THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[January, 



additional wpiafhts may be reduced, or altogether removed, as the 

 boiler deteriorates bv wear. For any /('.«• pressure, accordinf? to 

 the working- necessities of the engine, the engineer has the same 

 control over the valve as at present, by sliding the weight H, on 

 the lever O, which operates in taking off weight, reguliiting the 

 rejiiiction as lie ]deases ; hut he cannot increase the load upon the 

 valve beyond what the weight D, inside the boiler, gives ; for, if 

 hanging more weight on the lever G, he takes off, instead of in- 

 creasing pressure ; and, on the other hand, if raising the handle 

 end of the lever, it has no effect upon the valve, on account of the 

 connecting medium being a chain, which, of course, can only ope- 

 rate in one way, hanging loose, as it does, and throwing no stress 

 upon the valve when moving downwards. 



Fig. 2 is another form, involving the same action, but instead of 

 the heavy weight attacheil to the valve-spindle, as before, there is, 

 inside the boiler, a lever M, having a weight N, and fulcrum at O, 

 equal in its effect to tlie extreme pressure allowed, and which may 

 be reduced as the boiler, by use, weakens, by fixing the weight N, 

 nearer the fulcrum, convenience for which is shown. Instead, 

 also, of the protecting shield, as in No. 1, the blow-away steam is 

 here carried off by a double u-bent pipe, the accessible half of which 

 is made of thin sheet copper, strong enough to carry away the steam 

 as it blows freely into the air, there being then little or no pres- 

 sure; but if the steam be confined within it, through any wilful 

 attempt to plug the pipe up, the copper will rend {a result peculiar 

 to that metal); and permit the necessary escape. There is like- 

 wise shown a small roller P, to counteract the curvilineal action of 

 the lever M, and keep the valve-spindle from "sticking." But 

 both this and the copper pipe are precautions no more necessary 

 than at present with the best constructed valves, and might 

 safely be dispensed with. The remaining parts and action of fig. 2, 

 are the same as fig. 1. 



Both plans represent the principle of a valve, the mechanical 

 arrangement of which, however modified, embraces every ad- 

 vantage, as to security, of a "/ocfrcrf valve," in frustrating any 

 attempt to overload it," either by accident or design, through igno- 

 rance or will, without the usual attendant disadvantages of incon- 

 venience, expense. &c., of a second valve, and liability to '■'■stick" 

 by corrosion of parts through standing long unused, &c. — a liability 

 which the present form has not, as it is the engineers'./>e(;«eni 

 "■'working" safety-valve, which is a locked and limited one, but pos- 

 sessing all the facility of regulating his pressure that he has now, 

 though not allowed to exceed the fixed extreme safe point. 



GEORGE STEPHENSON. 



[The following communication was addressed to the author of 

 the article on George Stephenson ; but as it contains some inte- 

 resting facts and coi'rections, we thought it far better to give the 

 communication in the Journal. Our readers must see by the 

 numerous quotations, that the papers written in the Journal have 

 been got up with considerable labour, and that the writer has only 

 stated that which is supported by some authority. We shall feel 

 particularly obliged for any information regarding the Life of 

 George Stephenson, as it is our anxious desire to make the memoir 

 as complete as circumstances will allow. It being a life so inti- 

 mately connected with the great advance of modern engineering, 

 it is highly desirable to make it as perfect as possible. On this 

 account, we have postponed the continuation of the memoir for 

 another month. ^ 



•'Sir, — In reading the article on George Stephenson in the last 

 number of the Journal, I noticed some ernu's connected with 

 the descriptio]! of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which I 

 thought it would be well to point out to the writer of that paper, 

 and to endeavour to correct them as far as I am able. Speaking 

 of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, you say, " this could 

 hardly be named as more than a tramway": — now, from the very 

 commencement, this line was indeed a veritable railway; it could 

 not properly be called either a tramway or wagon-way: — In using 

 those terms, we ought to be careful to apply them according to 

 their proper and genuine signification, or serious errors may even- 

 tually creep into our descriptions of works of this class; and 

 which, may, in course of time, become perpetuated, and the true 

 meaning of the terms lost. Like railways, those three terms had 

 their birth among the extensive collieries of Durham and Nortli- 

 umberland. The tramways are principally used underground, for 

 the purpose of conveying the coals from the working district of 

 the mine to the shaft, up which they have to be drawn. In some 



of the extensive collieries, these tramways will extend for three or 

 four miles. The gauge of the road is about IH inches: the carriage 

 which runs upon this way is a small four-wheeled rollev or tram 

 (hence the term tramway). Upon this carriage is placed tfie basket 

 containing the coals. Previous to tlie introduction of tramways 

 and trams, barrows were made for this purpose, the corf or basket 

 being placed on the barrow, and a luirrow flagged-wav for tlie 

 barrows to run on was laid down, called the barrow-way, — which 

 term is even yet, in some cases, applied to the more modern tram- 

 way. It is perhaps 150 years since the barrows and barrow- way was 

 superseded by the tram and tramway. The first tramways were 

 made of wood, and may still be seen in some places. The two 

 rails were fixed together by a cross-sleeper and a 6-foot length of 

 double-way laid down at once. The wheels, of course, were 

 without flanges, and at first were made of wood, with an iron 

 rim: the wheel loose on the axle, and the axle also loose, to 

 allow for "play" on going round the sharp curves or turns: 

 after this, cast-iron tram-plates were introduced, and eventually 

 malleable iron; the weight of the latter about -Ig lb. or 5 lb. per 

 foot. The flange was still a portion of the plate, and not 

 of the wheel: this form of plate is known as the '■'■edge-rail." 



The wagonway is used for conveying coals from the pit to the 

 ships, &c. The wagons hold 53 cwt. of coals, the Newcastle 

 chaldron, and are called chaldron-wagons: the wagon is placed on 

 four wheels, about 2 ft. 6 in. or 3 feet diameter ; the wheels have 

 flanges, and are wedged fast to the axle: they are of cast-iron. 

 The wagonways in the first instance were made of wood, and 

 plated with iron at the curves. A specimen of this way may yet 

 be seen in use at JNIr. Curwens, Harrington Colliery, iii Cumber- 

 land. The gauge of the Newcastle wagonway is 4 ft. 8^ in. The 

 cast-iron fish-bellied x rail superseded the wooden one, and 

 eventually the malleable-iron rail took the place of the cast-iron 

 one ; the present wagonway rail weighs about 28 lb. to the yard. 

 After wagonways, came railways, which I need scarcely define. 

 Had the Stockton and Darlington line been made solely for the 

 conveyance of coals from some individual collier)', it might have 

 been called a wagonway; but even then it could not witli any pro- 

 priety have been named a tramway. But in the first instance, it 

 was constructed as a public railway; not merely for the purpose of 

 conveying coal-wagons, but for coaches, merchandise-wagons, and 

 all kinds of carriages for the con\eyance of passengers, coals 

 from a great and extensive coal-field, lead, iron, and general mer- 

 chandise. Passengers have travelled on it from the first — hence 

 it was different in its application and uses from the old wagonway, 

 and different in its form from the tramway. I believe it was some- 

 times at the first designated as a tramway, but improperly so, as 

 you will see from my description of the latter: but in all cases it 

 is well to give to things their ancient and proper names. 

 Edward Pease, the father of Joseph Pease, who was the member 

 of parliament, may be looked upon as the "Father of Railways." 

 It was through his strenuous endeavours and support that the 

 Stockton and Darlington Railway was constructed ; and it was 

 chiefly in consecpience of his patronage and support, that George 

 Stephenson was brought prominently Ijefore the public as a railway 

 engineer. 



For "Hobarts of Etherly Pit," read "Stobarts of Etherly." 



Jose])h Pease was treasurer for the Great North of England, 

 but such is not now the case, I believe ; it is in the hands of 

 Hudson, or a portion of the York and Berwick. — The Peases, I 

 believe, were never connected with the Liddels as bankers, as you 

 state. 



'I'he line was not to ship coals from the "Dale of the Tees, 

 between Darlington and Stockton:" there is no coal between Dar 

 lington and Stockton. It was to ship coals from the Auckland 

 coal-field and the Dale of the Wear, mit the Tees. — In 1847, they 

 leased the Wear Valley, Bishop Auckland and AV'eardale, AVear- 

 dale Extension, and a portion of the Stanhope and Tyne or 

 Derwent Railways, also the Shildon Tunnel ; the wiiole lengtli, 

 instead of being 35 miles as you state, is, I believe, now upwards 

 of 90 miles. 



Stephenson iKvcr tried any locomotives on the Hagger Leases 

 Branch; it was not opened until after he had left the line. But, 

 indeed, there was never a locomotive seen on this branch; it is 

 worked altogether by horses, the Brusselton Incline preventing 

 the locomotives from getting over. They only work from the place 

 of shipment uj) to the east foot of lirusselton bank or New 

 Shildon. 



Whishaw must be wrong in stating the speed of passenger trains 

 at only 12 miles an hour in 1837: at that period they were worked 

 i)y the fast-coaching engines, 20 miles or upwards \iev hour. 



