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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 4 (August 1, 1932)

Our London Letter

page 19

Our London Letter

Greater London possesses upwards of six hundred passenger stations, the length of passenger tracks in the same area being approximately, eight hundred miles. London's local railways convey about 700,000,000 passengers each year, this figure not including the heavy suburban traffic on the main lines. In his current letter our Special London Correspondent deals principally with London's railway services and gives some interesting particulars concerning suggested passenger station amalgamation.

Solving London's Rail Transport Problems.

As a consequence of the development of the grouping scheme, amalgamation of the principal passenger stations in London seems likely to be attempted on a big scale in the near future. For some time the fusion of certain big termini has been under review, one of the most ambitious of these plans to be considered being the possibilities associated with the closing of the St. Pancras station of the L.M. & S. Railway, and the transfer of the business handled thereat to the adjoining Euston terminal of the same system.

This plan, it should be understood, is as yet only in the discussion stage, but it is typical of the thought now being given to station amalgamation in the interests of economy and efficiency. St. Pancras was formerly the London headquarters of that famous line, the Midland Railway, while Euston was the headquarters of the historic London and North Western. St. Pancras handles a heavy passenger business to and from the Midlands, the North of England and Scotland, while Euston also is concerned with North Country traffic and with passenger business with Scotland and Ireland. Both depots are situated in that somewhat drab thoroughfare, the Euston Road, within a short distance of King's Cross, one of the principal London termini of the L. & N.E. line.

Hand-in-hand with the proposal to amalgamate St. Pancras and Euston stations, comes the move of the Southern Railway in transferring a great many of its suburban trains from the Cannon Street terminal in the City, to Charing Cross. Some 2,500 passenger seats in the morning and evening suburban services have been so transferred, Charing Cross being better situated to meet present-day needs than Cannon Street, further to the east. There is no idea of closing Cannon Street station at present, although in the years that lie ahead some such move may conceivably be made.

Rail and Steamship Services.

St. Pancras station handles, among other important business, passenger traffic to and from Tilbury Docks, one of the leading shipping points on the River Thames. Because of navigation difficulties associated with fogs in the Thames page 20 estuary, and other operating obstacles, the L.M. & S. Railway have decided to abandon their daily steamship service between Tilbury and Dunkirk, France. This service formed an important Anglo-Continental travel link, and through carriages were operated between Tilbury and the most important English centres. Opened in 1927, the Tilbury-Dunkirk route to the Continent was developed by the L.M. & S. Railway in association with the Northern Railway of France.

A Quiet Hour In A London Terminal. Interior of the Southern Railway's Cannon Street Station.

A Quiet Hour In A London Terminal.
Interior of the Southern Railway's Cannon Street Station.

Under the new arrangement, the Southern Railway have taken over the L.M. & S. interests in the service. Instead of Tilbury being employed as the English terminal, the port of Folkestone will be substituted. The Southern Railway thus secures control of all the Continental sailings operated from the Channel Ports. Compared with the Tilbury route, the Folkestone crossing to Dunkirk offers a shorter sea passage—47 miles as against 98 miles. It involves, however, on the English side, a rail journey of 73 miles, as compared with 26 miles via Tilbury. Three steamships are employed—“Alsacien,” “Lorrain,” and “Flammand,” and these run under the French flag. The vessels accommodate respectively, 1,230, 1,242 and 950 passengers. The rail services out of Dunkirk connect with the old battle-front in Northern France and Flanders, and cater for a heavy tourist traffic. On the freight side, important business is handled in connection with the coal and iron industries of Alsace-Lorrain and the Saar Valley.

Slip-carriage Working.

An interesting feature of Home railway passenger working has for many years been the practice of running what are known as “slip” carriages on the principal main-line trains, enabling one or more carriages to be detached en route, without actually stopping the train, and thus serving intermediate stations without loss of time on the throughout journey. The Great Western was the line to favour most this working. Last summer it ran 35 slip carriages daily, these being detached from the fast trains running between London and West Country points. During the present summer, slipcarriage page 21 working is being cut down, and it will not be a surprise if, in time, the arrangement is abolished altogether. The principal objection to slipping is that an additional guard, to manipulate the uncoupling apparatus and bring the slip portion to a stand by means of the brakes, is required for each slip portion. Furthermore, the slip carriages cannot be connected by gangway with the remaining portion of the train, and this means that passengers cannot enjoy the amenities of dining cars and other special facilities.

Hey Ho! For The Highlands. L.M.S. “Royal Scot” Express at Euston Station, London.

Hey Ho! For The Highlands.
L.M.S. “Royal Scot” Express at Euston Station, London.

The slipping equipment consists of a coupling hook on the slip portion hinged on a pin and retained in its normal position by a sliding-bar fitting over the point of the hook. The bar is connected at the other end to a lever in the slip guard's compartment. This lever, when drawn back, removes the bar from the point of the hinged hook, and allows it to drop, there by releasing the slip section from the main train. At the same time the vacuum brakes on the slip portion are partially applied, and the slip carriage gradually loses speed as the main train proceeds on its journey. The slip carriage is brought to ultimate rest at the station platform by the guard operating the hand-brake. Slip carriages, of course, are marshalled in the rear of the train.

Dining-car and Hotel Services.

The Home railways have always paid particular attention to their dining-car and hotel departments. Now the L.M. & S. Railway has broken new ground by introducing what are styled “snack” cars on its principal excursion trains. It has been found that many travellers prefer to take light refreshments when on a journey in preference to indulging in a full-course meal such as lunch or dinner, and it is for their benefit the new facility has been devised.

The “snack” car takes the form of a travelling cafe. From it are supplied to the various carriages of the train by a staff of specially skilled waiters, such items as sandwiches, pies, bread and butter, cakes, and drinks like tea, coffee, cocoa and aerated waters. Passengers requiring snacks simply call the attention of a waiter, by means of a bell, and the refreshments are served at any hour. page 22 There is no fixed time for meals, and the service is continuous throughout the run. The “snack” car facility is supervised by the Hotels Department of the railway. L.M. & S. hotels form the largest group of hotels under one management in Europe. They total thirty first-class guest-houses, of which the most famous is the palatial Gleneagles Hotel, in the heart of the Scottish Highlands.

Ninety-three Locomotives Built in One Year.

These are busy days in the locomotive building and repair shops of the four big Home railways. Each of the Home lines manufactures most of its own locomotives, placing only a proportion of its orders with outside makers. The principal shops concerned are the Swindon works of the Great Western, the Crewe shops of the L.M. and S., the Doncaster plant of the L. & N.E., and the Eastleigh works of the Southern. Typical of the activities of these establishments is the record of the work performed at Swindon in a recent twelve monthly period.

In this works 93 new locomotives were built in twelve months. These comprised forty 4—6—0 “Hall” class locomotives for general passenger and long-distance
Famous British Locomotive Works. Locomotive testing plant, Great Western Railway, Swindon, England.

Famous British Locomotive Works.
Locomotive testing plant, Great Western Railway, Swindon, England.

excursion train haulage, forty-seven 2—6—2 tank type engines for fast suburban haulage, and six 0—6—0 tank locomotives for railmotor services. This building work was in addition to the very extensive repair work completed during the period.

Swindon, in addition to building locomotives, is largely employed on the construction and maintenance of passenger carriages and goods wagons. During 1931 the works turned out 293 new passenger carriages, including 45 for mainline use with corridors and lavatories, and 120 non-corridor cars for suburban and short-haul use. The total also included four new first-class and one composite (first and third class) sleeping cars, ten restaurant cars, and four luxury saloons to be attached to kitchen cars and used for special services in the same way as Pullman cars. There were also built five pairs of restaurant car sets, having a kitchen and a first-class saloon in one vehicle, and coupled by standard connections to a third-class saloon car. Seven six-wheeled milk tank cars, with glass linings of a capacity of 3,000 gallons, also were constructed, while the building of 1,835 new goods wagons was another noteworthy activity of the Swindon shops during 1931.