Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

RAILWAY ENGINEMEN AND THEIR WORK. 111 slide bars, eccentrics, etc., paying special attention to the crank-axle, or “ big end,” for the latter he cannot get at when on the road. When the examination of machinery has been finished underneath, the fireman must open the ash-pan door, so that the driver can inspect the ash-pan. The latter should be nicely raked out, and the fire bright and free from clinkers. The engine is then taken out into the yard, where it fills up with water; while, before starting off to pick up his train, the driver must see that the coal on the tender is not stacked too high, and that it and the bunkers, fire-irons, and tools which are carried on the latter are so placed that they will not fall off when the engine <■> A GOODS LOCOMOTIVE BEING HAULED INTO THE SHEDS. is in motion. On coupling on to his train, the driver must ascertain from the guard what number of vehicles are behind him, so that lie may know how to work his engine with economy, and exercise due care in descending gradients. Once started, the driver must stand in his proper place upon the footplate, so as to be able to command the regulator, the reversing gear, and the brake handle. It is a relic of the old coaching days that still keeps these apparatus, and consequently the driver, on the “ off,” or right-hand, side of the footplate, which, since trains run on the left, and the signals and the station platforms are placed on that side of the track, is manifestly an inconvenient arrangement. However, the North-Western Company have long arranged their engine gear so that the driver can take up his position on the “ near ” side ; and with the new engines of the London and South- Western Railway the gear has been transferred to what may be termed the proper side. The regulations direct that the driver must keep a good look-out all the time the engine is in motion, and the fireman must do the same when he is not necessarily otherwise engaged. AN EXPRESS LOCOMOTIVE RECEIVING ITS FUEL FOR THE NEXT DAY’S TRIP. As a driver must possess intimate acquaintance with the road over which he travels, meaning not only the maze of signals and sidings, but its varying gradients as well, it stands to reason that his journey area is restricted. In fact, it is this which accounts for the engines belonging to each run- ning-shed being grouped with their drivers and firemen in separate links or gangs. As a rule, where passenger engines are concerned, the links are so arranged as to permit of the engines returning to their sheds and the men to their homes the same night. The engines of main-line goods trains, however, travel farther afield, neces- sitating what are termed “double home trips.” For example, a man living at Westbourne Park takes a train down to Swansea, sleeps there, and returns home the next day. Most companies provide excellent lodging houses at the principal junctions for enginemen engaged on double-trip jobs—those of the