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G.A. Sekon

George Augustus Nokes adopted the pseudonym of Sekon, and it is usual to cite the pseudonymic form. He was born on 5 January 1867 and died on 19 February 1948 (Who Was Who). He was educated at Hayes Grammar School and Hayes College. Articled to a Surveyor and Land Agent, 1885; at expiration of articles became a partner in the firm; retired; has made a life study of every branch of railroading; voluminous writer on all railway subjects; contributions to newspapers, magazines, and technical publications on railway matters; for several years contributed each week to the Railway Herald; originator of the Luggage in Advance system; Founder and President, Railway Control by Railway Stockholders Association.

He was the first editor of The Railway Magazine and author of several books, notably Evolution of the steam locomotive which post-dates the Magazine.. He was responsible for transcribing the Joy Diaries and twenty-first century pundits are attempting to play down Joy's influence, especially in respect of his involvement in the design of the Jenny Lind type of 2-2-2. Sekon fell out with the owners of the Railway Magazine in 1910 and left it to create the Railway and Travel Monthly_which folded in 1922. (KPJ seen at Stamford Station and available to millionaire enthusiasts). Simmons (Oxford Companion_) stated that Sekon's writing was "brisk, forceful and always opinionated", He considered his best book to be Locomotion in Victorian London. Simmons failed to note that Sekon was an early advocate of locomotive preservation: see his observations on the preservation of _Sanspareil_and of Invicta. Sekon was also an adversary withStretton who kept Sekon off the Committee created to examine the creation of a National Railway Museum in 1896.An acrymonious correspondence involving Greenly, Stretton and Sekon is shown on the Greenly page..

Books
History of the South-Eastern Railway, 1895.
Ottley 7201 (only 40pp)
History of the London and South-Western Railway, 1896.
Ottley 6609
History of the Great Western Railway: being the story of the broad gauge. 1895.
Ottley 5937
Dictionary of railway terms and phrases, 1901.
Ottley 2417: only 61 pages
History of Great Northern Railway (pamphlet), 1904;
From MSL to GCR (in Travels at Home), 1905;
History of the LC and DR, 1920;
Locomotion in Victorian London, 1938
Ottley 750

Evolution of the steam locomotive. London: Railway Publishing Co., 1899.

The primary arrangement is chronological, but some topics are grouped together. For instance, the switch from coke to coal burning is considered together at the beginning of Chapter 11.

Even a superficial inspection shows that Sekon's work owes much to David Joy: for instance, the description of Duplex. There are clear signs that the book (even the "second edition") was poorly proof-corrected or that Sekon was careless): misspellings include Gifford (should be Giffard) and Broomsgrove rather than Bromsgrove. "Buddicomb" appears on page 74 as "first locomotive superintendent of the Grand Junction Railway". A great many patents appear to have been examined perhaps via the cumulations published by the Patent Office (and bombed or burnt out of ruritanian Norfolk). Sekon gives quite detailed dimensions for the locomotives noted (presumably) as landmarks, although sometimes it is difficult in these pre-Whyte days of being able to identify precisely what is being described: a four coupled six-wheeler may imply an 0-4-2 or a 2-4-0. Sometimes his dimensions do not exactly match later authors (see Furness Railway). Some railways, notably the Midland, only get meager mention: Jenny Linds, the 4-4-0 design of 1876 and the 7ft 9in singles (No. 116 is illustrated). Of course, the really important development (the three-cylinder compounds) came after the publication of the book. Many later works must incorporate some of the typographical errors from this book..

Like many books, including Ahrons, the text begins in a leisurely manner and ends in a frenetic catalogue of contemporary developments. One major problem is in establishing why Sekon cited certain patents and their inventors, some of which seem to have had very little influence. Chapter contents are reproduced below. Copy inspected came from the wonderful Hampshire County Library collection.

The following are the excellent chapter headings which are slightly spoilt by misspellings, some of which are not repeated in the text. So far as can be traced Sekon makes no mention of braking systems, either air (Westinghouse), Vacuum or chain. .

Chapter 1.

Trevithick's triumph; his first steam locomotives; Mistaken for the devil; The Coalbrookdale engine; A successful railway journey at Merthyr Tydvil; Description of the engine; "Catch-me-who-can"; The locomotive in London; Blenkinsopp's [sic] rack locomotive; Chapman's engine; Did Chapman build an eight-wheel locomotive? Brunton's "steam horse"; Its tragic end.

Chapter II.

Who is entitled to the honour of constructing the Wylam locomotives? The claims of Hackworth, Hedley and Foster; Puffing Billy; Rebuilt as an eight-wheel engine; Stewart's locornotive; Sharp practice causes Stewart to abandon locomotive building; George Stephenson as a locomotive builder; His hazy views as to his first engine; Blucher; The German General proves a failnre; Stephenson and Dodd's engine; Stephenson's third engine, with (so-called) steam springs; Competent critics condemn Stephenson's engines; The Royal William; The Locomotion; Hackworth, General Manager of the Stockton and Darlington Railway; Horse haulage, cheaper than Stephenson's locomotives; Hackworth to the rescue; The _Royal' Georg_e, the first successful locomotive; The "exhaust" steam blast; Rival claimants and its invention; Locomotive versus stationary engine; Twin Sisters; Lancashire Witch; Agenoria; The Maniac, "a Forth Street production."

Chapter III.

The Liverpoo1 and Manchester Railway Locomotive Competition; The conditions of the contest; The competitors; The "Novelty"; The "Sanspareil"; The secret of the steam-blast stolen; Mr. Hick's history of the "Sanspareil"; The "Rocket"; Colburn's comparison of the "Rocket" and "Sanspareil"; Booth's tubular boiler fitted to the "Rocket"; The prize divided; History of the "Rocket"; The "Perseverance" withdrawn from competition; The "Cycloped" horse-propelled locomotive; Winan's manumotive vehicles for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway; The directors purchase a dozen.

Chapter IV

An important improvement in the locomotive; Bury's original "Liverpool," the first inside cylinder engine; Bury's own account of his invention; Other authorities agree with Bury; Extract, supplied by the Secretary of the L. & N. W.Rly., from the minute books of the Liverpool and Manchester Rly.; An early authentic list of Bury's locomotives; Description of Bury's_Liverpool_; Last heard of on the Bolton and Kenyon Railway; The "Invicta" for the first Kentish railway; Still preserved by the S.E.R.; First official trip on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway; Formal opening of the L. & .M.R.; The locomotives that took part in tho ceremony; The "William the Fourth" and "Queen Adelaide" for the L. & M.Rly.; Hackworth's "Globe" for the Stockton and Darlington Railway; The romance of her construction, life, and end; Stephenson's "Planet"; Some of her feats on the L. & M. Rly.; Heavier locomotives for the L. & M. Rly.; Dodd's engine for the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Rly.; HistoricaI locomotive sold by auction for 20 guineas; Bury's "Liver" for the L. & M. Rly; More Hackworth "iron horses" for the Stockton and Darlington Rly.; Despite their peculiarities, they prove most successfu1; -The "Caledonian"

Chapter V.

A Stephenson "bogie" engine for America; The genesis of a world-famous locomotive firm [Sharp Roberts]; Its initial effort in locomotive construction, the "Experiment"; Her cylinder valves; Two early Scotch locomotives [Carmichael]; Stephenson favours 6-wheel engines, and constructs the "Patentee"; Forrester's "Swiftsure"; Opening of the Newcastle and Carlisle Rwy.; The "Comet"; R. Stephenson's early "ultimatum," the "Harvey Combe"; Hackworth to the front with a locomotive novelty; The first locomotive in Russia; The "Goliath"; The "Tyne" and her steam organ; Other early Newcastle and Carlisle Rwy. engines; An engine driver's reminiscences; No eight hours day then; The "Michael Longridge"; Opening of the Grand Junction Rwy.; Its first locomotives.

Chapter VI

An important epoch in locomotive history; The first broad-gauge engines; Absurd incorrect statements regardng these locomotives; The facts concerning same; extracts from directors' report; Brunel and the engine builders; The delivery of the first engines to the Great Western Railway; Further extract from the-directors' report; Daniel Gooch appears on the scene; Trial of the broad-gauge engines; Table of the original Great Western engines; The "Vulcan"; "Æolus"; "Bacchus"; "Venus"; "Apollo"; "Mars" and "Ajax," 10ft.-wheel engines; The builders' account of one of these giants; "Ajax," a sister engine; 10ft. disc wheels; Dr. Lardner; The "boat" engines; T.R. Crampton and the "Ajax"; The "Ariel"; "Atlas"; "Hurricane," a locomotive monstrosity with 10ft. driving wheels; The "Thunderer", a geared engine on Harrison's system; Gooch's opinion of these two curious locomotives; The Haigh Foundry geared engines, described by an eye-witness; Table showing results of trials with the original broad-gauge engines; The last of "Lion," "Planet," and "Apollo"

Chapter VII.

Opening of the London and Birmingham Railway; "Wallace," with feed-water heating apparatus; Dr. Church's freak engine, "Eclipse."; Balanced locomotives; Smoke-consuming locomotives; Opening of the London and Southampton Railway; "Soho," a locomotive without eccentrics; A double flanged wheel engine; Hancock's attempts to supply railway locomotives; American engines for England; Particulars of the engines and their working; Gooch commences to design engines for the Great Western Railway; His patent steeled tyres; Gray introduces expansive working; Trial of his valve gear; The "'long boiler" fallacy; Stephenson's design for the York and North Midland Railway; Rennies build a powerful locomotive; Inventor of the link motion: Howe, Williams, or Stephenson? America claims the credit for the improvement; Beyer's single plate frame engines; Early Crewe engines; Robertson fits a steam brake to a locomotive; Engines for working the Cowlairs incline; Bodmer's reciprocating or "compensating" engines; Tried on the Sheffield and Manchester, South Eastern, and London and Brighton Railways; They prove failures; McConnell's "Great Britain."; Dewrance's coal-burning "Condor."

Chapter VIII

Stephenson:s "long boiler" goods engines for the Eastern Counties Railway; Gray's prototype of the "Jenny Lind"; Hackworth builds twelve of the class for the Brighton Railway; Stephenson and Howe's three-cylinder locomotive not a success; The "Great A," another Stephenson absurdity; The competitive trials between broad aud narrow-gauge locomotives; Gooch to the rescue!; The "Premier," the first engine constructed at Swindon; The "Great Western" (the forerunner of the standard express engine of to-day; Trial trip of this "mammoth"; A notable run of the "Great Western"; The "Great Western" altered to an eight-wheel engine; Galloway's incline-climbing locomotive tried on the Great Western; Beyer's "Atlas" for the Manchester and Sheffield Railway; The Eastern Union "Essex" draws 149 loaded goods wagons; Stephenson's "White Horse of Kent "; Crampton, as a locomotive designer, the "Namur" constructed; Gooch's "Iron Duke" and "Lord of the Isles" make the broad-gauge still more popular; The "Jenny Lind," a "storm in a tea cup"; trial of the "Jenny Lind" and, "Jenny Sharp"; Trevithick's "Cornwall;' a locomotive momtrosity; Exhibited at the 1851 Exhibition; Rebuilt in her present form and still running; McConnell's "counter-balancing" experiment; The "most powerful narrow-gauge engine ever built"; "No. 185" of the Y.N. and B.R.; The oldest locomotive now running, "Old Coppernob," of the Furness Railway; "Lablache," another locomotive freak; "Cambrian" locomotives, and the peculiarities of their construction; The "Albion"' of 1848; Half a century later, the writer unearths the working drawings of this engine and her sisters.

Chapter IX.

The era of "light" and combination locomotives; Samuel's "Lilliputian" and "I.ittle Wonder"; The broad.gauge "Fairfield," constructed by Bridges Adams; Samuel's "Enfield"; Original broad-gange "singles" converted into tank engines; The rise of "tank" engines, "saddle," and "well"; Adams' "light" engines on Irish railways; The Norfolk Railway adopts them; England's "Little England" exhibited at the 1851 Exhibition; Supplied to the Edinburgh and Glasgow, the Liverpool and Stockton, Dundee and Perth, and Blackwall Railways; Hawthorne's "Plews" for the Y.N. and B.R.; Crampton's Monster "Liverpool"; Taylor's design for a locomotive; Pearson's prototype of the "Fairlie" engine; Ritchie's non-oscillating engine; Timothy Hackworth again to the front; His celebrated "Sanspareil, No.2"; His challenge to Robert Stephenson unaccepted; Bury's "Wrekin"; Caledonian Railway locomotive, No. 15; " Mac's Mangle" on the L. and N.W.R.

Chapter X

The locomotive exhibits of 1851; The "Hawthorn"; Wilson's two-boiler engine, the "Duplex"; Fairbairn's tank engine; The S.E.R. "Folkestone" on Crampton's system; Sharp's "single" engines for the S.E.R; J.V. Gooch's designs for the Eastern Counties Railway; The "Ely," Taff Vale Railway; Beattie's "Hercules"; A much-vaunted locomotive: McConnell's "300." L. & N.W.R.; London and Birmingham in two hours; The chief features of "300 "; Competitive trials with other engines-Coal v. coke; An earlier "recessed" boiler; Dodd's "Ysabel"; The first compound locomotive; Another Beattie design; Pasey's compressed air railway engine; Its trial trips on the Eastern Counties Railway; The original Great Northern engines, Sturrock's masterpiece, "No. 215," G,N.R.; Pearson's famous 9ft. "single" double bogie, Bristol and Exeter Railway; Rebuilt with 8ft. drivers, and a tender added by the G.W.R.; More old Furness Railway engines; Neilson's 'outside cylinder locomotives; A powerful goods engine on the Maryport and Carlisle Raihway; Gooch's 7ft.-coupled broad-gauge locomotives; His first narrow-gange engines; N.B.R. "Cab" or inspection engines.

Chapter XI.

Improvements in coal-burning locomotives; Beattie's system; Trials of the "Canute"; Yorston's plan; Cudworth's successful efforts; Yarrow's apparatus; D.K. Clark's system tried on the North London and other railways; Wilson's plan fitted to engines working the O.W. & W.R.; Lee and Jacques' experiments; Frodsham's device tried on the E.C.R.; Douglas' system; The various plans reviewed; "Nunthorpe", a S. & D.R. engine; Double engine on the Turin and Genoa Railway; Crampton's engines on the E.K.R.; French locomotives on the E.C.R,; Gifford's invention of the injector; First fitted to the "Problem"; Ramsbottom's water "pick-up" apparatns; Brunel's powerful BG tanks for the Vale of Neath Railway; Incorporation of the Metropolitan Railway; Trial of Fowler's "hot brick" engine; Its end [sold to Boulton]; Fletcher's [Fletcher Jennings 0-4-0ST] saddle tanks; "75," T.V.R.; Second-hand locomotives on the L. & S. W.R.; The "Meteor"; Early L.C. and D.R. engines; Hawthorn's locomotive for the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway.

Chapter XII.

"Brougham" Stockton and Darlington Railway; L. & S.W.R. engines at the 1862 Exhibition; Sinclair's "Single" engines for the G.E.R.; French locomotives on the G.E.R.; L. & S.W.R. tank engines, afterward converted to tender engines; Conner's 8ft. 2in. "Single" engine on the Caledonian Railway; The liliputian "Tiny," the Crewe Works locomotive; "Dignity and Impudence"; Bridges Adams's radial axle tank engines; His spring tyres; Account of the St. Helens Railway locomotive with these innovations; Broad-gauge engines for the Metropolitan Railway; Rnpture between the Great Western and Metropolitan; Sturrock to the rescue; G.N. tender engines on the Metropolitan; Delivery of the Underground Company's own engines; Great Northern "condensing" locomotives; The Bissell bogie truck well advertised; End of the "hot brick" engine; Sturrock's steam-tender engines on the G.N.R.; Sinclair's tank engine with Bissell trucks; Fell's system of locomotive traction; 'Tried on the Cromford and High Peak line; Adopted on the Mount Cenis Railway; Spooner's locomotives for the Festiniog Railway; Fairlie's double bogie engines; The "Welsh Pony" and "Little Wonder"; Fairlie's combined trains and engines; Cudworth's trailing bogie; North London engines, a model for tank locomotive constructors; Pryce's designs for the North London Railway.

Chapter XIII.

Beattie's express engines; Kendall's three-cylinder engine for the Blythe and Tyne Railway; Heavy engines for the Metropolitan and St. John's Wood Railway; Sold to the Taff Vale Railway; " The most powerful loccmotive in the world" for sale; "Jinks's Babies"; The "Areo-steam" locomotive on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway; Tank engines on the Furness Railway; Patrick Stirling's world famous " 8ft singles" for the G.N.R.; Webb's "Precedents" for the L. and N.W.R.; The "John Ramsbottom"; "The Firefly," an engine that has "played many parts"; J. Stirling's 7ft. coupled engines on the G. and S.W.R.; Stirling's reversing apparatus; Watkin's express engines for the S.E.R.; Stroudley's "Grosvenor," L.B. and S.C.R.; The era of "compounds"; F. W. Webb's first compound locomotive; Bowen-Cooke's views on the subject; The "Experiment";7ft. lin. compounds; "Queen Empress"; "Black Prince"; Worsdsell compounds; Midland coupled expresses; Stroudley's "Gladstone" class; The "General Managers" [_Tennants_] on the North Eastern; N.B.R. locomotive, "No. 592"; Holmes's "633" class; Great Eastern 7ft.coupled; Holden's liquid fuel locomotives; Serve tubes in locomotives; Sacré's 7ft. 6in. "Singles."

Chapter XIV.

Modern L.B. and S.C.R. locomotives; Four-coupled in front passenger tank; Six-coupled tank with radial trailing wheels; Goods engines; "Bessemer," four-coupled bogie express; "Inspector"; Standard L.C. and D.R. passenger engines; Goods locomotives; Three classes of tanks; Cambrian locomotives, passenger, goods, and tank; S.E. engines; A "Prize Medal" locomotive; Stirling's goods and tank engines; His latest type of express engines; Adams's locomotives on the L. & S.W.R.; Mixed traffic engines; Passenger and six-coupled tanks; Drummond's "Windcutter" smoke-box; His four-cylinder express engine; North British passenger locomotives; Engines for the West Highland Railway; Holme's goods and tank engines; His latest express type of engine; Classification of N.B.R. locomotives; L. and Y. locomotives; Aspinall's water "pick-up" apparatus; Severe gradients on the L. and Y. system; 7ft. 3in. coupled expresses; "A" class of goods engines; Standard tank engines; L. and Y. oil-burning tank locomotives; Caledonian Railway engines; Drummond's famous "Dunalastairs"; Excelled by his "Dunalastairs 2"; Six-coupled "condensing" tender engines; "Carbrooke" class; Dimensions of 44 types of Caledonian locomotives; Two types of Great Eastern tank engines.

Chapter XV.

Great Western "convertible" locomotives; The value of names in locomotive practice; Water troughs on the G.W.R.; Dean's 7ft. 8in. singles; His "Armstrong" class; An extension smoke-box on the G.W.R.; the "Devonshire" class; 7ft. "singles"; "2202" and "3225," four-coupled G.W. engines; The "Barrington"; Great Western passenger tanks; "Bull Dog" design; 5ft coupled-wheel engine, G.W.R.; "No. 36," Great Western Railway, a six-wheel coupled goods engine with a leading bogie; Ivatt's advent on the Great Northern, and his innovations; "Domes" to the fore; New goods and tank engines; Rebuilt "Stirlings"; Ivatt's inside cylinder four-coupled bogie engines; His chef d'oeuvre "990"; A ten-wheel tank on the G.N.R; "266," the latest Great Northern engine; Possibilities of the future; Great North of Scotland locomotives; Manson's designs; James Johnson's tank and tender engines; Furness engines, passenger and goods; The 1896 "express" design; Pettigrew's new goods engines; Highland Railway engines; A Great Central RaIlway locomotive; North Staffordshire Railway locomotives; London, Tilbury and Southend Railway engines; 8-wheel tank L. & N.W R.; Some Irish locomotives; Belfast and Northern Counties Compounds; The " Restrevor" class, G. N (I.); Great Southern and Western standard passenger design; Locomotive for an Irish "light" railway.

Railway Literature

"The Evolution of the Steam Locomotive " [By G. A. Sekon.]. reviewed by Charles Rous-MartenRly Mag., 1899, 4, 127.

Extensive as is the literature already existent on the subject of the locomotive engine, there is always room for another book on that interesting and fascinating topic. As each new work comes out it so obviously fills a previous void that it in its turn becomes indis- pensable to every student of railway engineer- ing and locomotive history, and as a rule promptly takes its place among the classics of that science or history.
Mr. Sekon's new work on the" Evolution of the Steam Locomotive" will undoubtedly hold a good place among the literature of the rail- way engine. Foremost among the essential qualifications of one who would write such a book may be placed unwearying industry and the capacity for patient and persistent research into the voluminous and oft-en obscure records of the past. These qualifications the author has proved himself to possess in a very high degree. He has acted implicitly upon the rule laid down by Lewis Carroll's king— "Begin at the beginning; go on until you come to the end; then stop!" And so Mr. Sekon starts with the early experiments of Richard Trevithick in the first year of the present century— truly the "Railway Century" of the world's history— and goes on until he reaches the latest engines turned out during the year just expired. His account of Trevithick's first journey through the streets of Camborne on Christmas Eve, 1801, and his subsequent trip thence to Plymouth, when a timid toll-keeper took him for the Prince of Darkness in person; of Trevithick's second locomotive, which had a brick chimney that was constantly being knocked down by over- hanging trees, etc.; of Blenkinsopp's, Brunton's, and other early locomotives, will be new to many readers and will assuredly be read with avidity. The achievements of Hackworth and Hedley next come under review, and soon we reach George Stephenson, the father of the locomotive as we know it in these days, although it may be noticed that Mr. Sekon credits Hackworth with the inventorship of that all-important development, the steam-blast. The respective claims of Stephenson, Hackworth, Trevithick, Nicholson, Gurney, and others to the authorship of this essential feature of a successful locomotive are carefully examined, with the result that Mr. Sekon accords to Hackworth's _Royal George_the honour of being "the first successful locomotive." Even if all his readers do not accept his verdict on this moot question, they at. least cannot fail to recognise the ability and ingenuity with which he has argued the case from his point of view.
It is needless to follow Mr. Sekon through all the successive stages of locomotive history which he has sketched in so lucid and interesting a manner. The readers of his book— whose name is sure to be legion in these days of "railwayac" enthusiasm— will prefer to do that for themselves; and they will certainly recognise that they owe a debt of gratitude to the author for the zeal and industry with which he has ransacked the archives of former days, and burrowed into the dark recesses where repose thousands of valuable documents that throw most useful light on the gradual evolution of that potent agent of civilisation and progress, the locomotive— the mechanical hero of Mr. Sekon's story. Naturally the author finds himself involved in several controversies, which have been carried on with some heat, regarding the origin and development of certain engines on the Great Western and London and North Western Railways. Here, again, it is not necessary for a reviewer to follow him or to assume a judicial attitude. Mr. Sekon has put forward his side of the case with remarkable clearness and force. It will rest with his readers to appraise the weight of his facts and reasoning, as opposed to any others that may already have been published.
Carrying on the narrative through the various types of locomotives produced by Stephenson, Hackworth, and Bury, the author brings us to what may be termed the" early middle age" of the locomotive— viz., A.D. 1845 to 1860. This period produced the famous broad-gauge 8ft. singles of Daniel Gooch, the " Jenny Linds" of E. B. Wilson, the" little Sharps," the long-boiler Stephensons, the " Bloomers" of M'Connell, the" Problems" of John Ramsbottom, the" Cornwall" of Trevi- thick, the "Snak'e " of J. V. Gooch, the various Cramptons and Beatties, the Great Northern engines of Archibald Sturrock, and other once renowned machines. Some highly apocryphal "yarns" as to extreme speeds are quoted, but without receiving the imprimatur of the writer. One cannot help regretting, however, that he did not demonstrate their manifest absurdity. It may be well also to correct here a slight error into which he has fallen through wrong information as to the tank engines designed and built for the old Eastern Counties Railway by Mr. J. V. Gooch. It is not correct that "a steam dome was placed over the raised fire-box, and a screw- lever safety-valve on the boiler barrel." Both of these were added many years later. As originally built, none of J. V. Gooch's Eastern Counties engines, whether tanks of the No. 7 or No. 250 class, or express engines of the 'No. 274 class, or coupled engines of the 240 class for mixed traffic, had domes, a safety- valve column almost exactly similar to that used by him on the London and South Western " Snake" class being placed over the fire-box. This was replaced by his successor, Mr. Robert Sinclair, in 1857, with a safety-valve cover resembling a tiny dome, and that gave way later to the dome and safety-valve shown in Mr. Sekon's illustration. It may be added also that there were two more of the Gooch single expresses than he mentions, viz., Nos. 27 and 94, built in 1856, which replaced two old locomotives broken up.
Coming to the "later middle age," A.D. 1860 to 1875, the author deals with the numerous classes of improved engines that came out during that period, which of course include the Caledonian and Great Northern 8ft. single wheelers of Mr. Connor and Mr. Patrick Stirling, the 7ft. singles of Mr. Sin- clair on the Great Eastern, the Brighton engines of Craven and Stroudley, the London and North Western 6£t. 6in. coupled of Ramsbottom and Webb, and other well-known types.
Finally, arriving at what may be termed modern times, from 1875 to the present day, Mr. Sekon gives very full accounts of most of the various designs which the period has produced, including Mr. Dean's Great Western single and coupled types, the different classes given to the London and South Western by Mr. Adazns and Mr. Drummond, Mr. Billinton's new Brighton engines, Mr. J. Stirling's for the South Eastern, Mr. Kirtley's for the London, Chatham and Dover, Mr. Bromley's and Mr. Holden's for the Great Eastern, Mr. P. Stirling's latest singles on the Great Northern, and the various designs recently introduced by his successor (Mr. Ivatt), Mr. Webb's different types of compounds on the London and North Western, Mr. S. W. Johnson's Midland expresses, Mr. W. Worsdell's North Easterns, Mr. H. H. Pollitt's Great Centrals, and Mr. Aspinall's 7ft. 3in. coupled on the Lancashire and Yorkshire, the engines constructed by Mr. D. Drummond and Mr. M. Holmes for the North British, Mr. M'Intosh's "Dunalastairs" and " Breadalbanes " on the Caledonian, and Mr. P. Drummond's latest Highland express, together with a miscellaneous multitude of tank and goods engines, a wealth of informs- tion regarding dimensions, etc., being afforded. The illustrations of all the periods are exceedingly numerous, and include almost every type of locomotive of importance. They are, as a rule, excellently done. Altogether Mr. Sekon's new book may juatly be characterised as a very valuable and acceptable one, which is certain to be in large demand.

E. Southam.
Died 21 March: Southam was known to many hundreds of readers of THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE whom he served across the counter of their present publishing offices, and in earlier years in Fetter Lane. He is the only member of the staff to have survived in harness until now from the beginnings of THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE, although the first Editor, Mr. G. A. Sekon, is still happily alive in retirement. Mr. Southam joined the staff of the Railway Press Company on November 30. 1889. This company then published a 1d. weekly newspaper called the Railway Herald, which circulated extensively among the uniformed staff of the railways, and later (with a special2d. edition) offered insurance benefits to readers against fatal accidents while on duty. Another of the company's publications was a 6d. weekly called the _Railway Press.In the early part of 1897 Mr. Frank Cornwall, the manager of the Railway Herald. evolved the idea of serving the interests of other than the uniformed railway- men. and especially those members of the general public interested in railway matters, by founding THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE and "The Railway Year Book." The first number of THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE was issued in July, 1897. from the offices of the Railway Herald at Temple Chambers. E.C., and shortly afterwards the business was segregated from that of the Railway Herald by the formation of the Railway Publishing Co. Ltd., on September 15.1897. Mr. Sekon was appointed as editor of the company's publications and Mr. Southam became his assistant, dealing with correspondence and general business routine. number
In August, 1900, THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE moved its offices to Fetter Lane, where it remained until February, 1922. During the war of 1914-1919 arrangements were made for THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE to come under the control of the proprietors of The Railway Gazette. but the change of offices to 33, Tothill Street, Westminster. when THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE came into direct association with_The Railwav Gazette, did not take place until 1922. See Rly Mag., 1942,88, 190.

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