Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/176

 No tyres are allowed to run if they are less than 1 in. thick on the tread.

The London and North- Western Company possess in all upwards of 56,000 waggons of various descriptions, including the 6,000 coal waggons previously referred to, and the whole of these have been built, and are kept in repair, at their own waggon works at Earlestown. Of the total number nearly 34,000 are open goods waggons, 15 ft. 6 in. in length, and 7 ft. 8 in. in width, 20,000 of these having low sides only 9 in. in height, while the remaining 14,000 have sides 1 ft. 8 in. in height. There are 4,000 covered goods waggons, 15 ft. 6 in. long, 7 ft. 8 in. wide, and 5 ft. 8 in. in height, at side. The rest are vehicles of some forty different descriptions constructed for special classes of traffic, and having varying dimensions. The frames are all constructed of well-seasoned English oak, and the bodies of oak, teak, or red pine, the carrying capacity of the bulk of the waggons being 7 tons. The wrought iron work in the under frames is of the best Staffordshire iron, with the exception of the couplings, for which iron from the Low Moor furnaces is found to be the most suitable. The axle-boxes, buffer-shoes, and bearing spring shoes are of the best cast iron, and the wheel tyres and axles are of Bessemer steel.

The Earlestown works, although not quite so extensive as the carriage works at Wolverton, yet cover an area of thirty-five acres, and employ at busy times about 1,600 men, who are engaged in constructing and repairing, not only waggons, but the whole of the carts and vans required for cartage purposes throughout the Company's system. The works comprise a waggon-maker's and wheelwright's shop, 463 ft. long and 291 ft.