Published by The Industrial Railway Society, 52 pages. Booklet - c.18cm by 24cm (N8075)
From the introduction: In a recent society publication, I discussed the design and history of the internal combustion locomotives built by the City of Stoke-on- Trent manufacturer, Kerr, Stuart & Company Limited, of the California Works in Fenton'. In that book I mentioned that in designing the later, post First World War, diesel locomotives, Kyrle William Willans (1883-1973), the firm's General Manager at the time, based a water-tube boiler, gear and chain driven steam locomotive on the same design of under frame and running gear. The company made the point, inter-alia in its publicity material, that this would allow a locomotive built for steam propulsion to be subsequently converted to diesel and vice-versa, without having to start afresh. It was also pointed out that if an owner operated both steam and diesel locomotives to these designs, there could be a saving in the quantity of spare parts held. Kyrle Willans was an extremely innovative mechanical engineer who, prior to taking up his appointment in Stoke, had been with Sentinel Industrial Locomotives Limited, a subsidiary of the Shrewsbury based Sentinel Waggon Works (1920) Limited. He was therefore, well versed in the advantages and no less disadvantages, of gear and chain driven steam locomotives with high-speed engines and boilers other than of the conventional fire-tube locomotive type. Unfortunately however, while the later diesel locomotives the firm built to his designs enjoyed some success, the same cannot be said of the steam locomotives, the subject of this book. The contents include:
Design Philosophy
The Individual Locomotives
The Boilers - The Achilles' Heel
Conclusions
Appendices:
List of Locomotives
Main Dimensions
Standard Sizes of Kerr, Stuart Geared Steam Locomotives
Specifications of Kerr, Stuart Geared Steam Locomotives
The condition of the booklet is generally excellent. The covers are clean and bright, the staple spine is intact, and all pages are clean, intact, unblemished and tightly bound. There is a small price sticker on the rear side cover.