Interior of the new Hammersmith Signal Box, London Underground Railways.

Progress along the path to prosperity continues to be made by the Home railways. Each of the four group systems serving Britain looks forward with confidence to the future, for on all sides there is evidence that the worst of the depression is over.

That this optimism is well-founded is illustrated by an examination of recent traffic returns. These show satisfactory increases, on both the passenger and freight sides, over the corresponding period of last year. At the moment of writing, the London, Midland and Scottish Line claims the largest increase in passenger traffic, while to the London and North Eastern goes a striking increase in freight business. Railways rightly may be regarded as trade barometers: the latest railway returns certainly seem to indicate that we are definitely at the commencement of a welcome industrial revival.

The Safety of Rail Travel.

A poster issued by the German Railways shows a man whose hair and beard have grown over the whole floor of the compartment in which he is sitting. An accident insurance policy lies beside him, and an inscription reads: “He wanted to be killed in a railway accident. He will have to travel at 62.5 m.p.h. for 22,800 years to accomplish his purpose.” That is how the Berlin authorities impress upon the travelling public the safety of rail movement. Throughout Europe the greatest attention is paid to ensuring travel safety, and in most European lands the risk of mishap while travelling by rail is slight in the extreme.

An analysis of the official report on railway accidents in Britain during 1932 discloses remarkable results, while in 1933—for which official figures are not available at time of writing—the position in respect of freedom from serious accidents is equally satisfactory. Four passengers lost their lives in train accidents in 1932, and the death risk for passengers worked out at one in 389,000,000. How different is this record from that of casualties on the roads! Taking all in all, there is probably no country in the world where such vast thought and expense has been incurred to ensure the safety of the traveller. The most elaborate equipment and the most carefully devised operating methods, however, would be of little avail if the individual railwayman permitted carelessness and indifference to creep into his daily task. Britain's striking freedom from serious rail mishaps is in no small degree attributable to the wholehearted devotion of one and all to that wisest of gospels: “Safety First.”

Sleeping Car Comfort.

Greater travel comfort—and, incidentally, greater travel safety—is assured for night passengers on the London, Midland and Scottish line, by the recent introduction of a new type of third-class sleeping car embodying several interesting features. Designed by Mr. W. A. Stanier, the company's Chief Mechanical Engineer, and built in the Derby works, the new car is of corridor pattern, page 18 with entrance vestibule and separate lavatory and toilet compartment at each end. In addition, there is an attendant's compartment. The vehicle has seven passenger compartments, affording sleeping accommodation for twenty-eight passengers.

The principal dimensions are as follow:—Length over body, 65ft. lin.; width over body, 8ft. 11 ¼in.; bogie wheelbase, 9ft.; tare weight, 76,1601b. A feature is the provision of a cork floor, laid on dovetailed steel sheeting. This largely eliminates track and running noises and adds immeasureably to travel comfort. Each compartment contains

London and North Eastern Buffet Car popularises travel.

cent. of the the accommodation on trains being placed at the smoker's disposal. Even in these days, however, there are numbers of people who object to smoking in railway compartments, and in order to make matters quite clear the Home lines are to label every compartment “Smoking” or “Non-smoking” as the case may be. This arrangement, it should be understood, applies to the mainline railways only. On the London suburban routes a somewhat different method is being adopted, whereby all “non-smoking” compartments are specially labelled, and smoking is permitted in all cars not so distinguished four berths—two lower and two upper. A sliding door gives access to the compartment, and the interior fittings include a mirror, luggage rack, coat and hat hooks, individual reading lamps and bell pushes, steam heaters, and air-conditioned ventilating apparatus. The attendant's compartment is fitted with a gas-heated hot-water boiler for supplying water for tea, etc., a sink, draining board, and cupboards for crockery, glasses and provisions.

Accommodation for Smokers.

Worshippers at the shrine of My Lady Nicotine are well provided for by the Home railways, something like seventy-five per Broadly speaking, it would be infinitely more convenient if railways had to provide one type of accommodation alone, instead of having to meet the wishes of smokers and non-smokers; and to provide for the passenger who seeks to obtain super-luxury accommodation, even if this entails a higher fare. First and third-class accommodation, as provided by the Home railways will be merged, ultimately, into one class, but the time is not yet ripe for this move, greatly though the railways might welcome it. For the time being, a certain proportion of passenger train accommodation must be given over to the first-class traveller, even though page 19 this may spell wasted equipment on many routes and on many occasions.

New German Railcars.

Branch-line operation on many European railways only continues a profitable proposition by the employment of light railcars in place of heavy steam units. Germany is one of the greatest users of the railcar, and interesting new types of both oil-electric and steam railcars have been recently introduced by the Berlin authorities.

The new oil-electric railcar seats 110 passengers, and has an overall length of 69 ft. 2 ¼ in. Its weight in working order is 42 tons, and maximum speed is 62 m.p.h. In accordance with modern practice, the rail-car is of very light welded construction. The Diesel engine has a capacity of from 300 to 330 h.p. at 1,000 r.p.m., and transmission is of the electrical type. A driver's cab is placed at each end of the car, and the construction is such that the car may be employed by itself as a complete unit, or in conjunction with a trailer of equal dimensions.

The new German steam railcar is a smaller affair, seating 42 passengers, and developing a maximum speed of 40 m.p.h. It is a four-wheeled car, with an empty weight of only 14 ½ tons. Steam is furnished by an oil-fired boiler, and the engine, developing 100 h.p.,

London, Midland and Scottish Express Goods Train.

is axle-suspended, power being transmitted to the wheels by a single set of spur gears. It is claimed that the car may be started from cold in about five minutes, and altogether this new light steam railcar is worthy of study by those on the look-out for a cheap and efficient train unit for branch-line operation.

The Kitson-Still Diesel-steam Locomotive.

It is a big jump from the small railcar to the giant steam locomotive employed on trains like the Auckland-Wellington Limited or the “Flying Scotsman.” The L. & N.E. Railway—itself a big user of light railcars—is now conducting experiments with a novel new heavy steam engine—the Kitson-Still Diesel-steam locomotive. Built by Kit-son & Co., Ltd., of Leeds (one of the oldest locomotive makers in the world), the Kitson-Still machine incorporates an eight-cylinder four-stroke oil engine having a bore of 13 ½ins. and a stroke of 15 ½ ins. The cylinders are arranged horizontally across the engine, four in front and four behind a common crankshaft, which is centrally geared through a pair of double-helical gears, to a jackshaft, from which coupling rods transmit power to the wheels.

Designed for mixed traffic, the locomotive is of the 2—6—2 type with 60 in. wheels.