Rolling Stock

Sleeping Cars and Corridors.

British sleeping cars built by the Pullman Co. of America were used on the Midland Railway in 1874, the L.N.W.R. also using a sleeping car at that date. Pull man cars available for ist and 3rd class passengers on payment of a supplementary charge are attached to many British railway trains, and sometimes form a whole train. They are also available for day use on the lines of the American "chair-cars." For many years all sleeping cars have been owned by the railway com panies. In 188o the G.N.R. provided dining cars on their London to Leeds trains; the Midland Railway was, however, the first company to offer these dining car facilities to third class passen gers. The same railway in 1872 provided third class accom modation on all its trains, a policy which all the railways of the country were forced to adopt during the succeeding years. In 1875 the Midland Railway also abandoned the 2nd class, a policy which has become almost universal except on certain suburban and special services, such as boat trains. On French railways the three classes still exist but many fast trains are only provided with ist and 2nd class carriages. The same is true of Belgium and Switzer land. In Germany there are four classes, but more than three are scarcely ever provided upon any one train, 1st and 2nd class on the fast main line trains, 2nd and 3rd on intermediate trains and 3rd and 4th on local slow trains.

The G.W.R. in 1890 put into service the first corridor trains, thereby permitting a passenger to reach the dining car by passing along a corridor usually placed on one side of the vehicle, and so also eliminating the special train stops made on nearly all the long distance runs to enable passengers to take their meals at the station restaurants. A movable covered gangway in the centre at the end of the coach is provided to ensure safety when passing from one carriage to another. Lavatory accommodation became standard in the case of corridor carriages during the early 'nineties: On certain railways, notably the Midland, the clerestory roof was introduced. It possessed a raised portion in the centre, and being fitted with glazed lights permitted increased light in the com partment and improved ventilation. It lasted on the M.R. until 1914 when it gave place to the British standard high rounded roof, technically known as the "semi-elliptical." The French and Bel gian railways never adopted the clerestory, sometimes called the Pullman roof, but it was used in Germany for many years, and the vast majority of American and Canadian passenger cars are built with this design of roof.

All carriages built for long distance train services in Great Britain are designed to permit travellers to pass from one end of the train to the other, either by means of a side corridor or a centre vestibule. The former are known as compartment type corridor vehicles, while all dining cars are built to the latter design. Cor ridor trains permit the collection and examination of tickets by the railway officials while the journey is in progress, thereby also enabling time at stations to be cut down to a minimum, while per mitting the passengers to distribute themselves more evenly throughout the train. On the other hand it lowers the seating

capacity of the carriages by at least two seats per compartment, which constitutes a serious consideration in the case of suburban passenger traffic, especially during. the hours of "peak" traffic, or "rush" hours, when seating capacity is strained to the utter most. Consequently, suburban passenger trains in Europe are normally of the non-corridor type, though in certain countries, notably Switzerland, all the carriages are vestibuled.

Passenger Train Weights, Speeds.

The typical British cor ridor 8-wheel bogie carriage contains seven 1st class compart ments or eight 3rd class compartments, seating respectively 42 and 64 persons on an empty, or "tare," weight of about 3o tons. It usually possesses a lavatory at either end and is about 6oft. long by 9ft. wide with a height from rail level to top of roof cen tre of about 13ft. Carriages usually possess steel frames and wooden bodies, sometimes metal sheeted, and in some cases a metal roof, but a wooden roof is more common. On Continental railways the modern all steel express train carriage often weighs to 45 tons; a greater degree of safety is claimed for that type of construction but the all-metal design is usually very much more noisy than the wooden type of carriage. The non-corridor bogie carriage for suburban service contains 8 or 9 compartments, seat ing io or 12 third class passengers and eight 1st class passengers on an empty or tare weight of 25 tons. A typical British express train often weighs between 400 and 500 tons empty, exclusive of the engine and tender; on the Continent a train of similar seating capacity would be heavier owing to the Continental carriage design. Pullman, dining and sleeping cars are the heaviest cars on European railways.

Oil was the earliest illuminant of railway carriages, giving way to gas lighting in the eighties, later improved by the addition of the incandescent gas mantle. Electric lighting was in use before the end of the century and is used for all new carriages, power being usually generated by a dynamo worked off the axle of the carriage when running. Carriages are heated by means of steam supplied by the engine, but in the case of electric traction other methods have to be employed. The steam heating system replaced the use of foot-warmers containing chemicals which gave off heat after being dipped in hot water. The screw coupling and side buffer are used on nearly all Western European carriages, the few ex ceptions in England being largely automatic centre couplings of the "buck-eye" type, the two jaws closing when the carriages are pushed together, but these are only fitted to Pullman or other carriages working in special trains. The L.N.E.R. has constructed many "articulated" sets of 2, 3 or 5 vehicles, the bogie being placed under two vehicles instead of at the ends of each. By this method weight is saved and, it is claimed, less oscillation and smoother running results.