18-15.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



315 



may take place at the same time, under all conditions of weather. Now we 

 work n ith a varying power ; the power is very great sonutinies in the case 

 of the locomolive system, when we make up for time lost under any eircuni- 

 stances. Any irregularity upon a Uouhle line only alTects that one train, 

 whereas any irrctuhirity upon a svstem of trains like the London and Hir- 

 mingliain would altVct the communication throughout the whole country ; it 

 would atlect the trains upon every line of country in connexion with the 

 London and Birmingham, whether near or far off. Any system, I conceive, 

 in which the working of the traffic in one part of the country depends upon 

 the regularity of every other, is one that is totally inadniissihlc ; that is the 

 broad principle; to go into practical detail would he almost imposihle, 

 without a model ; hut the system itself, u|ion the face of it, hears that, that 

 every train hetween Liverpool and London would he dependent upon every 

 other train moving; if the one lost time, or happened to meet with an acci- 

 dent, all the others would he affected hy it." 



•<. Witness is not aware of any circumstances applicahle to the atmo- 

 Bpheric system, and inapplicahle to the locomotive, rendering it feasil>le to 

 work trains upon a single atmospheric line that could not he woiked upon a 

 single locomotive line. 1 he Yarmouth and Norwich railway is so worked 

 on the locomotive principle. Of the I'etcrhorongh and Northampton, there 

 are 15 miles of single line, and from lilisworth to Northampton five miles of 

 douhle line — {Sle/ilieiison.) 



With a well-arranged system of police a single line of locomotive railway 

 might be worked with the same, or very nearly the same, safety and punc- 

 tuality as a double line — {Loche.) 



.See Cost of Construction. Crossings of Lines. Long Lines. Passing of 

 Trains. Short Lines. Stoppages. 



Locomotive Engines: — 1. Cost of Locomolive Enr/ines.— 2. Wear and 

 Tear of Engines. — 3. Cost of Repairs. — 4. Average Duration of Locoiiiotu-e 

 Engines. 



1. Original cost of the engines on the London and Birmingham railway ; 

 probable price fur which they would now sell — (Bury.) 



" What average amount of repairs would keep it always in a state as good as 

 new. I think about 300/. to 350/. a-year would keep our engines in a 

 slate as good as new. — Yon have not worn out any locomotive engines 

 since they commenced running upon the London and Birmingham line ?— 

 Not one ; I think that our locomotive engines now just are as good as they 

 were the day they came on the road ; 1 do not see any difficulty in their 

 lasting as long again as they have lasted. — Do not they become antiquated 

 in their construction ? — We alter them occasionally, and increase their capa- 

 bility ; but the first engine that we had upon the line, which was in July 

 1837, is just as capable of taking the trains, and perhaps more capable of 

 taking the trains now than she was when she started in 1837. What was 

 your total stock of engines upon the opening of the line .' — The order was 

 for yo to start with ; 60 passenger engines and 30 luggage engines. What 

 is yonr present number ? — Ninety; we have not had anew engine since ire 

 started ; nor have we t/iromi any aside yet since we started. — Can you state 

 what the cost of the 90 engines was? — The engines differ; they might be 

 taken at 1,500/. each. — If you were to contract for the London and Birming- 

 ham, \ou would be willing to take them at 1,500/. each ? — Yes, but I would 

 not take them at that if I had to sell them again. I wish to correct Mr. 

 Bidder's answer, connected with the passenger traffic; we have 17 trains a 

 day instead of 14." 



2. Upon the Great Western railway they run on an average 150 miles cacli 

 day on which they are at work. Two days work out of three is hard work 

 to keep them in good order. There are laO engines to 250 miles. A loco- 

 motive engine, to save weight, must generally be worked up to its full power ; 

 this is not the case with a stationary engine — {Unmet.) 



How far the vibration of a heavy locomotive engine damages the whole 

 condition of t he line, as regards slips, w ear of rails, wear and tear of engines, 

 &c. — {Locke.) 



' ' I have made several experiments, in order to ascertain the effect of the 

 wheels of the carriages passing over the rails, with a view of testing the 

 strength of the rails, not with a view of testing the extent of vibration. I do 

 not mjself believe that the vibration generally (whatever the efi'ect might be 

 upon some soils) would damage the rails to any considerable extent. There 

 is no doubt that the concussion, and the effect of the blows upon the engines, 

 has a great deal to do with their wear and tear ; but if you were to analyse 

 the cost of the repair of a locomotive, you would find that the wear and tear 

 does not arise so much as you would fancy from the concussion ; I have 

 known an engine run 25,000 miles, withoui ever being taken into the shop 

 or undergoing repair. I have ridilen upon an engine, perhaps, as frequently 

 as most engineers, and have gone at considerable speeds ; 1 have travelled at 

 at 50 miles an hour, and I will undertake to say that I have stood as quietly 

 upon that engine as I could have done upon any carriage in the train, and I 

 attribute that to the engine having six wheels ; I have noticed it over and 

 over again ; the last instance I harl of the kind, was an engine of a very large 

 weight, weighing 17 or 18 tons; it was in bringing the CJueen from I'orts- 

 moulh ; 1 travelled at the rate of 48 miles an hour continually anil uniformly, 

 and I stood as steadily upon that engine as I could have done upon any car- 

 riage in the train ; it is not in th;it one instance only that 1 have observed it, 

 hut I have observed it repeatedly, hundreds and hundreds of times, for I ge- 

 nerally ride on the engine when I am travelling." I 



.■J. Dxiiense of repairs of engines on the London and Birmingham line — 

 ( '^lephemon.) / 



" For good engines wc pay 1,000/. or 1,700/., but for passenger engines 

 we do not pay more than 1,400/. The price of locomotives has fluctuated 

 between 1,400/. and 1,000/. It has been stated that the actual payment for 

 repairs in one year upon the London and Birmingham amounts to 25,000/. ; 

 do you think that statement is correct ? — I do not know what has been the 

 aiiiuunt, that is under the charge of Mr. Bury. I can tell you the cost per 

 mile upon the Birminghaai ; it is \i)\d. Will you state what that includes .' — 

 The whole of the repairs and the purchasing of new engines, whatever there 

 may have been purchased ; the whole of the expenses of the locomotive esta- 

 blishment. Do the Company set aside a depreciation fund .' — I think they 

 have not done so lately ; there was a depreciation fund set aside for some 

 time, but I am nut quite sure whether it has not been dropped lately" 

 Cost of the repair of locomotives on various lines — {Locke.) 

 " The wear and tear of the engine is very great ; it is increased hy the in- 

 crease of speed, but the cost of the repair of locomotive engines has very 

 much diminished in the last six years. It would increase in a ratio accord- 

 ing to the increased speed. On the Liverpool and Manchester railway, where 

 the cost of repair of locomotive engines was 2.9. Grf. a mile, I know that it is 

 not Is. now, and that it is done on some lines at 9rf. and Id ; therefore, 

 when you speak of the great destruction of locomotives, it is all measured 

 within those figures. Upon the South Western the expense of repair of lo- 

 comotives is 1 1 }id. and Is. a mile. Upon the Great Western about the same. 

 I know that the Grand Junction, and on the South Western, they do not 

 vary \d. a mile; and did not during the last half year. On the South Wes- 

 tern and the Grand Junction it has come down from Is. id. a mile, in the 

 last two years, to Is., and 1 \d., and i believe in a short time it will be brought 

 down to 9£/. a mile. How will that economy be produced ? — By lessening 

 the consumption of coke, and lessening the consumption of oil ; iiy a better 

 system of management, and greater durability in the engiue itself." 



4. There can be very few locomotive engines 10 years old, even if all their 

 parts have been renewed in the meantime — {Brunei.) 



The average duration of an engine is 10 years — {Stephenson.) 

 Locomotive Lines. — A locomotive line might be converted into an atmo- 

 spheric ; but the facilities with which this could be effected would depend 

 upon the gradients, which would probably be different for the two lines. It 

 was originally proposed to combine the locomotive with the atmospheric 

 principle on the South Devon line ; no difficulty will arise from the circum- 

 stduce of the South Devon being the continuation of a locomotive line ; but 

 being at the end of a long line, it may be subject to irregularities in the arri- 

 val of the train — (Brunct.) 



London and Croydon Line. — The portion of the line from the Dartmouth 

 Arms to Croydon is to he worked by atmospheric power ; that between the 

 Dartmouth Arms and London by locomotive engines; thus both systems 

 will be tried together. Mode of effecting the transference from one power to 

 the other — {Samuda.) 



" The first five miles of railway, from London to the Dartmouth Arms, will 

 continue to be worked with locomotive power upon the present line until 

 the atmospheric new line is completed ; and the trains will in the meantime 

 be transferred from the locomotive haulage to the atmospheric at that point ; 

 we shall, therefore, have au exemplification of exchange from the one to the 

 other system ; the passengers will not be disturbed, but the engine will leave 

 them at the Dartmouth Anns, and the train will run into a siding, where it 

 will be attached to the piston-carriage which will be there ready to receive 

 it, and, being attached to it, it will proceed to Croydon, propelled by atmo- 

 speric power. In its journey to Croydon it will pass from one exhausted 

 section of the tube into another exhausted section of the tube ; the intei« 

 mediate engine will be placed at the Jolly Sailor station somewhere about 

 halfway between the distance I have now referred to. Y'ou will not have a 

 passing pUce from one tube to the other ? — We shi-U not run on from the 

 Dartmouth Arms towards London by means of a tube at present, because wc 

 shall have the locomotive engines carrying the trains on, but we shall there 

 have precisely the same arrangement which will subsequently exist when the 

 trains are passed from one atmospheric line to another atinospheric line, in- 

 stead of being passed from the atinospheric line to the locomotive line." 



Lonyitiulinal Valve. — On the Dalkey line the longitudinal valve has re- 

 quired repair when the leather was bad ; it is easily lepaired, and has never 

 interrupted the working of the line. — {(Jibbons.) 



Important alteration in the construction of the valve upon the Croydon 

 and Epsom railway ; instead of being pressed by a sharp edge, it will he so 

 by a smooth bar of iron; the leather, therefore, will not he exposed to a 

 violent short bending from an abrupt edge Mode in which the leather is 

 kept flexible — {Bergin.) 



" The leather is thoroughly saturated with grease. In the ease of ours, 

 I have found that it gets hard in that part winch is compressed by the bar 1 

 have spoken of, and nowhere else. 1 should expect that, under the other 

 arrangement, it would continue much more flexible ; there is no dirticulty in 

 supplying it with oil from lime to time; indeed, that is a point to which we 

 have not. been sufficiently attentive. Do you find that the heating apparatus 

 fur the closiug of the valve acts satisfactorily ? — Very satisfactorily. I had 

 an opportunity of trying some experiments upon that ; at an early period we 

 broke the apparatus anil worked the line for a fortnight without it, and the 

 leakage was very nearly doubled during that time. I have the particular 

 figures here. On the occasion of one experiment, when the heating apparatus 

 was in proper order, the leakage was then 4Jyh3 culiic feet of air per second' 

 through the whole length of the valve; the heater, or to speak more cor- 



