“Come to Scotland” is the call which is this summer being broadcasted throughout the length and breadth of the Homeland by the two big railway systems that connect England with her northern neighbour. A great deal of time and money is being spent by the Home railways to attract passengers to holiday resorts scattered throughout England, but it is upon travel to Scotland that this season's publicity campaigns are primarily directed.

The London, Midland and Scottish and London and North Eastern Railways both emphatically deny that there is to be witnessed this season anything approaching the historic “Railway Race” to Scotland of years gone by. It is a fact that the journey time of the London-Edinburgh run by both the East and West Coast routes remains unaltered, but the two competing lines are vying one with the other in the provision of new amenities calculated to attract the traveller, to an extent never before contemplated. A through non-stop run of 392 1/2 miles, performed daily by the “Flying Scotsman” in each direction between London and Edinburgh is certainly an accomplishment calculated to draw business. It is also an achievement of which the L. and N.E.R. may well be proud, as being the first occasion in railway history that locomotive crews have been changed en route while travelling at speed. No other railway in the world has ever attempted so lengthy a daily non-stop passenger train schedule as this, and the utilisation of the new corridor tender, which was described in my last letter, is absolutely unique in railway annals.

Steam Rail Cars.

Hand-in-hand with the improvements now being recorded in long-distance passenger train services in Britain, much attention is being devoted to the betterment of short-distance transport. Cheap fares and frequent services maintained by steam and petrol-driven rail motor cars are doing a great work in keeping to rails much business which once threatened to pass to road. Among the several types of equipment favoured for branch line operation, an especially interesting type of steam rail car is the new “Sentinel Cammell” vehicle now being introduced in considerable numbers on the L. and N.E. line.

Each of the new cars comprises a driving compartment, with boiler, engine, tanks and bunkers, a passenger compartment giving seats for 59 travellers, and a small section for the use of the driver when the car is operated in the reverse direction. The cars are 62 feet long over all, and are mounted on two four-wheeled bogies with wheels of 3ft. 1in. diameter. The power unit comprises a vertical, two-cylinder, double-acting engine driving by means of chains to the second axle. The boiler has a working pressure of 2751b., and has an output of approximately 23001b. of steam per hour. The cylinders are of 6 3/4in. diameter and 9in. stroke, and the weight of the complete vehicle without coal and water works out at approximately 26 tons.

The seats in the new L. and N.E. car are of the walk-over pattern, and straps are also provided for 20 standing passengers. The interior of each car is finished in mahogany, and the cars are steam-heated and lit by electricity. Each of the cars has been given a distinctive name, which it carries on the exterior side panels. The titles have been adapted from those once given the horse-drawn stage-coaches of the pre-railway era, and include such names as “Tally Ho,” “Highflyer,” “Transit,” “Red Rover,” and “Trafalgar.” In the interior of each car there is displayed a framed notice giving particulars page 19 of the running of the old stage coach after which the vehicle is christened, and offering five shillings reward for supplying to any stationmaster hitherto unpublished data relating to the old horse coach.

Turmoil of Competition.

Railways the world over are devoting much serious consideration to the problem of road competition, and here in Europe the railways of almost every land are finding the problem one bristling with difficulties. In course of time it seems certain rail and highway will find their respective levels in the world of transport, but for the moment there is vast confusion, competition and duplication of services, in both the passenger and freight carrying sections. One of the most trying features of the road competition problem in Europe is the fact that in many countries passenger-carrying road vehicles are operated on an extensive scale by the postal authorities, in direct competition with the railways. In Germany and Austria, in particular, competition of this character is severely handicapping the railways, and the whole problem of subsidised road transport on these lines calls for the closest scrutiny.

The “Pacific” Corridor Tender Locomotive of the “Flying Scotsman”

In Austria the postal authorities to-day operate passenger services by road motor over 180 different routes, covering between 3,500 and 4,000 miles of road. This year the Austrian Post Office commenced the issue of a public time-table of passenger road services, giving details of all routes, distances and tariffs, and steps now are being taken by the railways of the land to stimulate public interest in their protest against this competition, which is largely subsidised by the Government, and therefore by the individual taxpayer, instead of being conducted on business lines.

Locomotive Ailments.

A wonderful piece of mechanism is the twentieth century steam locomotive. Like that most perfect of all machines—the human body — it is, however, liable to suffer from a long string of indispositions, arising out of over-work, mis-use, and the like. The problem of minimising engine failures is ever with us, and there is a wide field of study open for the locomotive engineer in devising ways and means of maintaining the locomotive in perfect going order and thus reducing to a minimum the time spent idle in the shops.

At December 31st, 1927, there were some 877 locomotives in the shops of the London, Midland and Scottish line awaiting or undergoing repairs, or 8 1/2 per cent. of the total locomotive stock of the system. The London and North Eastern had 773 locomotives in shops at this date; the Great Western 680, and the Southern 432. It is impossible to eliminate locomotive failures altogether, for certain failures are due to defects in material which cannot be foreseen. One cannot help thinking, however, that a great deal more might often be done by the running shed staffs to minimise engine failures arising through other causes, and by emulating the physician, who always seeks to ascertain the root of the trouble, afford a permanent cure for the several ailments to which the locomotive is a martyr.

A locomotive may develop a hot bearing or leaky tubes, and, having received attention in the shops, be turned out again for service without any attempt being made to ascertain the origin of the trouble, and to put that trouble to rights once and for all. Many of these common ailments of the locomotive could be avoided altogether by the intelligent examination of engine drivers and others who have had experience of the machine in running. It is a very wise gospel that tells us “Prevention is better than cure.” In the locomotive world one would like to see this motto inscribed in six-foot letters in every running shed.

Electric Signalling and Operation.

A signal-box equipped with a frame containing 312 levers is a sight which would create rare wonder in the minds of George Stephenson and his fellow pioneers, were they alive to-day. A cabin of this size is now being installed by the Southern line at London Bridge Station, in the metropolis, and this new signal-box will rank as the third largest signal cabin in Britain, the page 20 lead being taken by the St. Enoch Station box in Glasgow with 488 levers, and the Central Station cabin in the same city with 374 levers. The new power-operated box at London Bridge takes the place of nine existing cabins, and enables a saving to be effected of 35 signalmen, four signal lads and five signal lampmen. Some two and a half miles of track are controlled from London Bridge to Bricklayers Arms, containing eleven sets of metals, as well as the intricate station working. Three aspect colour light signals are employed on this section, and all the tracks covered are reproduced on a large diagram in the box, whereon is recorded the progress of trains by the aid of coloured lights.

While the Southern line, in common with the other trunk railways serving London, is faced with very perplexing signalling problems, it is on the Underground railways of the capital that the most wonderful of signalling systems has been devised to ensure the safe working of the exceptionally dense traffic handled over the surface and underground tracks which cross and criss-cross throughout the city and suburbs. On all the lines constituting the London underground system power signalling is installed. All lines are track-circuited throughout, the single rail type being favoured in all instances, except on the Central London route where both running rails are employed for traction current return and double rail track circuits with impedance bonds are favoured. The signals, operated from power frames fitted with miniature levers, are of the semi-automatic pattern, and are replaced to “danger” when a train passes them, irrespective of the position of the lever. After being put to “danger” the signals will not return to the “clear” indication until the lever controlling them has been replaced to the normal position in the power frame, and again reversed. This is effected by a “stick” relay, and the back locking circuits for the electric lock on the signal lever also are taken through this relay.

The London “Underground.”

The London Underground railways, in addition to leading in the signalling field, also take a foremost place among the world's railways in the scientific training of their staffs. Every applicant for employment on the Underground is interviewed by the Superintendent of the line, or one of his assistants, and is required to pass a stiff medical examination. His previous record is carefully studied, as is also his personal cleanliness and bearing. The minimum height has been fixed at 5ft. 7in., and every new entrant into the service is required to pass through the company's training school. Five or six days are spent in this school at the outset, the time being occupied in introducing the employee to the geography of the system, the interchange points, and the connecting facilities with road services in and around the metropolis. After being appointed to a position in the service, the new employee is encouraged to study branches of railway working other than his own, and free tuition is given in the training school in all subjects appertaining to the operation of the line. A special cadet system also is in being under which specially selected men are afforded intensive training for the higher positions.

Wagon Performance.

For some time now the Home railways have been in the fortunate position of being able to meet without discomfort the whole of the demands of traders for goods wagons. In this connection there has recently been issued by the London and North Eastern Railway an illuminating statement describing the freight wagon position on the line throughout 1927. At December 31st, 1927, there were some 271, 434 goods and coal wagons (excluding cattle trucks and locomotive coal wagons) in use on the L. and N.E. system. The total number of journeys originating on the line with freight and coal traffic in railway-owned vehicles during 1927 was 13,430,282, so that each wagon performed on the average rather more than 49 journeys, or one trip in 6.3 days.

In the busiest week in 1927 the total number of wagons actually loaded on the L. and N.E. line was 280,811, and therefore during that period the average round-trip time of each wagon was 5.8 days. The stock of wagons owned by the L. and N.E. Railways includes 7,183 live stock trucks and 2,895 fish wagons. The heaviest individual load carried during the year 1927 was an ingot mould weighing 100 tons, which was conveyed suspended on a special girder fixed at each end to pivotal cradles erected on two flat trucks, each of 60 tons carrying capacity.

Electrification at Berlin.

Outside London and Paris, no European city ranks of greater importance as a railway centre than Berlin. Here is handled the densest of city and suburban business, as well as a most important long-distance traffic connecting the German capital with every continental city of note. Big improvement plans now are being worked out in Berlin by the new German Railway Company established under the Dawes Plan, and these schemes include an ambitious electrification project covering the principal city and suburban routes.

For the haulage of main-line passenger trains across Berlin, there is to be utilised in the near future a new type of 476 kilowatt electric locomotive, with four driving axles having a total weight of 102 tons and a maximum speed of about forty miles an hour. It is proposed to eliminate steam working altogether within city limits, and an endeavour also has been made to arrive at types of electric motor cars and trailers offering at the same time a large seating capacity and low weight in conjunction with adequate resistance. The employment of silicon steel with high tensile resistance for the parts most subject to strain has made it possible to economise in weight to the extent of something like twenty-five per cent. The normal electric trains on the Berlin suburban routes consist of eight cars, comprising four motor cars and four trailers. Each train seats about 448 passengers, and can actually carry, with standing passengers, as many as 1,200 persons during rush hours.

Freidrichstrasse Station, Berlin
Freidrichstrasse Station, Berlin, where electrification is to take the place of steam operation.