Round the works of our great railways by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Locomotives
Publisher: London : E. Arnold
Published: 1893-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

136 ROUND THE WORKS OF OUR GREAT RAILWAYS.

weight in one part adjusted by an iron strip bolted on opposite. There is more in this than one might imagine, a pound or so too much or too little in any part of the wheel being enough to convert an otherwise comfortable carriage into a veritable " sea on land."

In the Wagon Department we get a good idea of the varieties of trafiSc for which the Company has to cater. For farm produce and general merchandise the ordinary goods wagons suffice, but these are totally unsuitable for heavy machinery, or, on the other hand, for eggs and light but bulky articles which come in large quantities from the Continent by the Parkeston route. Special wagons also are required for yeast, and for fruit, and for the American lard which comes by the Great Eastern route from Liverpool to London. As one particular traffic grows or another diminishes, modifications become necessary in the designs for new vehicles, but wherever practicable these are confined to the body, the under frame, which is now generally made of steel instead of wood, being kept to standard dimensions. The Wagon Department has its own saw-mills, smithy, and machine shop. We are shown a combination machine which will cross-cut a wood solebar to length, cut the tenons at either end, bore all necessary holes, and bore and chisel out the mortices. This is so ingenious and interesting that it seems a pity it will have to be disestablished and disendowed ere long by the all-conquering steel.

There are several shops close by the Wagon Department, including a tinsmiths', an engine paint shop, and a shop where the tender for the record engine was built,but a little further there is something that breaks the monotony

THE GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY WORKS. 137

of a round of manufacturing processes, and thither we hie. We refer to the Engine Stables. Here, if we may use the similitude, we see the heavy cart-horse, the more active cab-hack, and the well-groomed and carefully tended racing-steed, their life-blood swelling within them ; and from the readiness with which they respond

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