Wetting your steam whistle
QUESTION Could steam engines refill from water troughs while on the move?
Taking up water from a trough could be done only while an engine was moving. Lower speeds made it difficult to scoop up enough water, perhaps up to 3,000 gallons/660 ltrs for a big engine.
Troughs were laid on level track and could be up to 2 miles (3.5km) in length. The trough was a steel flat ‘U’ shape with upward angled ends to retain the water.
Water troughs were first used by the London & north Western Railway in 1860 at Mochdre near Colwyn Bay. Their use eventually spread to most parts of Britain except for the south-east and Waterloo to Plymouth line.
apart from the latter, all the other southeast lines were short enough not to need troughs. Most stations had water cranes at their ends and these were the usual method of replenishing.
Taking water from a trough required good skill by the fireman who wound a large turning handle or wheel, on the tender front platform, which lowered a large scoop into the trough.
Signs that preceded the start and end of troughs indicated when to lower and raise the scoop. This was a sturdy steel unit and, if raised too late ,would cause serious damage to the lighter-built trough.
Speeds in excess of 70mph/110kph gave little scope for error.
Tenders with water scoops had a large dome at the rear where the water entered. There was a gauge to show the level in the tender, but these were not always reliable; if the tender overfilled, the back pressure produced a powerful overflow which engulfed the leading coach (too bad if passengers didn’t close the windows fast enough!).
Tender capacities varied, up to ten tons of coal and 6,000 gallons (1,320 litres) of water. Most tender engines would have a scoop and a few tank engines did as well.
The exceptions again were the companies that operated in the mid-south and the south- east of Britain with their shorter routes. Taking water from a trough at speed produced a ‘wave’ either side of the tender rear, and was an interesting sight to observe — but not at too close quarters. Alan Bowden, Bristol.
QUESTION Why can’t birds hear my cat scarers?
HEARING is birds’ second most important sense. The ears are located slightly behind and below the eyes. They are funnel-shaped to focus sound and are covered with soft feathers — the auriculars — for protection.
The shape of a bird’s head can also affect hearing, such as owls, whose facial discs help direct sound to their ears.
a bird’s hearing range is at its most acute between 1-5 kHz and, depending on species type, can show a high hearing frequency limit of 10 kHz. This is roughly similar to that of humans.
a cat’s hearing range is among the greatest of any mammal. it is most acute in the range of 500 Hz to 32 kHz and can detect sound upwards of 55 Hz.
High-quality cat scarers emit modulating ultrasound frequencies in the range of 20-24 kHz, which is disturbing to cats but can’t be heard by birds.
Mrs Paula Jagger, Berwick-upon-Tweed.
QUESTION When did the Public Right of Way Act come into force, and what difference, if any, does it make to the tiny footpaths in my local area that needed no such status in the past?
FURTHER to the earlier answer, the 1949 national Parks and access To The Countryside act sought to record all rights of way as a legal record. But no effort was made to check old maps, which is why rights of way are in such a mess today.
Surveying all paths was often farmed out to parish councils, who farmed it out further. Where i live, a nearby parish gave the job to the Boy Scouts! With all due respect to the Boy Scouts, they did their best, but every single path or lane not deemed a highway open to all traffic was classified as a footpath, so we lost all the bridleways and byways at the stroke of a pen.
a surveyor who worked for another local authority was told before he went out that under no circumstances was he to record anything other than footpaths as the authority didn’t want the maintenance liability.
This happened all over the country and has left a huge task to volunteers like my colleagues and me, to research old maps, collect users’ evidence and go through the wearisome legal process introduced by the 1981 Countryside act of applying for definitive map modification orders to set the record straight.
These applications are often fought by wealthy landowners with barristers. all horse riders and cyclists want is the return of a joined-up network of safe offroad routes on which we can enjoy the countryside. instead, we are forced to use roads where traffic is too fast and impatient, particularly for horses.
There are daily incidents and accidents involving vehicles, horses and cyclists which could be avoided if the rights of way network was re-instated to its correct status by local authorities instead of relying on volunteers to get the job done by the unrealistic cut-off date of 2026.
Chris Peat, British Horse Society Regional Bridleways Officer for the NW,
Accrington, Lancs.