1845. J 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL 



2C5 



trees, that in the event of the ordinary socurities failing the wheels cannot 

 comeofi, so long as the carriage is moving onwaril.s the screws being so 

 applied ami arranged in rrspict to corresponding ones in the axle-tree 

 toxes, that the wheels can only be removed from their axle-trees by turning 

 the wheels back. And it also relates, in applying an improved form of 

 collet. 



In the engraving, fig. 1 shows a section of the axle-tree and box complete, 

 with (he improvements. I'ig. 2, the axle-trcc-s separately ; and fig. .3, a 

 section of the axle-tree; and is arranged, so long as the other means of 

 security remain efTiciont, the screw will not in any way come into action, and 

 is only called into use when the other means of seeming the axle-tree in its 

 lox have failed, and then the act of the wheel revolving in its onward direc- 

 tion tends to screw tlie axle-tree box on to the axle-tree, rf, shows the novel 

 construction of a collet, on the interior of which are formed )wo projecting 

 ridges, c <-, and in place of one side of the screw at the end of an axle-tree 

 being made flat on one side to correspond with the flat portion of the interior 

 of the collet, has heretofore made, the screw has a groove, y, on cither side, 

 sojthat the collet can pass over the screw, and the projections, e, of the collet 

 be allowed to enter into the grooves, g, of the bearing of the collet on the 

 axle- tree. 



ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS. 



Henrv PiNKUS, of Great Marlborough Street, Esq., for " Imrrorctnciils hi 

 oblaitiiag and applying motive power to impelling tnaeliiiieni."—GciIited Dec. 27, 

 1844; Enrolled June, 1 io.—Cinih Engravings, Plate XX.) 



In order to have a correct idea of the novelties of this invention, it would 

 be necessary to enter into a description of Mr. Pinkus's previous specifications 

 of 1834, 1835, 1839 and 1840, some of which inventions, particularly those of 

 1834 and 1835, the inventor states have been carried into practical operation 

 and into public use on the Dublin and Dilkey railway, in Ireland. The pre- 

 sent specification, which frequently refers the reader to the specifications above 

 named, contains no less than 309 folios accompanied with 33 sheets of draw- 

 ings. The present improvements consist— /r*/?!/, in the eonstiucting lines of 

 pneumatic or atmospheric railways with varied modifications in mechanical 

 construction and arrangement; secondbj, in the methods of applying thereto 

 the motive power, and in the methods of working such railways with greater 

 safely and economy ; lldrdhj. in the methods of applying or using the elemen- 

 tary principles combined therewith under varied conditions for better eco- 

 nomy. The following is a description of some nf the principal features of 

 Wr. Pinkus's specification ; one in particular consists in a mode o( transmit- 

 ing the power from the travelling piston to the carriage by means of rollers 

 iu place of a connecting arm as heretofore, in the following manner :— 



Fig. 1 shows a transverse section of a traction pipe having the longitudinal 

 slit or opening in the pipe covered with a flexible material as follows -.—aa is 

 a piece of leather or other flexible material firmly attached at each edge, and 

 throughout the whole length of the line, by means of rods of iron b i, and 

 set screws c c, passing through projections cast on the traction pipe ; d d are 

 plates of iron rivetted on the upper and under side of the flexible material a a, 

 for the purpose of strengthening the same. A, fig. 2, is a roller attached to 

 the travelling piston within the traction pipe, this roller is of such diameter 

 as to raise the flexible covering of the pipe into the position shown in dotted 

 lines i B is a roller attached to the leading carriage of the train, and in ad- 

 vance of the roller A, the periphery of the roller B is from one to one and 

 a half inches below that of the roller A, so that as the latter is forced along 

 the traction pipe the flexible covering is raised as above described and pressed 

 against the roller B, so that it acts as a continuous inclined plane, thereby 

 causing the train of carriages to be propelled forward ; in fig. 2 we have given 

 a side elevation, showing more clearly the action of the rollers : similar let- 

 ters denote corresponding parts in all the figures. Fig. 4 shows a modifica- 

 tion of the flexible covering ; A' A' shows a transverse section of a portion 

 of the traction pipe, a a a are two pieces of leather or other flexible material 

 firmly fi.wd along each side of the opening in the pipe by means of rods i, 

 and screws c, as above described ; li is a steel plate about 4 inches v\ide and 

 5 inch thickness, this plate is firmly held between the edges of the leather a a 

 by means ot rivel.s, the dotted lines show the position of the flexible covering 

 when raised by means of the rollers, which according to the drawings is one 

 inch. It will be observed, that as the piston travels along the plate d will be 

 bent in a direction of its length, as shown with regard to fig. 2. Fig. 5 shows 

 another modification of the flexible valve or covering tor the longitudinal slit, 

 and consists of a piece of leather a a strengthened with narrow metal plates 

 d d, w hich are about 4 inches by 25 and attached to the leather by means of 

 rivets ; e e are also wrought iron plates firmly fixed to the pipe and of the 

 form shown in the drawing, the object of these plates is to prevent the fiexible 

 material from stretching, and in order to accomplish this the outer edge of 

 the plates e e, and on the underside thereof Is made witli a number of inden- 

 tations or teeth which receive similar indentations, or ratlier projections, 

 formed along each edge of the plates d' as the same is raised by the roller 



aforesaid, thereby preventing the fle.\ible material from being elonga'cd. Fig. 

 G shows a transverse section of a duplex valve, n n are pieces of leather 

 strengthened with metal plates rf d ; / is the piston rod or arm which connects 

 the piston with the carriage, this arm supports two bevel wheels g g,a. por- 

 tion of which is shown m doited lines, the object of the wheels g g is to open 

 or raise the valves in the position shown in dotted lines as the arm travels 

 along ; it will be clearly seen that one valve is made to overlap the other. 



Having thus briefly noticed some of Mr. Pinkus's valves, or mode of closing 

 the longitudinal slit or opening, wc will next describe the melhoils of work- 

 ing atmospheric railways according to tlic present invention. Fig. 7 shows 

 a vertical section of a carriage supposed to be descending an inclined plane 

 h h is the travelling piston, which is made to turn round or revolve upon the 

 rod ;, the object of w hich we did not notice ; the rod i is supported by two 

 carrying wheels A- k, situated in the vertical plane, and is also provided with 

 guiding wheels 1 1 situate in the horizontal plane ; A A are the two wheels, 

 supported by the rod / /, for raising the flexible covering a a and forcing the 

 same against the wheels B B for propelling the train of carriages, these latter 

 wheels are, as will be observed, attached to the under part of the c.irriage, 

 and we presume are capable ol being raised or depressed by means of the rods 

 m and handles n ; o is a pressure roller, which can be raised or lowered by 

 means of a rod p, and handle q: r is a lever which is alwa; s in contact with 

 the underside of the flexible valve or covering, the outer end of this lever is 

 connected with a valve at s, so that by depressing the pressure roller o by 

 means of the handle q the valve s can be opened so as to allow the air to pass 

 for the purpose of retarding the motion ot the carriage ; D is a branch piiie 

 communicating with the traction pipe on each side of the transverse valve E', 

 the outer end of this pipe, as at D", communicates with a huge hemispherical 

 vessel or vacuum chamber. Now we have stated that the carriage or train is 

 supposed to be descending an incline, the vacuum chamber being at the top 

 of such gradient, at the bottom of the gradient there is another vessel intended 

 for compressed air. .Suppose, therefore, a train of carriages to have arrived at 

 the top of the incline and are proceeding down the opposite incline in a direc- 

 tion of the arrow, the first carriage of the train will close the valve E, so as 

 to shut ofi' the communication between the vacuum vessel and that section of 

 the pipe and will open the valve F, and the consequence will be tliat as the 

 train descends by its own gravity a partial vacuuui will be formed in the ves- 

 sel, and moreover the air contained in the traction pipe amJ in front of the 

 piston will be forced into ,he receiver or vessel for compressed air, and will 

 act as a cushion to retard the progress of the train ; so that the power thus 

 generated by the descent of the train may be beneficially employed in resist- 

 ing the next train up the incline. 



This is no doubt what is intended, but we very much question it since 

 there is no rigid connection between the piston and the carriage whether the 

 latter would not run away and leuve the piston either to go back again or 

 remain motionless. By way of conclusion to this mode of propelling a train 

 of carriages, we will suppose that a train weighing from 30 to 50 Ions was 

 about to be started ; we will also suppose that in front of the piston there is 

 a transverse slide or stop, and that in front of this stop the air has been ex- 

 hausted, or partially so, so as to form a vacuum of from 5 lb. to 10 lb. on the 

 square inch; the train being now ready for starting the transverse slide u: 

 withdrawn and the above pressure suddenly transmitted to the piston, the 

 effect of which would be that instead of setting the train in motion, the first 

 carriage, by reason of the sudden impulse given to the piston, will be raised 

 from the rails and the piston liberated, which would dart olf like an arrow 

 leaving the train ofcarriages behind. This certainly might in some measure 

 be obviated, either by loading the first carriage to an enormous exient, or by 

 the application of wheels fixed to the carriage and working under lateral pro- 

 jections cast on each side of the traction pipe so as to prevent the first car- 

 riage being raised and thereby liberating the piston. 



Ano'her mode of propelling according to this invention is by constructing 

 a double line of rails, between each line there is a traction pipe, and between 

 the two lines there is a pipe for compressed air. At suitable distances along 

 the line there are valve boxes which are connected together by another line 

 of pipes, (in all making four), termed transfer pipes, the valve bo.scs are pro- 

 vided with suitable valves and apparatus for opening and closing the same, 

 the oljject of this arrangement being to propel the piston by means of com- 

 pressed air on one side and a partial vacuum on the other. The apparatus 

 or levers for opening and closing the valves are attached to the first carriage 

 of the train, so as to open a communication between the reservoir containing 

 compressed air and the propelling main, that is to say behind the piston, the 

 transfer pipes before spoken of form a medium through w hich a vacuum 

 is created in advance of the piston. 



The specification also describes a mode of propelling a double line with a 

 single line of pipes. In order to effect this purpose the inventor proposes to 

 lay down on one line a length of pipes, say one mile, at or near the termina- 

 tion of this length the pipe branches ofl' to the next line of rails, and is con- 

 tinued for another mile, near the termination of which length there is a second 

 branch pipe, so that the propelling main, in place of being in a continuous 

 length along the line, is in lengths of a mile each, more or less. The object 



