126 REPORT ON NATIONAL MtfSEUM, 1886. 



quantity at a time, and that the difference in cost more than made up 

 for the difference in the interest on the amount invested. The London 

 and Northwestern Railway Company have their rail mill here, and man- 

 ufacture spikes, chairs, and the steel cross-tie (of which a sample has 

 been sent us for the Museum collection, see PI. in) in large quan- 

 tities. 



Since my return Mr. Webb has written me that the Pennsylvania 

 Railroad Company had ordered a mile of London and Northwestern 

 standard iron track, consisting of 80-pound bull-headed rail, wrought- 

 steel cross-tie, with chair, complete, for experimental purposes. It is 

 expected that this mile of track will be laid where the traffic is excep- 

 tionally heavy, and a comparison of its durability made with the Amer- 

 ican system. 



The passenger carriage shop of the London and Northwestern Rail- 

 way, at Wolverton, is a most interesting place for an American to 

 visit. 



While the English locomotive, of which we have shown a cut in PI. 

 iv, is somewhat different from the American in appearance, the dif- 

 ference is not so marked as in the passeDger cars or u carriages/ 7 as 

 they call them. (PI. V.) We were particularly fortunate in our brief 

 stay in Wolverton in being able to visit the private carriage of the 

 Duke of Sutherland, and to inspect the royal train of five carriages, 

 which was being put in order for Queen Victoria's annual spring jour- 

 ney to Scotland. The carriage which was constructed expressly for 

 Her Majesty's private use, with its gilded furniture and pale blue satin 

 upholstery, is planned in marked contrast to what we are accustomed 

 to find in American special cars. But as the longest journey there is 

 generally made in daylight, there is no necessity for extensive sleeping 

 compartments, and the luncheon supplied at nearly every station takes 

 the place of the dinner which we get on our dining cars. The wheels 

 of the carriages of the royal train conformed to the standard of the 

 London and Northwestern Railway, being composed of twelve seg- 

 ments of wood (teak), around which a steel tire is shrunk, a steel hub 

 being used. A sample of these wheels, and a number of drawings show- 

 ing the construction of the three classes of day cars, and the sleepers 

 in use on this road have been promised me. 



A great deal of attention has been given for several years to the sub- 

 ject of electric lighting of passenger carriages upon the English roads. 

 Two examples give' a general idea of the successful experiments made. 

 Between Liverpool and Manchester a fast train is equipped with the 

 incandescent lamps, one in each compartment (and one additional for 

 emergency), the electricity being furnished by a dynamo on the tender 

 driven by steam from the locomotive — no storage battery being used. 

 I was informed that little trouble had been experienced in the manage- 

 ment of these lights, which had been in continuous use for many 

 months, the cost being low, the quality of the light considered. 



