Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/142

 of the Chester and Holyhead Railway, and comprise a chain and plate testing shop, a millwright's shop, devoted to the manufacture and repair of all the shafting and machinery in the works, shops for the making of cranes, warehouse machinery, and stationary engines, joiners' and pattern makers' shops, saw mills, &c.

The check upon stores of all kinds used in the works is very strict, and necessarily so; the stores are kept at the old works, and not the smallest article can be obtained from them without a written order signed by one of the foremen, none but the storekeepers being permitted to enter the stores.

A notable feature in the life of the Crewe works is the narrow-gauge railway, of which nearly five miles have been laid down, traversing every part of the works. The gauge of this railway, is eighteen inches, and it is worked by small locomotive engines of the type shewn by Plate XXII., which draw trains of strong, low-wheeled trollies, conveying materials and finished work from one part of the premises to another. It also affords a ready means of locomotion for the workmen and officials from point to point, and visitors to the works seldom fail to make acquaintance with it.

Dining, or "mess" rooms, are provided at Crewe for the convenience of the artisans who live at a distance from the works, and here they can leave their food in the morning, and have it prepared and placed ready for them when dinner-time arrives.

The number of persons of all classes employed in these works is about 6,500, but in addition there are some 600 engine-drivers, firemen, cleaners, and others at the steam sheds at Crewe station, making a total of