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Main-Line Trains of Self-propelled Coaches.

18th July 1912, Page 5
18th July 1912
Page 5
Page 6
Page 5, 18th July 1912 — Main-Line Trains of Self-propelled Coaches.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A Description of a Novel Scheme to Increase the Load-carrying Efficiency on Railway Main Lines.

By T. C. Aveling, Assoc. M,Inst.C.E., M.Inst.A.E.

The science of the bulk transport of goods And passengers, at any rate on land, is certainly of British origin. The vast growth of railway traffic throughout the world has been built upon British experience. Of many of the world gifts due to Great Britain, not the least is the introduction and invention of the railway and the railway locomotive. Railway companies were first started for the purpose of making railways, that is a road laid with rails, by means of which goods could be transported, by reason of lessened resistance and friction, at a cheaper rate and in bigger quantities than on the common roads of the country. The building and owning of locomotives and rolling stock followed. In the early days these locomotives and rolling stock were provided by the owners of the goods which were being transported, just as at the present time the trucks making up a goods train are mostly the property of the consignees of the goods handled. So again, at the present time, the canals are owned by companies and the boats and propelling power are provided by the customers or consignees of the traffic.

The Onus of Excessive Axle-la eight.

Gradually each railway company, especially in dealing with passenger traffic, built and owned the locomotive and the coach. The increasing demand for power and weight caused heavier and more powerful locomotives to be built, so that 100 tons is quite a common tare for a main-line locomotive at the present time. This weight intensity means that the permanent way must be kept up to a condition that will support it throughout all the main lines of the country. It is the combination of this 100-tons weight and of the Board of Trade requirements that is the cause of the excessive outlay on the upkeep of the railway permanent way.

Railway Practice for Road Problems.

In regard to mechanical road transport, until the internal-combustion engine had been made a success, road locomotive engineers always kept themselves up-to-date by adopting most of the methods introduced by the railway locomotive designer, and to the present day any alteration in railway steam-engine or boiler design is quickly adopted by the road-locomotive engineer, e.g., the Belpaire type of firebox. Both the railway and the road-locomotive designer seem to have lost sight of the fact that, in the cost of transport, the upkeep of the road must be one of the most important factors to be kept in view. Both designers have gone on increasing the weights of locomotives so that, although rolling stock running costs may have been reduced, the increase in the cost of upkeep of road has not, so far as I can see, been considered as an important charge on the total carrying costs. The load efficiency, when the cost of upkeep of the road is considered, becomes the most important factor in the problem, and further, the total moving load or the axle-weight must be limited, if the costs of the road upkeep are to be considered at all.

The Cost of the Rail.

We have seen that the railway permanent way has to be kept in a condition, throughout the whole of the main line of a company's service, so that it will bear with safety the maximum imposed load—at least 100 tons. It has been held that no big load can be moved with a locomotive unless the locomotive has the necessary dead weight to ensure the requisite adhesion to draw the load. In road locomotive trials, however, it has been proved that the angularity of the attachment of the load makes the heavy-weight locomotive unnecessary. Another method of overcoming the excessive weight of the road locomotive is demonstrated in the Renard Road Train, now manufactured by the Daimler Co. of Coventry.

Arrival of the Auto-coach.

The low earning capacity of the passenger traffic of most of our railway companies makes it necessary for them to consider every suggested method for lowering their standing charges, and the use of selfpropelled coaches on the main lines as suggested in the following scheme will reduce the permanent way charges by a considerable amount. Most of the railway companies are already using on their branch lines the self-propelled coach, but I believe the N. E. R. Co.'s Wolseley-Westinghouse cars built some eight or nine years ago are so far the largest self-propelled coaches for railway work in this country, which are driven by internal-combustion engines generating electricity for the purpose of propulsion. [American engineers, closely copying the NorthEastern practice, are now building much morepowerful units.—En.] The Economy of the Unit.

If the method of using self-propelled coaches on main lines is more expensive in running costs than the present form of heavy locomotive, the increased cost is only taking place at the time of running and in direct ratio with the mileage run, whereas the permanent-way increased charges, due to the use of heavy locomotives, are an hourly standing charge on the train running costs, irrespective of mileage run.

Booked Seats Only.

An infinite amount of waste is allowed by the railway companies in not issuing numbered tickets securing numbered seats in the coaches. When comparing the two methods, the cost per head of passengers carried must be carefully considered. How often do we see a train of eight or ten coaches, with say 40 or 50 compartments, carrying an average of only four passengers per compartment? Consider the low load efficiency of a train loaded in this manner.

A Train of Auto-coaches.

It is suggested, then, that a train should be made up of self-propelled coaches, each having numbered seating accommodation for, say, 40 passengers, and that each coach at the terminus is loaded according to the numbered seating accommodation of each coach, Instead, therefore, of a 100-Lon locomotive and 10 coaches having 50 compartments loaded with 200 passengers, we would have six 40-ton self-propelled coaches carrying the same paying load, viz., 200 passengers.

Main-Line Trains Stop at all Stations.

Such a train would start, we will say, from London for Glasgow, and at no time on the route would its speed be lower than say 25 miles per hour. The question of passengers for intermediate stations would be met by having the' last coach interchangeable with coaches joining on to the train at intermediate stations whilst the train was proceeding on the journey. Passengers for Rugby on the LondonGlasgow train would be moved into the last coach, .,,hich would detach itself from the train on approaching its destination, and passengers from Rugby would take their seats in a self-propelled coach waiting to attach itself to the Glasgow train as this train passed Rugby.

Baggage must be Standardized.

The question of luggage has to be considered, and it is high time that the methods of baggage handling on British railways were gone into and brought up-to-date. Why should the railways carry luggage of all shapes and sizes? A rack of a certain size should be provided for first-class and third-class passengers, and no luggage exceeding the three dimensions of the registered space should be allowed. The luggage coach would be situated at the front of the train and transferred to the detaching coach, or vice versa, before reaching the coach's destinaIion.

Some Reasons Why.

The advantages of the above suggested method of passenger transport are many. Some of them are : the average speed of the train _would be higher ; all trains could be stopping trains ; great saving in upkeep of permanent way ; higher load efficiency ; lower total carrying costs per head greater convenience to passengers, All of these are vital questions in the problem of railway passenger transport.

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Locations: Coventry, Glasgow, London

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