FARMERS' REGISTER— UNDULATING RAILWAYS. 



651 



UNDULATIIVG RAILWAYS. 



From the American Rail Road Journal. 

 Undulating raihva_vs have attracted much at- 

 tention and discussion in England. The inventor, 

 Mr. Badnall, has met witli great opposition from 

 various sources ; lie lias, however, steadily pur- 

 sued his labors in perfecting his invention, and at 

 the same time kept up a controversy, always in a 

 gentlemanly, yet decided tone, w ith his opponents, 

 until he has demonstrated, by actual and repeatecl 

 experiments, its entire practicability. So well, in 

 deed, has he satisfied those who have witnessed his 

 experiments, that Mr. Stephenson, the distin- 

 guished engineer of the Liverpool and Manches- 

 ter rail road, has joined him as a partner in civil 

 engineering. 



In Nos. 48 and 50 of vol. 2, we gave, from a 

 London paper, some account of experiments made 

 on tlie Liverpool and Manchester railway b)' Mr. 

 Badnall, to test the correctness of the undulating 

 princij)le as contended tor by him. They were 

 not, however, given at length in the London jia- 

 per, and thercf(>re w^e re-publish them from the 

 London Mechanics' Magazine, as given by iMr. 

 Badnall himself, and we shall publish several arti- 

 cles from the Mechanics' Magazine, to explain 

 more fully Mr. Badnall's views and theory, that 

 the subject may receive in this country the consi- 

 deration which its importance demands. 



From tlie London Mechanics Magazine. 

 FiLrther Experiments on the Liverpool and Man- 

 chester Railway, to determine the correctness of 

 the Undulating Railway System. 

 Sir, — Since I had last the pleasure of address- 

 ing you, we have been enabled to fry some further 

 experiments on the Liverpool anil Manchester rail- 

 way, the decisive result of which will, I doubt not, 

 fully establish, in jour mind and in the i)ublic opi- 

 nion, the merits of the undulating princii)le. 



On Wednesday last, tiie IGlh instant, we met as 

 before on the Sutton inclined plane. On this oc- 

 casion it was agreed by the engineers present, viz. 

 ]Mr. Robert Stephenson, Senr. , the Messrs. Dix- 

 ons, Mr. Dagleish, and myself, that the truth and 

 validity of the principle, as -w ell as the compara- 

 tive advantage to be derived from its adoption, 

 would be effectually determined by the tbilowing 

 test: 



As great a velocity as possible being attained by 

 the engine and load, before reaching a given point 

 near the foot of the inclined plane, the time was to 

 be accurately ascertained which the train occupied 

 in ascending from that point to a state of rest. 



The pow er being thus reversed, the time was to 

 be accurately measured which the train occupied 

 in descending from a state of rest to the point from 

 which it had previously ascended. 



Hence it would be obvious, that if the descent 

 were made in less time than the ascent, the velo- 

 city generated at the loot of the plane would be 

 pro])ortional>ly greater than the velocity of the as- 

 cending train at the same point, and,consequentIyi 

 the demonstration would be clear that the engine 

 and train w'ould not only have ascended to an op- 

 posite elevation equal to that from whence it fell, 

 but to a greater one, the extent of which would be 

 in proportion to the velocity attained. 



Experiment \. — The "Liver" engine, and a 

 load of thirteen wagons (weighing in all 72|tons) 

 after traversing a distance of three fourths of a 



mile to acquire a sufficient velocity, ascended the 

 inclined plane 278 yards, the time occupied in per- 

 forming the ascent to a state of rest being 90 se- 

 conds, viz. velocity at foot of plane being about 

 12.60 miles [ler hour, and the average velocity 

 about 6.30 miles per hour. 



E.vperiment 2. — The power being reversed, the 

 ejigine and train descended 278 yards, viz. from a 

 state of rest to the point from which they had pre- 

 viously risen, in 50 seconds. The velocity at the 

 foot of the plane being about 22.70 miles per hour — 

 average velocity about 11.35 miles. 



Experiment 3. — The engine and train having 

 traversed three fourths of a mile to generate velo- 

 city, ascended to a state of rest, viz. about 278 

 yards in 75 seconds. Velocity at the foot of the 

 j)lane being about 14.12 miles per hour — average 

 velocity about 7.6 miles. 



Experiment 4. — The power being reversed, the 

 descent of 278 yards was accomplished in 40 se- 

 conds. A'elocify at the foot of the plane being 

 about 28.32 miles per hour — average velocity 

 14.16 miles. 



Experiment 5. — The ascent of 278 yards ^vas 

 made in SO seconds. Velocity at the foot of the 

 plane being about 14.22 miles per hour — average 

 velocity 7.11 miles per hour. 



E.xperiment 6.— The descent of 278 v^ards was 

 accomplished in 49 seconds. Velocity at the foot 

 of the plane being about 23.22 miles per hour — 

 average velocity about 11.61 miles per hour. 



AyERAGE. 



Total spaces passed over to ge 



nerate niaxinmm velocity 



before ascendine. 



Experiment 1, 1,320 3'ards. 



Experiment 3, 

 Experim.ent 5, 



Total, 



Average, 



1,320 yards. 

 1,320 yards. 



13,960 yards. 



1,320 yards. 



Total sjiaces passed over in , 

 jierating maximunv veloci- 

 ty in descending. 



Experiment 2, 

 Experiment 4, 

 Experiment 6, 



278 yards. 

 278 yards. 

 278 yards. 



8.S4 yards. 



Times occupied 

 in ascending 

 27S yards. 



90 seconds. 

 75 seconds. 

 80 seconds. 



245 seconds. 



81f sees. 



Times occupied 



in descending 



27S yards. 



50 seconds. 

 40 seconds. 

 49 seconds. 



139 seconds. 



278 yards. 4&\ sees. . 



From the preceding statement it appears, that 

 the utmost average maximum velocity which the 

 Liver engine could attain on this occasion, at the 

 foot of the plane, after traversing a distance of 

 1,320 yards, was about 13.926 miles an hour; by 

 which means, the power being continued, she was 

 enabled to ascend an inclination of 278 yards. 



On the other hand, it appears that the same en- 

 gine, with the same load, (the steam being kept 

 up in every instance to a pressure of about 50 lbs. to 

 the inch, generated a velocity, after descending 278 

 yards, of about 24.488* miles per hour, evidently 



* The velocity in these instances is calculated from 

 the average number of seconds occupied in ascending 

 ;uid descending ; thus, 27S yards being ^ about 6^ of 

 a mile, we have the descending line 46i /^ 6j = 294 

 and 3,6C0 seconds -f- 294 >^ 2— 24.488 maximum ve- 

 locity. 



