The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 4 (August 1, 1928)

Life of the Permanent Way

Life of the Permanent Way.

A sound and well-maintained permanent way is an essential to efficient railway operation (writes our London Correspondent). The Home railways are leaders in this direction, and considering the severe wear and tear to which the British track is subjected, the life of the rail is remarkably long. Interesting data in this regard was recently given out by Mr. V. A. M. Robertson, one of the L. and N.E.R. District Engineers, in the course of a paper on “Bridges and Permanent Way,” read at a meeting of the L. and N.E.R. London Lecture and Debating Society. The average life of permanent way throughout Britain was given as twenty-one years. In the London district of the L. and N.E.R., the average life of plain road was about eighteen years, although various component parts, such as old rails, chairs, sleepers, and so on, frequently had to be renewed before that life had expired. The permanent way in Liverpool Street Station presented a pretty problem for the maintenance engineer. There, the average life of points and crossings is three years, the shortest being twelve months. The average life of rails at Liverpool Street was stated to be four years, and the shortest eighteen months. Liverpool Street is the busiest steam-operated terminus in London. In a single day as many as one thousand heavy trains pass in and out of this gigantic terminal.