1.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
William Bridges Adams
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William Bridges Adams was an author, inventor and locomotive engineer. He is best known for his patented Adams axle — a successful radial axle design in use on railways in Britain until the end of steam traction in 1968 — and his writings, including English Pleasure Carriages and Roads and Rails covered all forms of land transport. Later he became a writer on political reform, under the pen name Junius Redivivus. He was born and grew up in Woore, Shropshire, close to Madeley and his father was a son of a yeoman farmer of Woore, who moved to London where he worked his way from a journeyman to master. His principal business was that of supplying leather to coachmakers from a shop in Dean Street, in due course Adams was apprenticed to the coach making firm of Baxter & Pierce of Long Acre, London. This was a well known firm and during his time with the company Napoleons travelling carriage was brought there, after the battle of Waterloo, in December 1819 he married Elizabeth Place, the daughter of Francis Place, the social reformer. Together they set out on a voyage to find their fortunes in a warmer climate, in 1820 they left for Valparaiso in Chile. In Valparaiso he was employed to manage Lord Cochranes estate, for a salary of £200 per year, in 1821 he had a son, William Alexander Adams. The family survived the earthquake in Valparaiso of 19 November 1822, Elizabeth died on 8 August 1823, when giving birth to a second child, who also died. Following this tragedy Bridges Adams returned to England, with his son, by a trek over the Andes to Buenos Aires and by ship back to London, via Falmouth. After a further trip to the United States, Bridges Adams settled in London and took a position in the firm of Hobson & Co and his first wife was Elizabeth Place. He married Sarah Fuller Flower Adams in 1834 and they resided at the now demolished Sunnybank, Woodbury Hill, in Loughton, after Sarahs death in 1848, he remarried to Ellen Kendall, with whom he would have one daughter, Hope Bridges Adams. Adams died at Cuthbert House, Broadstairs, Kent, aged seventy-five, Bridges Adams patented an improved carriage spring, which he called bow springs. These could also be used on carriages, and the manufacture proved profitable. The manufacture was based in the Currier Factory in Drury Lane and Parker Street, the business was carried out in the name of Samuel Adams, Bridges Adamss uncle. In 1842 the factory moved from its premises to three acres of land adjoining the Eastern Counties Railway at Fair Field, Bow. The company now traded as Adams & Co and he founded the Fairfield Locomotive Works in Bow, East London, in 1843, where he specialized in light engines, steam railcars and inspection trolleys. The two men patented the invention in 1847, although the design was successful, with sales to the Eastern Counties Railway among others, financial difficulties forced Adams to relinquish the patent
3.
Whyte notation
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The notation counts the number of leading wheels, then the number of driving wheels, and finally the number of trailing wheels, groups of numbers being separated by dashes. Other classification schemes, like UIC classification and the French, Turkish and Swiss systems for steam locomotives, in the notation a locomotive with two leading axles in front, then three driving axles and then one trailing axle is classified as 4-6-2. Articulated locomotives such as Garratts, which are two locomotives joined by a common boiler, have a + between the arrangements of each engine. Thus a double Pacific type Garratt is a 4-6-2+2-6-4, for Garratt locomotives the + sign is used even when there are no intermediate unpowered wheels, e. g. the LMS Garratt 2-6-0+0-6-2. This is because the two units are more than just power bogies. They are complete engines, carrying fuel and water tanks, the + sign represents the bridge that links the two engines. Simpler articulated types such as Mallets, have a frame under a common boiler where there are no unpowered wheels between the sets of powered wheels. Typically, the frame is free to swing, whereas the rear frame is rigid with the boiler. Thus a Union Pacific Big Boy is a 4-8-8-4, four leading wheels, one group of eight driving wheels, another group of eight driving wheels and this numbering system is shared by duplex locomotives, which have powered wheel sets sharing a rigid frame. No suffix means a tender locomotive, T indicates a tank locomotive, in European practice, this is sometimes extended to indicate the type of tank locomotive, T means side tank, PT pannier tank, ST saddle tank, WT well tank. T+T means a tank locomotive that also has a tender, in Europe, the suffix R can signify rack or reversible, the latter being Bi-cabine locomotives used in France. The suffix F indicates a fireless locomotive, other suffixes have been used, including ng for narrow-gauge and CA or ca for compressed air. In Britain, small diesel and petrol locomotives are classified in the same way as steam locomotives. This may be followed by D for diesel or P for petrol, thus 0-6-0DE denotes a six-wheel diesel locomotive with electric transmission. Where the axles are coupled by chains or shafts or are individually driven, thus 4wPE indicates a four-wheel petrol locomotive with electric transmission. For large diesel locomotives the UIC classification is used, the main limitation of Whyte Notation is that it does not cover non-standard types such as Shay locomotives, which use geared trucks rather than driving wheels. The most commonly used system in Europe outside the United Kingdom is UIC classification, based on German practice, in American practice, most wheel arrangements in common use were given names, sometimes from the name of the first such locomotive built. For example, the 2-2-0 type arrangement is named Planet, after the 1830 locomotive on which it was first used, the most common wheel arrangements are listed below
4.
Steam locomotive
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A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its pulling power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning combustible material—usually coal, wood, the steam moves reciprocating pistons which are mechanically connected to the locomotives main wheels. Both fuel and water supplies are carried with the locomotive, either on the locomotive itself or in wagons pulled behind, the first steam locomotive, made by Richard Trevithick, first operated on 21 February 1804, three years after the road locomotive he made in 1801. The first practical steam locomotive was built in 1812-13 by John Blenkinsop, Steam locomotives were first developed in Great Britain during the early 19th century and used for railway transport until the middle of the 20th century. From the early 1900s they were superseded by electric and diesel locomotives, with full conversions to electric. The majority of locomotives were retired from regular service by the 1980s, though several continue to run on tourist. The earliest railways employed horses to draw carts along railway tracks, in 1784, William Murdoch, a Scottish inventor, built a small-scale prototype of a steam road locomotive. An early working model of a rail locomotive was designed and constructed by steamboat pioneer John Fitch in the US during 1794. His steam locomotive used interior bladed wheels guided by rails or tracks, the model still exists at the Ohio Historical Society Museum in Columbus. The authenticity and date of this locomotive is disputed by some experts, accompanied by Andrew Vivian, it ran with mixed success. The design incorporated a number of important innovations that included using high-pressure steam which reduced the weight of the engine, Trevithick visited the Newcastle area in 1804 and had a ready audience of colliery owners and engineers. The visit was so successful that the railways in north-east England became the leading centre for experimentation. Trevithick continued his own steam propulsion experiments through another trio of locomotives, Four years later, the successful twin-cylinder locomotive Salamanca by Matthew Murray for the edge railed rack and pinion Middleton Railway debuted in 1812. Another well known early locomotive was Puffing Billy built 1813–14 by engineer William Hedley and it was intended to work on the Wylam Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne. This locomotive is the oldest preserved, and is on display in the Science Museum. George Stephenson built Locomotion No.1 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway, north-east England, in 1829, his son Robert built in Newcastle The Rocket which was entered in and won the Rainhill Trials. This success led to the company emerging as the pre-eminent builder of locomotives used on railways in the UK, US. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened a year later making exclusive use of power for passenger
5.
Leading wheel
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The leading wheel or leading axle or pilot wheel of a steam locomotive is an unpowered wheel or axle located in front of the driving wheels. The axle or axles of the wheels are normally located on a leading truck. Leading wheels are used to help the locomotive negotiate curves and to support the front portion of the boiler, importantly, the leading bogie does not have simple rotational motion about a vertical pivot, as might first be thought. It must also be free to slip sideways to a small extent, the sliding bogie of this type was patented by William Adams in 1865. The first use of leading wheels is commonly attributed to John B, Jervis who employed them in his 1832 design for a locomotive with four leading wheels and two driving wheels. In the Whyte system of describing locomotive wheel arrangements, his locomotive would be classified as a 4-2-0, in the UIC classification system, which counts axles rather than wheels and uses letters to denote powered axles, the Jervis would be classified 2A. Locomotives without leading trucks are generally regarded as unsuitable for high speed use, the British Railway Inspectorate condemned the practice in 1895, following an accident involving two 0-4-4s at Doublebois, Cornwall, on the Great Western Railway. A single leading axle increases stability somewhat, while a leading truck is almost essential for high-speed operation. The highest number of leading wheels on a locomotive is six as seen on the 6-2-0 Crampton type. Six-wheel leading trucks were not very popular, the Cramptons were built in the 1840s, but it was not until 1939 that the PRR used one on the S1. AAR wheel arrangement Adams axle Trailing wheel UIC classification Whyte notation
6.
Driving wheel
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On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotives pistons. On diesel and electric locomotives, the wheels may be directly driven by the traction motors. Coupling rods are not usually used, and it is common for each axle to have its own motor. Jackshaft drive and coupling rods were used in the past but their use is now confined to shunting locomotives, on an articulated locomotive or a duplex locomotive, driving wheels are grouped into sets which are linked together within the set
7.
Trailing wheel
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On a steam locomotive, a trailing wheel or trailing axle is generally an unpowered wheel or axle located behind the driving wheels. The axle of the wheels is usually located in a trailing truck. On some large locomotives, an engine was mounted on the trailing truck to provide extra tractive effort when starting a heavy train. Trailing wheels were used in early locomotives but fell out of favor for a time during the latter 19th century. As demand for more powerful locomotives increased, trailing wheels began to be used to support the crew cab, trailing wheels first appeared on American locomotives between 1890 and 1895, but their axle worked in rigid pedestals. It enabled boilers to be lowered, since the top of the frames was dropped down behind the driving wheels. The firebox could also be longer and wider, increasing the surface area and steam generation capacity of the boiler. One-piece cast-steel trailer trucks were developed about 1915, to provide the strength for a booster engine to be fitted to the trailing axle. Finally, about 1921 the Delta trailing truck was developed with a centering device at the rear ends of the truck frame. Delta trucks were soon enlarged to carry four trailing wheels, in the Whyte notation, trailing wheels are designated by the last numbers in the series. For example, the 2-8-2 Mikado type locomotive had two leading wheels, eight driving wheels, and two trailing wheels, some locomotives such as the 4-4-0 American type had no trailing wheels and were designated with a zero in the final place. In the UIC classification system, the number of rather than the number of wheels is counted. AAR wheel arrangement Steam locomotive nomenclature UIC classification Whyte notation
8.
Railmotor
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In the earliest days of railways, designers wished to produce a vehicle for passenger carrying that was economical to build and operate on routes where passenger numbers were light. William Bridges Adams started building railmotors in small numbers as early as 1848, the Bristol and Exeter Railway used a steam carriage. In many cases the tramways soon adopted electric traction instead, the railways responded by opening new stopping places and sought to reduce their operating cost by reintroducing railmotors, which were cheaper to construct. The London and North Western Railway, Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, London Brighton and South Coast Railway, nonetheless the railmotors had a number of disadvantages, their frequency, and the closeness of their stopping places, could not match that of the tramcars. There were two designs, A small 0-4-0 or 0-2-2 steam locomotive with one end of a coach hung on it like an articulated lorry. A coach with an engine built into one end of it. This type would sometimes have a vertical boiler and these machines were not a great success because they lacked flexibility. Most could haul a single trailer, but no more and this meant they were unable to cope with greater than expected passenger demands – a classic example being busy market days on an otherwise lightly used rural branch line. They were also unable to haul goods wagons, requiring a conventional locomotive to be stationed on the line in any case for these duties. For this reason, they were superseded by push-pull trains. The South Eastern & Chatham Railway built its P Class of small, in the late 1920s there was another revival of railmotors with the introduction of new designs from Clayton and Sentinel with high-speed motors and geared drive. The London and North Eastern Railway bought over 80 of them but, again, some lasted no more than 10 years and all had been withdrawn by 1947. From the 1930s the diesel railcar made great progress and by the 1950s the railmotor was consigned to history, the diesels ability to use multiple unit control was an advantage. The Great Western Society, based at Didcot, has restored a Great Western Railway steam railmotor and it regularly operates throughout the summer and has visited other preserved railways in the west country and Wales. It also operated on the mainline between Liskeard and Looe in November 2012, after withdrawal it was used as private accommodation in a field but has now been restored to working order. The D&CDR also has Great Southern and Western Railway No,90, which was built in 1875 as a railmotor but had its carriage portion removed in 1915. Autorail Railbus Railcar Rail motor coach Dempsey, G Drysdale, extracts from a Rudimentary Treatise on the Locomotive Engine. The Rise and Fall of the Steam Rail Motor, the Barry Railway, Diagrams and photographs of Locomotives, Coaches and Wagons
