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locomotives in 1938. The contract was suspended early in the war,
but one locomotive was completed and, after trials in this country,
was lent to the Dutch railways to relieve the locomotive shortage;
it has run many thousands of miles in Holland. These locomotives were
to haul both freight and passenger trains and also to handle coal
traffic from the collecting yards at Wathon-Dearne colliery, but it
has now been decided to reduce their number to fiftyeight and to build
in addition twenty-seven six-axle locomotives suitable for much higher
speeds.
 Recent
orders for the South African Railways cover ten four-axle and twentyLondon eight six-axle locomotives and the electrical equipments
for fifty-four motor Underground coaches. Many motors and control
equipments are in hand for the London Underground where today
M-V-equipped rolling stock amounts to well over 300 motor coaches
and twenty locomotives, aggregating 250,000 hp.
Diesel-electric
locomotives are being made for the Irish Railways (Coras lompair
Eireann) in collaboration with the engine builders, and two 800-hp
freight locos are now being completed. Both hydraulic and electrical
apparatus have been developed for the control of output on Diesel
engines and have been applied successfully to freight and shunting
locomotives.
RAILWAY SIGNALLING
M-V-GRS railway signalling equipment installed in 1939 at Johannesburg
employed the latest form of electrical control known as 'NX interlocking'.
In this system electric levers are replaced by knobs at the signal
locations on the panel, and the signalman simply turns the appropriate
knob at the starting point of the train and presses a button at
the exit point. The first large installation in this country is
now in hand for the Stratford-Mile End area of British Railways
(Eastern Region).
Marshalling
yards have been supplied with apparatus for extensive mechanization schemes. Since 1939 the Toton and Whitemoor yards in England
and, more/ recently, the Bologna hump yard in Italy have been equipped,
and for the first two further work is in hand.
WELDING
Welding equipment has made rapid progress, particularly in the design
of special equipment developed in collaboration with the user. Examples
are automatic arc welding machines for heavy components such as
fabricated girders and all-steel railway wagon bodies, and resistance
welding machines for the high speed welding of sheet metal, for
instance in making refrigerators and milk churns.
HEATING
Radio-frequency valve generators have been produced for induction
heating applications where rapid heating of limited areas is required
as well as accurate control of the temperature; examples are the
brazing of small parts and the heat treatment of small tools. Induction
heating equipment operating at the normal
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