BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henrg W. Sage XS91 4^xj^k /^^.. olin.anx 3 1924 031 260 031 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031260031 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS By various AUTHORS lith iUtt0ttaiiott0 LONDON EDWARD ARNOLD 37 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, W.C. ^ublis^er to t^c |nMa @Hict [Aii rights reserved] Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay. CONTENTS. CHAP, PAGE I. London and North -Western Works at Crewe i By C. J. BowEN Cooke (Assistant Running Superintendent, Locomotive Department). II. Midland Railway Works at Derby ... ... 35 By Charles Henry Jones (Assistant Locomotive Superintendent of the Midland Railway, Southern Division). III. Great Northern Railway Works at Don- caster 70 By a. J. Brickwell (Of the Surveyor's Department, King's Cross). IV. North-Eastern Railway and its Engines ... 96 By Wilson Worsdell (Chief Locomotive Superintendent). V. Great Eastern Railway Works at Stratford 120 By Alex. P. Parker (Secretary to the Locomotive Superintendent). VI. Great Western Railway Works at Swindon 151 By a. H. Malan. VII. The Old Broad Gauge Engines and their Successors 171 By a. H. Malan. VIII. North British Railway Works at Cowlairs 214 By a. E. Lockyer. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. I. London and North-Western Works at Crewe. From Oi'ficial Photographs. Offices of the Locomotive Department — Boiler Shop — Eight-Ton Steam Hammer — Rail Mill, Crewe Works — Engine Erected in Twenty-five Hours : Fii&t, Second, and Third Stages — Completed, and Workmen — Wolverton Bloomer Engine "Torch" — "Charles Dickens" — " Her- schel " — "Lady of the Lake" — Eight- Wheeled Side Tank Engine — Special Tank Engine — Coal Engine — Six- Wheeled Coupled Express Goods Engine — "Marchioness of Stafford" — " Jeanie Deans" — " Greater Bfit.iin " ... ... ... ... ... ... ... p. I II. Midland Railway Works at Derby. From Photographs by Mr. Scotton, the Company's Official Photographer. Two Twenty-Ton Overhead Travelling Cranes lifting a Locomotive — Boiler Shop — Steam Riveter — Tyre-boring Machine — Wheel Shop — Machine Shop, showing Travelling Crane — Erecting Shop — Engine Stable, or Running Shed — Single-Wheel Express Bogie Passenger Engine — Four-Wheeled Coupled Express Bogie Passenger Engine — • Four-Wheeled Coupled Bogie Passenger Tank Engine — Six- Wheeled Coupled Goods Tank Engine — Six- Wheeled Coupled Goods Engine — Twelve-Wheeled Composite Carriage — .Small Goods Tank Engine — View of the Cab and Chimney Ends of a Midland Engine /. 35 III. Great Northern Works at Doncaster. No. 776, " Jubilee " Class, built in 1887, and exhibited at Newcastle and Edinburgh : from a photograph by J. Wormald, I^eeds — Dining Car — Locomotive Erecting Shop — Steam Hammer — Wheel Lathe — The Coke-Breaker — Spring Shop — Engine No. 458, built in 1866 — Engine No. 850, built in 1892 — Engine No. 868, built in 1892 — Engine No. 42 — Tank Engine built for the Dock Traffic — Engine No. 932, built in 1892— Engine No. 875, built in 1892 A 7° IV. North-Eastern Railway and its Engines. From Official Photographs. Boiler Shop— Carriage-building Shop— The Forge Shop — Engine Stable — Wheel and Crank Axle Shop — Stephenson's " Locomotion," built 1825 — Coaling Jetty, Tyne Dock — North-Eastern Colliers Anchored during LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. vii the Durham Coal Strike, Tyne Dock — Compound Express Passenger Engine — One of the " Tennant Express" Engines — Passenger Side Tank Engine — York Station (N.E.R.)— Compound Goods Side Tanlc Engine — Standard Crank Axle (N.E.R.) — Standard Snow-Plough V. Great Eastern Railway Works at Stratford. From Official Photographs. Group of Olivers — Erecting Shop — Engine built and in steam in Ten Working Hours — Wheel Shop — Sinclair's Express, 1862 — Worsdell's Four-Coupled Express, 1882 — Holden's Express, 1888 — Holden's Six- Coupled. Tank Engine — Holden's Four-Coupled Express : from a photo- graph by W. M. Spooner & Co., Strand— Worsdell's Two-Cylinder Compound, 1884 — Worsdell's Six-Coupled Goods Engine, 1883 — Sinclair's Four-Coupled Passenger Engine, 1859 — Holden's Mixed Traffic Engine, 1891 — Holden's Liquid Fuel Express Engine, 1886 — Old Third Class Carriage ... ... ... /. 120 VI. Great Western Railway Works at Swindon. From Photographs by A. H. Malan. Log Frame Sawing Machine — Engine-Traversing Table — Hydraulic Wheel Press — Lathe for Turning Locomotive Crank Axles^Lathe for Turning Crank-Pins — Planin.g Machine for Finishing Crank- Webs — Lathe for Large Locomotive Wheels — Frame-Plate Slotting Machine — Frame-Plate Planing Machine — In the Carriage-building Shop /. 151 VII. The Old Broad Gauge Engines and their Successors. From Photographs by A. H. Malan. " Rover" ("Lord of the Isles" Class) — Bristol and Exeter Engine — The "Iron Duke" — South Devon Saddle-tank Engine, "Lance" — "Timour" — Up " Jubilee " going through Exminster — "Dutchman" at full speed down gradient, passing Stoke Canon Station — New Narrow Gauge Engine, No. 3017 — The "Great Western" — Fronts of " Great Western "and New Narrow Gauge Engine, No. 3014 /. 171 viii. North British Railway Works at Cowlairs. From Photographs by A. E. Lockyer. The Incline at Cowlairs — The Erecting Shop — Constructing the Wooden Wheel — Twenty-Ton Crane ready for the Road — Main Line Passenger Engine — Suburlian Passenger Tank Engine — Eighteen-Inch Standard Goods Locomotive— Passenger Engine which fell into the Tay in 1879 — Small Shunting Tank Engine ... /• 214 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. CHAPTER I. THli: LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY WORKS AT CREWE. By C. J. BOWEN COOKE, [Assistant Running Superintendent, Locomotive Department.] There is no busier railway station in the country than Crewe, the principal junction of the London and North- Western system. Through it more than six hundred passenger and goods trains run every twenty- four hours. The locomotive works which extend for a mile and a half in length are situated in the fork of land between the Liverpool and Chester and Holyhead lines, close by the side of the latter ; but before describing what may be seen inside these works, I will say a few words about the town in which they are situated. Crewe has no architectural pretensions, but consists principally of small red-brick houses, inhabited by work- ing-men all in the service of the Company. Its rise and 2 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. progress are contemporaneous with the development of the London and North-Western Raihvay Company. Sixty years ago on its present site it contained a popu- lation of one hundred and forty-eight souls. On July 4, 1837, the first train passed through this small village on, what was then called, the Grand Junction Railway. OFFICES OF THE LOCOMOTIVE DEPARTMENT. An amalgamation was in that year effected between the Manchester and Liverpool, the Manchester and Birming- ham, the London and Birmingham, and other lines. The new Company was called the London and North-Western, and in August 1842, the complete line, so far as it had been constructed, was opened to the public. The authori- THE LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. 3 ties connected with this great undertaking were not slow to perceive the central situation of Crewe. It was ap- parent that several lines must converge there, and that it would thus become a great meeting-place for railways. IIOILER SIIUP. It was seen, too, that the place would be an admirable site for the construction of locomotive engines, carriages, and wagons, the result being that in 1843 the Grand Junction Works, which had previously been situated at Edge Hill, Liverpool, were transferred to Crewe, and 4 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. from that time the development of the town began. In 1853, however, . the wagon department was removed to Earlestown, and in 1861 the carriage department was transferred to Wolverton, and so the Crewe Works are now entirely given up to the manufacture of locomotives. In 1 841 the population of Crewe was 203, having in- creased only fifty-five in ten years. In 1851, eight years after the establishment of the works, the population had risen to 4,571 ; in 1861 it was 8,159; in 1871 it had in- creased to 17,810; and at the present time it is 30,000. In 1843 the works occupied from two and a half to three acres of ground, the number of men employed being 161. They now occupy 116 acres, thirty-six of which are covered ; the number of men employed being upwards of 7000. In May 1876 the completion of the 2000th engine was signalized by public rejoicing. On July 4, 1887, the 3000th engine was completed. Crewe possesses a Mechanics' Institute, built and sup- ported by the Company. Excellent science and art classes are connected with the Institute, and its students have won more Whitworth Scholarships than any other place in the country. It has also a well-stocked library and good reading-room. There is a Volunteer Engineer Corps, 600 strong, composed entirely of men employed in the works. A well-trained Works Fire Brigade has its dep6t close to the offices, and in case of a fire break- ing out while the men are off duty, they can be instantly summoned by means of electrical communication which is established between the " Time Offices " at the works and the house of each member of the brigade. With the exception of two sewing factories employing female THE LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. 5 labour, there is no other source of employment whatever in Crewe, except that afforded by the Ra'hvay Company. The Parliamentary division is named after the town, which comprises more than half the electorate. In 1848 the Queen, Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, and other EIGHT-TON STEAM UAMMbK. members of the Royal Family, paid an unexpected visit to the town, and stayed the night at the Crewe Arms Hotel, on their route to London from Scotland. The Royal Family had set sail from Aberdeen for Ports- mouth, but meeting with very stormy weather, the Queen decided to return to Aberdeen and proceed overland. 6 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. The whole party feeh'ng fatigued, her Majesty sent word shortly in advance of the train's approach to Crewe that she would stop at the hotel there for the night, which she accordingly did, proceeding on her journey the next morning. There is probably no other place without a history which has been visited by more distinguished and learned people than the great locomotive workshops of the London and North-Western Railway Company, - Mr. F. Trevithick was the first Locomotive Super- intendent at Crewe. He was the son of the great Trevi- thick who in 1805 exhibited his wonderful "steam coacK" on the site now occupied by the London and North- Western Railway Terminus at Euston. At this time, however, the Company had only seventy-five engines in stock. He was succeeded in 1857 by Mr. Ramsbottom, who effected many important improvements ; and' in 1 87 1 he was followed by Mr. Francis William Webb, the present Chief Mechanical Engineer and Locomotive Superintendent. Mr. Webb served his apprenticeship at Crewe Works, and has been connected with them for thirty-five years, acting as manager during Mr. Rams- bottom's superintendence, and it is owing to his inge-ntitty that the North- Western Railway possess upwards of fifty patents for improvements connected with railway plant, ranging from a foot-warmer to a locomotive. We will now suppose ourselves to have arrived at Crewe Station, armed with a letter of introduction to enable us to see the works ; for be it strictly noted, that without this " open sesame " the doors are closed to visitors. We have then to make our way through, the town to the " General Offices," which form the starting- THE LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. 7 point for detouring over the works. These offices are situated in the centre of the town, and also of the worlvs. RML MILL, CREWE WORKS. Having signed our names in the " Visitors' Book " we are placed in the care of a guide, and begin our journey of inspection. We pass out of the offices through a 8 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. spacious doorway on the works side, and are agreeably surprised to see the verdant freshness which meets the eye all around, instead of the grimy appearance which might naturally be expected. The offices, which are lighted throughout by electricity, extend several hundred yards in length, and face some lines of rails connecting the old and new works. A well-kept border of grass ENGINE ERECTED IN TWENTY-FIVE HOURS AND A HALF. FIRST STAGE AT SIX A.M. MONDAY, FEB. 4TH. several yards in width and studded with evergreens runs along the whole length of the building, and ivy climbs its walls. The residence of Mr. Webb is close to the end of the offices, and notwithstanding the immense amount of fuel burned in the works, such is the purity of the atmosphere, owing to the use of gas furnaces and smoke-consuming appliances, that luxuriant vegetation and beds of flowers surround the house. The Drawing, Stores, Accountants', Running and Signal Offices,, Photo- THE LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY, c, graphic Studio and Laboratory, together with the private offices of the Superintendent and heads of departments, are concentrated here. Many hundreds of clerks are engaged in them who record every pound of coal burned, every mile run, every item of expenditure in any shape connected with the building, repairs, or working of each individual locomotive. Upon emerging from the offices we find waiting for ENGINE ERKCTED IN TWENTY-FIVE HOURS AND A HALF. SECOND STAGE AT ONE P.M. MONDAY, FEB. 4TH. US a vehicle called by Crewe Works people a " cab," which is a low kind of covered truck attached to a loco- motive, several of which are run on the railway lines about the works to convey either men or material from one part to the other. We step into it, and are at once conveyed to the Steel Works, which is usually the first place to which visitors are taken. Here we see the manufacturing of steel by the Bessemer process. This lo ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. is the first step towards the making of a locomotive, viz, making the steel which is so largely used in its compo- sition. About five tons of pig-iron, previously melted in a cupola, are run into a " converter," which is a large egg-shaped vessel with a gigantic kind of spout. This vessel is then revolved on its own axis until the spout points upwards, and then a strong blast of air is turned KNGINE ERECTED IN TWKNTY-FIVE HOURS AND A HALF. THIRD STAGE AT ONE P.M. TUESDAY, FEB. 5TH, into the metal from below, which acting upon the molten mass keeps up a fierce combustion, and ejects all the impurities from the iron. This " blowing " is kept up for some fifteen or twenty minutes. Showers of glittering sparks and a fierce roar of flame shoot out of the up- turned orifice, and at night light up the whole place in a weird, fantastic way. When the " blowing " has ceased the "converter" is again turned down, and a quantity of " spiegeleisen," an iron highly charged with carbon, which THE LOxXDON y\ND NORTH-WESTERN RAH^AVAV. has been previously melted in a furnace, is i:)Oured into it. This chemically combines with the molten iron, and the result is Bessemer steel. The mixture is then emptied into a huge ladle suspended at the end of a crane, from whence it is poured into the various moulds standing ready, and is cast into ingots, to be used for making rails. L„NGli\K JiRhClIiU IN IWENlY-HVIi HUUKb AND A lIALh, COJU LL 1 LO ONE P.M. WEliNESDAY, I'EB. 6'ril : AND WORKMEN. tyres, axles, plates, or any other purpose required. We glance at the splendid horizontal engines supplying the converters with air, and passing by the furnaces (of which there are seven) for making steel by the Siemens- Martin process, wc go on to the Rail Mills. The North-Western is the only English railway that rolls its own rails. The plant has a capacity for turning 12 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. out 45,000 tons of rails annually, the actual output being 25,000 tons. The mill is driven by a magnificent 700 horse-power engine of the Corliss pattern. An ingot similar to one we have just seen cast is taken out of a furnace to the mouth of the largest of the swiftly re- volving rollers of the mill. This ingot is about 3 feet long by io| inches square. The rollers may be com- pared to a large mangle, and the ingot in passing to and fro between these is first transformed into a thick bar of steel ; with each squeeze it becomes longer and thinner, the last few times the top and bottom of the bar flatten out, and the middle becomes thinner until it emerges from the last pair of rollers. It is then carried on small rollers to a circular saw close by, the ends are cut off square, and we behold a perfectly finished rail thirty feet long, and weighing ninety pounds to the yard, in about a minute from the time we saw the ingot enter the first pair of rollers. We now visit the Forge, where we see a thirty-ton Ramsbottom duplex hammer at work. Two blocks, each weighing thirty tons, are being driven horizontally to and from each other by steam power, and are pound- ing away at a mass of white-hot metal between them. An enormous force is here made use of without the vibration caused by a vertical hammer descending on a block. We see at work eight of these latter hammers of various size and power, ranging from sixteen hundred- weight to eight tons. Here are also plate-rolling and shearing machines ; the former transforms huge blocks of hot metal to thin plates of steel or iron with the same ease and dexterity as the busy housewife converts a 14 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. lump of dough into a thiri pie-crust, and the latter emu- lates the same individual plying her scissors, for it snips and cuts up great pieces of cold iron and steel with equal facility. The plate-rolling machines perform the im- portant part of making all the plates from which the engine boilers and frames are constructed. Here also Mr. Webb's patent steel sleeper is rolled, over 100,000 of which are laid down in the present permanent way of the Company. A large circular saw, seven feet in diameter, driven at a speed of 13,000 feet per minute, demonstrates its power by cutting through an iron axle nine inches in diameter in thirty seconds. The metal which has to be treated is all heated in gas furnaces, of which there are thirty-seven, the gas being generated in forty-nine gas producers, and conveyed to the furnaces in underground pipes. Our next visit is to the Boiler Shop, where we see engine boilers in every stage of construction. The barrel- shaped part of a locomotive boiler has in it upwards of 200 tubes extending from the "fire-box" to the chimney end. These tubes when the engine is " in steam " are surrounded by water, and the flames pass from the furnace to the chimney through them, the greater the number of tubes, the greater the " heating surface " acted upon by the fire to generate steam. The fire-box is the most costly part of an engine, being made entirely of copper, the tubes are usually brass and the rest of the boiler steel ; more than a million tubes are used annually for new boilers and repairs. These tubes and the copper plates for the fire-boxes are the only things imported into Crewe Works in a manufactured state. The noise THE LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. 15 of hundreds of men closing rivets up is deafening, and we leave this place with a sense of relief. At the extreme end of the works near the Boiler Shop there is a large brick-making plant ; the yearly output from a circular kiln being over five millions. Passing, through the Flanging Shop, where the fire-box and tube plates are flanged in a powerful hydraulic press, we go to the Engine Repairing Shops, which are a counterpart of those we shall see at the Old Works, and on to the Tender Shop, where tenders are in all stages of manu- facture and repair. The London and North-Western Company's tenders are fitted with an ingenious apparatus — the invention of Mr. Ramsbottom — for picking up water while travelling. A pipe called a scoop, with a bend at the end, is let down into a water trough between the rails while the engine is passing over it, and the rapid motion of the train forces the water up the scoop into the tank on the tender. This system enables the tenders to be constructed of a lighter pattern, and avoids the necessity of carrying a large supply of water ; thus reducing weight and consequently working expenses. Our next visit is to the Iron Foundry, where moulders are making, with wood and metal patterns, the shapes in the sand into which liquid iron is afterwards poured, and which subsequently come out in the form of cylinders, wheels, and all parts of locomotives, signal gearing, and other machinery for which cast-iron is used. We next pass the Brass Foundry, where all sorts of brass castings are made, and enter the Signal Shop where all the signal apparatus is fitted. The signal frames are all put up temporarily in this shop before i6 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. being conveyed to the signal boxes wherever they may be required along the line. Thi$ is a department which has made very rapid strides since the first introduction of railway signalling. The old-fashioned " policeman " — still bearing that name on many parts of the line — with his long-tailed coat and stove-pipe hat, whose only duty was to wave a flag by day or a lamp by night, has long been superseded by the highly-trained " signalman," who has to pass a strict examination in all the complicated details of block working, which requires intelligence and constant attention upon the telegraph instruments and signal levers. In this shop the Webb-Thompson electric staff apparatus, now being largely adopted in single line working, and which ensures the safe and economical transit of trains over such lines, is pointed out to us. Passing the large Paint Shop on the left, where the engines receive their final treatment before leaving the works, we begin to retrace our steps towards the Old Works lying in the direction of Crewe Station. We first enter the " Deviation Works," — so called owing to the Chester line being here deviated to run outside the works, it having formerly run within at that point. At this place carpentry, joinery, pattern-making, and wood- working of all descriptions is carried on. Here are some very wonderful machines, perhaps of even a more in- teresting character to the non-scientific mind than many of the metal work machines. A machine, controlled by one man, seizes hold of a log of wood and then saws, planes, slots, drills, adzes, and turns it out a finished buffer plank in almost as short a time as this sentence can be written. This machine, called a " General w^^^^^^^^ i8 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. Joiner," and many others of an equally astonishing character, for planing, sawing, morticing, rabbeting, and labour saving in every way, are to be seen on every hand. One very interesting machine makes the handles of axes, hammers, and other tools. An iron pattern of the exact size of the handle to be made guides a rapidly revolving tool, causing the point of it, as it travels along, to de- scribe a shape exactly like the iron pattern. This tool, brought in contact with a revolving piece of wood, cuts it out to precisely the required shape in a few minutes. Another machine performs the astonishing feat of drilling a clean-cut square hole. There is some very interesting machinery in the Saw Mills. A band saw fifty-five feet in length of great power has lately been added. This saw is about four inches wide, and is capable of cutting through a block of wood six feet thick in an incredibly short time. The machinery in the Joiners' Shop and Saw Mills is all driven from shafting fixed in the cellars below. This has rather a curious effect, as ordinarily in a shop full of machines there is a bewildering maze of belts and in- numerable pulleys, whereas here the motive power is completely hidden. Underneath the Saw Mills is to be seen some of the finest belt-driving machinery in the world. The transmission of about ninety horse-power from one part of the building to another is effected by an arrangement of large pulleys and belts, these working with the least possible friction and doing away with the wear and tear of bevelled cog-wheels and other expensive machinery. We now pass on to the Pattern -Makers' Shop, where THE LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. 19 men are engaged making patterns for castings. These have to be made with the greatest accuracy, and are put together in sections to enable the moulder to draw them out of the sand without injuring the shape of their im- print. The size of the pattern has to be so calculated as to ensure the casting to be of the right dimensions after the metal has shrunk in- cooling. There is an immense number of patterns stored away in this shop ready for use at any time whenever a casting may be required from any one of them. In the adjoining Millwrights' Shop we observe mechanical engineering work in almost every conceivable branch going on : cranes, warehouse machinery, stationary engines, electrical, hydraulic, marine, and all kinds of machinery are in course of construction or under repair. Close by is the Testing and Chain-Making Shop, where all kinds of chains, samples of steel made in the works, pieces of each boiler plate that is to be used, and other material, are subjected to severe tests by hydraulic and other machinery to see whether they can satisfactorily stand the stress of work which will be put upon them in the particular service for which they are intended. Again mounting the friendly " cab," we are whisked off to the " Old Works," which are entirely devoted to the manufacture and repair of locomotives. We are first shown a novel machine, called an " electric welder." By its means pieces of metal are joined by fusion together through the heat which is generated at the points of contact by an electric current. This enables welds to be made in parts which could not otherwise be got at without taking the object to pieces ; in fact, many things 20 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. which are welded by it could not be done by any other means ; and as it does its work expeditiously, it is an excellent labour-saving machine. Having watched the process, \vc enter the Smithy, in which there are 120 smiths' hearths, at each of which men are busily engaged. Each fire is connected by a tube to a pipe in which a strong current of air is compressed by a fan, and in order to obtain a draught to his fire, all the smith has to do is to move a handle which turns on the blast of air JilGHT-WHEliLKD SIDE TANK E\t I\l I iLi WHLLL CJUILLD lOLR FEET SIX INCHES. CYLINDERS SEVENTEEN BY TWENTY INCHES. from the pipe. Here various, principally the smaller, parts of engines are forged. When the Shah, of Persia visited the works he witnessed in this shop a large forg- ing operation under a steam hammer, and the cascade of sparks sent forth by the first blow from the ponderous machine falling among the group of spectators so worked upon the feelings of his Majesty that he beat a hasty retreat, preferring the request that spectacles of a less alarming character should be brought under his notice. . THE LONDON y\ND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. 21 W^c now proceed to the Erecting Shop, where engines arc in all stages of construction. The different parts which have been manufactured in other shops all ulti- mately find their way here, and are put together piece by piece until the whole machine is completed. First the frame plates (which are made at the plate mills at m^ it ^'''•Ar" ■srrxi.M, TANK FMUXF.. SIX rMum-.n wukki.s four ff.et three i.xxin'.s. ("VLiNriERS seveniken i;y twen'ty-four ixcuics. . the Steel Works) are fixed by temporary cross bars into exactly the same position they will occup\- when the engine is completed. This is the ground-work from which the engine is built up. The cylinders and foot-plate arc then fixed in position, and other work done to com- plete the skeleton. The boiler, which has already been completed and tested at the boiler shop, is then put on, being lifted into position by an overhead crane ; after this has been fitted the engine is again lifted by the 22 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. cranes, and the wheels, which are made at the Steel Works and are usually cast steel, and to which the axles and axle-boxes have already been fitted, are run under and the engine lowered down on to them. The internal .working parts, such as connecting rods and intricacies of the valve motion, are then fitted in their proper places, and all the internal and external fittings completed. Between the steel boiler plates and the outside casing, which is made of plates of thin sheet-iron, there is a layer of thick felt, which prevents the loss of heat that would take place if the boiler plates were exposed to the atmosphere. The engine being finished, it is lifted bodily up clear of all obstructions and carried by the two powerful overhead travelling cranes to the central gangway, where it is run out on a pair of rails, got in steam, and sent for a trial trip before going to the Paint Shop, from which latter it is sent forth ready to take up its duties on the hne. The usual time taken in construct- ing an engine is four weeks ; but, as an experiment, one was once built in twenty-five and a half working hours. In the- Repairing Shops, adjoining the •'new work" Erecting Shop, are veteran heroes of the road, minus wheels, boilers, and internal fittings, stripped so as to be very much in the same state as some of the new engines we have seen in the most embryo condition, but which in time will be turned out renovated and improved up to date, so as to be able to compete with their brand- new sisters who are only just starting upon their career. These shops are divided into a number of sec- tions, in each of which three engines are in course of construction, or under repairs. Each of these sections is THK LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. 23 called a " pit," and is under one man, called a "leading hand," who has a certain number of men under him, and is responsible for the workmanship of the engines erected or repaired under his supervision. Over 2000 engines arc repaired annually. In the adjoining Wheel Shop the wheels and axles are turned ; and here is some of COAL ENGINE, SIX COUrLfiD WHEELj FOUR FEET THREE INCHES, CYLINDERS SEVENTEEN )!Y TWENTY-FOUR INCHES. the most powerful machinery to be seen in the works. Some of the wheel lathes are splendid pieces of me- chanism, capable of turning wheels nearly nine feet in diameter. One machine called a "roughing lathe" has seven tools all employed at once in taking a rough cut off the crank axle, tearing the steel away in huge bites, and making the axle ready for the finishing tool. A " nibbling machine," with 160 cutting tools, eats its way 24 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. into the solid forging- of a crank, and cuts out the " throw " or inner bend of the crank. We are next shown the Fitting Shops, which are perliaps kept by our conductor as a chef d'ceuvre to finish the round of wonderful sights. To the visitor this is perhaps the most marvellous place in Crewe Work's. A perfect maze of pulleys, straps, shafting, revolving wheels, and machinery of every description presents to the bewildered spectator a scene which he is never likely to forget. The space permitted by this article is too limited to admit of any detailed description being given of it ; suffice it to say that machines and appliances of every kind devised by human ingenuity crowd upon the eye in all directions. Lathes, emery wheels, grind- stones ; planing, shaping, slotting, boring, and drilling machines are busily working upon all the different parts used in making a locomotive. Cylinders, pistons, valves, connecting rods, axle-boxes, air pumps, slide bars, . lubricators, and the numerous pieces of which an engine is constructed, are here perfected and made ready to be fi^ed in their proper places in the Erecting and Repair- ing Shops. A very clever machine for cutting in a brass plate the name of the engine on which it is to be fixed .may be alluded to. The required letter sunk in a die is traversed round by a guide, which causes a tool to work in exactly the same lines in a brass plate, cutting out the letter in an incredibly short time with the greatest ease to the operator. One great principle with regard to engine fittings at Crewe is having them all made to a " standard." For instance, one pattern of " connecting rod " is inter- THE LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. 25 changeable with about two thousand engines. The enormous saving in this system can be seen at a glance. All such fittings are made " piece work," the men becom- ing very expert at the particular job they are engaged upon. The different articles are thus made in the most e.xpeditious manner possible, and are ready to put up in their places without any further fitting. Should any particular part of an engine fail at an out-station, a wire to Crewe giving the number and letter by which the part is designated, brings a finished article direct from the stores by the next train, and the engine can be got to work again with only a few hours' delay. We have now reached the end of our tour of inspection, which has of necessity been very cursory, and as we stand by the building in which the works' stores of materials are kept, we see across the labyrinth of rails to the right the " steam, shed," in which one hundred and forty engines are stabled. There an army of "cleaners" are constantly, night and day, engaged in cleaning iron horses coming in after performing their journeys, and preparing them for fresh ones. Before us is a bridge stretching across the lines from the works to the platform of the station, a distance of several hundred yards ; along the bridge and winding in and out of the works, covering a distance of five miles, is a narrow gauge line eighteen inches in width, on which little engines with appropriate names, as "Tiny," " Midget," &c., run, con- veying goods wherever they may be wanted. This review of Crewe Works would be incomplete if I failed to give some particulars of the various classes of engines made in them. I will therefore describe 26 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. them as briefly as I can. The first illustration of a loco- motive is one of the type called " Bloomer," an express passenger engine built by Mr. McConnell about the year 1847, at the time when the southern section of the line had its head-quarters and separate locomotive works at Wolverton. The illustration shows the engine as rebuilt at Crewe. This engine did excellent work in its day, but the pattern is now obsolete, having had to give place to modern improvements with the advance ot engineering development. In bygone years the perform- ances of these engines stood second to none. The " Lady of the Lake," an engine with single driving wheels, is perhaps one of the prettiest engines that was ever built. The details of its design were worked out by Mr. Webb when in the Crewe Drawing Office under Mr. Ramsbottom. It is capable of running at a very high speed, although not heavy enough, and the single driving wheels not having a sufficient grip on the rails, to work an ordinary express train of the present day. It is nevertheless very useful for light trains, and ran the 10 A.M. Edinburgh express between London and Crewe, which consisted of only four coaches, at the time of the race to Scotland in the summer of 1888. On one of these runs the speed maintained from Tring to Blctchley was between seventy-five and eighty miles an hour. North of Crewe, however, the train was worked by one of Mr. Webb's coupled engines with 6ft. 6in. driving wheels, of the " Charles Dickens " class. Thes3 engines have until recently been the standard express engines in use. The " Charles Dickens " is now a famous engine, and well known to every habitual 28 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. traveller between Manchester and London. Since February 1882, this engine has run daily a double trip between these points, except when, of necessity, stopped for repairs, and on the 12th September, 1891, it com- pleted its 2,651st trip, having accomplished the extra- ordinary feat of running 1,000,000 miles in nine years 219 days. During this time, in addition to the Man- chester and London trips, ninety-two other journeys were made; the totalamount of coal consumed by it during the period being 12,515 tons. The evcr-incre'asing weight of trains, caused by im- proved carriages, &c., and greater speed desired by the public, caused the frequent use of "pilot" engines— a term, used to describe the assistant engine when there are two attached to a train. This led Mr. Webb to consider the question of designing more powerful engines. He determined upon trying the experiment of applying the " compound " principle to an express passenger locomotive, with the idea that such an engine, properly constructed, would possess many advantages, and prove economical in working, in addition to attain- ing the desired result as regards increased power. The principle of a compoiand engine is this : the exhaust steam from the high pressure cylinder instead of passing away direct through the chimney (as is the case with an ordinary simple high pressure engine) is conveyed from ' one cylinder at a high pressure into another of larger diameter, where at a lower pressure it is again expanded and acts upon the piston and crank of a second pair of driving wheels, and made use of to the greatest possible extent before being discharged into the atmosphere, THE LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. 29 thus doing a maximum amount of work at a minimum cost. Mr. Webb's system is an arrangement of three cylinders, two high pressure, acting on tlie rear, or " traihng " wheels, and one low pressure inside cylinder (into which the steam passes from the two outside cylinders) driving the middle wheels. The first com- pound engine built was named " Experiment," and the results obtained from it, and others of the same pattern, were so satisfactory, that this type of engine, enlarged and improved in many details, is now recognized as the standard London and North-Western express passenger engine. The " Marchioness of Stafford," a splendid specimen of this class of engine, with 6 ft. driving wheels, was exhibited at the Inventions Exhibition ; it was awarded a gold medal, and was an object of much interest. The " Jeanie Deans," which was exhibited at the last Edinburgh Exhibition, is an engine with 7 ft. driving wheels, and represents the latest batch of compounds turned out of the works. This class of engine is — with the one exception I shall mention directly — the most powerful that has been made at Crewe, and the increased size of the driving wheels renders it capable of attaining a higher speed than the others. The " Jeanie Deans " at the present time may be seen any day on the 2 P.M. Scotch express from Euston. This is one of the heaviest and fastest trains on the line. It consists frequently of from eighteen to twenty vehicles, among which are the heavy dining cars. But the driver, although not disdaining a pull up the one in seventy gradient to Camden Town, to obtain a good start, would 30 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. scorn the idea of " Jeanie Deans " taking a " pilot," and he rattles his big load away down the country as easily as the " Lady of the Lake " took her four carriages with the Scotch racing train. Mr. Webb's most recent achievement in compounds is the engine " Greater Britain." This is perhaps the most powerful engine that has ever been built. Although heavier than any other that has been made at Crewe, it is so constructed that there is no more than the usual weight on any one pair of wheels, and there is therefore no extra strain on the permanent way or bridges. This is brought about by the two pairs of driving wheels being placed in front of the fire-box, and an additional pair of small wheels,, behind the fire-box and under- neath the foot-plate, having half an inch of side play. The wheels under the front, or leading end, are fitted with Mr. Webb's patent radial axle-box; so that, although of great length, the engine can travel over curves with complete safety. One of the chief features is the combustion chamber inside the barrel of the boiler, which has the effect of arresting the gases from the fire-box on their way to the chimney, causing all the heat developed by them to be made the utmost use of for generating steam. This engine has attracted great attention in the engineering world. The London and North- Western engines collectively consume 3,095 tons of coal per day ; and seeing that compound engines have been proved in actual working to consume about six pounds of coal per mile less than other engines on the same work, and that they are daily taking loads without assistance, which any other type of engine would require THE LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. 31 two engines to work, it is evident tiiat their invention and adoption has been of material advantage to the London and North-Western -Railway Company. The illustration of the " Herschel " represents a class of engine originally built by Mr. Ramsbottom, which for many years was the most powerful express engine owned by the Company. Increased weight and speed of trains, however, rendered it not up to modern re- quirements, and most of the "6 feet 6 inch Rams- bottoms," as they wei'e called, have been rebuilt by Mr. Webb, and have now cylinders and boilers the same size as the " Charles Dickens " pattern. The goods engine with six coupled wheels five feet in diameter was designed by Mr. Webb. It has cylinders 18 inches in diameter, and is used for running the more important through express goods trains. A coal engine, by the same designer, is the standard pattern of engine used for working the heavy coal and mineral traffic. This engine is capable of working trains on the main line, consisting of forty-five loaded coal wagons, the total weight of such a train amounting to over 600 tons. The standard type of shunting engine is called a " Special Tank." This engine carries the water for feeding the boiler in a semi-circular tank fitted round the top of the boiler. It is capable of shifting heavy loads, and can be started and stopped very quickly — an important qualification with shunting engines. The eight-wheel side tank passenger engine is used for working local passenger trains. It is a very handy engine, and can run, with equal facility, in either direction when working trains. It is so constructed as 32 ROUND THE WORKS Ot OUR GR^At RAILWAY^. to be able to carry a sufficient supply of coal and water for a long day's work. There are two models at Crewe which link the present and the past in locoinotive building. One is an exact fac-simile of the " Rocket " as it appeared at the Rainhill contest (the "Rocket" now in South Kensington Museum is altered from its original state), the other is a working model of the compound engine " Dreadnought." The latter has ap- peared at many exhibitions, and hundreds. of pounds have been realized from pennies dropped in the slot, which set it in motion. The money collected in this way is always distributed to charities. Whether finality has been reached in locomotive development or not is a question time must decide, but judging from the leading record which the London and North-Western can show in railway history, it may be justly presumed that Crewe Works will still keep in advance of the motto " Never Behind " of the town by being always a step in front in the march of progress. The following items of information show at a glance the great magnitude of this commercial undertaking. Capital,;^ 101,000,000. Revenue per annum, ;^ 1 1,580,000; Expenditure per annum, ;^6,229,ooo. Number of persons employed by Company, 60,000. Number of persons employed in locomotive department, 18,000. Miles operated on, 2,700 ; engines owned, 2,620 ; carriages owned, 6,000 ; wagons owned, 5 7,000 ; carts, 3,500 ; horses, 3,500 ; steamships, 20. Passengers carried annually, 63,000,000 ; weight of tickets issued annually, 50 tons ; tons of goods and minerals carried annually, 37,500,000. Number of stations, 800; signal 34 ROXJND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. cabins, 1,500; signal levers in use, 32,000; signal lamps lighted every night, 17,000. Value of work done at Crewe for various departments, ;^65o,ooo ; mileage per annum, 61,417,483 ;. fuel consumed, 1,129,612 tons; water used, 8,416,000 tons ; number of special trains run — passengers, 56,000; goods, 155,000. Crewe provides for the whole line. All the 18,000 men in the locomotive department are under the loco- motive superintendent ; of these about 10,000 are drivers, firemen, cleaners, and mechanics, at the various steam sheds on the line. These are divided between the southern and northern divisions, Crewe being the dividing line. Mr. A. L. Mumford is the head of the "running" department for the southern, and Mr. G. Whale for the northern division ; they are responsible for everything connected with the working of trains so far as the locomotive department is concerned, and with Mr. Earl, the manager of the works, Mr. Thompson, the signal superintendent, and Mr. Adamson, the outdoor superintendent of stationary engines, hydraulic, and water-works, are the principal assistants to Mr. Webb. There are thirty-five " steam sheds '' on various parts of the lines in which the locomotives are stabled, and all their many requirements while in active service attended to. There are also repairing shops at Longsight, Carlisle, Rugby, and WiUesden ; these all receive the material they use from Crewe Works. The iron-work for the carriages made at Wolverton, and for the wagons made at Earlstown, is also manufactured at Crewe. CHAPTER II. THE MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKS AT DERBY. By CHARLES HENRY JONES, Assistant Locomotive Superintendent of the Midland Railway (Southern Division). ' In 1844 the Midland Counties from Derby to Notting- ham and Rugby, and the North Midland from Leeds to Derby, amalgamated with the Birmingham and Derby, and became the Midland Railway. By the construction of new lines and the absorption of others the Midland has since spread out in every direction. Its main arteries connect Carlisle, Liverpool, and Manchester with London, York with Bristol and Bournemouth, and Swansea with Lynn, while its branches place it in communication with most of the important towns in the kingdom. The Company's head-quarters are at Derby, where all the principal workshops and offices are concentrated. Adjoining the station are large blocks of offices occupied by the General Manager, Secretary, Accountant, Super- intendent of the Line, Goods Manager, Mineral Manager, and the Engineer. The Directors, too, have their board- room at Derby, and the shareholders assemble there every half-year to hear their Chairman give an account of his 36 ROUND THE WORKS OFiOUR GREAT RAILWAYS. stewardship. There is also the Midland Railway Literary Institute, a handsome and commodious building, with a lecture-room to seat 500 persons, well-stocked library, large reading and billiard-rooms ; besides class-rooms, committee and coffee-rooms. Near the station are the Locomotive and Carriage Factories, General Stores, Midland Company's Gas Works, and the workshops connected with the Telegraph and Signal Departments. The Locomotive and Carriage Works, which were for- merly united, are now separate establishments. The rapid expansion of these is shown by the following figures; they afford a striking illustration of the growth of the line : — 1844. Locomotive and Cariiage Works Ground Area. Acres. 84 Cuvere. Area Acres. Ground Area. Covered Area. Acres. Locomotive Works 80 Carriage „ 86 Acres. 12J 24 Tot.il 166 364 Some idea, too, may be formed of the amount of work carried out in these two establishments when it is under- stood that in them is built and repaired the great bulk of the rolling stock owned by the Company, which com- prises 2,328 engines, 4,586 carriages, 110,752 wagons. If these were marshalled in a continuous line close coupled, they would form a passenger train thirty-six miles long with six and a half miles of engines, and a goods train 391 miles long with thirteen and a half miles of engines, or altogether one train 427 miles long, in- THE MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKS AT DERBY. 37 eluding twenty miles of engines, which would reach from London to Edinburgh. The Locomotive Department is now presided over by Mr. S. W. Johnson, who is in command of an army of 13,150 men. About 4,250 of these are at Derby, and the remaining 8,900 are engine-drivers, firemen, cleaners, mechanics, &c., stationed at eighty other Locomotive Dep6ts. Some of these Dep6ts accommodate as many as 120 to 130 locomotives, and have large workshops attached to them, while others afford shelter for only one engine. Under the supervision of the chief of the Locomotive Department there are at the present time 2,328 locomotives, 302 stationary engines, 267 stationary boilers, 1,023 hydraulic machines, 416 cranes of every kind, and all the turntables, water columns, pumping plant, and other mechanical appliances throughout the system. He also controls the manufacture and distri- bution of gas, the fire brigades, and the maintenance of the weighing machines. It will be seen that the office of Locomotive Superintendent is no sinecure. He is aided in the administration of his department by a Works Manager, two Assistant Superintendents (one over the Southern and the other over the Northern Division), thirty-three District Superintendents, a Secre- tary, Gas Engineer, and other officers. The Works at Derby are entered through the chief offices of the Locomotive Department. Twenty-two stationary engines, total 2,400 horse-power, drive the machinery in the workshops. On the average forty new engines are built in the works every year, 120 rebuilt with new boilers, and from 750 to 800 undergo 38 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. heavy repairs. An engine will run eighteen months or two years with slight repairs. A boiler, which is the most costly item, lasts on an average fifteen years, or it would probably be worn out after the engine had run 3S,ooo to 50,000 miles. In the offices 120 clerks are busy conducting the general correspond- ence, adding up wages, making innumerable returns of miles run, fuel and stores consumed by the locomo- tives, and keeping records of all materials used and repairs done. Twenty draughtsmen are engaged in pre- paring plans, designing machinery, and making drawings and tracings for the workmen in the factory. In the laboratory a chemist and two assistants are constantly employed in testing metals, analyzing water, and con- ducting a variety of experiments to ascertain that the stores purchased by the Company are of the quality specified in the tenders. In the testing room samples of metal cut from boiler plates, wheels, tyres, axles, copper plates, brass tubes, &c., are subjected to sevei'e mechanical tests to gauge their quality. The machinery used for the purpose will exert a power of 100 tons per square inch, and the result, whether it be tension, com- pi'ession, torsion or bending can be measured to one ten thousandth part of an inch. The samples after testing are carefully arranged and classified in glass cases, with their fractures exposed to view ; a complete record is kept of all, so that the character of material supplied by the different manufacturers is always known. In the photographic studio, which is now an indispensable adjunct to large works, three artists are regularly em- ployed photographing engines, machinery, tracings, and -THE MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKS AT DERBY. 39 drawings. The photographers are now specially busy taking views of the scenery and places of interest on the Midland route for the adornment of the carriages. Near the offices is the fire brigade station, where a " Merryweather " steamer, which will throw 600 gallons per minute, is always in readiness to be despatched on a specially constructed truck to any place where, a fire may break out upon the Company's premises. In a siding hard by is the breakdown train fully equipped with lifting tackle and all the necessary appliances to cope with a railway accident. Similar provision against fire and accident is made at other principal stations on the line. Three large mess-rooms are provided for men who cannot go home for their meals. One, where smoking is allowed, will seat 800 men ; another, in which it is forbidden, 800; the third, where religious services are held during breakfast, will accommodate 400. Each room has its own cooking apparatus, and the cooks always appear in clean white caps and aprons. It is often a matter of surprise to visitors to the works to learn that the men seldom have any trouble in claiming their provisions which they bring from home ; the difficulty is easily got over by each man adopting some particular device by which he is able to recognize his own dish. The Forge is seen to best advantage after dark. Smiths with their characteristic fisher caps and leather aprons are grouped round fifty glowing fires, while strikers, with sleeves tucked up, are swinging heavy hammers, which they bring down with unerring pre- 40 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. cision on the heated iron as the smith turns it about on the anvil. Down the centre of the shop are several steam hammers, the largest of which is capable of striking a blow of seven tons or cracking a nut without injuring the kernel. Scrap iron collected in the factory is worked up under this hammer. It is cut cold by huge shears into small pieces, which are cleaned by being rubbed against each other in revolving cylinders, then piled up on square boards in heaps of about i8o lbs. weight, laid in the furnace and heated into "blooms." These are pounded under the big hammer into "uses" or rough forgings of connecting and coupling rods, eccentric rod feet, cross heads, &c. About eleven tons weekly of finished forgings are made by the hammer. The shears which cut the scrap will snip a piece of cold iron three inches thick and five inches wide as readily as one might cut an apple with a pocket knife. The other steam hammers are largely used in stamping, out of wrought iron, spanners, draw bar hooks, and numerous other articles which were formerly forged by hand. A few blows squeeze them into shape between steel dies on the hammer and anvil blocks. In the Spring Shop skilled men are at work bending and tempering steel plates, and setting them up into springs fastened together with wrought iron hoops. The importance of having springs carefully made, tested, and adjusted will be understood when it is borne in mind that upon them depends the smooth running of engines and tenders, which together weigh from seventy to eighty tons. The springs must be sufficiently elastic to counteract all the irregularities of the road, aggravated. THE MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKS AT DERBY. 41 it may be, by a speed of sixty or seventy miles per hour. Tiie hoops or buckles expanded by heat are shrunk on to the springs by rapid cooling until they grip them with a grasp of many tons. It used to take repeated blows of heavy hammers to remove buckles when springs were pulled to pieces for repairs ; by the aid of hydraulic power they are now drawn off as easily as a lady takes off her glove ; a vast amount of hard manual labour is thus saved without injury to the plates and buckles. Four hundred engine and tender springs are repaired weekly exclusive of new work. The Iron Foundry is served by four cupolas, two of which are constantly in use. The pig or scrap iron, coke, &c. are carried up to a stage 20 ft. above the ground floor by a hydraulic hoist and tumbled into the mouth of the furnace. Under the influence of a strong blast of air all this is soon reduced to a seething mass of molten liquid. The pure metal falls to the bottom to be drawn off as required for use in the foundry, impurities rise to the surface and are run out from time to time. A fully-charged cupola holds about five tons of iron, ten cvvts. of coke, and a small quantity of limestone. In the Foundry are a twenty-ton overhead travelling crane and three hydraulic five-ton cranes, which swing huge ladles of red-hot metal from the furnace to the different moulds. The whole shop floor is covered with loose black sand. Red-hot metal castings, wooden patterns and moulding boxes lie in all directions. The steam and noise is somewhat bewilder- ing to a stranger, but, notwithstanding the apparent confusion, every man knows his own particular duty. 42 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. Let us stop and examine more minutely what is being done. Kneeling on the floor is a man with an iron box in front of him. He partly fills the box with sand from the floor, and inside lays a wooden pattern of an eccentric strap or some other article ; adding more sand, he presses it tightly round the pattern until the 20-'10N OVERHEAD TRAVELLING CRANES LIFTING A LOCOMOTIVE box is quite full, then gently withdrawing the model, it leaves its impression in the sand. The lid is filled in like manner, fixed on the top of the box; and a hole is scooped out to admit the metal ; soon two men make their appearance carrying a ladle of molten iron which they pour into the mould. When the iron has " set " THE MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKS AT DERBY. 43 the box is opened, the sand falls away, leaving a casting of the exact form of the wooden model. In this way are produced cylinders, water-pipes, lamp-posts, weigh- ing machines, signal fittings, wheel splashers, engine chimneys, and every conceivable form of iron casting used on a railway. The castings vary in weight from sixteen tons to a few ounces. The weekly output averages 100 tons." Engine firebars and brake blocks are in constant demand, and are made in special machines at considerably less cost than by hand. The firebars are cast with their face downwards on a chilled plate, to insure that when in use the purest and strongest iron will be in contact with the fire. In the foundry is a machine for moulding toothed wheels without the use of wooden models. It is a most accommodating tool, dealing with bevel, spur, mitre, worm or helical teeth with equal facility, varying to any extent the size of teeth or wheels. The Brass Foundry contains twenty-four furnaces below the level of the floor. The articles produced, such as water-gauges, axle brasses, lubricators, brake fittings, steam whistles, &c., being of light weight, no heavy lifting tackle is required. The crucibles in which brass is melted hold 120 lbs. each; they are readily lifted out of the furnaces and carried to the moulds by hand. Some of the brass axle-bearings are coated in this shop with a more durable white metal. A useful and interesting little machine is at work here. At the bottom of a long wooden box revolves a spindle with magnets fixed spirally round it ; sweepings from the floors of the turning and fitting shops are poured 44 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. through a hopper into the box, the bits of iron and steel are picked out by the magnets, and revolving brushes sweep them off into a separate tray, leaving the brass, which is of considerable value, to run out at a side aperture for re-use. Sixty men work in this shop, and twelve tons of castings are turned out weekly. The Coppersmiths', Tin, and Pattern Shops are all interesting, but space will not admit of any description of them. In the Boiler Shop 460 men are employed. The barrel of a large new pattern boiler contains 246 copper tubes 10 ft. 6 in. long and if in. in diameter. A strong blast created by the exhaust steam from the cylinders draws the flames and hot gases from the furnace through these tubes into the chimney. When the engine is in steam all the tubes and hot copper plates of the inner fire- box are covered with water, and they together give such a large heating surface that steam is rapidly generated. When the boiler shop door is opened the din of the riveting which greets the ears is deafening. About eighty boilers and tender tanks are in various stages of construction. On one side is a long row of smiths' fires at which is done all the forging and welding in connection with the boiler work. Here are ponderous machines for shearing, punching, drilling, and flanging iron plates and planing their edges. There are, besides, rolls through which plates are repeatedly passed until they assume a cylindrical form. Looking upwards one sees a boiler barrel 4 ft. in diameter and 10 ft. 6 in. long suspended vertically from a travelling crane, which carries it across the shop to the steam riveter, as shown in the illustration. The line of holes at the junction of two plates of the 46 ROUND THE \YORKS OK OUR GREAT RAILWAYS, barrel is brought between the steam plunger and the STEAM RI\'E]F.E. anvil ; as red-hot rivets are inserted by one attendant another opens the valve and causes the plunger to dart THE MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKs AT DERBY. M forward to clench the rivet with a thud. One blow on each rivet is sufficient to hold the plates so tightly together that when steam is got up in the boiler at a pressure of 140 to 160 lbs. per square inch, a leakage in the joint will rarely be foiind. Boilers and fire-boxes are built up, the tubes put in, and all gauges, taps, and other mountings fixed ; in fact they are finished in every respect and tested before leaving this shop. New boilers are tested with hydraulic pressure to 220 lbs. per square inch, also with steam to 160 lbs. After the locomotive gets into traffic the boiler is periodically examined and tested. Boilers using hard water soon get encrusted with a coat of lime, necessitating frequent repairs. To prevent this the water used in the Midland Works is now softened by a simple chemical process. In the Turning and Press Shops, wheels, tyres, and axles, received from the makers in the rough, are finished and put together by some of the most powerful machines in the works. A rough forging of a steel crank axle weighing i ton 8 cwts. revolves slowly in a big lathe, while seven tools pare dowa and round its surface. It has to be slotted, planed, drilled, and turned again before it is finished ; its weight will then have been reduced by half-a-ton. Besides several machines for centring and turning axles, cutting key-ways in axles, and turning, facing, and boring wheels and tyres, also numerous lathes and slotting machines, there are here mills for boring wheel tyres similar to the one shown in illustration. A tyre is laid on a round iron table ; by turning a screw three cramps, working in radial grooves, close simultaneously, grip the tyre, and fix it 48 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. exactly in a centnil position on the table. The mill is then set in motion ; as the table revolves, three tools in slide-rests turn the inside of the tyre to the standard dimensions and cut the " lip " which helps to secure it to the wheel. TYRE-BORING MACHINE. In an adjoining shop is performed the operation of shrinking tyres on wheels. The furnace door is lifted, and a hot tyre 7 ft. 6 in. in diameter is dragged out of the flames to a " bosh " or circular iron trough let into the floor ; a pair of wheels, complete except the tyre, and fixed on an axle, is suspended from an overhead THE MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKS AT DERBY. 49 crane, one wheel over the other ; and lowered until the bottom wheel drops inside the heated tyre, which is then slightly cooled by water. Before heating- the t)re is a shade smaller than the rim of the wheel, but the heat expands it sufficientl)' to admit the wheel, and the contraction whilst cooling shrinks it tightly on. Some very unpretending hydraulic machines in this shop are quietly pressing wheels on and off their a.xlcs, each exerting a force of 500 tons. so ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. The Machine, Erecting, Paint, and Millwrights' Shops are all under one roof ; the whole building is 450 feet square, and is one of the recent additions to the works. In the Machine Shop are over 400 machines capable of accomplishing almost everything which human in- genuity has devised in the way of cutting and shaping metals. Boring tools slowly worm their way through locomotive cylinders, eighteen inches in diameter, and skim the inner surface as smooth as writing-paper. Steel plates, twenty to twenty-five feet long, three feet wide, and one inch thick, lie, seven deep, on the tables of slotting and drilling machines, while several tools, operating together, shape them into engine frames and pierce them with hundreds of bolt-holes. Walking cranes promenade the shop, stopping here and there to pick up rough castings and forgings, some three tons weight, and placing them gently on the machines, or remove the finished articles. The " sand blast " is at work here, sharpening blunted cutting edges of fitters' files at the rate of six or seven dozen per day. To ensure accuracy and uniformity of workmanship hundreds of steel gauges which will measure to the ten-thousandth part of an inch are provided for the fitters and machinists. . In the Erecting Shop are nine lines of rails running throughout the 450 feet length ; on each line is standing room for twelve engines, so that the building accommo- dates 108 locomotives. Cranes, capable of carrying an engine bodily to any part of the shop, run on gantrys overhead. The method of driving the cranes is a remarkable example of the conversion of speed into 52 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS power ; a rope only one inch thick running at 2000 feet per minute lifts a weight of twenty-five tons. All the component parts of an engine, which we have seen in process of manufacture, are Rought to the Erecting Shop to be built up into the complete locomotive. Frames, cylinders, and cross-stays are bolted together and the accuracy of their adjustment tested by careful measurements. The finished boiler is then lowered into position between the frames, the foot-plates and weather screens fixed, the valve motion put up, and the wheels rolled under the frame. All that is then required is to fix the outside lagging and paint the engine, after which it is ready for traffic. Usually a gang of four men and two boys work together at each engine ; it takes about three weeks to erect it. All labour is paid for by piece-work. The leading hand of each gang contracts to build the engine (labour only) at a given price. During the progress of the work he and his assistants receive stated weekly wages ; when finished, the balance is equitably divided. In the Paint Shop thirty or forty locomotives are being made spick and span with four coats of paint and three of varnish ready to appear in public. Formerly green was the distinctive colour of Midland engines, but now they are reddish-brown to match the carriages. They require painting every three or four years, and between 600 and 700 annually undergo that process. In the Millwrights' Shop an endless variety of work is done. Scattered over the floor are electric light and hydraulic engines, travelling cranes, sewing-machines for wagon sheets, chaff-cutters, warehouse cranes, capstans, 54 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. turntables, water tanks, &c., &c., all in course of con- struction or under repairs. The millwrights execute all repairs to the machinery and shafting throughout the line. Some years ago the Midland Company acquired the original Derby Gas Works, adjacent to the station, from which, in 1892, 119,132,000 cubic feet of gas were supplied to the Company's works, station, offices, sidings, and all the signals in the neighbourhood. There are four Running Sheds at Derby, and 150 locomotives are stabled in them. The one which is the subject of our illustration holds forty-eight engines ; there are two turntables in it, and around each radiate twenty-four pits over which the engines stand on rails whilst they are cleaned and steam is got up. Drivers and firemen are coming to or leaving their work at every hour during the day and night. After signing on duty they take in coal, and water, oil their engines, and then join their trains. When booking off duty the driver enters on his " sheet " the quantity of coal, oil, and waste with which he was supplied, and the miles he has run. He also reports repairs required to his engine, and any unusual circumstance that may have happened on the journey. There are 2,833 locomotive drivers, 2)557 firemen, and 1,340 cleaners in the service, exclusive of numerous steam-risers, boiler-washers, gland-packers, bar-boys, and labourers connected with the running sheds. The types of locomotives on any line should be as few as possible, and the parts interchangeable, as in case of the failure of an engine at any place, the defective 56 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. fittings require to be renewed from head-quarters without delay. Besides, engines are constructed more cheaply and expeditiously, when the same drawings and models are used, and when the workmen are constantly engaged repeating the same articles and putting them together without special fitting. The standard types on the Midland are shown in the illustrations. The express passenger engine No. 1,853 was exhibited in the Paris Exhibition, 1889, and its designer, Mr. Johnson, obtained the Grand Prix. This engine has a single pair of driving wheels and a bogie in front ; it was specially constructed for the express service between London, Nottingham, and Leeds, booked at fifty-three and a half miles per hour, with loads of from nine to thirteen , coaches. Engines of this class have been performing the work for several years with an average consumption of twenty to twenty-three lbs. of Derby- shire coal per mile ; they have frequently taken from thirteen to sixteen coaches. In their design economy of fuel, and steadiness and facility of working, have been considered of most importance, so that the atten- tion of drivers and firemen may be distracted as little as possible from the performance of their duties. The engines are fitted with automatic steam and vacuum brakes, also with steam-sanding apparatus, which in a great measure overcomes the tendency sometimes found with " single " engines to slip on a greasy rail. They are provided with an automatic sight feed lubricator, which enables the driver to see what quantity of oil is being used, as it rises through a glass tube drop by drop on its way to lubricate the valves and cylinders. 58 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. The following are the leading dimensions of the engine : — Diameter of cylinders Length of slrolce Diameter of driving wlieels Total length over buffers Working pressure of steam Grate area Tubes Heating surface, tubes ,, ,, fire-box Total Weight in working order, engine ,, „ „ tender Total Weight on driving wheels Water capacity of tender Coal iS^n. 26 „ 7 ft- 6 „ 52 ,, o ,, 160 lbs. per sq. in. 19J sq. ft. 242 ea. if in. diameter. 1,123 sq. ft. 117 .. 1,240 43 tons. 35 .. iJi tons. 3,250 galls. 34 tons. The four-wheeled coupled bogie tender engine No. 1,743 has eighteen inch cylinders, twenty-six inch stroke, driving and trailing wheels seven feet diameter, boiler pressure 160 lbs. per square inch ; the tender carries 3,250 gallons of water and three and a half tons of coal. It is a representative of the type of engines which do the heaviest passenger work on the main line. They are daily running between London, Leicester, and Leeds, with from twelve to twenty vehicles, at a booked speed of fifty miles per hour. An engine of this class obtained for Mr. Johnson the gold medal at Saltaire in 1887. It has the honour of being called after Princess Beatrice, who opened the exhibition, and is the only engine on the line which is distinguished by a name ; the rest are known by their numbers. The " Beatrice " •nil': AIIDI.AN'I) RAILWAY WORKS AT DERDV. 59 took her Majesty from Derby on her way to Seutland in May 189 1. The four-wheeled coupled bogie passenger tank engines, of which No. 1,636 is an example, ha\'e eighteen inch c^dinders, twenty-four inch stroke, leading and driving wheels five feet three inches in diameter ; they carry 950 gallons of water and one and a half tons FOUK-WUKICI.ED COUPLEU l;(.H,ll-: 1'ASSE.\i;EK IANK EXiIIXE. of coal. They work "shuttle" trains on branch lines where the runs arc short and frequent, and tlicre is not time for turning at the terminal stations. .Similar engines fitted wdth apparatus for condensing exhaust steam in the tunnels work the Midland trains over the Metropolitan line. The si.x-wheel coupled tender engines of No. 1,700 class have eighteen inch c}dinders, twcnt\'-six inch stroke, wheels four feet ten inches in diameter. Their UJUNI) THE WORKS OF OUR GKKAl KAlLWA-ih ers hold 2,950 gallons of water and four and a hal of coal. They are built for mineral traffic, and an ble of hauling forty-five loaded coal wagons (60c ) on a moderately level road at a speed of twent) 3 per hour. The standard goods engines are of th( SIX-WIIEELED COUI'LEIJ GOODS TAMv ENGI.NE, c construction, excepting that their wheels are fiv two and a half inches diameter. oth goods and mineral engines arc fitted with th m brake applied to all the wheels of the engine an^ ler ; some of the goods engines have also the vacuur :e, as they are frequently required in the summei ; to work heavy excursion trains. he six-wheel coupled tank engines like No. 218 hav inteen inch cylinders, twenty-four inch stroke, wheel 62 ROUND THE Wf)KKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. four feet six inches diameter, wheel base fifteen feet ; they carry 900 gallons of water and one and a half tons of coal. They are fitted with steam brakes, and are chiefl)' used for shunting purposes ; they start and stop quickly and move heavy loads, essential qualifications ■SMALL GOODS TANK ENGINE. for sorting traflic with despatch. Tlicsc engines also work goods and mineral traffic over branch lines which have cxceptionall)' steep gradients. The four-wheel tank engines of No. 1,322 class, fitted with a steam brake, have thirteen inch cylinders, twenty inch stroke, leading and driving wheels three feet nine inches diameter, carr}' 400 galbjns of water and eight THE MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKS AT DERBY. 63 cwts. of coal. They are useful in dock and brewery yards, as the wheel base (seventeen feet) is so short that they will travel round any curve over which a wagon will pass. The composite carriage No. 916 on two six-wheeled bogie trucks, was exhibited with engine No. 1,853 ^t the Paris Exhibition, 1889. It is one of the ordinary type, containing three first class, three third class, lavatory, and guard's compartments. It is fitted with automatic vacuum continuous brake and electric light. The carriage is fifty-six feet long over the body, eight feet wide, seven feet high, weighs twenty-four tons thirteen cwts., and will accommodate sixteen first class and twenty-eight third class passengers. The first class compartments in this carriage are samples of different styles adopted for the Midland Company's stock. That for ladies is upholstered in brown plush, the non- smoker's in blue woollen carriage-cloth, the smoker's in crimson morocco ; the third class compartments have crimson and black linings as in the ordinary Midland carriages. In the guard's compartment is a hand-brake, a valve for applying the continuous brake, a switch for controlling the electric light, and appliances for com- municating by cord with the driver. The under-frame is of oak, the floor, partitions, roof, and inside casing red deal, the outside panelling and mouldings Honduras mahogany. Bogie trucks are chiefly wrought iron, tyres and axles Bessemer steel, wheel discs of teak wood segments, the bosses cast iron. The axle-boxes are so arranged that the brass bearings can be taken out and^ replaced without lifting the carriage. 64 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. The Midland is frequently spoken of as the "Pioneer" Company, a title fairly earned by the beneficial changes in railway practice which it has initiated. In 1872 the Midland allowed third class passengers to travel by all trains at the rate of a penny a mile ; this change, inseparably connected with the name of Sir James Allport, is a great boon, especially to the working- classes. In 1874 second class carriages were abolished in order to reduce the weight of the trains, which had become abnormally heavy through the great increase in third class passengers. A comparison of the number of passengers carried in 1874 and 1891 is striking: — • 1st Class. 2nd Class. 3rd Class. Total. 1874 1,204,377 2,703,420 20,316,346 24,224,143 1892 1,230,688 37.533,455 38,764,143 In 1 88 1 another very important change was resolved upon by the Midland Board, viz. the purchase by the Company of private owners' wagons. So long as nearly all the large traders possessed their own wagons they were of course exclusively used by them. For example, a truck loaded with coal from Derbyshire to London had to be returned empty to the colliery, but when it became the property of the Midland Company it could be loaded in a contrary direction or sent elsewhere. Formerly an immense amount of shunting was required •to sort out the right wagons for the different collieries, &c., whereas when all traders are served from one common stock that is avoided. Another consideration which had great weight with the Directors was, that 66 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. when wagons were under the control and supervision of the Company's own officers, they could rely upon their being kept in a more efficient state of repair. The wisdom of the course adopted has been made manifest by a marked reduction in the working expenses, and a singular immunity from accidents through the breaking down of trucks in transit since the change was made. In 1875 a trial of competitive railway brakes was made by the Royal Commissioners on Railway Accidents on the Midland line near Newark. The result was a death-blow to hand brakes. It was shown that a train travelling on a level road at forty-five miles per hour could not with the ordinary hand brakes be stopped in less than 800 or icoo yards, whilst any good continuous brake would stop it in one-third that distance. Since that time the whole of the Midland passenger stock has been fitted with the continuous brake. The system adopted is a steam brake on the engine and tender, combined with the automatic vacuum on the carriages. One movement of the handle on the engine or in the guard's van applies both brakes simultaneously. Dining-Room and Sleeping Cars and Lavatory Carriages have been introduced ; many of the trains are lighted with gas or electricity, and, in the hope of in- creasing the comfort of the passengers, the Locomotive and Carriage Superintendents are now experimenting with a new contrivance for warming the carriages in cold weather with hot water from the engine boiler. Two pipes, with suitable couplings between the vehicles, run throughout the train ; the driver charges them by opening a special valve on the engine, which allows the THE MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKS AT DERBY. 67 hot water to flow down one pipe and return to the tender tank through the other. After a few minutes he slightly closes the valve, thereby reducing the supply of hot water to an exceedingly small quantity, but sufficient to keep up the circulation. No water is wasted, as, after passing into the tender, it is injected into the boiler again. Very little steam is required to maintain an even temperature throughout the train. By a simple arrangement the pipes are always emptied when the vehicles are uncoupled, so there is no chance of the water freezing in winter. Two trains fitted with this warming apparatus have been running for some time between London and Bradford ; so far the result has been satisfactory. It is to be hoped that foot-warmers will soon be relics of the past. The following statistics will give some idea of the magnitude of the Midland Company : — ■ Capital ;^98,833,259 Revenue per annum ... ... ... ... ... ;^9,I7I,I53 Expenditure ,, £5,oSi,c,3g .Miles operated on ... ... ... ... .... 1,947 Train mileage per annum ... ... ... ... 41,476,937 Engine ,, ,, ,, (including shunting) ... 56,646,625 Coal consumed (tons) ... ... ... ... ... 1,084,238 Number of persons employed by the Company, includ- ing 13,150 in Locomotive Department, and 5,^53 in Carriage and Wagon Department ... ... 53,°°° Engines owned ... ... ... ... ... ... 2,328 Cairiages ,, ... ... ... ... ... ... 4,586 Wagons ,, 110,732 Carts „ 4,173 Horses ,, 4>S73 Passengers carried annually ... ... ... ... 38,764,143 Season ticket holders ... ... ... ... ... 48,756 Tons of goods and minerals carried annually ... ... 31,724,094 Number of stations, exclusive of those owned jointly with other Companies ... ... ... ... 550 68 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. Number of signal cabins Ij590 ,, signal levers in use ... ... ... ... i7,7oo Weighing machines, ranging from tlie 8o-ton' machine, which registers the weight on each pair of wheels of a locomotive, to chemists' scales wliich weigh to the fraction of a grain 3, 600 The Midland Company is quite abreast of the times with regard to the use of electricity. About 1 1,000 miles of wire, 60,000 batteries, and 15,000 instruments (including nearly 1000 telephones) are used on the line for transmitting messages, working the block telegraph, and indicating whether signals which cannot be seen by the signalmen are " on " or " off," or whether the lights are burning in them. In 189 1, over 12,000,000 messages passed over the Company's wires. With every desire to afford a good and pleasant light in its carriages, ex- tended experiments have for some time been in operation on certain trains with the view of lighting the stock elec- trically. Eight trains fitted with the electric light are running daily. Three passenger stations, five large goods depdts, and three hotels are already lighted by electricity, as are also the chief offices at Derby. In the Midland Grand Hotel, London, are 1 100 incandescent lamps. The Adelphi Hotel, which the Company has recently acquired in Liverpool, has been fitted throughout with telephones, 210 being in use. Each room is arranged on an inter-communication system, so that conversation can be carried on between one room and another. A telephone attendant is located on the ground floor, and has the necessary switch-boards and numbers under his complete control. In establishing this system thirty- three miles of wire were laid in the house. THE MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKS AT DERBY. 6g The Midland Company is not unmindful of the welfare of its employes. It subscribes liberally to the Super- annuation and Friendly Societies, exclusively established for them. Its annual contribution to the Friendly Society is about ^15,000. The drivers, firemen, signal- men, and many of the clerks receive at stated periods handsome bonuses for good conduct or economical working. The servants of the Company and their families have the privilege of travelling as often as they please when off duty at a quarter the ordinary return fare, and once a year they may claim a free pass for any journey they may select on the system. The Company, too, has given encouragement to the St. John Ambulance movement ; and 2,600 men have already qualified them- selves to administer first aid in cases of accident. CHAPTER III. THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY WORKS AT DONCASTER. By A. J. BRICKWELL, [Of the Surveyor's Department, King's Cross.] True to its name, the Great Northern was con- structed solely to go north ; and a glance at an official railway map of England will suffice to demonstrate the right of the Company to its title. The line, authorized in 1846, is an amalgamation, in the first instance, of the London and York and Direct Northern with a loop line through Lincolnshire, later, by amalgamation, leases, &c., of numerous smaller undertakings, among which were the West Yorkshire, and Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Railways. The Company now has a system of 928 miles including joint lines. The main line of the railway was constructed under the eminent engineer Cubitt, but before its construction was most vigorously opposed by "King" Hudson for the greater part of two sessions. It triumphed in the end, and in spite of all "his Majesty's" adverse 72 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. prophecies the line to-day is as fine and useful a road as any in the three kingdoms. At the first general meeting of the Company's share- holders, the number of Directors was reduced to thirty ; as the line has increased the number of Directors has decreased, and the more business-like number of thirteen is sufficient for the modern mode of conducting a much larger undertaking. The Great Northern Railway is the key of three splendid routes, viz. to York and Scotland, West Riding and Yorkshire, and to Sheffield and Manchester districts. Although one may travel through without change of carriage, to reach a destina- tion in any of the districts named, a line of another Company has to be passed over. To reach Manchester the Company has to make use of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, with whom at present it is very closely allied ; to reach York, about thirty miles of the latter end of the journey is over the North-Eastern Railway Company's system ; and to reach Leeds and the West Riding towns a piece of joint line with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln- shire to Wakefield must be negotiated. Further, the Company has the right of "running powers "■ to Manchester, which if the new line from Sheffield to London (which the before-named Man- chester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway are promot- ing) is constructed, will doubtless be most vigorously exercised. At Godley, on the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, there is a junctfon with the system under the Cheshire Lines Committee, composed of the Great Northern, Midland, and Manchester, Sheffield THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY WORKS. 73 and Lincolnshire Railways, and thus the Great Northern Railway is third owner and has the right of running to the Liverpool and Cheshire district. The Great Northern jointly with the Midland Railway in July 1893 took over the Eastern and Midland Rail- way, and thus established a new district in the Eastern counties, and acquiring a substantial command of the Cromer, Yarmouth, and Norwich traffic both from London and the Midlands. With these facilities there is fierce competition as far as the Great Northern Railway is concerned, and should the new lines from Sheffield to London and the Lanca- shire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railways be con- structed as authorized, this competition will be strained to its utmost. Although the Great Northern Railway has very little on its own system to offer to induce another competing company, a glance at the map will show that there is something to draw the other companies who entwine themselves about the Great Northern Railway, in an alarming manner. Compare Doncaster Station with Crewe on the North- Western Railway, or Derby on the Midland Railway. The fiirst has no less than five " foreign " companies using it, while the second has only one, and the last two. At Peterborough too there may be found three "foreign" companies' engines in the Great Northern yard. Judging from the voice of the outside pubhc the Great Northern Railway owes the greater portion of its 74 ROUND THE WORKS OP OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. success to its regularity, speed, and good third class accommodation and service. A word or two about speed is worth notice, and is of special credit to the Company in question. The Great Northern and Manchester, Shefifield and Lincolnshire Railways' route to Sheffield is three and a half miles longer than that of the Midland. Comparing the best trains of both routes the Great Northern perform the journey ten minutes quicker. To Manchester the shortest route by the London and North-Western Railway, via the Potteries and North StaffiDrdshire, is 183I miles, by the Midland 191 miles, while by the Great Northern and Manche.ster, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railways' route it is no less than 203^ ; yet the Great Northern Railway does the journey in the same time, viz. four and a quarter hours. The two o'clock from London Road Station (Manchester) to King's Cross Station (London) is the fastest ordinary and daily train in the world. It should in fairness be stated the train is worked (to omit a stop at Retford) as far as Grantham by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, but owing to that Company's difficult road, the speed does not average above forty- eight and a half miles an hour ; while the last 105I miles from Grantham to London by the Great Northern Rail- way engine are got over at a little over fifty-four miles an hour, the time taken being 117 minutes, including start and stop and reducing speed to fifteen miles an hour through Peterborough. This train is seldom late, and it is not uncommon for it to be one or two minutes before time. The first class dining car system on the morning and THE (;reat northern kailwa\- Works. 75 evening trains lias been activel)- adopted by the Gieat Northern Railway ; these massive vehicles weigh thirt)-- thrce tons, and are sixt\'-tliree feet six inches long. The cars are attached (for luncheon) to the 9.45 a.m. to DIM.Mj CAR. Leeds and 10.15 fi-m- to Manchester, and (for dinner) to the 5.30 p.m. to Manchester and the 5.45 p.m. to Leeds. There are two stewards and a cook on board each car, and the stewards have the run of the King's Cross re- freshment department cellar for wine, &c., till within a very few minutes of the start of the train ; while they 76 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. can always fall back on the Peterborough, Grantham, Retford and Doncaster refreshment rooms for a further supply. In the summer of 1893 the Great Northern Railway, in conj miction with its East Coast confreres, commenced to run Corridor Dining Car trains on the Scotch service leaving Edinburgh and London at 2.30 p.m. With these arrangements commenced for the first time the catering for the third class passenger, who without additional fare can enjoy the comfort of dining en route at a very popular price. The ears are beautifully upholstered and fitted up with hand-painted mirrors, and lighted by oil gas, which is very illuminative. The cars are divided into five compartments^avatory, smoking-room, dining-room, steward's room and kitchen. In the winter they are heated with hot water from a stove in the steward's room. There is accommodation for eight persons in the smoking-room, twelve in the dming-room, each person having a separate seat with, one table between two. The car being so heavy is carried on two " bogies " of six wheels each, making twelve in all, so that it runs very smoothly. We now turn to the most interesting part of our story, the notorious Great Northern engine with its birthplace, Doncaster Works. During the Doncaster Race Week the works are closed, and the sidings cleared for action. The place presents a pandemonium of railways, and to see the " foreign " railway companies' engines running into the place would naturally suggest that Doncaster Station THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY WORKS. ^^ did not belong to the Great Northern Railway Company. The whole arrangements, however, are under its immedi- ate superintendence, which are so concise, that during the Race Week as many as 120 trains have been de- spatched from Doncaster in one hour. The passenger station on this occasion is not inter- fered with. Excepting private specials, nothing but the ordinary service enters the station, all the excursion traffic being conducted at specially constructed sidings. Without the Great Northern Railway Company Don- caster would be a very insignificant place, its only other notoriety beyond the races and the railway, being butter- scotch, of which one firm disposes of the extraordinary quantity of fourteen tons during Race Week. 'On entering Doncaster from London, the works are on the left-hand side, and commence about two miles from the station, extending a little way beyond it northwards. The area covered by the works, station, and sidings is something like 170 acres, with shed accommodation for ninety-six engines. Doncaster, like all other large engine-erecting centres, has its numerous shops, foundries, &c., which to fully explain would be only to repeat what has been copiously dealt with in previous articles upon other companies' engines. The works are reached by 'a footbridge over the rail- way, which when passed we begin to hear at once the rumble of the machinery in the adjacent shops. The number of men employed in the Locomotive, Carriage, and Wagon Shops is somewhere about 3,500, and there are about 1,000 different machines used. In 1891, 300 THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY WORKS. 79 engines, 3,735 carriages, and 15,226 wagons passed through these shops; while 99 engines, 181 carriages, and 1,493 wagons were erected as new stoclc or in place of old. One feature is the splendid modern Erecting Shop, STKAM HAMMER. which was built in 1890. The shop, which has a very clean appearance, is divided into three parts, the two outside being used for erecting ; while the middle is reserved for macliinery used in locomotive erection. The overhead travelling cranes which may be observed 8o ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. at the top are capable of lifting thirty tons each, or a total of sixty tons. Each crane is controlled by one man, and can be worked into position to the fraction of an inch. On the right is a London suburban engine, No. 933, nearing completion. Near the Erecting Shops are the steam hammers. An illustration shows a specimen capable of forcing a blow WHEEL LATHE. ordinarily equal to a weight of six tons, and the piece of metal directly under the hammer — though measuring not more than fifteen inches in diameter — is about to be converted into an engine connecting rod about five feet long. One can hardly imagine a lathe capable of turning the large driving wheels of a locomotive, and the one illus- trated is reputed to be the largest used for this purpose THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY WORKS. 8i in the country, for the simple reason, that there are no larger wheeled engines than the Great Northern Rail- way's. This massive machine was built for the Company in 1 89 1, and the pair of wheels shown in the illustration belong to engine No. TJ"], known in the service as being one of the " Jubilee Class," from the fact of their being THE COKE-BREAKER. built in that year. The lathe is capable of turning a wheel nine feet in diameter. Mr. Stirling, the locomotive engineer, has introduced a very economical machine for coke-breaking. Origin- ally, every smith before he commenced work had to break up his own coke, which being done three times a day G 82 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. took each man on an average altogether about one and a half hours per day. By the coke-breaker, two men are constantly employed in feeding the machine, and carting the milled coke away to the different smiths' fires, and in this way about thirteen to fifteen tons of coke are broken up every day. As before stated, the Company's works commence about two miles from Doncaster, and here have been erected large shops for the exclusive erection of wagons. The shops are built on the most modern principle, and are fitted with electric light. A special train runs night and morning for the use of the men employed in them. Two more places of interest are the Spring Smiths' and Boiler Shops. Next to Doncaster in importance is Peterborough, with shed accommodation for io6 engines. At New England, a suburb of the city of Peterborough, are situated the Locomotive Works and sheds. The large shops at New England are not used for building engines, but are capable of thoroughly repairing them. Here the Company is the owner of 227 cottages and two large schools (one recently erected for boys), leaving the one first erected for the exclusive education of girls. Peterborough is the great exchange station of the coal traffic for the Great Eastern Railway's system, and the Great Northern Railway has about twenty-six miles of siding laid down in the Peterborough and New England yards. There are also large engineers' works at Peterborough for the maintenance of the line of -railway and stations, with an iron foundry for casting the chairs for the rails. TIIK {^RJ'I.VT NOKTHERX RAILWAY WORKS. S3 Most railways are the owners or lessees of some navi- gation or other, and in this respect the Great Northern Railway has the control of the Nottinyham and Gran- tham Canal, and also the River Witham and Fossd)'ke navigations. Sl'KINd siior. \Ve^\'ill now divert our attention to the Great Northern Railway locomotives themselves, No. 458 is of the old type of goods engine. It is six-wheel coupled with outside connecting rods ; the diameter of the cylinder is seventeen and a half inches and twent}'-four inch stroke. 84 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAIIAVAYri. built in 1866, and the engine without the tender weighs thirty-eight tons. The automatic vacuum brake has only recently been fitted on this class of engine, as it was thought they would all be broken up before the brake became general on goods engines. This class of engine, which has done excellent service, is mostly used 2^~tTj,)>. KNCINK Ml, 45S, BUII.J IN 1866. for slow goods traffic. The next illustration of the modern six-wheel coupled goods engine will display at once the neatness of modern locomotives. No. S50, built in 1S92, has seventeen and a half inch cylinders and a stroke of twenty-six inches, and the entire weight of engine and tender in working order is a little under seventy-eight tons. This engine, like all the Great THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY WORKS. Re; Northern modern goods engines, is fitted with the auto- matic vacuum continuous brake, a great improvement on the old hand brake in more ways than one. No. 868, four-wheel coupled, seventeen and a half EXGIXF. NO. S50, BCII.T IN 1S92. inch cylinders and twenty-six inch stroke, built in 1892, engine and tender weigh in working order seventy-nine tons. They can run anything with equal aptitude from a "parish dust" to a "ro)'al" train, and \\'ill be found hauling both express and slow passenger, and on the Leeds and Manchester express goods trains. The latter SCi ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. are very difficult to work on account of their great weight and speed, it being a well-known fact that these goods trains are run at a greater speed than some southern hnes' " expresses." No. 42 is a four-wheel coupled mixed traffic engine, ENGINE NO. S6S, BUIl.T IN 1S92. being used for both passenger and goods. The engine is somewhat smaller than No. 868, and differs in having its four coupled wheels in front of the engine instead of at the back. This style is being adopted by other rail- way companies, with slight modification, which is sound proof of its ciualiflcation. The Company has of late experienced so much THE GREAT NORTHERN RAH.WAY WORKS. 87 difficulty in getting its coal traffic through its crowded suburban district, that in future an engine from the north will leave its load at Hornsey, run on light as far as Harringay, and cross the main line by an overbridge, ENGINIC NO, 42 turn, get coal and water, and return with a train of empty wagons waiting ready. The Directors of the Great Northern Railway deserve every praise for this act of philanthropy, since, at an enormous cost, these works have been carried out more especially to enable engine-drivers and firemen to reach home again somewhere «'itbin a reasonable working da)'. By this arrangement, additional engine power js 88 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. requiied to bring the coal to the different London depots and shunting. For this purpose several new six-wheel coupled engines have been built with tank over the boiler ; they weigh in working order forty- seven tons. The Great Northern Railway has an TANK ENGINE liUILT FcK THE DOCK IRAFFIC. extensive traffic at Poplar Dock and Royal Mint Street by an agreement with the North London and Great Eastern Railways. At Stratford there is a very low bridge, so that they have had to construct special engines for the traffic with small wheels and low funnel. This engine has the tank over the boiler, six-wheel coupled. THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY WORKS. 89 seventeen and a half inch cylinders, and twenty-six inch stroke. The wcijlit in working order is forty-three and a half tons. Y\nother specimen of engine very interesting to North London suburban residents is the local passenger engine of the "932" class. These ENGINE NO. 932, BI'IET IN 1S92. engines are constructed to condense their waste steam so that tliey may run on the Metropolitan Railway to Moorgate Street, and also form a connection with the southern lines via Snow Hill and Blackfriars Bridge. The cylinders are eighteen inches in diameter, with twenty-six inch stroke, and the engine, wliicli carries its go ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. water in the tanks at the side, weighs in working order nearly fifty-four tons. The South London Goods and Coal trafiic having become so heavy, it was deemed desirable to build engines of more strength. No. 924 is a specimen of the locomotives in question, which condense their own steam for the same reason explained in the case of No. 932. The engine of which an illustration is given has cylinders of 18 inches diameter, 26 inch stroke; the total length is 31 feet g^ inches, and weighs in working order 50J tons. A notable feature about the engines last described, is the splendid protection afforded to drivers and firemen by the cab being closed in both back and front. We now come to the "Race-horse" class of the Great Northern Railway locomotive, viz. the world-famed eight feet driving wheel engine, which has been rarely equalled and never beaten, and the seven feet six inch driving wheel engine with inside cylinders. No. 276 is known as one of the Jubilee class of engines, being built in 1887, and was exhibited at both the Newcastle and Edinburgh Exhibitions. The driving wheels are as large and perhaps the largest in the country, being eight feet one and a half inches when new. This style of engine was first built by Mr. Stirling in the year 1870, and such is its fame, that almost any intelligent child knows something about it ; and is manifested by the small crowd round the engine (which is generally of this class) on the " Scotchman " leaving King's Cross at 8.30 in the evening. The universal interest shown is such that the statistics THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY WORKS. 91 by which a locomotive engineer regards a locomotive will doubtless prove interesting. ft. in. 8 li I 6 5 12 4 936 sq. ft. T09 " I, 045 :. 17I pq. ft. t. C. q- lbs. 45 3 40 5 3 "85 8 3 Diameter of driving wheels (new) Diametei- of cylinders Total length over ■buffers of engine and tender Working pressure of steam, 160 lbs. per sq. in. Number of tubes, 174 of ij in. diameter. Heating surface of tubes ,, ,, firebox Total Grate area ... Weight of engine in workiug order ,, tender ,, ,, Total tons The tender is capable of carrying 3,300 gallons of water and four tons of coal. The next class of engine, No. 875, has been painted a neutral tint, so that a good photo may be procured for the Chicago Exhibition. This engine differs from the last by the cylinders being inside the framework and the driving-wheel being seven feet six inches in diameter, and is more economical both in construction and working. No. 875 is the identical engine that ran. the special sporting train from London to Nottingham race-course without a stop. The time allowed was 150 minutes to do 126 miles, and slow up through Peterborough station and Grantham and Colwick junctions, yet it performed the journey about seven minutes under time, and ran equally as well on the return journey. 92 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. KNGiNE NO. S75, ]:i.iii;r ix 1892. The dimensions and particulars of tliis engine arc follows : — lOiiimeter of driving wheel (new) Diameter of cylinders Total lengtli over buffers Working pressure of steam, 160 lbs. per sq. inch. Number of tubes, 174 tubes 14- in. diameter. Heating surface of tubes ,, ,, firebox ... ... Total Grate area . Wcisj^ht of engine in woibing order ,, tejider ,, ,, Total weicrht of engine and tender 7 I 7i 6.', 49 ^i Q36 sq ft. 1C9 ,, 1,045 .. I7V «!■ t. ,:. q. ft. IIjs. 40 13 40 5 3 So iS 3 THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY WORKS, gi The first of this class of engine was built in 1886. The Royal Saloon, No. 2408, which next claims our attention, is 63 feet 10 inches long and weighs 29 tons 18 cwt., carried on two bogie carriages of six wheels each, fitted throughout by electric light and heated by hot-water pipes, and is fitted with the automatic vacuum and the Westinghouse continuous brakes. There are six compartments and a corridor. The first compart- ment is the Princess's sleeping apartment, trimmed in sage green, and decorated with white enamel and hand- painted ceiling, with lavatory. The saloon and dining apartment is lined with rosewood and painted ceiling, trimmed with peacock blue. It contains two tables and six easy-chairs. One of the tables is telescopic, and although it appears similar to a very light card-table, it will assume a length enough for six people to dine at. The smoking apartment (which is oak lined) immediately adjoins; it contains three chairs and is hung with amber. Next in order comes the Prince's sleeping apartment, lined with cedar, and fitted \yith a couch and bed exquisitely upholstered, and has lavatory attached. Returning to the corridor we now reach the sleeping apartment of the lady-in-waiting, which is very similar in decoration to that of the Princess's. The next is the sergeant footman's apartment, trimmed in royal blue ; and lastly the attendant's room, in which is the heating stove for the hot-water apparatus, and also the electric light switches and bell disc board. The Company has recently adopted Pintch's oil gas system for lighting the carriages. There are works for making the gas at London, Doncaster, Leeds, Notting- 94 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. ham, and Boston. The works in London are situ- ated near Highbury, on the Canonbury branch. The machinery is all in duplicate, and these works are reputed to be the best of their kind in the world. At those stations where there are no works, the gas is supplied by means of traveUing tanks, having a capacity of 240 cubic feet, which are attached to passenger trains. For the convenience of the long-distance Scotch traffic, the Great Northern, North-Eastern, and North British Railways have jointly had built a large number of carriages, dining and sleeping cars, and brakes. Nearly all this stock is built at the Doncaster works on the Great Northern principle and pattern, and is fitted with both the Westinghouse and automatic vacuum con- tinuous brakes. It was among this joint stock that the first third class corridor lavatory carriages were brought out, and now the Great Northern has built some for their own ex- clusive use. When the Company first adopted the continuous brake they chose the simple vacuum, but, owing to the inefficacy of the brake (should a slight leakage occur or train break away), it was decided to reverse the principle, and thus easily convert it into an automatic brake. It will perhaps be clearer if it is ex- plained that in the original idea, to apply the brake the air was all drawn out ; now the air must be drawn out and a vacuum maintained -to keep the brake from operating, so that should a train break away or in some way become disconnected, the brake applies itself, and the train is brought to a standstill in a few seconds even at the highest rate of speed. THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY WORKS. 95 The Company has under its sole control four hotels, viz. at King's Cross, Peterborough, Leeds, and Bradford. There is a Superannuation Fund for almost all grades of the service, to which the Company subscribes very largely. The fund has been instituted seventeen years, and in 1891 reached ^^259,627, The Company paid in the twelve months (to June 1892) ;£'i 1 1,218 in rates and taxes, and had a rent-roll of something like ,^53, 176. The raised capital of the Company was in June 1892, ^39,449,562. The gross receipts were for the twelve months ;^ 4,434,734, working expenses ^2,663,806, equal to sixty per cent, of the earnings, with a train mileage of 18,931,536. There is a Literary Society at King's Cross station for the use of the Company's servants, and should they be at the utmost extremity of the Company's system they may enjoy the privilege of changing their books carriage free. There is also an Athletic Association for the clerical staff only, with a long list of patrons, all being Directors and officers of the Company. The association embraces cricket, football, swimming, and cycling, and although no records are broken, much healthful recreation is derived. The Company also provides out of its own staff some companies of the Tower Hamlets Engineer Volunteer Corps. The corps has erected at Holloway on the Company's property a drill hall, where the men receive every instruction connected with an engineers corps. CHAPTER IV. THE NORTH-EASTERN RAILWAY AND ITS ENGINES. BY WILSON WORSDELL, [Chief Locomotive Superintendent.] The North-Eastern Railway was formed in 1854 by the union of tlie York, Newcastle and Berwick, the York and North Midland, the Leeds Northern-and the Malton and Driffield lines ; it practically monopolizes the traffic of the north-eastern counties of England. Stretching from Doncaster and Sheffield in the south, to Normanton, Leeds, and Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to Hull, Scarborough, and Whitby in the East Riding, the line runs through the city of York, at which point the Great Northern, Midland, and Lancashire and York- shire Companies all work into the North-Eastern Company's station. The main trunk line proceeds from York in a north-westerly direction, and branches run from it to the west, touching the Midland at Hawes, and the London and North-Western at Tebay and- Penrith ; to the east the main line serves the manu- facturing centres of Stockton, Middlesborough, Hartle- pool, Darlington, and the great mining districts in the THE NORTH-EASTERN RAILWAY. 97 county of Durham, while from Durham a branch line leads to Sunderland. The main line, continuing through the picturesque Team Valley, brings the traveller in about twenty minutes to the city of Newcastle, where the Tyne is spanned by Stephenson's famous high level bridge. From thence the railway passes through the county of Northumberland, skirting the sea-coast nearly all the way, and after passing near Alnwick reaches the border town of Berwick, by the celebrated bridge which crosses the Tweed (designed by the late Mr. T. E. Harrison, C.E., who was for many years chief engineer to the Company). From Alnwick, a recently constructed branch line runs in a northerly direction across Flodden Field to the border town of Coldstream. Branching off westwards from Newcastle, another section of the line passes through the village of Wylam, the birthplace of the Stephensons, and other places of interest, until it reaches Carlisle, the junction for seven different English and Scotch railways. From Berwick to Edinburgh the railway is the property of the North British Company, but the whole of the " East Coast " express trains are worked to Edinburgh by the North- Eastern Company's engines. This is the route of the well-known " Flying Scotch- man." Leaving King's Cross or Waverley at ten o'clock in the morning, travellers may reach either metropolis at half-past six in the evening, a fine performance even in these days, seeing that the distance of 395 J miles is covered in eight and a half hours, inclusive of the stop for dining at York. When the races between the east and west routes were on in the summer of 1888, the H 98 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. Scotch express cleared the eighty and a half miles from York to Newcastle in eighty-two minutes, and ran from Newcastle to Edinburgh, a distance of 124 J miles, in 128 minutes, reaching Edinburgh at 5.26 p.m., or one hour and four minutes earlier than the present advertised time. It is on this section that the express which leaves King's Cross at 8.30 p.m. runs from Newcastle to Edinburgh in two hours forty-six minutes without a stop, one of the longest runs made by an engine without stopping to take in water. The oldest section of the North-Eastcrn Railway is the Stockton and Darlington line, which, in fact, is the oldest bit of railway in the world, having been opened in 1825, though not amalgamated with the North- Eastern until 1863. The entire system coniprises about forty-two railways originally independent, but amalga- mated at various times, in some cases before incorpora- tion with the main system : the last amalgamation was with the Blyth and Tyne Railway, which was acquired in 1874. The length of line worked by the Company is 1,578 miles, and the train mileage run in the year 1891 reached a total of nearly twenty-seven millions ; the engine mileage exceeded forty-one millions, which is not far short of half the earth's distance from the sun. The amount of capital sanctioned up to December 31st, 1891, was ^61,149,365 ; the revenue last year amounted to over ;^7,ooo,ooo, and the expenditure to over ;^4,ooo,ooo, leaving a balance of fully ;£'3,ooo,ooo for the payment of interest and dividends. The rolling stock comprises 1,742 locomotives, 3,281 THE XORTH-I'.ASTERX RiVILWAY. 99 carriages, and 83,500 wagons ; the wagons alone, if made up into one train, would reach 271 miles, the distance from London to Newcastle. For road traffic there arc 1,763 carts and rulleys, and 1,376 horses. The number of servants in the Locomotive Department is 12,840, including those employed in repairing carriages and wagons; 4,931 are engaged in working the loco- motives, and the total staff of the Company numbers 38,000. The coal consumed by engines in 1891 amounted to 650,000 tons, and the weight of water used for all purposes was about 8,000,000 tons. There were 22,183 special trains run in 1891, of which 9,377 were passenger and 12,806 goods. The weight of tickets issued to the public was thirty-nine tons, and the number of passengers carried reached a total of forty-seven millions. The goods traffic amounted to 9,283,600 tons, and the minerals to 32,493,238 tons. There are 533 stations on the line and 1,001 signal cabins. The signal levers in use number 13,000, and 9,270 lamps are lighted nightly. The head-quarters of the Locomotive Department are at Gateshead, but the locomotive works at Darlington are almost as important, and there arc also large engine works at York. The Gateshead works were largely re- built, extended, and thoroughly reorganized in 1883 and 1884. Though not so large as the Crewe or Swindon works, they are second to none in the excellence of the tools and machinery used, and in the quality of the work produced. Since Mr. T. W. Worsdell's accession in 1885, the machine power has been further increased, particularly in the use of milling machines for finishing connecting and coupling rods, the rods and levers of loo ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. valve-gear, and other heavy work. Mr. Worsdell intro- duced the use of steel plates for boilers in place of York- shire iron, and laid down special gas furnaces for anneal- ing the plates, the result of the change being a great saving in the cost of material for boiler construction. In the Boiler Shop a special feature is the introduction of hydraulic presses for flanging purposes, the old system of flanging plates by hand being thereby superseded and a considerable saving effected in cost. Steel cast- ings have also been brought into use for wheel centres of all sizes, fire-box, roof bars, reversing shafts, and other purposes, for which forged iron was previously employed. Among the improvements made by Mr. Worsdell during the five years he held the office of Locomotive Super- intendent for this Company, may be mentioned the test- ing house at Gateshead, where the strength of various specimens of iron, steel, and copper is ascertained by means of a powerful hydraulic machine. For example, a piece cut off each plate intended to be used for boilers is tested, labelled, and stored up for future reference. During his period of office, large and commodious dining- rooms, as well as rooms for lectures, concerts, reading,, and evening classes were built at Gateshead and York for the use of the workmen. The Gateshead Institution is capable of seating about iioo men. Meals are cooked in gas ovens without charge, and every man's breakfast or dinner is numbered and put in his place just before the electric bells ring, announcing in the various shops the approach of the meal hours. The Company has extensive workshops at York, for building and repairing carriages and wagons, also wagon 102 ROUND Tin: WORKS ol' OUR OREAT RAILWAYS. worlds at Sliildon, and rci.v'iiring .sliops at Gateshead, West Hartlepool, Tyne Dock, and Tercy Main. Nearly 3000 men arc employed upon this cl.-'.ss of work, and in order to give an idea of the magnitude of the task to be performed in maintaining the rolling stock- of a large CARRIAi;h-l!LIl.ljL\G SllUI'. railwa)' company, it may be mentioned that, in the past year, 200 new carriages wevc constructed, 100 rebuilt, and 8,700 passed through the work-shops for repairs, while 2,180 wagons -were built as additional stock, 3,750 were renewed, and 750,000 repaiix-d. For the examina- tion and greasing of carriages and wagons when working in trains, a staff of about 470 inspectors and greasers is constantl}- emplo)'ed. The North-]{astern Railway Directors have adopted I04 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. Pintsch's patent oil gas system for lighting carriages. Gas works have been erected at Newcastle, York, and Hull, the three places being capable of producing 24,000,000 cubic feet of gas per annum, the illuminating power of which is about four times that of ordinary coal gas. Fifteen hundred vehicles have already been fitted with the gas apparatus. The North-Eastern for the last ten years have used the Westinghousc air-brake, which has given perfect satisfaction, fulfilling, as it does, every requirement of the Board of Trade. Tiie continuous brake and the absolute block system of signalling are two of the greatest improvements ever made in railway appliances, and to these is no doubt largely due the comparative rarity of serious railway accidents during the last fifteen or twenty years. Previous to their introduction, the amount paid by the North-Eastern Railway Com- pany in compensation for personal injury averaged about a halfpenny per passenger per annum. During the five years ending December 1891, the average was one- twelfth of a penny, and in the year 1891 only one- thirtieth of a penny per passenger. In addition to the working of the locomotives and the maintenance of rolling stock generally, the Locomotive Department is charged with looking after some 400 stationary boilers, fourteen steam-tugs, 320 steam and hydraulic cranes, 104 pumping engines, 115 turntables, sixteen steam fire-engines (nine of these being kept on tug-boats in the docks and ready at any moment in case of an outbreak of fire amongst the. shipping) and fourteen manual fire-engines. io6 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. It may easily be imagined that to maintain all these appliances, and to keep them in good working order, a great deal of supervision and labour is entailed. For the stabling of the locomotives, there are sixty-seven running sheds situated at convenient points on the line. An illustration is given of the shed connected with the Gateshead Works, which, together with the other shed at Gateshead, has accommodation for 250 engines. Visitors to the Newcastle Exhibition in 1S87, or to the Edinburgh Exhibition in 1890, will remember the contrast between the earliest and latest type of locomotive possessed by the North-Eastern Railway Company. The former, George Stephenson's No. i engine, " Locomotion," was built for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825, and ran its first public trip on the day of the opening of that line, September 27, 1825, and its last on the occasion of the opening of the line from Middlesborough to Redcar on June 4, 1846, a distance of 7f miles, which was performed in twenty- five minutes. This engine has travelled many thousands of miles to and from exhibitions, having been exhibited at Chicago in 1883, at Newcastle in' 1887, at Paris in 1889, and at Edinburgh in 1890. On account of the great historical value of this engine, it has now been permanently stationed on a pedestal at Darlington, and therefore will not be exhibited elsewhere again. An- other of these early locomotives bearing the name " Billy," and being also numbered " i," is mounted at the Newcastle end of the High Level Bridge, and is an interesting object to persons visiting Newcastle. This engine was working at the Killingworth Colliery, and io8 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. only ceased from its labours in 1884. It was presented by the colliery owners to the Corporation of Newcastle, and the North-Eastern Railway Company at their request found for it a suitable resting-place. The celebrated " Rocket " engine was built a few years later than "Locomotion," and was the type used on the Canterbury and Whitstable line, opened May 3, 1830, when the locomotive " Invicta '' ran the first train, and was driven by the late Mr. Edward Fletcher, who, for about fifty years, held important positions on the North-Eastern system of railways, having retired from the office of Locomotive Superintendent in 1882. The other engine exhibited at Newcastle was one of Mr. Worsdell's compounds, the first built for the North- Eastern railway, No. 1324. It has cylinders eighteen and twenty-six inches diameter, and twenty-four inches stroke, the driving wheels being six feet six inches diameter coupled to trailing. The engine exhibited at Edinburgh was specially designed for working heavy express passenger trains between Newcastle and the Scottish capital, and is the most recent type of passenger engine on the North-Eastern Railway ; its cylinders are twenty and twenty-eight inches in diameter, and twenty- four inches stroke, the driving wheels being single, seven feet six inches diameter. The horse-power indicated when running at eighty-six miles an hour on a level road with eighteen carriages on, was 1,068, the total weight of train being 310 tons. The average coal consumption of these engines, of which ten have now been built at the Gateshead Works, is about 28J lbs. per mile, which is very low for heavy traffic at a high rate no ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. of speed, in fact about two pounds lower than the average of any other class of engine on the line. Alto- gether forty-seven compound express passenger engines have been built at Gateshead, and, including 212 goods engines, the Company have built 259 compounds since this system was adopted scarcely six years ago. The " Worsdell and Von Borries " compound locomotive, as is well known, differs from the "Webb" compound in its greater simplicity of construction ; indeed there is nothing to distinguish it from an ordinary engine, except that one cylinder has a larger diameter than the other, and a special valve is fixed inside the smoke-box to assist in starting the engine, when, owing to the position of the cranks, it is necessary to admit steam direct to the low-pressure cylinder. The valve closes automatically before the wheels have completed their first revolution, and, after that, it is only through the high-pressure cylinder that steam can reach the other. The North-Eastern Railway Company own extensive docks at Tyne Dock, West Hartlepool, and Middles- borough, besides a small dock of six acres at Sunderland. At Tyhe Dock the water space extends over fifty-five acres, including Timber Ponds, and during the past year 4,880 steamers and 1,572 sailing vessels were received into the Docks. This dock is famous as being the place where the largest quantity of coal is shipped in any single dock in the world. The illustrations of this place show in one instance the appearance of the dock during the Durham miners' strike, no less than forty- two vessels being accommodated whilst waiting for orders, and in another a view of one of the jetties with two 112 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. steamers lying alongside waiting to be coaled. There are four of these jetties at which eighteen vessels may be coaled simultaneously. The coal wagons run by gravitation on to the jetty ; here a man releases the bottom, which is made with two doors to fall when a NORTH-EASTERN COLLIERS ANCHORED DURING THE DURHAM COAL STRIKE, TYNE DOCK. pin is withdrawn. The coal passes through an opening in the jetty and down a large shoot into the hold of the vessel, the empty wagons returning by gravitation down another set of rails, whence they are taken back to the colliery to be refilled. By this means the Company have shipped 27,000 tons of coal in twenty-four hours. 114 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS. 130,000 tons in a week, and during tlie past year 5,924,000 tons. At West Hartlepool the docks cover seventy-three acres, and are constantly crowded with vessels from all parts of the world. There is a very large trade in eggs at this port, some 9,000 tons being imported in the course of a year ; also a very large timber trade, for Pasi^cnger iidc tank engine, designed by Mr. T. W. Wur^dell, 4-coiiplcd 5 feet 6 inch wheels, iS-inch cylinders, and 24 inch struke, built in 1886 for local passenger trains ; it has 4 inter- mediate wheels coupled, and a pair of wheels with radial a.\le-bo.\- at each end. which ponds covering an area of fifty-seven acres have been specially provided. At Middlesborough the docks occupy a water space of sixteen acres, and here vessels^ are loaded with coal, steel rails, steel sleepers, and cast- iron " pot " sleepers for the Indian and other railways abroad. Large hydraulic cranes have been specially provided at Middlesborough for loading the iron and steel products. At all the North-Eastern docks the most modern hydraulic machinery is fitted for the quick IK, KUUXI) Till". Works oI-' our CKKAT RAILM'AYS. loaclinj^" of \'e.ssc!s and stoi'ing of goods in tlie ware- houses. It may be appropriate here to make a relerence to the marvellous change that rail\\'a)'s and steam power have brought about in tlie means of travelling. Only 200 years ago, the roads of hhigland \\'ere so bad that oftentimes a coach stuck fast in the mire and a farmer's Ontiii 1^1 I t 1 tl 1 Lul [ 1 cli are cuupltjd, the oilier paii" being fiLtL-d will] radial axle-bnx ul tlic same design as tlujse on the side tank passenger engines. It lias s feet \\lieels, iS and 26 inch cylinders, and 24 inch stroke. A powerful engine, designed for local .goods and mineral traffic. team was needed to drag it out. The rich travelled in their own coaches, but six horses at least were required to overcome the badness of the roads. Towards the close of the reign of Charles II., coaches began to run thrice a week from London to the chief provincial towns, but no conx'cj'aiicc ^vent further north than \'ork-, a journey that occuj)ied six da}-s in winter, and which is now performed several times a day all the yeav round in four hours ! AVheii it was proposed to run a " flying coach " between London and Oxford, leaving Oxford at THl". NORTH-EASTERX RyVILWAV. 117 6 a.m. and arriving in London at 7 o'clock in tlie evening of tlie same day, the undertaking was considered to be both difficult and dangerous. Fifty miles a day was the usual speed in summer and thirty in winter, distances which correspond to our present speeds per Jtoiir for express and stopping trains respectively. The fares for such travelling were twopence halfpenny per mile, or about the same as first-class railway fares now. On April I2th, 1706, a "York Four Days Stage Coach'' was started. It left the " Black Swan," Holborn, every MAXDARD CRANK AXI.E, NORTH-EASTERN RAILWAY. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and " (if God permits) performs the whole journey in Four Days. And sets forth at Five in the Morning." The York terminus was also the " Black Swan," in Coney Street, from which the up coaches started on the same days and at the same hour. Another service, two days a week only, was run between York and Newcastle. Snow-storms sometimes cause much destruction to property and serious loss of traffic on the line ; the storms in March 1886 and March 1888 were especially severe, the main line from Newcastle to Edinburgh j)8 ROUND THEW(^RK.S OF OUR GREAT RAIr.^VA^•,S. being blocked so that no trains were able to pass over it for several days ; trains were completely buried in the snow, and the passengers had to remain imprisoned until relieved by the snow-ploughs or by gangs of men sent to dig them out. These two storms, it is estimated, cost the Compan)' about /' 100,000, including loss of traffic. Since the last great storm, the Company have built some very strong and eflcctivc ploughs \\hich, it is STANDARD SNOW-I'LOUCII, expected, will greatly facilitate the removal ot snow in future. It will be readily understood from the above de- scription, that the superintendence of the locomotive and carriage department of such a railway as the North-Eastern is a very considerable undertaking. Mr. Wilson Worsdell, the chief of the locomotive, carriage, and wagon departments, resides at Gateshead. His principal assistant in the locomotive department is Mr. George Graham of Darlington, \\'ho is assisted by Mr. THE NORTH-EASTERN RAILWAY. 119 Vincent Raven in the Northern Division and by Mr. John Murray in the Southern Division. The principal Managers of the works are Mr. Robert Stirling at Gateshead, Mr. W. Younghusband at Darlington, and Mr. W. Carr at York. Mr. Worsdell's chief assistant in the carriage and wagon department is Mr. David Bain, who is Manager of the York carriage and wagon works. CHAPTER V. THE GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY WORKS AT STRATFORD. BY ALEX. P. PARKER, [Secretary to the Locomotive Superintendent]. The Eastern Counties "Railway, the forerunner of the present Great Eastern, was incorporated on July 4, 1836, and as scheduled was the longest line which had yet obtained the sanction of Parliament. It was constructed to a five-feet gauge, and commenced its career as a public carrier on June 20, 1839, when it opened from Mile End to Romford, at which latter station the first repairing shops were built. It is a matter of history that the anticipations of the first Chairm.an, who held out to an exceptionally sanguine proprietary '' a prospect of one of the proudest triumphs of the march of science,'' were not fulfilled, and we will lower the veil over its mis- fortunes and misdeeds. Suffice it to say, that in 1862 it was considered expedient to consolidate the wisdom of some eighty Acts of Parliament by an amalgamation scheme under a new nomenclature. But the " Great Eastern " phoenix which arose from the ashes of the Eastern Counties was not at first more successful than THE GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY WORKS. 121 its progenitor, and in 1867 the locomotives were seized at the instance of creditors, and loaned to the Company. In order to get out of this difficulty, and to put the line and rolling-stock into better condition, it was deemed necessary to apply for power to raise ;^i, 500,000