THIS standard treatise on mechanical railway signalling by Leonard
Lewis was written at the turn of the twentieth century. Originally
published in 1910 as Railway Signal Engineering (Mechanical), a
second edition followed in 1912. A third edition, revised and
enlarged by J. H. Fraser, appeared in 1932. Since its original
publication, now more than 100 years ago, much if not all of the
mechanisms and practices described and illustrated have disappeared
from the modern high-speed railways of Britain and the rest of the
world. In his preface to the first edition, Lewis wrote that he
intended the book to be '... suitable for men who are engaged in
railway work, but not necessarily in connection with the Signalling
Engineer's Department.' Today, such men no longer have any
professional interest in what to them is now archaic and
superseded. However, with the popular growth of preserved heritage
railways, and the dedicated reconstruction and re-creation of many
railway artefacts by enthusiasts, it is no longer possible to state
categorically that any particular mechanism or operating procedure
described in the book is extinct. Although they may have
disappeared from modern railways in the electronic and computer
controlled age, original or replica items or otherwise obsolete
methods of working may well be in regular use on preserved branch
line railways or be on display in railway museums. Herein lies the
main inspiration for this new edition at the start of the twenty
first century. Lewis's book, once describing the very cutting edge
of railway technology, has become with the passage of time a
valuable work of history. Nevertheless, its contents may still be
very relevant and of inestimable value to those responsible for the
maintenance and operation of precious and irreplaceable signalling
equipment on preserved steam and diesel railways, wheresoever those
lines might be. Again, the ever growing band of collectors and
restorers of old signalling equipment will find the technical
material in these pages of more than passing interest. Likewise,
enthusiasts viewing the artefacts on display in railway museums
might find that this volume can usefully supplement the information
provided in simplified guide books and explanatory leaflets.
Railway Signal Engineering (Mechanical) is long out of print. The
present derivative work is based on the 1932 edition and non of
Lewis's original text, nor that later added by Fraser, has been
omitted from this reprint. It is in every word as the original,
except for a few minor corrections and one important detail. That
is, the captions to some of the drawings have been amended to more
accurately reflect the intent of the illustration, than did Lewis's
original captions. Also note that no illustrations have been
omitted, although a few have been added. However, as the most
cursory glance through the book pages will show, all the
illustrations have been redrawn, in many cases substituting more
realistic depictions of signals and mechanisms for the sometimes
rather crude sketches in the original. Most notably, colour has
been used, not only to provide a more visually appealing book for
the enthusiast and the historian, but also in the hope that it adds
somewhat to the understanding of technical descriptions and of the
illustrations themselves.
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