Dublin and Kingstown Railway. 325 



the external rail is raised a little above the level of the internal 

 one, as shewn in an exaggerated scale in Plate IV. Fig 3. On 

 the curve of half a mile radius at Kingstown the difference of 

 level between the two rails is one inch. This is certainly good 

 in theory, and may serve to check the centrifugal force, which 

 in a body moving rapidly round a curve of so small radius must 

 be considerable. The raising of the external rail on curves is 

 not peculiar to the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, and has 

 been introduced with good effect on different works. The trains 

 run round the curve of one half mile in radius, at the rate of 

 twenty miles an hour, and no accident has ever happened. On 

 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway the curves are not so 

 ^harp as to render this precaution at all necessary. 



A great improvement has been effected in the working of the 

 carriages at the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, by the applica- 

 tion of spiral springs to the 62{^/i^-apparatus of the carriages, 

 for softening their collision ; as suggested by Mr Bergin of the 

 Railway Company. These spiral springs are about three feet 

 in length, and consist of an ingenious combination of shorter 

 springs, varying in strength. By this means, when a carriage 

 strikes gently on any obstruction, the weaker part of this com- 

 bined spring is alone affected, — and when the collision is more 

 violent, the stronger parts are brought into action. This ar- 

 rangement has rendered the shocks formerly felt in starting and 

 stopping the carriages much more gentle, and is certainly a 

 valuable and highly useful application of the spiral spring. 



The locomotive engines used on the Dublin and Kingstown 

 Railway were made in England. Several of them have verti- 

 cal cylinders, which both here and at Liverpool have not been 

 found to act so well as those in which the cylinders are hori- 

 zontal. One engine on the Kingstown line has been constructed 

 to carry its own fuel and water, and thereby dispenses with the 

 use of a tender. This engine, with its apparatus, weighs about 

 twelve tons, and I believe acts very well. 



I beg in conclusion to remark, that, with the exception of the 

 peculiarities now mentioned, the observations which I formerly 

 made to the Society, on the details of the Liverpool and Man- 

 chester Railway, are generally applicable to the railway between 

 Dublin and Kingstown. 



VOL. XX. NO. XL. APRIL 1836. Y 



