The Railcar and its Uses.

Light train units are now being universally introduced to meet existing conditions in the passenger department. The railcar has undoubtedly opened up quite new possibilities for fast and frequent passenger services such as are demanded to-day. Steam, electric power, petrol and heavy oil are all employed in connection with railcar operation, while recently, in Czechoslovakia, motor-driven railcars, burning gas produced from wood for fuel, have been introduced. Bodies of aluminium, often stream-lined, are features of many modern railcars, while one-man control is general with this class of train.

There has been acquired by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway an interesting new design of Diesel-hydraulic railcar. This is a two-axled unit weighing only 101/2 tons, seating 40 persons, and attaining a speed of 50 m.p.h. in 49 seconds from a dead start. A 130 h.p. six-cylinder oil engine forms the power unit. This is mounted under the floor, and transmits its drive through a hydraulic torque converter to the driving axle. The partially stream-lined body is of all-steel construction. A “passenger door is provided in the centre of the body on either side, and the seats are placed, in pairs, longitudinally along a central gangway. The new L.M. & S. railcar is for service in the London suburban area.