FIREPROOF TRAIN

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume X, Issue 481, 11 August 1914, Page 7

FIREPROOF TRAIN

-♦- A little crowd of sightseers paid for platform tickets to stand on Victoria Station, Manchester, recently, to see the new fireproof saloon train which the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway have put on their service betAveen Manchester and Southport. 'Seen from outside (says the ' Daily Mail '), the train looks like another, but the material under the outer brown paint is steel, and not wood. Outside the carriage there is no Avood at all beyond the footboards. The frame, the under-frame, the bogies, and the sides are all of steel, the floorings are all double, and are "insulated" Avith asbestos. The lighting of the train is by gas, bub the gas tanks are separated from the flooring by thick steel plates. They are also encased m steel to protect them from damage. Bach gas tank is fitted Avith automatic valves, , and if a gas pipe should be broken these valves at once prevent any further outlet of gas. A novel feature is a large AvindoAV m the centre of each coach, hinged horizontally and opening outwards and upAvards. This Avindow is intended as an emergency exit. The train has a central corridor throughout its length of nearly 500 ft. At each end is a large tool rack containing «»xes, crowbars, fire extinguishers, and other . salvage pnd rescue apparatus. The train has accommodation for nearly 400 passengers.