IS« 



THE CIVIL ENT.INEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURXAL. 



[JU.VE, 



TATEXT SAFETY BUFFUR. 



A paper was read " On an improved patent Safety Buffer." By Mr. 

 Chksshire. 



Mr. Buckle, in introducing Mr. Chessliire's invention to the notice of the 

 meeting, took occasion to express his satisfaclion with the principle of the 

 machine, whicii, witli tiie spiral hreak of tiie worlhy president, would, he the 

 means of saving many lives on railways. In a former notice of the proceed- 

 ings of the Institution, we have briefly descrihed the principle of the inven- 

 tion. [Seeyourna/, June 18i 7, p. 190.] It is proposed that each railway carriage 

 should be supplied with a strong moveable rod of iron, solid or otherwise, as 

 might be deemed advisable, supported in the centre of the under framework 

 by bearing sockets. This rod is merely to have an " endway" motion, and 

 is to have a head at each end, similar to the present side buffers, although it 

 is not intended that these heads should act against each other, except in 

 case of colhsion. When the carriages are screwed up into their ordinary 

 travelling state, there will be a space between the safety buffers of some few 

 inches, which would permit the independent action of the side buffers. This 

 safety buffer would be placed in the " van' at the end of tlie train, and also 

 in the tender in front — so that it cannot have an endway motion, farther 

 than being fixed against strong elliptical springs will admit of, if such springs 

 should be considered advisable, [t was shown, by experiments on a small 

 model railway, that the effect of this continuous buffer was exactly that which 

 its inventor claimed for it. A train of carriages supplied with the rods was 

 brought into collision with an ordinary train ; and while the former was un- 

 hurt, with the exception of the last carriage, whicli had broken from its 

 rouplings, the other was thrown into the utmost confusion. The whole 

 force of the shock, in so far as the former train was concerned, seemed to he 

 conveyed to, and spent on, the last carriage, which the inventor proposes 

 should be filled with goorls or luggage. 



Consideralile discussion followed the reading of the paper and the experi- 

 ment. The chief objections were — that the absence of all uniformity in the 

 size and make of carriages would, even if the principle was sound, make the 

 invention practically useless. Then, again, the force of the shock of a colli- 

 sion could only be conveyed throughout the length of the buffer and to the 

 last carriage, when the train was on a straight line. If, for example, it was 

 on a curve that the collision took place, the centre carriages, or the one 

 where the bend was greatest, would receive the force of the shock, and the 

 lives of the occupants of the carriage he sacrificed. Mr. M'Connell was the 

 principal supporter of this objection. It was, moreover, argued by Mr. 

 Hamsbottom and others, that the application of the invention would be a 

 practical disadvantage, except in one case — namely, as a strengthener of 

 the bottom of the carriage. By the present side buffers, the force of a shock 

 was distributed over the whole train — the first feeling the greatest amount 

 of force — and thence it sensibly diminished, until the passemrers in the cen- 

 tre, or the extremity of the train, scarcely felt it at all. Now, making the 

 shock simultaneous throughout the whole train, as it was proposed to do, 

 would have the same effect on the passengers as if the train had run against 

 a dead wall. They would be thrown into each other's faces in every carriage 

 in the train. Besides, if the train was run into, the engine and tender, and 

 the men upon that, would be sacrificed. 



Mr. Chesshirf, replied, that, with respect to the indisposition of railway 

 companies to go to the trouble and expense of applying the invention, he 

 thought that the lives of the public was the first great consideration; and 

 im expense and no trouble should be allowed to operate against any inven- 

 tion that promised to reduce the number of casualties. As for the principle 

 of the invention, he was convinced that it was perfectly sound. Accidents 

 seldom took place in curves; there the enginemen were always on the look 

 out. The force of a collision must be spent somewhere; and he could not 

 understand how it could be an objection to his invention, that he carried it 

 off from the carriages where damage to life would be done, and concentrated 

 it where nothing of the sort was to be apprehended. He was convinced that, 

 if the Institution would recommend some of the railway companies to adopt 

 the invention, it would be found to act most beneficially. 



After some further remarks by Mr. Wright, Mr. Peacock, Mr. Crampton, 

 Mr. Cowper, Mr. Fotbergill, and others, Mr. M'Connell recommended that 

 the consideration of the su'iject sliould he handed over to the council, who 

 would discuss the merits of the invention with Mr. Chesshire, which was 

 agreed to. 



BANKS'S PATENT STEEL TYRES. 



Mr. FoTHERGILL read the following paper ; — " The statement of facts re- 

 lative to .Vlr. Thomas Banks's Patent Plan of Steeling the Tyres of Hall- 

 way H'heels, is the result nf neiriy Five Years' Trial, and shows the Cost 

 and DuralfiUty of Staffordshire Tyres, Steeled on his PtaUy as compared with 

 Low Moor Tyres." 



The present cost of Low Moor tyres, for 3-feet wheels, will be — 



^ s. d. 

 Four tyres of ."^ fwt. each — ].* cwt., at 229. .. 18 4 



Putting uu tJle tyres ready lur wiirk . .. 8 



Twice tumiiitf up, after weariug bolloTT .. 10 



Suppose these tyres to run 50,000 miles on an aver.ig" — that is 50.000 

 miles at a cost of 22/. 4». — the present cost of Staffirdaliire lyies will be — 

 Fdur tyresof ."i ewt. efteti— 1 .* cwt.. at 1L*3. .. £7 4 



Putting on tlie tyres ready for work .. .. HOC 



Steel for ateeliny one sot— lA ewt., at 43b. .. ;i 3 



&!au'8 wages, tor turning grooves in ttie wlleels .. Id 



S'nittl's wages, for inserting tfie steel .. .. 10 



Man's wagds, for tiiriiiiic up after steeling .. 10 



fifeu's wages, fur drilling and rivetting .. 7 ft 



Total cost .. j^'SO 4 6 



These tyres are proved to run before steeling 18,000 miles, and after 

 steeling 100,000 mile-. — making a total work of 113,000 miles, at a cost of 

 20i As. (td. Now, sutitracting 50,000 miles — the work of Liw .\luor tyres — 

 from 118,000 — the work of Staffordshire tyres steeled —we have G8, 000 

 miles which the latter will run more than the former, and at a cost of 

 39.». 6(/. per set less. From the abive statement, we see the cost of Low 

 Moor tyres, per 1,000 miles, isSs. lO^rf.; whilst the cost of Staffordshire 

 tyres, steeleil, is only M. i\d. per 1,000 miles. The truth of this statement 

 is proved by a test of nearly five years' trial, on those lines on which the 

 plan has been most used. We are aware that railways did not all wear out 

 the tyres alike; but on those lines where the iron tyres will run more than 

 stated above, the steeled tyres will run more in proportion, and the plan is 

 attended with no danger whatever. 



Note. — The above statement shows only the advantage of steeling the 

 tyres once, but we have steeled many a second time, after they have run the 

 above distance. The same tyres mty he steeled a second time at a cost of 

 5/. per set, when they will run 100,000 miles more — maki-ig a total of 

 218,000, at a cost of 25/. 4s. dd., or 2s. Ad. per 1,000 m'les. The advantage 

 of steeling a second time is secured by taking the tyres in time, while they 

 have the requisite strength for steeling the first time. The general objection 

 against the plan is, that there will be a deal of trouble to carry it out ; liut 

 this objection, if properly examined, will he found to he without foundation. 

 When the wheels want turning up, they must be taken from under the car- 

 riage, or wagon ; and, when taken from under, the cutting of the grooves 

 in the tyres for the steel will not cost more than 5s. per pair in men's wages ; 

 and, vvhen the grooves are turned, one smith and three strikes will insert 

 steel segments with 10 pairs of 3-feet wheels in one day of 10 hours ; after 

 which, turning up the steeled wheels will take very little more time than 

 turning up without steeling, which proves tliat the trouble will not be so 

 great as some people imagine, and nothing, when the durability and saving 

 which is effected is considered, by the tyres being steeled on this plan. 



The paper was accompanied by a letter from Mr. Jenkins, of the M. Ro- 

 chester and Leeds Railway, highly commendatory of the steel tyres. 



Mr. Peacock remarked, that he had tried the wheels steeled by Mr. 

 Banks's process, and the result was, that whereas he was formerly obliged to 

 repair the wheels of the tenders every four mouths, those with steel tyres 

 did not require repair oftener than once in 12 months. He had not fully 

 tested their wearing qualities, but be had no doubt that they would be founrl 

 to be most economical as well as useful. — Several other of the members 

 spoke in high terms of the value of this patent. 



ROYAL SCOTTISH SOCIETY OF ARTS. 



April2A. — John Bhbk Murdoch, Esq., F.R.S.E., V.P., in the Chair . 



The following communications were read : — 



1. "On the value of Ga^es from different Coals, and the price of Light 

 in different places ; also a new mode of estimating the Consumotion of 

 Gases, &(c., and of estimating Illuminating Power." By Andrew Fvfb, 

 M.D., F.R.S.E. 



The first part of this paper referred to the illuminating power and dura- 

 bility of gases obtained from English caking coal, from English parrot coal, 

 and from Scottish parrot coal, with which gases the towns in England 

 and Scotland are supplied, and consequently to the value of these gases for 

 afl'ording light. Taking the illuminating power, and the durability, and 

 consequently also the values of the gas from English caking coal, with which 

 Newcastle and many other towns in England are supplied, as the unit of 

 comparison. Dr. Fyfe stated, that he found the illuminating power of the 

 gas from the English parrot coal, such as that from Y'orkshire ami Lancashire, 

 to be, on an average of numerous trials, 1/3, the durability to be 1-12, and 

 hence the value, bulk for bulk, as 1-85. The value of gas from the diflferent 

 kinds of Scottish parrot coal varies considerably, according to the place from 

 which the coal is obtained ; hot, as in the larger towns in Scotland, a mix- 

 ture of coals of different quality is employed, the gas in these towns is gene- 

 rally very nearly of the same quality. Taking the average of all the trials 

 made at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Greenock, Dundee, and Aberdeen, the illumi- 

 nating power was found to be 3'23, the durability, 1 58 ; thus making the 

 value very nearly 5, compared with the English caking coal gas as 1, and 

 27 to the English parrot coal gas as 1 ; in other words, to light an apart- 

 ment to the same extent, and for the same time, by similar methods of con- 

 sumption, the quantity of pas from Scottish parrot coal required, being as 1, 

 the quantity of gas from English parrot coal would be more than double, 

 and that from English caking coal would be five times as great. Dr. Fyfe 



