Steam Answers The Challenge

Southland Times, Issue 22999, 19 September 1936, Page 21 (Supplement)

Steam Answers The Challenge

With the development in recent years of Diesel oil engines for hauling railway trains, steam, “king of the rails” for a century, has met with some severe competition. Streamlined Diesel-operated trains, like the famous “Zephyr” of the Burlington (U.S.A.) line, which can travel at 110 miles an hour, have seriously challenged the steam locomotive for the supremacy of the rails, but they are not having it all their own way. Only a few days ago it was announced that the London and North-Eastern Railway’s streamlined steam express, “Silver Jubilee,” which runs non-stop between London and Newcastle, had set up a new world’s record for a steam train on a regular run by reaching a speed of 113 miles an hour. The “Silver Jubilee” already holds the record of the fastest regular run of over 200 miles in the world —over a distance of 232 miles it averages a shade over 70 miles an hour. In other countries, particularly Germany and America, a great deal of effort has been spent in improving the steam locomotive. Streamlining has reduced the air resistance, engineering improvements have increased power and the use of new light alloys in building the engine has considerably reduced the weight. Some of the new German locomotives, such as the “61,001,” shown in the iluustration, are lighter in weight than any.built hitherto. The use of the new alloy steel cuts the weight by almost a third, so that an entire train including the locomotive and four carriages, weighs from 50 to 100 tons less than a single steam locomotive of some of the latest. types. One of these lightweight German engines recently touched 120 miles an hour while hauling a 400-ton train—a remarkable performance for a steam train. You might not think that streamlining itself would have much effect on a train’s performance. The Germans have found out by actual tests, however, that at a speed of 90 miles an hour the change over from the usual type of train to stream-lining results in a saving of 500 horse power. What is a Crown Colony? A Crown colony is an overseas possession of the British Crown, controlled by the Colonial Office. Crown colonies, or groups of Crown colonies have resident governors or administrators appointed by the Crown. There is a difference between the rule of the GovernorGeneral of a self-governing Dominion, such as New Zealand, and that of the Governor of a Crown colony. The Governor of a Crown colony is a real ruler, who need not act according to the advice of local officials, but is subject to instructions from the Colonial Office. How Many Legs has a Caterpillar? The caterpillar of a butterfly is divided into 13 segments, making, with the head, 14 divisions. Each of the first three nearest the head, called the thoracic segments, has a pair of true legs. The third to the sixth of the abdominal segments have each a pair of false legs, called pro-legs, and there is also a pair on the last ring.