144 Book of Locomotives 

 watch its gradual evolution, by steady 

 degrees, until, on all lines, it was a sub- 

 stantial affair, carried on six wheels. On 

 the London and North- Western, right until 

 the beginning of the present century, the 

 standard tenders were built up on wooden 

 frames. Mr. Webb was once asked why 

 this practice was persisted in, when all the 

 other railways had introduced steel frames. 

 His reply was typical of the man, " My 

 predecessor (Ramsbottom) always held that 

 the tender should be a weak link in the 

 make up of a train ; by using wooden frames 

 we ensure that, in the event of a collision, 

 the tender will crumple up, and so save the 

 rest of the train." 



It is difficult to say how far this theory 

 held in practice; certainly collisions on the 

 North-Western were not less disastrous than 

 on other railways. 



Other attempts at gaining stability, for 

 what, after all, is a very heavy section of 

 the locomotive's make up, was attempted 

 by using double frames. A vexed point in 

 regard to springs has never secured a definite 



