Whippet

The Whippet (also English Whippet or Snap dog) is a dog breed of medium-size. They are a sighthound breed that originated in England, where they descended from greyhounds. Whippets today still strongly resemble a smaller greyhound. Shown in the Hound group, Whippets have relatively few health problems other than arrhythmia. Whippets also participate in dog sports such as lure coursing, agility, and flyball.

Whippets were originally greyhounds that were deemed unsuitable for hunting because of their size. They were returned to their peasant breeders after being maimed so that they could not be used to hunt and break the Forest law. These maimed dogs were bred together and used to catch rats, and hunt rabbits. When the Forest law was repealed, these "miniature greyhounds" became popular in the sport of dog racing. This has led to Whippets being described as "the poor man's racehorse." They are still frequently used as racing dogs today, as they have the highest running speed of breeds their weight: 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) and even challenge greyhounds for top speed. Whippets are, however, the fastest accelerating dog in the world.

NCC Class A1

The LMS (Northern Counties Committee) Class A1 4-4-0 passenger steam locomotives were rebuilds of Belfast and Northern Counties Railway Class A two-cylinder compound locomotives. They operated services throughout the NCC’s 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad gauge system in the north-east of Ireland.

History

The Class A1 locomotives were rebuilds of the Class A "Heavy Compounds" that had been designed by the BNCR Locomotive Engineer Bowman Malcolm. The first Class A locomotive had been built by the BNCR at York Road, Belfast in 1901 shortly before amalgamation with the Midland Railway and building continued with the Midland Railway constructing six at their Derby works. The locomotives were built as two-cylinder compounds using the Worsdell-von Borries system, the high pressure cylinders having a diameter of 18 inches (457 mm) and low pressure ones of 26 inches (660 mm), both with 24 inches (610 mm) stroke.

Following the end of World War I the state of the locomotives operating in Northern Ireland was well below that which was needed to run the services effectively; many needed replacing but, however, cost was a major factor. It was decided to implement a "Renewal Programme" in which, not only would new locomotives be built but also suitable classes of locomotives would be rebuilt, in the main following the style of the Midland Railway and the LMS.

Medium Mark A Whippet

The Medium Mark A Whippet was a British tank of the First World War. It was intended to complement the slower British heavy tanks by using its relative mobility and speed in exploiting any break in the enemy lines. Whippets later took part in several of the British Army's postwar actions, notably in Ireland, North Russia and Manchuria.

Development and production history

The Whippet was first produced in 1917. On 3 October 1916 William Tritton, about to be knighted for developing the Mark I, proposed to the Tank Supply Department that a faster and cheaper tank, equipped with two engines like the Flying Elephant, should be built to exploit gaps that the heavier but slow tanks made, an idea that up till then had been largely neglected. This was accepted on 10 November and approved by the War Office on 25 November. At that time the name for the project was the Tritton Chaser. Traditionally the name Whippet is attributed to Sir William himself. Actual construction started on 21 December. The first prototype, with a revolving turret taken from an Austin armoured car — the first for a British tank design, as Little Willie's original turret was not yet revolving — was ready on 3 February 1917 and participated (probably without one) in the famous "tank trials day" at Oldbury on 3 March. The next day, in a meeting with the French to coordinate allied tank production, the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces Field Marshal Haig ordered the manufacture of two hundred vehicles, the first to be ready on 31 July. Although he was acting beyond his authority, as usual, his decisions were confirmed in June 1917. The first production tanks left the factory in October and two were delivered to the first unit to use them, F Battalion of the Tank Corps (later 6th Battalion), on 14 December 1917. In December 1917 the order was increased from 200 to 385 but this was later cancelled in favour of more advanced designs.