Building of Locomotives at Home.

Heavier and more powerful steam locomotives continue to be turned out for main-line service all over the world. The electric locomotive has a wonderful future before it, but for the steam-driven “Iron Horse” there still lies much useful work ahead. At Home, locomotives with a tractive effort of 64,350 lbs. at 75 per cent, of the boiler pressure are being employed with success, while, on one of the South American railways, good results are being obtained with a similar type of locomotive with tractive effort of 69,150 lbs. To crown all, locomotives of 71,660 lbs. tractive effort are now being built in Britain for service overseas. The Home railways have for long favoured the custom of building the majority of their locomotives in their own shops. The Swindon, Eastleigh, Crewe and Doncaster engine shops are famous the world over, and it is an especially happy part of the activities of these establishments to give care to the training of locomotive engineers destined to take up important appointments on railways all over the globe. At times much criticism has been levelled at the custom of the Home lines to build their own locomotives, but bearing in mind the fact that were all new locomotives to be purchased from outside, much of the expensive machinery employed in the shops would still have to be provided for the repairing branch, the arrangement, on the whole, has proved a wise one.