50 



THE CIVTL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



It may be observed lieie, that imicli that is alisurd lias been applied to llu- 

 r|uestion of gauge) some have looked for advantages so great as would have 

 left them little less than magical; thcy seem almost to have expected that on 

 .v»(7/ a qamiv the carriages would run of themselves. Others, on the contrary, 

 seem almost to have expected that on such a gauge carriages could never be 

 made to run at all. It has been applauded to the skies as being wonderful ; 

 it has been decried, and cried down, as being little less than nonsensical. 

 Now, it is neither the one nor the other of these ; it is simply a railroad of 

 greater dimensions than those ^litherto constructed, and the only question is, is 

 such an increase of dimensions judicious or notV And the next question will 

 be, if injudicious, considering the amount in money to which you arc com- 

 mitted to it, is it better for you to proceed or to make the alteration V 



In the first place it may be stated, for there can be no doubt about it, that 

 just as good a road can be made 7 feet wide as 5 feet wide: it is simply a 

 question of cost. There are some, no doubt, who have connected tho effect 

 of the malformation of your road in the first instance, with the width of ways, 

 hut of course erroneously so. 



In the next place, in determining on the question of gauge, it shoidd be 

 considered quite independently of anything that may have been done upon 

 your railway, which is notab-solutely consequent on the increase of gauge ; and 

 J shall class'among the non-essentials the peculiar mode of laying with piles, 

 engines of IC tons weight, and tunnels of 30 feet diameter. 



It may be premised that determining the question of gauge in this country, 

 isa very different question from determining it with regard to countries where 

 the railway systenr is scarcely introduced. In England, what may be termed 

 the great trunk, connecting the north with the south, has already been formed, 

 or is in progress. Under the superintendence of men who were earliest con- 

 nected with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and with railways even 

 prior to that, it has been constructed on a gauge of 4 feet 8i inches. They 

 had more experience than others in railway matters; and their continuing the 

 eame dimensions as to width of way proves .that they had found no occasion 

 for altering it. Moreover, it is indisputably true, that they who have had the 

 most experience, and who have been brought most into contact with the work- 

 ing of railways, see the least occasion for an alteration as to width, and are the 

 most satisfied with the present gauge. 



In addition to this main trtmk, another line crossing it right angles, and of 

 which the Liverpool and Manchester, and the Leeds and Selby Hallways 

 form a part, and which will connect the eastern with the western seas, is 

 already constructed, or in progress, to a similar gauge : and other lines of 

 great extent, some of them surrounding and piercing into the district into 

 which your Railway goes, are also formed, or are rapidly forming- to the 4 feet 

 8J inch gauge. 



And it will not be too much perhaps to say, that three-fourths of England 

 is already being traversed by railways to the narrower gauge. 



It follows, then, that any contpany deviating from this gauge will be 

 isolating themselves to a certain extent ; if not as regards their main liue, 

 yet as regards their branches ; if not as regards their direct traflSc, yet cer- 

 tainly as regards their collateral tratlic. 



But in the present early stage of r.iilway traffic, it yet remains to be seen 

 whether or not it may not become a great evil, for a main line to be thus 

 isolated and rendered impossible of connection with the great lines in its 

 neighbourhood ; that it will be an evil in this sense as it regards the branch 

 lines, there can be little dnnbt; for they or some of them, in course of time, 

 will of necessity run into the neighbourhood of other lines of different gauge ; 

 but with these, however vital the connection may be, all connection will be 

 impossible. 



In this point of view only, it has become a serious matter for any company 

 in this country to make their line to differ as to dimensions from the majoiity 

 of lines around them. It is to a certain extent as if a canal company in a 

 country of canals shoidd construct a new navigation so, and with lock.? of 

 such a character, as would totally shutout the boats of all the canals that sur- 

 rounded it. 



Still it is possible that there might be, coiqiled with the deviation, improve- 

 ments of such a nature as would counterbalance the inconvenience, as would 

 even compensate the loss. They might consist of arrangements that would 

 effect a.iireal anil iiiiporlantsarini/hi limp and monctj, and in a better conserva- 

 tion of the property to be conveyed, and it will be necessary to enquire if 

 such will be the result of the deviation in your case as to the width of way. 



If the 7 feet gauge is to effect a saving in money, it must be in one of two 

 ways; either by calling for less capital in the first instance, or by reducing 

 the cost of working afterwards. The first of these it cannot do. On the 

 contrary, the caphal will be increasd certainly: to how great an extent it 

 would be impossible for me without more time for calcidation to say. But 

 contracting the dimensions to the smallest limit; two ways of 7 feet must of 

 necessity require a greater width than two ways of 4 feet 8^- inches. 1 should 

 say, to make a line equally as convenient, this increase of width would 

 amount to 4 feet ; for the width between the ways is not to be governed 

 entirely by the maximum width ;issigned to the load. A certain width is 

 found convenient for repairs and other purposes ; and too great a proximity of 

 the ways is dangerous ; as by it an accident occrrring on one line may be 

 productive of disastrous consequences on the other, as I have seen. And the 

 width outside the ways will also be nearly a fixed quantity whatever be the 

 gauge; for a certain width is requisite for safety, and for allowing proper 

 consolidation to the outer rail on the embankments, and to give room for 

 drainage in the cuttings ; and, therefore, the width of the road generally, to 

 make as convenient a road, would have to be increased by the extra width 

 given to the ways. And besides this increa.se of general dimensions as to earth 

 work and land, the locomotives would of necessity have to be heavier (I do 



not say to an equal extent to those yon now have), and they would therefore 

 be more costly to some extent. The permanent road will also cost more of 

 the larger dimensions than if of the smaller; for it avails nothing to com- 

 pare a light rail on the large gauge, with a heavier rail on the smaller gauge ; 

 such comparisons must bo made when other things are the same, or they 

 .amount to nothing. 



If then the capital will of necessity be increased, the next enquiry is, will 

 the cost of working be diminished? The cost of working will depend on 

 the first cost of the engines; for though, in the first instance, they maybe 

 charged to capital, afterwards they will have to be charged to current 

 expences. It will also depend on the repairs of the engines, the consumption 

 of coke, and the maintenance of way ; and on other matters which are in 

 nowise connected with the gauge. 



As it regards the cost of the engines, it will be greater on the wide gauge ; 

 as it respects the repairs of the engines, should it prove in favour of the wide 

 gauge, it can only be in a small degree. For the repairs of locomotives on 

 lines v;here passengers are carried at great velocities, have been found to be 

 incurred chiefly on the wheels and axles, tubes, and fire boxes, which cannot 

 be affected by the gauge, excepting that if the wheels and axles be made 

 larger, the repairs will be increased. And, at all events, the common repairs 

 of a larger machine, necessarily so in consequence of the larger way, but not 

 necessarily so in consequence of any greater traffic, it is probable, will coun- 

 terbalance any saving tliat might be effected in the repairs of the smaller 

 gearing, in consequence of having more room to arrange it. Besides, 

 a great portion of the repairs of locomotives is not for common wear 

 and tear, but is on account of accidents. And in proportion as the machine 

 is made larger and more expensive, so will the cost of repairs consequent on 

 accidents be increased. 



The maintenance of way will of course be /«% as great on a wider way, 

 and with heavier engines, as on a narrower way, with lighter engines; for 

 perhaps it would not be advancing too much to say, that the engines and 

 tenders do more harm to the superstructure of railways than all the rest of 

 the traffic put together; excepting perhaps loads of long timber. 



And lastly, if the consumption of coke is to be reduced on the wider gauge, 

 it can only be by the friction being diminished, or by what has been called 

 the mechanical advantage of large wheels. 



It would have been highly desirable, if before using this as an argument, 

 the Irish commissioners had clearly determined that there was an advantage 

 in larger wheels. For there arc some experiments and several reasons fur 

 doubting that any such advantage will be derived from increasing the size of 

 wheel. As it regards the friction of attrition, or that caused by the rubbing 

 of the axles, it may be supposed to remain constant, however the wheel be 

 enlarged ; if it be allowed that with an enlarged diameter of wheel, and espe- 

 cially when attached to a longer axle, there must be a corresponding enlarge- 

 ment of journal ; and in practice I think this would be the case. And .as 

 reg,ards the friction of rolling, it is not likely to be diminished by increasing 

 the size of the wheel, for the rolling friction on rails is very different 

 from the rolling friction on common roads, where obstacles are met 

 with that h.ave to be surmounted by raising the vehicle over them. 

 Small wheels on turnpike ronds have been found to create much more 

 resistance. But on a railw,ay, unless the wheels be very smtill, the obstacles 

 to motion from causes of this nature must be nearly imperceptible. And 

 there is another species of rolling friction, caused by the grinding of the 

 flanges of the wheels against the rails, which will be more felt in large wheels 

 than in small wheels, and especially rovmd curves. 



But to arrive at something more definite on this subject, I will give the re- 

 sult of some experiments made on your line on the 20tb September. 



A large train, consisting of nine carriages, one six-wheeled waggon, and 

 eleven trucks, laden with iron and stone, was got into motion up and down a 

 long- and perfectly straight inclination of 4 feet per mile. The experiment 

 was first made upon the whole train, which gave a result of 6.221')s. per ton 

 friction. 



The experiment was made so as to ascertain the friction of the trucks and 

 the carriages separately, one truck only being left attached to the carriages, 

 and the result obtained was a friction of 6.51bs. per ton for the trucks and 

 waggons, which weighed together 79 tons 8 cwt. ; and a friction of 8. 15lbs. 

 per ton on the carriages and one truck alone, which weighed in the aggregate 

 7-1 tons 12 cwt. 



On the 2Cth September I took six wagons on the Manchester and Bolton 

 Railway, each laden with 3^ tons of iron, and experimented in the same way 

 upon them, by getting them into motion, and noting the velocity and the 

 distance run, from which the friction was determined to be 6.31bs. per ton. 

 The plane on which this experiment was made w.as terminated at each end by 

 curves, one of 111 chains radius, the other of 67 chains r.adins. In the ex- 

 periment up the plane the distance run was 29.50 feet, the wagons having 

 run 330 feet into the curve of 11 1 chains radius before they stopped. In the 

 experiment down the plane the distance run w.as 3825 feet, 1980 feet of 

 which was in the curve of 72 chains radius in which the wagons stopped. 

 The same train of six wagons was then brought to an inclination where 

 gravity alone was sufficient to get it into motion. This portion of the line had 

 previously been divided by stakes into lengths of 100 feet, and the rails oppo- 

 site each stake accurately levelled. 



From the starting point to the ninth stake the line was straight, but at this 

 point a curve of 42 chains radius commenced, and extended beyond the point 

 where the wagons came to rest. 



The result of this experiment, repeated twice, gave a fiiclion of 7.321b.s. 



per ton ; but it should .also be observed that besides passing for 1300 feet 



along a cuvv? of abgut half a mile radius, the whole distance run being about 



