Quiz

[jwealleans]

This was posted on another forum and I thought people might enjoy it. It is from a book dated between 1941-46, which will have a bearing on some of the answers!

1. What is a capuchon chimney?
6. What is a Belpaire firebox?
32. How heavy is a chair?
33. What is a simple locomotive?
40. What is a slide detector fence?
64. What is a banner signal?
67. What is a van kip?
124. What is a "pot" sleeper?
140. What is a double royal?
146. What is the meaning of the letters "CC", painted in black on a yellow background, on the side of certain railway wagons?
160. What is the meaning of the following initials on steel rails: BA, BB, OA, OB?
192. What two British locomotives carry American warning bells?
194. What, legally, must be seen on every passenger station?
290. What was the name of George Stephenson's first locomotive?
333. What is a "crow"?
339. What is a "pop"?
343. Why is the distance between the centres of the axles of a bogie always greater than the track gauge?
347. What express railway coaches run on pneumatic tyres?
354. What is the normal (closed) position of level crossing gates - across the railway or across the road?
356. What three signals are necessary to allow a passenger train to leave a station?
373. What railway connection led to Col. Wm. F. Cody being known as "Buffalo Bill"?
374. How long is the usual British rail?
380. When does a train carry a white tail lamp?
387. Are the tops of rails on British railways absolutely horizontal?
393. When does a white light indicate danger?

[Bullhead]

33 - one which isn't a compound locomotive: i.e., the steam, having been passed through the cylinders once, is not then re-used for traction purposes before being vented to the atmosphere.
40 - I think this is the notched bar between 2 point blades through which signal detectors pass (and allow the respective signal to be cleared) when the points are correctly positioned.
64 - a device which repeats the aspect of a stop or (occasionally) distant signal because of sighting considerations. It consists of a plain black bar (notched at one end if it's a distant) in an illuminated white circular housing; normally horizontal, when the signal is "off" the banner arm moves to 45 degrees. New banner repeaters use fibre optics.
67 - a siding where vans are stored?
124 - the early, stone, individual bases to which short rails were secured, which didn't span the "four-foot"?
192 - "Royal Scot" and "Dominion of Canada".
194 - its name (presumably - if correct - this requirement was suspended during WW2)?
290 - I get confused with Stephenson's early locos but I'm not going to cheat by looking it up. Was it "Blucher"?
333 - a long note on an engine whistle.
339 - a short note on an engine whistle.
354 - across the railway.
356 - this will depend on the station and local signalling, surely, and whether the train is DOO (the latter not being a consideration in the 1940s, obviously)?
387 - it depends in what plane: across the head of the rail (i.e., the short distance), I think they're slightly convex; along the head of the rail (i.e., from end to end) one would hope that they are level.
393 - when waved violently.

[Ptarmigan]

32 wouldn't want to drop one on my toe !

33 The steam pressure is used singly (ie. _nearly_ all at once in one cylinder)
Not a compound, in which the steam is first used in a high pressure cylinder before being passed to one (or more) stages of lower pressure cylinder(s)
194 Was it the station master's name ?
( Similar to public houses which carry the name of the licencee (publican ) ?
339 Valve
343 If it wasn't longer the the "forward" pointing would be a conditional forced stability, rather than unconditional.
If it were shorter it would tend to be thrown crosswise and get stuck in that state.
373 Hired by railway company to provide meat for food.
387No
convex crosswise
(and no, not least because nothing is ever absolute, well not in enineering anyroad !)

Edit Later :
I thought that I knew 6 as being tapered but wasn't sure, so I looked in my Henry Greenly "Model Engineering" and ,,,,
but that would have been cheating ! so I'll leave the chad hanging ,,,

[lielestosbrat]

6) A Belpaire firebox is the invention of a Belgium chap with the surname Belpaire (can't recall his first name). The firebox has a narrow bottom so it will fit in side the frames of the loco. Once above the wheels the firebox widens to the width of the Boiler. The firebox has a flat top to increase the heating surface. It is usually seen to be tapered in towards the back and lower at the back when compared to the front.

Rob

[Ptarmigan]

I didnt know he was Belgian !

The firebox has a flat top

That is what Henry chose as the distinguishing feature,
so I was part right with the tapered bit then !

Thanks Rob, interesting.

[Mickey]

.

[thesignalman]

374. How long is the usual British rail?

A: 32 years

J

[Mickey]

.

[Hatfield Shed]

6. What is a Belpaire firebox?...

A superfluous device which became an article of religion in most of the UK steam design shops. This more complex (and thus more expensive) construction brought no benefit of any sort when compared to a round top firebox of equivalent design quality; and all three of the grouped companies which used this device suffered boiler explosions in their designs with these fireboxes.

The optimal round top boiler path of the GNR delivered the LNER from its evils, and thus uniquely among the Big Four, a complete absence of boiler explosions, in any of Gresley, Thompson and Peppercorn's designs.

[burnie]

192 King George V was/is one

[Pyewipe Junction]

6. What is a Belpaire firebox?...

A superfluous device which became an article of religion in most of the UK steam design shops. This more complex (and thus more expensive) construction brought no benefit of any sort when compared to a round top firebox of equivalent design quality; and all three of the grouped companies which used this device suffered boiler explosions in their designs with these fireboxes.

The optimal round top boiler path of the GNR delivered the LNER from its evils, and thus uniquely among the Big Four, a complete absence of boiler explosions, in any of Gresley, Thompson and Peppercorn's designs.

Without in any way questioning what you have stated as facts, could you please provide a source for those facts?

I in no way prefer the Belpaire boiler over the round-topped boiler, but it must be noted that the Belpaire boiler was used extensively in Europe, so it must have had something going for it and not been as dangerous as you suggest. Interestingly, from what I have observed, North American railroads preferred the round-topped boiler as did the Germans (from the videos I have seen).

[Mickey]

192 King George V was/is one

The GWR King no.6000 King George V was presented with an American railroad bell when William Stanier accompanied the loco to north America in the mid-1920s.

Legend had it that due to the long in length of fireboxes on GWR locos some firemen claimed that when the coal was thrown some 11ft into the firebox you could hear the bell mounted on the front buffer beam of the loco sound DING!!.

[Hatfield Shed]

...Without in any way questioning what you have stated as facts, could you please provide a source for those facts?...

'Locomotive Boiler Explosions' by CH Hewison, ISBN0-7153-8305-1 The author had a railway engineering career, finally in the employment of the Railways Inspectorate; from the records of which he compiled this book surveying all the available incidents. Well written and illustrated with what pictures were available, recommended to anyone seriously interested in the steam locomotive.

...I in no way prefer the Belpaire boiler over the round-topped boiler, but it must be noted that the Belpaire boiler was used extensively in Europe, so it must have had something going for it and not been as dangerous as you suggest. Interestingly, from what I have observed, North American railroads preferred the round-topped boiler as did the Germans (from the videos I have seen).

That's just me having a little fun with a dig at the 'religious faith' in the superiority of the Belpaire firebox in the UK. For sure it worked, but a simpler design worked equally well, given that they were of similarly competent design quality. I believe what happened to secure the Belpaire firebox' reputation was that at time of introduction it represented a design advance over what most works were producing at the time.

Some of the commentary after BR obligingly tested the SR, LMS and GWR's Belpaire boilered product which showed not just no advantage over Doncaster round top boilers, but were if anything inferior performers; verges on a hysterical 'How can this be?'.

[Pyewipe Junction]

Thank you. That book seems a little esoteric for me, but I'll have a look to see if it's available at a reasonable price secondhand.

I find it interesting that Bulleid switched to Belpaire fireboxes when he joined the Southern and went as far as introdcucing thermic siphons as well. there was no chance of round-topped fireboxes being continued under BR, given its Stanier influences, although I have read that testers at the RTS (or was it Swindon) were very surprised at the steaming performance of a V2.

[Hatfield Shed]

...I find it interesting that Bulleid switched to Belpaire fireboxes when he joined the Southern and went as far as introducing thermic siphons as well...

Or alternatively he didn't in the case of the Belpaire firebox, which was already in use on SR, which had swithered between round top and Belpaire, before he took up office.

The thermic siphon is a different and unrelated story, an experiment that started on the LNER, and presumably he felt was promising enough to introduce on his own account now he had a CME chair. This device undoubtedly worked, offering a reliable path to some of the advantages of a water tube boiler for railway service, but was overkill for the typical power demands made of UK steam. One of the difficulties facing a crew on a Bulleid pacific was judging the firing and bolier water feed so as not to waste fuel and steam unduly after high power output. It surely contributed to the very free steaming of these boilers, which one of Riddles' team observed 'Appeared capable of steaming on garden waste'.

...testers at the RTS (or was it Swindon) were very surprised at the steaming performance of a V2...

Swindon did some maximum load road testing, and found that it was very powerful. Which Doncaster already knew, and might account for near 200 in service...

Now, if you want a good general read, Chapelon's 'La Locomotive a Vapeur' is the one to go for. Unfortunately not likely to be found economically, but it is the most fantastic summary overview of the state of steam locomotive design at its climax in general service. He wanted to get his hands on the final generation of US steam superpower, believing that he could have doubled the drawbar power output of these circa 6,000 hp monsters...