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This is another of a continuing series of reports on overseas railway systems. Described are Great Britain's electrification programs and high-speed passenger train projects. Features of the High Speed Train (HST) and of the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) are discussed. Also covered are automatic train control, the advanced signal techniques being evolved and special transport services which are the function of the British Railways.

The purpose of this paper is to outline the changes which have occurred during the last five years in high-speed passenger-train cars and in motive power for hauling them and the economic factors which have brought about these changes. The new designs for passenger cars and the materials used in their construction are discussed. A detailed comparison of steam-locomotive and Diesel electric-locomotive characteristics as they affect the operation of these new high-speed trains is presented. Test data are included to indicate the importance of comparative stress in track produced by two types of power. Reference is made to the steady improvement which has been made in steam-locomotive design, but it is shown that there is a need for some rather extensive experimentation to make this type of power more suitable for this particular class of service. In conclusion, the author presents his views on the general results which have been secured from the operation of these new trains and the probable trend in their future development.

Is the passenger train getting a “fair break” in the U.S. travel market? No, says the author of this article, an expert on transportation. He charges that railroad passenger-service losses have long been exaggerated by obsolete accounting rules of the Interstate Commerce Commission. However, some railroads that refuse to be deluded by “phantom” bookkeeping deficits are successfully marketing travel by train. If others would do likewise, the author points out, the results would be profitable both to the railroads and their customers.

To obtain the data which have provided a basis for determining dimensions in the design of the driving cabs of new trains such as the Advanced Passenger Train and the High Speed Diesel Train, 323 British Rail footplate staff have been measured wearing their usual uniform. Comparisons show that many design dimensions estimated from a typical textbook can differ significantly from those derived from the data obtained in this survey. This reinforces the need for practical evaluation of the final design solutions of workplaces by methods such as fitting trials in a full-size mock-up before going into production. In addition to showing the practical application of ergonomics methods, this article illustrates situation where published data cannot always be reliably extrapolated and applied, and information must be found relevant to a specific population. Critical design areas in which this applies can be found in many other situations.

During the past six years British Rail has carried out a thorough study of the problems of high speed transport. The result is a design incorporating improved acceleration, braking and suspension that makes possible speeds of 150 miles per hour. The first such trains are due to go into service in 1974.

This course on the science and technology of superconductivity comes at a most appropriate time in the over-all development of the field. The late 1950’s and this past decade of the 1960’s were in many ways the golden age of superconductivity. During that period of some fifteen years, superconductivity grew from little more than a laboratory curiosity being studied at a few low temperature centers, to a full fledged science and technology, being actively pursued by scores of industrial and academic laboratories throughout the world. The years between 1959 and 1962 saw a remarkable growth in the superconducting literature. Figure I shows that in 1959 superconducting publications represented some 6% of all low temperature publications. Three years Later in 1962 it represented almost 17% of the total low temperature literature. This present decade is seeing a new and interesting development — the transformation of superconductivity research out of the laboratory into the realm of military and industrial practicality. Some applications are ripe for immediate practical development, others are still in the realm of basic and applied research. In their totality, they represent an impressive list of existing and potential applications. They include: magnets, motors, generators, magnetometers, infrared and millimeter wave detectors, gravity meters, gyroscopes, bolometers, nuclear particle detectors, voltmeters, ammeters, power transmission lines, dc transformers, computer elements, switches, passenger train suspension systems, accelerometers, antennas, amplifiers, microwave cavities, linear accelerators... This list is by no means complete. It continues to grow with the passage of time.

This report describes British Rail's advanced passenger train (APT). The success of the APT depends not on revolutionary power plant (it is powered by gas turbines) but on its suspension system. Modification of the ordinary railway wheel set facilitates high speed running even on existing track. Greater speeds can be achieved by modifications to the track which would also benefit normal services. Improved brakes mean that the APT will be compatible with existing signalling equipment. It is expected that the APT will eventually have to be succeeded by a completely new system as traffic is expected to increase to saturation point after its introduction. /TRRL/

The various possible means of rapid transport on which work is proceeding in various countries are described. These include means of very high-speed comfortable travel between towns (Advanced Passenger Train (APT) and Hovertrain), commuter travel (into and out of towns: Victoria Line, BART system) and, for more personal transport of small or larger groups within towns, computer-controlled tracked buses and taxis (Transurban, StaRRcar, Cabinentaxi, Dashaveyor, Monocab). For very short distances (e.g. for interchange), moving pavements are included (Speedaway). Private cars on motorways may, in due course, be subject to some form of automatic control, and travel along signal conductors embedded in the road or along its side (Commucar) is described. A brief mention is given of other less likely transport systems, such as travel in an evacuated tube beneath or above the ground. A comprehensive bibliography is included.

During the past few months Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Ohio (Fig. 1), has been the center of local and national attention generated by the building's fateful demise as a train station and at the same time its recognition as a significant art work representative of the Art Deco style of the 1930's. As the product of an era devoted to large showplaces, such as the Rockefeller Center complex in New York, Union Terminal, with its large interior mosaics, its streamlined floor patterns and its color-shaped dome, has no peer among modern railroad stations in the United States. Completed in 1933, symbolizing civic pride wedded to modern industrial design, Union Terminal came at the end of the burgeoning support for passenger train service, a fact sadly forecast even before the building was completed, but which became apparent after World War II when train service declined. Other train stations, in this country and Canada, are faced with similar problems of preservation because of the loss of train use. A federa...