September 2001
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A miscellany: 1851-1976

There is no particular theme to our selection from the pages of the railway press this month. Instead, we include a miscellany of items culled from editions of 150, 100, 50 and 25 years ago.
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150 years ago - 1851: The Railway Times reports on plans for a vast central railway terminus in the City of London

150 years ago - 1851: The Railway Times reflects on the good progress being made in the construction of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway

100 years ago - 1901: The Railway Magazine describes the role played by the railways in Queen Victoria's funeral arrangements

50 years ago - 1951: The British Railways Magazine carries a pep-talk from the incoming Chairman of the Railway Executive, John Eliot, to all British Railways staff

50 years ago - 1951: The Railway Gazette reveals how US railroads are planning to cope with nuclear war

25 years ago - 1976: Modern Railways considers the shortcomings of the Advanced Passenger Train

• 'Proposed central terminus in the city'
  From The Railway Times, November 1851, p. 1154

On Wednesday Mr. Charles Pearson met a number of members of the corporation [of the City of London], in the Egyptian-hall, Mansion-house, for the purpose of developing his plans for improving the city, and relieving its thoroughfares by means of a central railway terminus, and other arrangements; Sir George Carroll in the chair.

Mr. Pearson commenced by adverting to the increasing value of building space in the city, and next alluded to the enormous increase of omnibuses, attributable to the establishment of railway termini around London, and the growth of the suburbs and the practice of traders residing out of town. From this cause the streets were overcrowded more and more every year, the increase in omnibuses alone having been found to be 4 per cent. per annum. To meet this difficulty, nothing, said Mr. Pearson, will suffice but the establishment of railway stations for the admission of City passengers from the North-Western, Great Western, and Great Northern lines, and a cheap trunk line for the inhabitants of suburbs in those quarters. He next adverted to the history of his endeavours to secure for his project the favourable attention of the corporation and public, and the causes of his failure. He had now models, plans, estimates, and also a bill ready for Parliament, prepared at his own expense, and was ready to commit his proposals again to the public. He declined to mention any specific sum as the probably cost of the improvement, chiefly because the sum which after the best inquiry appeared necessary, was so ridiculously small in comparison with the gigantic nature of the undertaking. He would say, however, that if the various railway companies chose to work with it, passengers might be conveyed for 6 or 7 miles at the cost of 2d. per head. Mr. Pearson then turned to the model, which comprehends the whole of the district extending (north and south) from Cold Bath Fields Prison - to Bridge-street, Blackfriars; and (east and west) from Shoe-lane and Saffron-hill - to the Old Bailey and Turnmill-street. To effect the proposed improvement, it is proposed to occupy the Valley of the Fleet from Holborn-bridge to King's-cross, by constructing branch lines for passengers to the City from the Great Western and the Northern railroads, together with sidings running from the main lines, and conveying meat, poultry, roots and vegetables (without changing carriages or traversing the streets), to wholesale markets to be erected over the line close to the City. The plan also provides extensive receiving-houses close to the City north of Holborn-bridge, to be built over other sidings from the main lines, for loading the carriages with goods to be sent direct by rail, in substitution of the railway receiving-houses in Lad-lane, Lawrence-lane, Basing-line, the Old Bailey, and other narrow and confined thoroughfares in the city, where goods are now received, unloaded, reloaded and re-conveyed through the over-crowded streets and lanes in their way to the distant railway stations at Paddington, Camden-town, or King's-cross. It likewise provides a great trunk line of double rails to bring omnibus passengers by rail from Paddington and the northern suburbs of the metropolis to the vicinity of Farringdon-street. The suggested railway is to interrupt no thoroughfares, intercept no prospects, interfere with no drainage, and no ventilation in the public streets. The project proposes to lay the several lines of railway under a new street to be constructed 100 feet wide, and intersecting the metropolis from King's-cross to Holborn-bridge. It will likewise provide transverse streets on the high level, and so unite the districts of the metropolis, east and west, which are now separated by the ravine that yawns between them. The valley at Holborn-bridge is to be raised 17 feet 6 inches, and Holborn-hill, Snow-hill, and Skinner-street are to be placed upon a level plane. The obstructions of Newgate-street are to be removed by taking away the carcase market to a spot where there will be ample space, and where the meat and other articles will be brought in by underground railway conveyance. By underground connection between the Post-office and the railway stations the use of Post-office vans will be superseded, and in the space of three minutes the letter-bags may be passed to and fro from the station, so that half-an-hour at least may be daily saved in every post that arrives at or leaves London, as far as three-fourths of the United Kingdom is concerned. At the conclusion of Mr. Pearson's elucidations, the meeting separated, after inspecting the model, it being understood that a vote would be taken on the matter at the next court of Common Council.

At a Court of Common Council, held on Thursday, it was resolved by a large majority that the plan should be referred to a ward committee, which is to give the necessary parliamentary notices.

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• 'Great Indian Peninsula'
  From The Railway Times, 3 May 1851, p. 449

The report to the Great Indian Peninsula is considered satisfactory. The natives are getting on wonderfully well as labourers, the secret of course being that they are decently paid for their labour. The influence which converts the laziest of the human race, an ill-fed Irish peasant, into a hard-working man, is equally paramount in Bombay. We are glad to learn that due caution is going side by side with increasing diligence. Only a single line of rails is to be laid to Callian in the first instance, with double bridges and other like works, waiting for increase of traffic before double rails are laid down. Increase is sure to arrive at its proper time. Meanwhile, economy, order, and not striving at too much will make a good beginning.

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• 'The funeral of Queen Victoria'
  From The Railway Magazine, March 1901, pp. 260-4

The funeral cortege of our late Queen, in addition to travelling by sea and road, performed two journeys by train, both on Saturday, February 2nd. The first of these was over the London and South-Western Railway from Gosport to Fareham, and thence by London, Brighton and South Coast Railway to Victoria. The train in question consisted of the elaborate "Prince of Wales" Royal train, constructed by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, at Brighton Works, in 1898, for the accommodation of King Edward VII. In addition to this train, the Great Western Railway provided two saloons (Nos. 229 and 223), the former had the internal fittings removed, and contained the coffin within which was the body of Queen Victoria; the interior of the saloon was lined with white cloth relieved by purple bands. Great Western saloon, No. 223, was used to convey the wreaths and other floral emblems. On Friday night, February 1st, the Royal train left Portsmouth Town Station for Gosport, in charge of two London and South Western pilotmen, where it was shunted for the night, being taken early on Saturday morning to Clarence Yard, where the remains of her late Majesty were placed in the saloon, after which the members of the Royal Family took their seats. The train was under the personal charge of Mr. Sam Fay, superintendent of the London and South-Western Railway; whilst Mr. Owens, the general manager, and Mr. Drummond, the locomotive superintendent, travelled with the train. On arrival at Fareham, the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway officials took charge for the rest of the journey. Mr. Forbes, the general manager, and Mr. Greenwood, superintendent of the line, being in attendance; whilst Mr. Billinton, the locomotive superintendent, and Mr. J. Richardson, the chief of Battersea locomotive district, travelled on the engine. The train being in charge of two Royal guards, in gorgeous uniforms (J. Youatt and E. Rose). The engine attached at Fare- [p. 261>] ham was No. 54 ("Empress"), one of the "Sirdar" class of four-coupled bogie express locomotives ... it was decorated with a gilt crown on a crimson cushion at the front of the chimney, and with white and purple cloth festoons along the sides of the boiler barrel, and smoke-box. The train left Portsmouth 10 minutes late, and leaving Fareham at 8.51, made up 9 minutes before Horsham was reached, and was finally brought to a stand in Victoria Station at 10.58, 2 minutes before the actual booked time. How exceeding fine this performance was, anyone who knows the difficulty of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway's road from Portsmouth will appreciate. The "Sirdar" ran as pilot in front of the funeral train from Portsmouth to Victoria.

The second railway journey of the funeral cortege was made on the Great Western Railway.

The Royal funeral train left Paddington at 1.32 p.m. on February 2nd, and reached Windsor at 2.6 p.m. It consisted of seven saloon carriages and a van, and formed the train usually worked for Royalty. The late Queen's saloon was in the centre, and had been specially fitted up to convey the body. Preceding the funeral train a pilot train was run for funeral guests; it consisted of nine saloons, and left Paddington at 1.28 p.m. and reached Windsor at 1.58 p.m.; it was hauled by "Baden-Powell." Mr. John Armstrong (Locomotive Department) and Road Inspector Greenaway rode on the engine.

From Paddington to Windsor the funeral train was taken by one of Mr. W. Dean's newest 6ft. 8in. coupled class, the pioneer of that type, No. 3373, "Atbara" (renamed for the occasion "Royal Sovereign") being selected.

The saloon that carried the coffin was built in the early seventies, at Swindon. It was used in Her Majesty's lifetime for all her day travelling, except when visiting Scotland. It was the same saloon that was used to convey the King (when Prince of Wales) to Portsmouth, after the accident to his knee some three years ago. In 1897 the saloon was altered considerably, being lengthened and improved throughout.

The saloon was specially fitted up for conveying the coffin under the direction of Mr. Hogarth, of Swindon Works.

With the Royal train from Paddington travelled Lord Cawdor, chairman; the two deputy-chairmen, Mr. Walter [p. 262>] Robinson and Mr. A. Hubbard; Mr. J. L. Wilkinson, general manager; Mr. T. I. Allen, superintendent of line. The Locomotive Department was represented by Mr. Waister, running superintendent.

Excellent arrangements were made at Paddington by Mr. Hart, the divisional superintendent, for dealing with the procession, which entered, passed through, and left the station without a hitch or halt of any kind, save that the Royal coffin and mourners withdrew from the procession in the station and proceeded to Windsor by train.

As will be seen by the illustration [omitted], the procession entered the station by the arrival platform, and passed out into Bishop's Road by means of the cab entrance. The funeral train started from the arrival side.

The Great Western Railway, in the London district, found it necessary to run special after special, in order to cope with the large number of people requiring to travel.

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• 'From the new Chairman'
  British Railways Magazine, April 1951, p. 49

From the New Chairman to every Man and Woman on British Railways

It has fallen to me to succeed my old chief, Sir Eustace Missenden, as Chairman of the Railway Executive at a difficult time for railways here, as all over the world. It will not be easy for me, and we shall miss his lifelong experience and guiding hand more than may be realised. He and his colleagues (now mine) on the Executive have had one of the biggest tasks of modern times in laying the foundations of British Railways, of settling urgent and often complicated problems of standardisation and practice, while keeping, with you, the railways running at their 24-hour task of unceasing public service. They and you have done a fine job. Now for the future:

Running the railways is, of course, a team job. If we're all pulling in different directions, we'll get nowhere. If we all pull together - and there are over 600,000 of us - we'll do a better job and be happier men and women.

You will all have received by now a copy of the booklet telling you about the recent settlement on wages and salaries, and about the new efforts which the Railway Executive and the trade unions together are making to secure increased efficiency and economy. A new Special Joint Committee of representatives of the Railway Executive and the trade unions, whose job it is to further that increased efficiency and economy, had its first meeting only ten days after the date of the settlement.

We've got to take advantage of the opportunities which this new co-operative effort gives us. Executive officers and trade union officials will, I can assure you, do their part. Success can only come if every man Jack (and Jill) in the railway service becomes imbued with a real sense of co-operation, and with an honest desire to get on with the job.

As I have said, these are difficult times. The coal crisis, rising prices and the international situation, affect us, personally, and our industry. But there we are: these adverse factors confront us, and neither you nor I can alter them. What we can do is to face up to our difficulties and make the best of them. We can do that with better results if we do it together, believing in each other's honesty and trusting in good will to pull us through.

I am an optimist about railways, and I believe in the goodwill, good work, and intelligence of railway men and women. I have met many of you and known a lot more in 26 years of railway service, particularly in the Southern and London Midland Regions. I look forward to meeting many more of you in the future as I visit each Region in turn.

May I suggest that we can best help ourselves and our industry if we define our purpose clearly so that we can keep it ever in mind. It is (a) to provide the public with an efficient railway service at a reasonable price, (b) to give good honest employment, at fair wages, in return for a day's work well done. There is our objective stated simply.

All my railway life I have tried to understand, and serve, two important sets of people, whose interests sometimes seem to conflict. 1. The public, who pay for everything in the long run. 2. The staff, without whose loyalty and enthusiasm nothing worthwhile can be achieved. These two points of view need not conflict, if wise counsels and common sense - two good British qualities - are allowed to prevail.

I promise you this: I will do my best, with the advice of my experienced colleagues on the Executive, to serve both public and staff. I will not knowingly permit or support either injustice or inefficiency.

In this, one of Britain's biggest industries, and certainly the greatest single railway unit in the world, we have much to do; to improve the services, provide better amenities for the staff, and above all to think of others as well as of ourselves. I have the right to ask for your support and trust; I shall freely give you mine.

John Eliot

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• 'Atom bomb defence on American railways'
  The Railway Gazette, 23 February 1951, p. 200

According to our American contemporary, Railway Age, the United States railways are perfecting their civil defence organisations to meet the threat of atom bombing. In Chicago, where the metropolitan area covers 2,700 sq. miles and is served by 33 railway systems, the railways have been divided into five zones, each with its own local organisation. It is considered that structures and equipment within a three-mile radius of each bomb site will be beyond repair, and as well as the normal headquarters there will be two other alternative headquarters in each zone.

If a bombing alert is received, a predetermined signal will be flashed by loudspeaker and teletypewriter to all concerned, including signalmen, who will relay it to ground yard staff. All incoming trains will be stopped at the area boundary and those within it will be halted at the first station or other opportunity. Signals will then be cleared to allow of evacuation to selected dispersal zones of all possible rail equipment and personnel from the "down-town district," the most likely target for attack.

As soon as bombed areas can be identified, other areas will be cleared for rerouting traffic around the devastated localities. Staff living within three miles of their places of work will walk there - to relieve street traffic congestion - and report for duty at once. Engineering staff will do their utmost to inspect and restore track, bridges, and buildings, and clear essential routes. Passenger stock will evacuate injured and sick, but goods vehicles will also be used if necessary. Tank wagons will be drained and cleaned to be available to carry water for fire-fighting and drinking.

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• 'Down to earth'
  Modern Railways, April 1976

As originally conceived, the Advanced Passenger Train was a highly attractive proposition. Owing little or nothing to conventional railway technology, ran the prospectus, APT would bring a new dimension to high-speed rail travel - but within the existing railway system. Investment in its advanced technology would save millions in the track realignment and resignalling costs otherwise required for significantly higher speeds. The 102mph average between London and Leicester achieved by APT-E last October was a complete vindication of the concept of the self-powered tilting train. It demonstrated that timings now only enjoyed by travellers on the East and West Coast main lines, could be brought to areas of the Inter-City network which modernisation has yet to reach.

Unfortunately, however, the burghers of Leicester and other hitherto neglected towns, who would appreciate a 100mph service to London, would be ill-advised to start cheering too soon. For despite the demonstration, the only way they will get the APT is as a by-product of more main-line electrification, which is considerably further away in their case than the first production APT. in other words, after nearly ten years endeavour the APT is exposed as something akin to a confidence trick or, at best, a piece of technological delusion.

Harsh words - but justified. No matter how sophisticated the approach, high-speed transport is only achieved through the application of large amounts of power. The 14-coach passenger prototype electric APTs, for example, will require 8000hp to bring London and Glasgow within four hours. When the original design team turned down the offer of a 1500hp Rolls-Royce ‘Dart' in favour of multiple Leyland 290hp turbines for their new train any hope of providing the necessary power for a commercial APT virtually vanished. And in the interval since then, no other country has produced a true high-horsepower gas turbine for traction use, let alone a successful one. The practical self-propelled APT has been dead for some time.

So, faut de mieux, the electric APT is now with us, but in the process it has lost its independence of the old-fashioned railway around it. It has become just another high-speed train, limited by catenary design and the electricity-supply system to 125mph running, as was outlined recently in the Chairman's address to the Railway Division of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Even tied down with copper wire the APT can still reduced the London Glasgow timing by one hour, but with what disruption to traffic patterns is still to be revealed. Impressive though the proposed four-hour schedule may be, its commercial value is questionable. Competing with a British Airways Shuttle which can get the traveller from London to the middle of Glasgow before 10am, when an APT passenger will be hard pushed to make it 1½ hours later, is not a sensible application of railway marketing skills, especially when one is asking the businessman to spend eight hours of his working day simply travelling. Faster timings with APT are also being obtained at the expense of reduced quality of travel and we remain unconvinced that the balance is in the faster train's favour. Our over-riding impression of the APT interior, based on travel in the prototype and various mock-ups, is of a cramped narrow tube, rating somewhat lower on the claustrophobia scale than a ‘Trident' or a BAC 1-11. An extra 15 minutes door-to-door on shorter transits would be a small price to pay for the comfort of standard Mk III stock.

The electric APT is a less-useful tool than the original article but still a costly one. The three passenger prototypes plus support facilities are costing over £30 million at 1975 prices and at £2-3 million per production set it remains doubtful whether BR will be able to acquire APTs in sufficient numbers to make commercial and operating sense - even with the intensive operation which will be required to recoup the investment. A large number will be required to provide a full service while the support costs and disruption to existing running can only be justified by a completely transformed service pattern as with the original electrification of the West Coast main line. And as we have previously remarked, while tilting coaches are already in service overseas, production APTs are still a long way away. When APT lagged the traditional railway produced the HST as a stop-gap; now that APT is only for the rich lines, if at all, could the old guard produce a tilting HST for the 1980s?

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Compiled by Dr Ralph Harrington, Institute of Railway Studies, York.

Updated 3 September 2001