up to June 1974 when Leander and Green Arrow were involved in running the Red Rose Special. Thus Clan Line's first outing last April is covered and locomotives of all Regions south of the Border are represented.

The Selsey Tramways. Edward Griffith. Farnham: Author. 64pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper   
By the end of the last century the small seaside resort without promenades or bandstands was already being sought by some people, but if it was close to a main line railway it was not likely to remain in that condition for long. The tip of the Selsey Peninsula in Sussex, however, was over seven miles from Chichester on the LBSCR and it seemed that independent rail access might increase its popularity without destroying its charm. There were commercial reasons, too, for a railway line through the agricultural communities of the Hundred of Manhood, and so the Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramways Company was born in 1896. Its standard gauge line started from its own station in Chichester, but there was a siding connection with the LBSC. Although only 7 miles 6lch long, it counted no fewer than 11 stations or halts along the route through Sidlesham to Selsey Beach. Griffith's history of the line in this new edition has been revised and enlarged. He traces its progress from a period of comparative success before the first world war to declining traffics in the 1930s and closure in 1935. The illustrations are both attractive and interesting, including contemporary views of construction and the opening day. If the line was a little ramshackle, it was also endearing, and the pictures preserve a railway atmos- phere that will not be experienced again.

The Reading to Tonbridge line. R.W. Kidner. Oakwood Press. 70pp. Reviewed by J.T.G.
Now long considered as one cross-country entity, the Reading-Tonbridge route consists in fact of a one-time main line and a lengthy branch. This is an illustrated account, with good maps, of the route, its history and the evolution of its train services, motive power and other equipment. There is a short concluding note on the Betchworth lime quarries and the narrow and standard gauge lines which connected the workings with exchange sidings at Betchworth Station. With parts of the route embraced by plans for the Channel Tunnel link, the author wonders whether the Redhill-Tonbridge line may one day provide a better train service for travellers alighting from WR trains at Reading and heading east. At present a passenger from Plymouth bound for Tonbridge gains no time by changing trains at Reading compared with journeying via London, although "for lovers of the countryside the 65-mile amble on the Reading-Tonbridge line has its compensations". For those who embark on it, the book would be a pleasant travelling companion, but it will appeal equally to those who number the Reading-Tonbridge line among the routes they would like to know more about.

Isle of Grain railways. Adrian Gray. Oakwood Press. 68pp. Reviewed by M.P.H. 38
The Hoo Peninsula, a comparatively little-known tongue of land between the Thames and the Medway estuaries, protrudes eastwards from the northeast corner of the county of Kent. It is the home of the former Hundred of Hoo Railway and the one-time Chattenden & Upnor Railway; it also happened to be the childhood home of your reviewer. Happy were those days, for there was much to interest the inquisitive. A strange mixture of munitions factories, oil refineries, cement works and the former port at Port Victoria lent a colourful industrial aspect to the history of this area. Gray has assembled a short but fascinating account of railway developments in a unique corner of southeast England. Among them figure certain exploits of Sir Edward Watkin, famous for his attempts to build an early Channel Tunnel. The book describes events from 1864 (when a North Kent Extension Railway was proposed to run from Denton (Gravesend) to Cliffe, Allhallows and Grain) to the present day. Now block gravel and oil trains with l00ton bogie wagons grace this rural branch with their presence as a reminder of our dependence on industry. There are useful maps and a number of plates depicting railway scenes from about 1910.

Letters. 38-

Prairie symphony. Martin Edwards
I have no doubt that H.A.V. Bulleid's nostalgic article will have caused many of your older readers to reach for their pens. For I too have waited for the Ampleforth local at Pilmoor and have travelled with delight behind a Webb Coal tank as it cajoled its two-coach train over the switchback between Abergavenny and Merthyr. (Only genuine LNWR products made that peculiarly hollow sound when the regulator was wide open, or, when closed, the equally characteristic tinkling which suggested that a team of pygmy bell-ringers were trapped somewhere in the motion). Abergavenny, Pilmoor and countless other localities have all earned a niche in my memory, but for drama, pride of place is unquestion- ably held by the Canadian Pacific.
Now I know that foreign railways are not everyone's cup of tea and I freely admit to having acquired my taste for the American and Canadian way of doing things only after spending two-and-a-half days in 1955 travelling from Ottawa to Calgary in the hands of the CPR. This was the prelude to two years spent at an RCAF airfield, not the least attractive part of which was the fact that the main line from Calgary to Edmonton passed within view of the windows of my house. Unfortunately it was rather too far away for much detail to be picked out with the naked eye, but nonetheless it was close enough to give a splendid initiation into the sounds of American railroading, for Canadian and American practices are virtually identical. I soon discovered that there was an indefinable something about the CPR which even the Great Western in all its glory could not hope to match, particularly where steam locomotives were concerned. For even as late as 1955, there was still a plentiful but dwindling number of steam-hauled freight trains to be seen and heard in Western Canada, although almost all of the sparse passenger workings had already succumbed to the all-conquering diesel.
A steam freight working could best be appreciated late on a cold night when sound travelled undisturbed for many miles over the prairie. It was indeed a symphony performance. The opening bars which broke the silence would be a faint and barely audible whistle call for a remotely distant grade crossing. No impatient Doncastrian screech this, but a dignified series of chords, two long, one short, one long, played continua on a superbly sonorous chime whistle with an artistry that must have taken years to perfect. This call enaed on a dying fall that would have delighted Orsino, the more so perhaps because his wish to hear "that strain again" would certainly be granted. For this part of Alberta is farming country divided into squares separated from each other by section roads precisely one mile apart, all of which cross the railways on the level. Regardless of their relative importance, each of these crossings would be accorded this same whistle call by statutory obligation.
Thus the opening chords would be played over and over again in a gradual crescendo until the accompanying sound of the train itself could next be distingui- shed. This particular noise was (and still is) utterly different from anything that marks the progress of trains on this side of the Atlantic. It is an unbelievably loud, deep, continuous and low- pitched rumbling which can very inadequately be likened to the distant roar of a large waterfall. It is caused by something as typical of the American railway scene as the skyline is of New York—the box car. As their name implies, box cars essentially consist of very large enclosed boxes mounted on eight wheels. String 50 or more of them together in a train and move it along at some 50mph or so over the short 39-ft American rails, with each box amplifying and retransmitting the noises made by its wheels, and that explains the all-pervasive rumbling roar that distinguishes an American freight train going about its business.
As this rumbling steadily grew in volume, still punctuated by frequent virtuoso passages on the whistle, so two other orchestral parts would gradually make themselves heard. First would be the deep sostenuto of the exhaust of a giant locomotive, settled in its stride and being worked hard to keep its vast train on the move. If this sound was characteristic of a hard-working locomotive at speed anywhere in the world, the next to be heard was arch-typically American, that of the locomotive bell starting its distinctive and rather mournful tolling for the grade crossing over the road which led up to the airfield, barely audible amidst the fortissimo of the rest of the orchestra (if rather drowned on these occasions, this bell would come magnificently into its own when the locomotive of a steam-hauled passenger train drifted slowly and majestically past as you waited to board its train at an intermediate station, but that's another story).
One final part remained to be played to complete this symphonic theme before the locomotive headlight finally passed out of view. The automatic warning bells on the airfield crossing would start a high-pitched clangour and remain sounding this strident alarm until the faintly glimmering lamps of the caboose had passed safely over it some 50, 60, 70—who knows how many?—rumbling box-car lengths behind the locomotive. The whole theme would then be repeated diminuendo until the last faint two long, one short, one long would be lost in the vastness of the night, leaving the prairie to brood on in a silence broken only by the occasional howl of a coyote. The CPR certainly had got something, yes indeed it had!

The steam sound in Japan but soon to fade. A Japanese National Railways 4-6-2 leaves Kugoshima with a pick-up freight on 6 April 1974, about 10 days before the end of steam in the area. (J.R.M. Parker). 39

Fowler's ghost. Steamologist
With reference to Seyrnour's commendable article, The Ghost walks again in the October Railway World, continued thought to the many points, queries and conjectures he makes suggests the need for a much more detailed analysis than that attempted in my brief reply at the end of his contribution.
Meanwhile, may I be permitted to mention but one item that has crossed my mind?  Seymour states that he is not sure why the cylinders were inclined at about 1 in 7 above the centre line on the Gooch well-tank engines. I agree that Ahrons' reason is hardly convincing; but, although this is no more than a surmise on my part, would not a more likely answer be that, as these engines carried their connecting rods in the more conventional manner outside their coupling rods (as can be proved from contemporary drawings and as shown incorrectly on my part concerning the "ghost"), the distance between the centre lines of the cylinders would be increased. Seymour stresses the importance of this fact on the "ghost". but perhaps the real reason for this angularity might have been due to clearing the numerous platforms on the Metropolitan "Circle" route?
If this were true, it would go a long way to explaining why the "ghosts" "managed to combine horizontally-set cylinders with carrying wheels of 3in larger diameter", due to their being set just that much further in to the frames. History repeated itself in this respect— in so far as inclined cylinders and station platforms were concerned-with the Horwich "Crabs" until Sir William Stanier successfully sorted it out for future designs.
When, however, we come to examine the A class engines, we find the motion arrangement again reverted to that of the "ghost", yet the cylinders were inclined at 1 in 9; so this platform theory may not be the true answer after all!

Surface travel to scenery and sun. A.C. MacLeod 
Mrs Jennifer Lean (October issue) had best beware that it will not only be a "wondering gaze" directed at her family next time they travel by train on the Continent. I fear my language may become a trifle strong should I enter a Second Class compartment and find the other seven passengers have adopted her suggestion and brought along their shopping trolleys to carry the luggage!

The ghost train. P.M. Kalla-Bishop. 39 
I greatly enjoyed John Rumens' cautionary story of the regrettable occurrences on the Crumblebuffer Railway Preservation Society's line in the December issue-the more so because everything that he related befell military railway troops somewhere during the last world war. The sad truth is that it is one thing for a skilled man to carry out more or less the same duties every working day on a home system and quite another for him to tackle unfamiliar equipment on a strange railway. In the latter circumstances, however great the man's skill, it did not seem to prevent him putting his foot in it somewhere unless he was exceptionally lucky. One story to illustrate the theme.
A dusk in 1941 discovered two rail-mounted 13in naval guns coupled together and standing on what was known as a firing spur at Lydden in Kent—each gun weighing 320 tons tare. The buffers at one end were just athwart a road crossing and in due course a motor car appeared that wished to cross the line. The car's tooting produced a shunter who observed that the guns had to be moved three or four feet at the most and who therefore called up an ex-LMS diesel shunting locomotive to give them a tap. The locomotive gave a hearty tap while the shunter stood by a ground level brake handwheel, but more than a tap was needed to start 640 tons. So as he was buffered up and without further reference to the shunter (or so I believe, the evidence became garbled in the telling) the driver pushed his controller across and gave the guns a hefty shove.
Probably the shove was greater than the driver intended, for the two guns started moving at a ponderous four or five miles an hour towards the buffer stops. At a run the shunter screwed down his brake, but eight braked axles out of 64 brought no reduction in speed. The shunter charged up to the next handwheel and again screwed down at a run, then the next and the next and so on. Eventually a very out-of-breath shunter stopped the 640 tons just in time. Unfortunately the occupant of the motorcar which was the cause of the incident was the Royal Marine colonel OC guns, and he was not overjoyed to see his precious ordnance heading towards the open fields out of control. Next morning the L/Cpl shunter found himself a sapper once more on the grounds that he failed to couple up the locomotive; and justice was seen to be done, more or less (especially by the Royal Marines, who took military ranks more seriously than did army railway tradesmen). A magnificent model of one of the guns concerned will be found in the Imperial War Museum, London, and despite such experiences as described we won the war didn't we?, for what it was worth.

The greatness of the Great Western. C. Praeger.  40
J.F. Clay and J.N.C. Law mention some high-speed King and Castle performances in their August article (p328). A great feat by a humble Hall was reported by Cecil J. Allen in The Railway Magazine (January 1955). Without notice, Fountains Hall was taken off an up freight to replace a Castle which had failed on the up Bristolian, and averaged 80mph from Swindon to Ealing, including over 47 miles at between 80 and 84 mph. If my notes are correct (I have not the original article), then perhaps on a size-for-size basis of comparison this Hall deserves to rank alongside the giants that figure in your contributors' Table

No. 418 February 1975)

P.J. Coster. French compound locomotives—1. 52-9.

L.H. Leedham and P.H.V. Banyard. Leicester—a celebrated Great Central locomotive depot—1. 60-3.

Paul R. Pratt. The Thai-Burma Railway—30 years after. 64-9.

Annual report on railway accidents. 69.

On the Berks & Hants. 70-3.

Black & white photoo-feature: alongside Kennet & Avon Canal

No. 419 (March 1975)

K.R. Phillips. Observing the working timetable. 98-101.
Impossible to keep schedules without exceeding speed limits mainly on Eastern, but also on London Midland and Western Regions. This was especially marked on approaches to London. There is a log of up Elizabethan hauled by No. 60003 Seagull from Newark (passed) where the speed was exceeded at Werrington, Peterborough and Offord.

L.H. Leedham and P.H.V. Banyard. Leicester—Great Central locomotive depot—2. 102-7.

David P. Williams. Footplating—Continental style. 108-9.
Deutsche Bundesbahn oil-fired Pacific on fast passenger train from Rheine to Emden

M.L. Hooper-Immins. Blaenau Ffestiniog—railway junction. 110-13.

F.E.B. Butler. Looking below the suurface. 114-15

No. 420 (April 1975)

Derek Cross. A "scenting" of locomotives. 142-5.
"The Gasworks and Copenhagen tunnels on the initial climb out of Kings Cross were uniquely odiferous things while the one on the exit from Marylebone smelt of carbolic soap." "Just what the Queen Street tunnel's smell was I am hard put to diagnose, I think it was basically sewage, salted by stale smoke and a liberal dose of suppurating shellfish".  No mention of Woodhead or Standedge (KPJ: both extremely acrid), but Polehill Tunnel was experienced by Cross as a passenger when assistance had to be sought from the rear, the Severn Tunnel where a Warship class failed and had to be dragged out, and Devonshire Tunnel with its lack of ventilation. Stations still had smells in 1975, but most of those departed with the traffic: milk, fish, catlle, pigeons, etc.

Robert Barton. China clay traffic to Fowey. 146-7.
When hauled by Western diesel hydraulic locomotives

Robin Morton. The Portrush Flyer. 148-50.
Joint Northern Irish Railways and Railway Preservation Society of Ireland first ran in 1973 on four Saturdays from Belfast to Portrush using WT class 2-6-4T No. 4 and GNR(I) 4-4-0 No.171 Slieve Gullion. with the Society's historical rolling stock. The event was repeated in 1974

Adrian Searle. The Spalding connection. 151-3.
Travel on the remnants of Lincolnshire's railway notwork including a section which has since vanished, namely March to Spalding, and using a service which has since disappeared, namely Birmingham to Norwich: author travelled from Stamford to Spalding and Sleaford and back within the day

Paul Cotterell. Wonders of the Oriental. 154-5.
Travel on the Athens to Instanbul express hauled by Batignolles & Schneider 2-8-0s based at Halkali where eldectric traction took over for the final miles into Instanbul.

Alan Rowley. Two railway paintings. 159-61.
Partly autobiographical, but mainly reproduction of two paintings by Mike Jeffries depicting trains on the Necropolis Railway at Brockwood Cemetery and crossing the Basingstoke Canal en route to Bisley

R.T. Foster. New routes for old: former rail tracks developed for walking and riding. 168-9.
The Wirral Way, Greenways in Stoke-on-Trent and the Tissington Trail in the Peak District.

New books. 170

British trains of yesteryear C. Hamilton Ellis. Ian Allan. 126pp.
Third impression reviewed/trailed by B.K.C. presumably Basil Cooper

The Locomotives of the London Brighton & South Coast Railway. Part 3. D.L. Bradley. RCTS.
Reviewed by B.K.C. presumably Basil Cooper

The locomotives of the Great Western Railway. Part 12. Railway Correspondence & Travel Society.
Reviewed by B.K.C. presumably Basil Cooper

Minimum gauge railways. Sir Arthur Heywood. Turntable Publications.
Reviewed by B.K.C. presumably Basil Cooper

Charlton, L.G.
The first locomotive engineers; their work in the North East of England. Newcastle: Frank Graham. 1974. 70pp.

May 1975 Number 471

John F. Clay and J.N.C. Law. The supremacy of the Premier Line. Studies in Locomotive Performance—No. 6. 182-7
Primary aim was to summarise the excellent performance which the superheated George the Fifth class achieved on the LNWR: "The question remains how it was possible for so relatively small an engine to produce such horsepowers with such regularity. This may partly be answered by a consideration of the boiler of the George. This was bigger in some essential dimensions than it at first appears. Although the grate area was a modest 22.4sq ft, the firebox heating surface was 161.3sq ft which compares with 155sq ft of the Swindon No 1 standard boiler used on the Saints and Stars. The deep fire in the large firebox had considerable properties of heat transfer and steam raising but it needed a high grade of coal to give of its best. This is another reason for the decline in LMS days when coal was of a more variable quality. The valve and front end design allowed the steam to be used with reasonable efficiency while the relative lightness of the engine and tender and their lower tractive resistance allowed a high proportion of the total ihp to reach the drawbar. All these factors combined to make the Georges very effective motive power units in the favourable operating conditions which were normal before World War 1.
We may reject the legends-the Georges did not run 400-ton trains on 60mph start-to-stop runs on 33lb of coal per mile nor was it true, as some Midland supporters would have us believe, that it was possible to run a Midland compound on the coal a George threw up its chimney. In actual fact, taking a George and a Compound both in its optimum test condition, there was very little difference in the basic fuel consumption related to the work performed but a new Compound in the mid-I920s was certainly more economical than a run-down George. The maximum ihp outputs of the two types when new were similar except in that each gave of its best in a different speed range, with the George being predominant in the 60-70mph band and the Compound some 20mph lower. Both classes deteriorated considerably as they declined in condition. For the economic circumstances in which they were designed the Georges were admirably suitable, their ease of construction and relatively low capital cost enabling the LNWR to keep an increasing traffic moving while high dividends were earned. It was however a policy only justified within narrowly restricted limits of time and circumstance, while Churchward's policy of building engines with an ample reserve of power proved ultimately to be wiser. It would appear that Bowen Cooke himself realised this, for, when the traffic was moving satisfactorily behind the Georges, he developed the Claughton class 4-6-0 which was comparable with a GWR Star in size and potential power. Unfortunately, although these engines matched or even exceeded the GWR 4-6-0s in maximum power output under test conditions, they lacked the consistency and economy of the Swindon machines. The LNWR may not always have deserved its title of "The Premier Line" but thanks to the hard work performed on footplate and in running sheds and to some good design features, especially in the Georges, it did so during the years 1910-1916 just as it deserves it today under electrification."

Raymond Keeley. Rumney goings on. 188-9.
Bassaleg Viaduct built by the Rumney Railway in 1826 which was later taken over by the Brecon & Merthyr Railway in 1863. The viaduct continured to be used into the British Railways period and the structure survives.

G.F. Scott-Lowe. Steam valleys revisited. 190-5.
Tables of steam locomotives in the National Coal Board's South Wales Area by location, by name or number and by Works Number. Illustrations: Peckett 0-6-0ST No. 1426 at Brynlliw Colliery on 4 September 1974; Hunslet 0-6-0ST No. 3770 Norma en route to Graig Merthyr Colliery on 4 September 1974; Peckett 0-6-0ST No. 2150 at Maerdy Colliery on 25 May 1973; Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST No. 1680 Nora at Blaenavon Colliery on 11 December 1973; Avonside 0-6-0ST No. 1618 Sir John in shed at Mountain Ash; Andrew Barclay 0-6-0ST Llantanum Abbey climbing from Mountain Ash to Aberaman banked in rear on 15 October 1974

K. Groundwater. Echoes at Verdun. 196-8.
North British Locomotive Co. 2-8-0 type supplied in 1913; classified as 140C. Photographs taken in poor light or at night hauling wet limestone

Working turntables. 198. 
Short turntables in France.

A.B. MacLeod. Named B4X 4-4-0s. 199
Photographs of No. 52 Sussex taken in 1923 in light grey at Brighton and No. 70 Devonshire at Bognor in 1924.

CURC photographs. 200-1
Cambridge University Railway Club: Swedish No. 7 King Haakon shunting at Loughborough (W.R. Squires); type 47 approaching Conway tubular bridge with Holyhead express viewed from above (J.M. Govey); Type 47 passing Manningtree with Norwich express in March 1974 (I. White); Express EMU crossing Thames into Cannon Street  (J.M. Govey).

LCGB photographic competition. 202-3

W.T. Thornewell. Cudworth reminiscences. 204-7
Former North Midland Railway station near Barnsley; also junction for Hull & Barnsley Railway. Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway trains  were seen at Cudworth passing en route to Sheffield. They were also seen at Barnsley Exchange. The Great Central was present at Court House station. Illustrations: Hull & Barnsley platform at Cudworth; map; Hull & Barnsley 2-4-0 No. 30 on passenger train; Hughes L&YR 4-6-0.

D.A. Bone. From Malvern to Birmingham. 208-9.

Home and foreign. 210.

New books. 211

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Album J.D.C.A. Prideaux David & Charles. 96pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper
The work of numerous photographers has been assembled to create a picture of a line described in the introduction as "the familiar branch line on a small scale". Its 1ft Iltin gauge was not used as an excuse for light construction and lowered standards but was suited to the traffic offering in the scenically glorious area through which it ran. Two double-page views of trains near Snapper Halt bring the setting to life for those who did not know it, and there are many other fascinating glimpses among the selection of prints showing locomotives, rolling stock and buildings. The book opens with the traditional "cutting the first sod" ceremony and closes with the wreath laid on the buffer stops at Barnstaple Town after the last train had run. There is some inequality in the standard of the prints reproduced, but this is inevitable when many sources have to be drawn upon and choice must be guided by interest and importance of the subject as well as brilliance of the picture. The sun did not always shine on the Lynton & Barnstaple, and the memories of it stirred by this collection will be realistic as well as idyllic

British railway signalling G.M. Kichenside and Alan Williams. Ian Allan Ltd. 120 pp. Reviewed by J.T.G.
Twelve years after the first edition of this book the interest of signalling has been increased by new techniques and innovations. The somewhat close circle of signal engineers has had to be widened to bring in experts in other fields. Here is one class of reader who will welcome the thorough grounding in signalling practice which this book provides. Some knowledge of mechanical frames and semaphores is necessary to an understanding of current practice, which has deeper roots in tradition than the newcomer to the art may realise. The numerous diagrams include semaphore, shunt signal and colour-light aspects in colour. In bringing their book, now in its third edition, up to date, the authors have covered cab signalling, automatic driving systems, and recent developments in computer-based train describers. The connoisseur of railway signalling specialities is catered for by an account of the Mirfield speed signalling and the aspects used on the Camden-Watford electric line

A history of the Pensnett Railway W.K.V. Gale. Goose & Son Publishers Ltd. 111 pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper
The Pensnett Railway owed its origin to the coal and iron trades of the Black Country. Brierley Hill was the centre of its system. At its maximum extent, and including the earlier Kingwinsford Railway which was joined with it, the railway operated some 40 track-miles in the region. Part of its system is still busy today working about 15 miles of track inside and around the Round Oak Steel Works. In earlier days Pensnett Railway trains had to cross the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway on the level. Its present diesel motive power must still cross the BR line in travelling to and from sheds, although at a different place.
Mr Gale writes a scholarly history in a small compass. The extent of his research is made clear from his quotation of sources. But this is by no means dry bones history. The author is a native of the area, an authority on the iron and steel industry, and a lover of railways who knows how, at the appropriate places, to insert the small, familiar touch that brings a scene to life. This can only be successfully essayed by one who is steeped in a subject and responsive to the human background as well. The reader less familiar with the area than Mr Gale, however, may have difficulty in locating some of the features of which he speaks on the map provided. More prominence to names such as Round Oak would have been helpful (it has to be hunted for in a somewhat congested area), but a better solution would be an enlargement of this part of the map.

Forgotten Railways: Chilterns and Cotswolds R. Davis and M.D. Grant. David & Charles. 256pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper
The authors actually come south of the area suggested by their title to take in the GN branches in North London and the Green Belt before working their way up to the Chiltern foothills. Their area is bounded on the east by the main line from Kings Cross, extends northwards to Essendine, Market Harborough and Rugby, and westwards to Tewkesbury. They give the history of departed lines, notes on them in their active days, and comment on what remains to be seen. A gazetteer summarises historical data and provides further facts for the would-be explorer. Sadly, a main line now qualifies as a "forgotten railway". Chapter 8 deals with the Great Central between Rugby and Quainton Road and includes the railway history of Woodford Halse. Among the many interesting illustrations is one of an SMJ train at Kineton with two through coaches bound from Stratford-on-Avon to Marylebone. Like others in the Forgotten Railways series, this volume tells us much about lines which can only receive a few words from historians writing on broader themes. It is sad that some of them have had to wait for extinction for historical treatment on the scale they deserve. Here they find worthy memorials.

G. J. Churchward: a locomotive biography. H.C.B. Rogers. George Allen & Unwin Ltd. 215pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper. 213-14
Comparatively few of the great names of locomotive engineering are familiar as men except in sketchy outline. Readers of Colonel Rogers will gain a far more rounded and lively impression of G.J. Churchward than this. One will remember the great man seated on a draughtsman's stool wth staff gathered round him, now contributing an idea himself, now encouraging his assistants to express their own. Much can be learned of his personality from the appreciation evident in the reminiscences of those who worked with him and have helped to fill out the author's portrait of the man. The book follows the development of the Churchward engines, but also puts them in their historical perspective by looking both at the work of his forerunners and at Churchward's influence surviving in the years after his tragic death. There is a chapter on The Great Bear which is revealing, for in spite of Colonel Rogers' numerous informants well placed to know the answer, none has suggested a reason for his embarking on a Pacific with an axle weight above what was permitted on the principal main lines. The author imagines Churchward sending for his Chief Draughtsman and telling him he wanted a Pacific, but not saying why he wanted it, "for it does not appear that he was in the habit of giving reasons for his decisions". But Colonel Rogers does put forward a theory of his own.
Churchward was an autocrat in a period when such a man could still be respected and admired. The industrial climate after the first world war was already becoming strange to him and he soon commented that the time was near for him to retire. When he did so the warmth of feeling among all grades which brought subscriptions for a presentation flooding in moved him so much that he could hardly reply to the laudatory speeches. At his request the greater part of the money was put into a fund to provide prizes for technical students. The author cannot tell us much of Churchward's private life except for his love of fishing and shooting (he came from the Devon countryside near Totnes), but his career and the memories of those who knew him are enough to depict the man. The book ranks with the author's earlier work on Andre Chapelon as an interpretation of a great locomotive engineer and his work.

British Rail Album No 1: North & East. J.H. Cooper-Smith Ian Allan Ltd 80pp. Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper. 212
The photographer whose work is presented here is one of those fortunate people for whom the fascination of the railway has continued after dieselisation and electrification. His pictures should convince the sceptics that such a thing is possible, although it must be admitted that scenery, structures and lighting have to play a greater part now that the range of locomotive types is reduced. He handles all these elements with his accustomed skill. The areas covered are the East Coast main line, northern parts of the Midland, and ex-GE and Trans-Pennine routes. The last named in particular is rich in scenic locations which are often neglected. Railway enthusiasts are romantics to a man but pictures can be made out of the not intrinsically picturesque, such as the rainy day at Huddersfield or a dmu to Blackpool at Manchester Victoria in the present volume. We hope to see Dr Cooper-Smith exercising himself further in this genre in future work.

The ABC of LNER locomotives. lan Allan Ltd. 104pp Reviewed by Basil K. Cooper.
Some of us have never recovered from the day when Great Central Directors on the LNER appeared numbered in the 2000 series. At a stroke we felt ourselves cut off from the generation of enthusiasts who had grown up during the war. We no longer spoke the same language. Ian Allan Ltd did its best to bridge the generation gap by publishing The ABC of LNER Locomotives, Renumbering Edition, giving details of : the scheme finally implemented on January 1, 1946, and showing old and new numbers alongside. Some current numerologists may be surprised to know that the problems with which BR has presented them recently are not new. They can see what happened in those days in the present reprint of our 1947 publication, copiously illustrated with classes long extinct.

Letters. 212-15

The Fiery Duke—a postscript. D.H. Landau 
A letter from M.B. Hockings was of particular interest in giving details of Andre Chapelon's work on the application of poppet valves to simple expansion locomotives. It appears that Chapelon recognised the violent release of the exhaust as a critical problem, but succeeded in overcoming it by attacking the root of the problem using a cam profile tailored to produce a more gradual opening of the valve. In the light of this information Hockings suggests that the problem was neither 'intrinsic nor intractable' but rather, in the words of Chapelon, one that made it "necessary to take greater precautions than with a compound machine". Of 71000 in particular Chapelon stated the opinion that "the boiler having proved mediocre in spite of its large size; all this, obviously, on account of one of those causes we well know, the exhaust problem, this being one of the most important involved in the operation of the steam locomotive".
Hockings concludes that the restricted blastpipe area was only of marginal influence on the high spark loss, though an increase in area was desirable if only to reduce back pressure. It is true that over the greater part of the working range the influence on spark loss would be marginal, but the crucial point is that the smaller the area the lower the steam rate at which critical conditions develop. This in no way conflicts with Chapelon's work on cam profiles; both measures if adopted would be complementary. Hockings also suggests that an increase in steamchest volume would have eased or eliminated the pressure surging experienced at high speed. The theory behind this would seem to be that a reduction in steam velocity through the steamchest would be obtained and so reduce the kinetic effects described in the November article.
A contrasting view on the origin of 71000's problem comes from Hugh Phillips of Abergavenny, he writes "I cannot agree that this (the restricted blastpipe area) would have been the total cause of excessive particle ejection. The high initial exhaust velocity would have cut through the smokebox gases and resulted in enormous shock losses; this would tend to result in mediocre draught induction for a given blastpipe pressure".
This is a perfectly valid point but it was in the nature of poppet valves to give only a transient shockwave insufficient to cause sustained breakdown of the smokebox vacuum, but sufficient to initiate breakup of the fire bed either through vacuum surge or sonic shockwaves.
Phillips continues: "E.S. Cox refers in his book to back end vibration through the undamped trailing truck coil springs giving rise to high frequency vibrations of the fire, resulting in particles being carried away by the draught. This was the theory at Swindon in January 1955 but by March this had been discounted following tests with the back end firmly anchored down with a number of screw couplings so eliminating the vertical vibration".
Phillips goes on to suggest that break up of the fire bed was brought about by localised high velocity draughts caused by poor ash pan damper layout. It appears that four holes, without damper doors were (latterly) cut into the outer sloping sides of the ashpan, apparently in an attempt to even out the primary air feed. "Seething of the fire bed in localised areas at high combustion rates" is also referred to. This latter point is not especially significant sinceit is characteristic of all locomotives under conditions of grate limit; the fire bed not being homogenous breaks up at the "weakest" points. The conditiors described relate to the mode of failure of the fire bed rather than the cause. Once this process is established the situation will only worsen. Since the damper layout called into question was similar to that of a Britannia, a class of engine free from such troubles, it seems improbable that it was of primary significance, though it cannot be ruled out as a secondary factor. It is fundamental that the prime cause of particle removal must reside at the front end. Both Phillips and J.R. Smith refer to examples of poppet-valved simples that appear to have been free of fire throwing. In particular Smith cites the BR Caprotti Class 5s. Up to steaming rates of around 28,000lb/hr, 71000 was well enough behaved and gave little if any hint of the trouble that was to ensure once high power outputs were attempted. Whether the BR Class Fives were an exception I am unable to say, but the Caprotti Black Fives were not, hence Don Bilston's words—'sparks as big as oranges '.

The Newmarket Railway approach to Cambridge. R.F. Youell. 213
The correspondence in the April Railway World and Anthony Kirby's additional material might legitimately be supplemented by some further information. The GER, following its predecessors, had rather a genius for tying itself in knots by a combination of impecuniosity and bad management. The GER had almost an obsession with triangular junctions: in 1864 it applied for authorisation to build them at Ely (March to Norwich), March (Peterborough to Wisbech), Stratford (Lea Bridge and Leyton to Forest Gate), Kings Lynn (Magdalen Road to Middleton North), East Dereham (Wymondham to Swaffham), and in 1879 (and certainly not the first application) at Marks Tey (Chappel to Kelvedon). The 1864 application included a curve from the Newmarket Railway on its original site facing northwards, ie parallel to the 1896 deviation but to the west of it, and joining the Ely main line facing north, not with a sharp turn to face South as built later. The idea, though in places a little incoherent, was to terminate passenger trains from Newmarket virtually at right angles to the main line with footbridge connection to the north end of the long platform, and use the new curve for through traffic to and from the main line, joining the main line far enough north of the station to avoid the obstruction caused by trains coming from the original line across four running lines.
The weakness of the idea was that much of the through traffic, being for the South, would have to reverse after having reached the main line. It was at least an idea to deal with the congestion, though still not perfect. In 1881, nothing had transpired, and the GER applied for authority to "Abandon the Cambridge Curve Railway authorised in 1874". It is possible, though knowing the GER's eccentricities, not completely certain, that the "1874 Cambridge Curve" was the same as the one for which authority was sought in 1864. If we add to these false starts the 1886 proposal already mentioned by Anthony Kirby, the 1896 (and successful) attempt was the fourth. Fourth time lucky is pretty good by GER standards; its record being the number of attempts it made to get to Yorkshire before the GN&GE Joint line was established, paralleled by the number of fruitless attempts made by the Teign Valley Railway to get to Crediton! There are of course no relics of these earlier attempts to "sort out" the "Newmarket problem" at Cambridge, as there is no evidence of work having been started on anything before the 1893 plan.

The Newmarket Railway approach to Cambridge. D.G. Shadbolt. 213
Re article on the Newmarket/Cambridge branch in February Issue. However, unless memory serves me false, there may be an error in that I recollect the branch junction was made actually in the platform between the scissor crossing in the centre and the north end of the platform.
I would imagine that it was some 200yd from the end of the platform and the branch did, as you say, cross all the running lines and the carriage sidings. When I remember it, and this was before the introduction of the electric signalling, it was used as a carriage siding before being entirely lifted. At the time I was at school in Cambridge there were five signal boxes. Starting from the south they were: Hills Road Junction, South Box, Station Box (which was situated on the roof over the present entrance/exit), North Box, and Mill Road Box which controlled the loco sidings. I had at one time an old directory map which showed this junction, and also an Appendix giving the workings to and from the branch, but in the course of moving over the years I seem to have lost these relics. Before the last War I was a relief Clerk on the Cambridge District of the old LNER.

Longmoor locomotives. P.J.M. Wright
Horrified to discover that the historic locomotives Gazelle and Woolmer are going to be sent from the Longmoor Camp in the autumn. The former to York, the latter I know not where. I feel that this move should not take place because of the long-standing historical association of these engines with the Royal Engineers Transportation Corps. If they go I think there is a grave risk that the Longmoor Military Railway Museum will be closed through lack of interest, and I know there are very many people who would wish to avoid this at any price.

Looking below the surface . R.A. Nelmes
Re article entitled Looking Below the Surface by P. E. B. Butler in March issue. It reminded me of the map of the LB&SCR network, in the tilework at London's Victoria Station, now partly obscured by the rank of telephone booths in the booking hall. I wonder how many thousands of commuters pass this relic of bygone days, and have never noticed it.

Veteran machines. Brian Jewell. 213-14
In the current wave of enthusiasm for conservation, one area of great relevance to Britain's history has been ignored. I refer to that spin-off from our Industrial Revolution, the development of domestic and industrial machines and mechanical tools. Important advances in early technology and mechanised production are preserved in many old workshop tools, metalworking machines and even typewriters and sewing machines. Daily, superb examples of British inventive genius are being smashed up or thrown out through ignorance of their importance or lack of an alternative destination.So, in the absence of official or financial backing, we are compiling a register of "veteran" machines and hopefully looking for premises to display the available examples. Perhaps some stately-home owner would find the "National Veteran Machine Collection" an added attraction for tourists? In the meantime, we are encouraging private individuals and companies to preserve and appreciate items they own, and to record the facts with us. We have also launched a modest quarterly magazine for the exchange of information. Further information or interest would be welcomed (sae appreciated).

German speed signalling aspects. I.F. Webb
Re. Canning article, January issue: it is really quite simple; based on the speed control principle, route indications being confined to larger stations. Another principle is that no semaphore arm in the horizontal position may be passed.
All signals are worked by compensated double wires, which perhaps accounts for what seemed to him to be clumsy operating mechanism. The signal post illustrated on page 16 shows all that most visitors would need to know about German signals. The separation of the spectacle frames with their coloured glasses from the arms and disc is usual in Germany. Above the disc is the typical German home signal with white arms bordered red to the front and black at the rear. In the position shown, the indication is "Stop", with a red light at night. When the upper arm is moved to the upper quadrant 45-deg position, but with the lower arm remaining in line with the post, the indication is "Proceed at full speed", with a green light at night. The lower arm can only be moved when the upper arm is "off" and then to a position parallel with it (the lower arm can never be horizontal). When both arms are thus pointing upwards at 45 degrees, the meaning is "Proceed at reduced speed" (40km/hr unless otherwise shown) and the night indication is a green over a yellow.
Below these two arms is a distant signal for the home signal following, which is often, though not always, incorporated with a home signal post as shown. The German distant consists of a yellow disc with a centrally-pivoted arm beneath both with black borders. In the photograph the signal is showing "caution" (double-yellow at night) and for "all clear" would be swung skywards (double-green at night). As it is then invisible to the driver, the position of the signal is shown by the white rectangular marker at the base, with its two black "V's"). The arm beneath the distant disc has movements which correspond with the lower arm of the following home signal, so that it remains in line with the post if the home signal is showing "Proceed at full speed". But should both arms of the latter be showing "Proceed at reduced speed", the arm under the disc, which itself would be edge-on, is in the 45deg position, the night aspect then being green diagonally over yellow. All the night indications I have mentioned have been transferred to the newer colour light signals, even to the green- over-three-yellows which the signal illustrated could show in certain circumstances.

Great Central reminiscence. Bernard Buckland. 214 
I have recently received a copy of your publication Trains Illustrated No 11 on the Great Central Railway, and coming from a family who have given three or four generations of service in the Signal Engineering Department of the GCR this has given me immense interest and pleasure. I am 81 years of age, having been born at Staveley Town early 1894; whilst an infant we moved to Sheffield, thence to Leicester and finally to Guide Bridge. I possess the gold watch presented to, and inscribed to John Buckland on his retirement from the Great Central Railway Company on May 22, 1909, after 34 years service. I might add the watch still keeps splendid time. I must also add that John Buckland was my grandfather, and was Chief Inspector of Signal Engineering with office at Godley. My father came to Guide Bridge as Foreman of the Signal Engineering gang until his retirement as Inspector. He died some 17 or 18 years ago, aged 87. I also had an uncle, Harry Buckland, stationed at Nottingham until his retirement as Chief Inspector, who also had three sons in the LNER all holding senior positions in the same department of the railway. Referring to page 10 in the publication and your reference to Mr A. F. Bound, when Mr Bound came to the Manchester end of the line his office was at Guide Bridge and he occupied rooms at our home. At that time I was a schoolboy and it was my job to go to the butchers after school each day for meat for his evening meal. During the first world war and whilst I was at Aldershot I got word from home that my father was coming down to London for several days on a special job so I got two days leave in order to see him. I remember going to Neasden to meet him and remember watching one of the big tender-engines going to and fro. My faint recollection is that it was in connection with the automatic warning system. Another experience I would like to relate-I had an uncle who was a driver on the Penistone to Doncaster run with a Class 3 2-4-2T. I was 13 years of age and had just started work as a PO telegraph boy and was taking my first weeks holiday by visiting my uncle and aunt at Mexboro'. On arriving at Penistone I was surprised to find my uncle was the driver. He took me into the cab, covered me over until we got away, and I had the thrill of my life. I learned later it was against regulations —he died many years ago. The railway steam engine has always been a very enjoyable sight to me, and I fully endorse your remarks on page 20 that the Robinson Atlantic was the most handsome of engines at that period of time.

Leicester GC mpd. A.G. Windybank. 214 
The article on the GCR depot at Leicester by L.H. Leedham and P.H.V. Banyard was extremely interesting to me. It was particularly fascinating in that the spot described alongside the MR bridge over the GCR line was also one of my favourite boyhood haunts.
The scene had changed somewhat by the time I spent many happy hours there. The time of my sojourns alongside the line were during the war and after, up until the commencement of nationalisation. The GCR (LNER as it was then) now carried the vintage engines and the MR (LMS) mostly the modern ones. On the Midland, one saw mostly Fowler and Stanier, though there were still a few Johnsons, whilst on the Great Central there was the whole range of Robinson with even a flavour of Pollitt at Staveley. Gresley and Thompson were soon to change this scene however. I can recall watching the operations carried out on the arrival of a locomotive at the shed, and I was fortunate enough to be able to pay many visits inside the shed, visits which always proved thrilling.
A trip to the same spot in 1973 revealed desolation. The walls of the depot, as if to prove their strength, were still standing though the roof had gone. The connection between the two lines that was illustrated now serves as a spur to a timber yard. The worst sight of all is to see the cutting south of the Midland bridge completely filled in. This one scene seems to have sealed the fate of the Great Central Railway.

No. 423 (July 1975)

David Willis. Wood Lane memories. 271-4. 3 illustrations, plan
Former Central Line terminus and built to serve the Franco-British Exhibition at White City: the arrangements involved a 1 in 25 gradient and severe curves

No. 424 (August 1975)

P. J. Coster and J. N. C. Law. French compound locomotives—2. 310-16

R. Powell Hendry. Port Erin railway museum . 317 

R. E. Goodman. "Bihar and Orissa"-2. 318-21

Michael R. Bonavia . The last years of the LNER—1. 322-4. 2 illustrations, diagram
Railway historians have paid little attention to the period between the ending of World War II and the demise of the main line companies on 31 December 1947. Even the excellent and authoritative history of the LNER by the late Cecil J. Alien passes over these years briefly. It was certainly a very difficult time; added to the problems created by the run-down condition of locomotives, rolling stock, track and structures, the shadow of coming nationalisation hung over the companies ever since the results of the 1945 General Election had been known.
But, from the inside, it did not feel depressing at all! There was a strong determination in the management to get back to pre-war standards of service as quickly as possible and a general ferment of ideas about the future of railways in post-war Britain. Few if any foresaw just how difficult life was to become under nationalisation.
I joined the Chief General Manager's office of the LNER in July 1945. The office was still in the wartime evacuation centre known mysteriously as "HQ 1, via Hitchin". Actually it was in The Hoo, at Whitwell, a large and rather ugly country house similar in many ways to the LMS headquarters near Watford. Return to London was difficult because the Chief General Manager's offices in Kings Cross had been bombed; but later that year a move was made to a couple of houses in Dorset Square, just round the corner from Marylebone Station in the offices of which (formerly the GCR headquarters) were the Chairman and Secretary.
My remit was to look after the company's public relations at the "policy" level—in particular, presentation of the railway case for sympathetic treatment by the Government in the framing of a post-war transport policy. Soon, to this was added the task of representing the LNER on the team of General Managers' Assistants who were organising the campaign against railway nationalisation. Later, I also became Post-War Development Liaison Officer—a logical move, because publicising the company plans to modernise the system was an important element in the plea to be left alone by the Government so far as nationalisation was concerned.
My chief was Sir Charles Newton, who had succeeded Sir Ralph Wedgwood as Chief General Manager of the LNER in March 1939. Trained as an accountant on the GWR and then moving to the GER, he had become the LNER Chief Accountant; but it was a surprise to many when the Board transferred him to the post of Divisional General Manager (Southern Area) in order to broaden his experience prior to his promotion into the CGM's chair at Kings Cross. I reported to Newton officially through O.H. Corble, Assistant General Manager (Ancillary Services) but, with Corble's consent, my contacts with the CGM on policy questions were normally direct.
Newton had grown in stature since his first assumption of the top job, when he must have found it a struggle to hold his own with such outstanding personalities as Lord Stamp and Sir James Milne. He was now an established potentate, even though the strongly decentralised organisation of the LNER, with the power it gave to the three Divisional General Managers in Liverpool Street, York and Edinburgh, made policy formation rather difficult. The CGM was often in the position of a Roman charioteer driving a team of three horses of which one would almost always be breaking away from the other two.
Newton was a strong supporter of standardisation even in such details as the design of lengthrnen's huts and the position of the hot and cold taps in the hotel washbasins. He was able to pursue these interesting objectives unopposed, but the "three emperors" strongly resisted any moves by the CGM that seemed seriously to threaten their prerogatives. They were particularly sensitive on this score because of recent events. The civil engineering function had been taken away from their control and placed under an "AIl- Line" officer, J.C.L. Train, the first Chief Engineer for the whole system. And wartime conditions had made it necessary to appoint an Assistant General Manager (Operating) for the whole system to represent the LNER on the Railway Executive Committee's Operating Sub-Committee and co-ordinate both inter-Area movement and rolling stock control on a unified basis. The DGMs had disliked this intensely and had been only slightly mollified by adding the word "Temporary" to the title of AGM (Operating) given to V. M. Barrington-Ward, later Sir Michael Barrington-Ward.
Despite this apparent move towards more central control, the Board adhered faithfully, at any rate in principle, to the decentralisation of the LNER into Areas that had been laid down by its first Chairman, William Whitelaw, strongly supported by his CGM, Sir Ralph Wedgwood. That was also the policy of the succeeding Chairman, Sir Ronald Matthews. Sir Ronald was a man of great wit and personal charm as well as a successful Sheffield business man, and was held in respect and indeed affection by the officers, whom he treated with absolutely unvarying courtesy and friendliness. In consequence, despite some inevitable internal stresses, the LNER was on the whole free from the factional hostility such as that between LNW, Midland and L&Y elements that persisted on the LMS for many years.
The LNER Board and management faced three main tasks in 1945. First, the locomotives and rolling stock needed to be brought back to pre-war standards. Next, track and structures had to be fully restored and improved, and the unfinished electrification schemes of the 1935-40 New Works Programme, halted by the war, had to be restarted. Lastly, the LNER in conjunction with the other three companies needed to evolve a commercial policy that would ensure its survival, and to obtain from the Government acceptance of the need to maintain railways within the framework of a national transport policy.
Dealing first with the problem of traction and rolling stock, when Sir Nigel Gresley died in 1941 he had left the LNER with over 100 splendid Pacifies and a number of special types such as the P2 2-8-2 Cock o' the North class; but he had not been able to build sufficiently a reliable general-purpose locomotive such as the Stanier Black Fives on the LMS. The more satisfactory pre-Grouping types of the LNER's constituent companies had been retained for secondary main line and branch line duties. In fact, at the outbreak of war there had been about 300 4-6-0 passenger engines in 14 types; about 200 Atlantics in 10 types and over 500 4-4-0s of no less than 23 different types. There was nothing to correspond with the LMS fleet of between 600 and 700 general utility mixed-traffic engines or even the 400 GWR engines of the Hall and similar classes.
Gresley was succeeded by Edward Thompson, who had worked under him. Thompson was a more austere character, lacking his predecessor's glamour and flair for publicity. In the campaign he launched to persuade the Board that the LNER could not rest on the prewar exploits of the A4 streamliners, but urgently needed a large stock of work-horses of an economical and reliable design, he perhaps harped too much upon the accepted weakness of the Gresley three-cylinder design with its "2 to 1 lever" giving a conjugated motion to the middle cylinder valves. Excessive play certainly tended to develop in the linkage under war- time conditions with inadequate maintenance. Another weakness of the three-cylinder design was heating of the middle big end. But, as Sir Ronald Matthews once observed in my hearing, the LNER "could not build a locomotive policy on the basis that everything that Gresley did was wrong." And in fact the heaviest wartime passenger traffies had been bravely carried, "Gresley knock" notwithstanding, by the Pacifies and the 184 stalwart V2 2-6-2s-the nearest approach to a general-purpose machine that the LNER possessed as a legacy from Gresley. Thompson realised that the funds that had been available to Stanier on the LMS could not be provided by the LNER, and that a certain amount of "make-do and mend" was inevitable. His so-called standardisation policy therefore involved a considerable amount of rebuilding of Gresley's Pacifies by getting rid of the conjugated valve gear and providing instead three sets of Walschaerts gear, one for each cylinder. He also rebuilt Gresley's 2-8-2 Cock o' the North class as Pacifies and modified a few V2s. But the keystone of his policy was the construction of ovet 200 4-6-0 mixed traffic engines in which he could demonstrate his preference for 2-cylinder designs—the Bl Springbok class of neat, workmanlike machines which nevertheless hardly equalled the Stanier Black Fives. An important element in the policy was the classification of locomotives into "standard" types to be built as required; other types to be maintained (ie, reboilered) as required; and remaining types that would not be maintained after all the spare boilers in stock had been used up. It was perhaps surprising that among the types classed as "standard" were the J11 0-6-0 and (in rebuilt form) the O1 2-8-0, both GCR designs and thus a tribute to J. G. Robinson! Edward Thompson retired in June 1946 and was succeeded by the genial A.H. Peppercorn, who both in temperament and policy was much more of a Gresley man. He concentrated upon the front-line stud of Pacifies for the East Coast main line but had only 18 months in office before nationalisation restricted his power. During that period the coal crisis hit Britain and the Government imposed an ill-judged short-term policy of converting locomotives to burn oil. I was struck by the ineffectiveness of this expedient when viewed in relation to overall fuel demands and put a paper before Charles Hopkins, then Assistant General Manager (Traffic and Statistics), arguing that if coal supplies were to continue in doubt, diesel traction rather than burning oil in fireboxes was the only economic solution; and that the East Coast main line services produced the locomotive mileages required to iustify the higher cost as compared with steam locomotive construction. Hopkins took up the point with characteristic energy and, having studied it in conjunction with a report that had already been made by H.W.H. Richards, the Chief Electrical Engineer, about the progress of diesel main line traction in the USA, organised studies by the technical and operating officers which led to the LNER Board authorising in 1947 the purchase of 25 main-line diesel locomotives to take over the whole of the East Coast express passenger services. But before this Board decision could be imple- mented, the LNER ceased to exist, and the Railway Executive's thinking was on quite different lines, being obsessed by the idea of a programme of BR standard steam locomotive designs. It was thus to be some 20 years before the DeIties were to show how diesel traction could transform the ECML services. No doubt the LNER scheme would have run into teething troubles; but a major opportunity to gain invaluable experience and accelerate the inevitable changeover had been lost.
As a sideline to my main activities I wanted to stimulate amateur interest in the railway, on the argument that all goodwill has potential commercial value, and that today's youthful trainspotter may well be the influential politician, Civil Servant or businessman of tomorrow. The GWR had taken this point well before the war with its schoolboy visits to Swindon Works and the series of excellent handbooks written by W.G. Chapman.
George Dow, then Press Relations Officer, had been brought within my field of responsibility, a change which he accepted with characteristic loyalty and good humour. He wrote both a pamphlet history of the LNER and a series of admirable sectional histories published under the company's imprint that eventually led, years afterwards, to his classic three-volume history of the Great Central. With his support I produced several booklets for enthusiasts and commissioned O. S. Nock to write Locomotives 0/ the LNER which, fully illustrated, described the Edward Thompson policies and included a list of classes, numbers and names. I could not at that date of course foresee the vast expansion in the market nor how the opportunities would be seized through the enterprise of Ian Allan Ltd; my funds were limited and there were colleagues who doubted the value of such activities. I was also unsuccessful in persuading Cecil J. Alien to concentrate upon writing officially for the company. He called on me at my request to discuss the possibility, but he told me with characteristic courtesy combined with firmness that it was too late; he was approaching retirement from the Chief Engineer's Department and official indifference to his literary work in the past had made him determined to remain independent. Perhaps the most useful publication I was able to produce at this time was Forward: the LNER Post-War Development Programme. This was attractively illustrated both by photographs and by line diagrams showing the sites of all proposed major new improvements. These comprehensive plans and some of the controversies surrounding them will be described in the next article.
Illustrations: Thompson B1 4-6-0 No. 1003 Gazelle, on a stopping train at Parkeston Quay, Harwich in July 1947. The building of over 200 mixed traffic engines of this class was the keystone of their designer's policy and demonstrated his preference for two-cylinder classes. (C.C.B. Herbert); Exhibitions of locomotives and rolling stock helped to fix the LNER image in the public mind and were an important element in publicity immediately before the war. The locomotive carrying an Eastern Belle headboard is a reminder of the Pullman excursions from Liverpool Street to destinations in East Anglia. (E.R. Wethersett); LNER New Works Programme Great Central Main Line. Marylebone to Notiingham (diagram of planned capital expenditure including  some on the Nottingham to Derby line) set  out in LNER publication Forward.

Rheine-Emden farewells. 324. 3 illustrations
31 May 1976 marked last day of regular Class 012 Pacific operations on  the Rheine-Emden-Norddeich line of the German Federal Railway. Photographs by David Eatwell and F.R. Kerr.

Robin Russell. West of Basingstoke. 326-30
Photographer notes his fondness for the Basingstoke flyover and some of his work is reproduced: (all Bulleid Pacifics rebuilt unless noted otherwise): No. 35008 Orient Line passing under Battledown flyover; King Arthur No. 30742 Camelot joins slow line at Worting Junction in January 1955; No. 34089 602 Squadron at Worting Junction in 1965; No. 34082 615 Squadron passing then new colour light signals with up Salisbury train; N class 2-6-0 No. 31813 with a train for Southampton line;    

D.J. Smith. The Dodington Railway. 331
Scenic 2-ft narrow gauge railway at Dodington House near Old Sodbury north of Bristol worked by Hudson-Hunslet diesel locomotives

David Ogilvy. British branch lines—No 4. What scope exists for branches?  332-5.

George Toms. LMS shunter survives in France. 336
Diesel electric shunter built by Englsh Electric in 1935 WN 3841 LMS running number 7069; became War Department No. 18 in 1940. Germans captured it in Brittany close to Nantes.

Durham Society photographs

New books

Letters. 339

No. 425 (September 1975)

D.R. Carling. Locomotives of 50 years ago—1. A review of types introduced or under construction in the Railway Centenary period. 350-3.
"Taken on the whole 1923 was not a year of any marked progress or development". This was Carling's assessment of the state of affairs in Britain in 1925, but added that progress had taken place in the preceding years and would take place in the subsequent period. There was more development in locomotives manufactured for export.

G.M. Kichenside. On bogies, birdcages and buffets: 150 years of railway carriages. 354-9.
Illustrations: London & Birmingham Railway beed carriage of 1842 for dowager Queen Adelaide exterior \nd interior views; Great Northern Railway 1879 Pullman dining car with inter-coach gangway; Midland Railway first third composite clerestory coach with six-wheel bogies for Anglo-Scottish trains of 1870s; interior of Great Western clerestory side corridor coach with gas lighting; Great Western toplight third class corridor coacch with steel-panelled bodyside; SECR second third brake composite with birdcage rooj & lavatory; interior LMS Stanier open third class coach; exterior all-steel LMS corridor coach; interior British Railwats open saloon.

L.F.E. Coombs. Some breaks with convention: alternatives to traction with the Stephenson style of steam locomotive. 360-4.
Illustrations:  West Highland train ascending Cowlairs Incline behind Holmes 4-4-0 No. 96; Kilmersdon Colliery in Somerset inclined plane—last day of operation 9 June 1974; London & Croydon Railway—excavated pipes of atmospheric railway unearthed during civil engineering in 1933; Reid Ramsay turbo-electric locomotive built North British Locomotive Company in 1910; Beyer Peacock Ljungstrom condensing turbine locomotive on trial on LMS in 1926; Pennsylvania RR 6-8-6  turbine electric locomotive at Crestline Ohio in 1949; English Electric gas turbine GT3; Kitson-Still locomotive in August 1933 with LNER dynamometer car and many people alongside.  Others mentioned in text: Swedish State Railways Ljungstrom condensing turbine locomotive; Chesapeake & Ohio and Norfolk & Western Railroads for turbine electric locomotives and Great Western Railway, SLM at Winterthur and Metropolitan Vickers for gas turbines

I.F. Finlay. Great Britain's first railway stamps. 365.

John A. Lines. The Raven Pacifics of the NER: Locomotive Portraits—14. 371. illus.
Illustration of locomotive  No. 2400 in photographic grey wiothout name; leading dimensions, detail differences (final three had Cartazzi trailing axleboxes); main tests on locomotives and general performance and duties; sole rebuilding (No. 2404 with Gresley boiler) and withdrawal dates.

B.K. Cooper. New horizons in signalling. 374-6

New books. 376-7

No. 426 (October 1975)

5Norman Harvey. The King's Cross—Cleethorpes expresses. 390-3.

North Road museum. 397

D.R. Carling. Locomotives of 50 years ago—1. Eight-coupled and ten coupled designs feature in foreign building. 398-401.

Michael R. Bonavia. The last years of the LNER—2. 402-4.

No. 427 (November 1975)

[Isle of Wight Steam Railway]. 429.  illustration
Photograph by John Goss of restoration of Terrier 0-6-0T No. 11 Newport at Haven Street on 24 August 1979 by Sir Peter Allen. C. Whiting, responsible for repainting and A.B. MacLeod also in picture

Eric Treacy. Steam 150 at Shildon. 432-4.

W.O. Skeat. Some impressions of George Srephenson. 436-7
Refers to the writer's George Srephenson: the engineer and his letters

Rail transport still flourishes in the North East. 437. illustration
Tyne & Wear test track at Backworth near Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

John F. Clay and J.N.C. Law. Midland locomotive performance—1. 440-5.

J.W. Whittaker. The Mawddwy Railway. 446-8.

Tim Farebrother. Broad gauge farewell at Paddington. 448. illustration

Touring with the Wirral. 449

Henry Butter. Rhaetian miscellany. 458-60.

In orbit round London. 460

Michael R. Bonavia. The last years of the LNER—3. 461-2

No. 428 December 1975

Stanley Creer. Trains, travel and a camerae—1. 476-80/