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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[December , 



THE BROAD AND NARROW GAUGE COMMISSION. 



Evidence of Nicholas M'noD, Esq. Mr. Wood staled that he is engi- 

 neer of the Newcastle aod Carlisle Railway, aud had siven much atten- 

 tion to the construction of locomotive engines, and familiar with ihe im- 

 provements which have been made in them. In the year 1H38 he reported 

 on the Great Western, with reference to the comparative merits of the 

 sjauge. Great inconvenience would arise from changing the passengers 

 from one carriage to another, which ought to be avoided. ]t would be 

 impossible to have carriages adapted to the trucks. The transfer of pas 

 sengers aud goods would be inconvenient aod expensive. It would 

 occasion a great loss of time. It would take from Kve to six hours !o 

 transfer a load of goods, which would also be mixed. Goods at present 

 were carried for a penny a mile, which could not be continued with a 

 break of gauge. He estimated the cost of loading at 3d. per ton, and 3d. 

 per ton for unloading goods, which would be equivalent to their carriage 

 at the present rate for six miles. That would not be very material on a 

 long line. That estimate would apply to general goods. In the case of 

 minerals, the parties themselves eli'ecled the transfer. The cost of loading 

 and unloading he estimated at from 2d. to 3d. per ton. He had seen the 

 a|>paratus at the Great Western station for transhipment ; but he did not 

 (^insider it applicable. The loose box system could not be carried out. 

 There was a great objection to using them for the transport of agricul- 

 tural produce, and the transhipment of coals, was very objectionable, 

 from ihe loss which was occasioned by breakage. The small coals 

 Sold for eight shillings a ton, while the other coals sold for 20 shillings. 

 It exposed them to this loss, besides the additional labour which it neces- 

 sitated. The transhipment of 40 or 50 wagons caused expense and loss 

 of time. The transfer of timber would be very difficult. It was now 

 carried at a low rate, which would not continue to be the case if it was 

 subjected to the process of transhipment. The elfect would be either to 

 drive the timber traffic entirely off ihe line, or greatly to enhance the charge 

 for carriage. There would be also great inconvenience in transhipping 

 cattle, which were often restless and difficult to remove, from one pen to 

 another. They carried 1200 head of cattle weekly on ihe Newcastle and 

 Carlisle Railway. With a break of gauge they would have to remove 

 passengers, minerals, and timber. The loose box system would not suit 

 them. They had tried it in the north, and found it so difficult to get the 

 boxes to fit the trucks that they abandoned it. In the coal pits they had 

 different gauges, because they had not space in the cuttings for the large 

 wagons. The wheels of the smaller carriages were 12 inches, and those 

 of the larger 2 feet 4 inches. In the large collieries, where they had the 

 command of capital, they found it their interest to reconstruct all the 

 wagons with an intermediate sized wheel, in order to avoid the transfer 

 of the coals, and they found, by adopting this plan, that they saved from 

 one-fourth to one-third of the original. The size of the intermediate wheel 

 is fifteen inches. He could supply a detailed account of this saving, 

 which had been made by reference to the report of the viewer. The 

 bodies of the small trucks were carried on the larger ones. Respecting 

 the breakage of coals by transhipment, and the depreciation per cent, on 

 that account, the estimate on the iranshipment to London was 7 per cent. 

 That was the transhipment into the ship and out again in London. If a 

 break of gauge was inevitable, it would be better, with regard to the tran- 

 shipment of minerals, to lift them by machinery altogether than to adopt 

 the loose box systemi With regard to other minerals — such as iron, for 

 instance, the olijections would be the same. The dead weight is a great 

 disadvantage. He saw no particular advantage in 4ft. 8i in. There 

 would be no peculiar advantage in the half inch. That gauge was taken 

 by Mr. Stephenson from the Killington line, probably because he lived in 

 the neighbourhood, and that it was the one he saw in operation. He 

 adopted it for the Siocklon and Darlington. In the lines of the Marquis 

 of Londonderry and the Earl of Durham, they had different gauges, but 

 they made them uniform ; the difference was about 12 inches. The length 

 of that line was about 20 miles ; they were all now on the 4 feet 8j inch 

 gauge; both were changed. The greatest distance the coal wagons travel 

 on the railway is to York, about sixty miles. The length of of the colliery 

 lines was about 24 mile.s. Looking to the different gauges which were 

 contemplated by projected lines, he considered that any interveution of 

 gauges would be most inconvenient. It would not he advisable to change 

 lu such a case the broad gauge to the narrow, nor the narrow to the broad, 

 but lie thought a line of demarcation should be drawn for either gauge. 

 The coal wagons went as far as York. They sometiim'S go as far as 

 Scarborough; in fact, they go as far as the coals are carried. They 

 would go through the whole line. As to the interlacing of railways to 

 the west and south, between Southampton and Plymouth, there would be 

 shifts of gauge, without giving an opinion that one gauge is so superior 

 to the other. He thought they must now retain the broad gauge. The 

 Barrow gauge on the whole was preferable. He would noi, however, 

 change the bioad gauge lines to a narrow gauge, but he was of opinion 

 that a line of demarcation should be drawn, aud that it should be fixed 

 where there was the minimum of labour. He could not undertake to say 

 where that ought to be. It was an important question, and too difiicull : 

 with the limited information he possessed on the subject, he would not 

 •ffer an opinion. It had been suggested, in order to adapt the carriages 

 of the small gauge to the broad, that Ihey might use loose wheels. They 

 had tried tliem, but they found that they ran off the rail. The wheel 

 tbould be fixed to the axle without turning, He accounted for c»w' 'ges 



with loose wheels running off the rail in this way, that any alteration 

 which diminished the firmness of the wheel on the ,xle, had a tendency 

 to turn above the ledge. If both wheels were loose, it would be worse. 

 Deeper flanges would prevent that, but would b- objectionable in other re- 

 spects. He would state the advantages and disadvantages, comparatively, 

 of the two gauges, first, with regard to safety : he had given great atten- 

 tion to that point, when he made his observations ind experiments on the 

 Great Western in 1848. He got instruments iiiade, so contrived as to 

 register the motion of the carriages. It appeared to him that the motion 

 might be regarded as threefold — the rocking, the pitching, and the oscil- 

 lating motions. The witness then described, with the help of a diagram, 

 the instruments which he used for the purpose of precisely defining these 

 motions, and also exhibited a drawing of ihe marks which these instru- 

 ments registered on paper disposed for the purpose of being marked. 

 Mercury in tubes, adapted in each case to the object to be attained, was 

 the moving agent used to cause the several registrations of the motion 

 indicaieil on the paper. The result of these experiments was to sa'isfy 

 the witness that the motion was altogether irrespective of the width of 

 gauge. The only difference indicated was in the horiicoutal oscillatory 

 motion. That depended on the adjustment of the wheels. He made an 

 exact register every quarter of a mile. He found when they went slow, 

 the oscillation was less. He considered that the ofbillation depended on 

 the velocity. M'hen they went at the rate of nine or ten miles an hour, 

 the oscillations were from 13 to 14; aud when they went at the rate 

 of 30 miles, the oscillations were from 40 to 50. The oscillation arose 

 from the speed. At a high speed the cone of the wheel did not adjust 

 itself to a straight line, and it was to that cause he attributed it. He 

 observed a sinuous motion, but he had not measured it. It arose from 

 the play between the Hangs and the rail. Regarding the effect of the 

 motion produced by shortening the carriage, the farther the wheel was 

 from the centre of motion, the greater was the sinuous motion. The length 

 of the carriage diminished it. He considered the long carriage better 

 as reganled safety. He considered both gauges equally safe with re- 

 spect to the oscillatory motion. If there was a rocking motion on the 

 broad gauge, as there was a wider base, there would be more safety ; 

 but that is not the case; there is no difference in the motion on either 

 gauge. He thought that on the broad gauge there was a greater ten- 

 dency to jump the rail. To make an exact comparison between the gauges 

 both should have longitudinal bearers. He had made his observations 

 since they had adopted piling on the Great Western. He had gone on 

 the Great North of England Railway at the rate of 60 miles an hour. He 

 thought the motion smoother on the narrow gauge. That was with trans- 

 verse sleepers. The gradients are favourable on that line. The trip wag 

 from Darlington to York. They could run on the narrow gauge up to 60 

 miles an hour; but he thought that 45 miles an hour was the highest 

 speed which ought to be used. The narrow gauge was as safe at a high 

 speed as any other. The engine on that trip was one constructed by Mr, 

 Hawthorn, with outside cylinders. The diameter was 3 l<"et 7 inches. 

 The length of the boiler, 11 feet 6 inches, and that of the fire box was 39 

 inches, and 42 inches high. It was mounted with 6 wheels. The driving 

 wheel was 6 feet 7 inches. It was better than a 7 foot wheel It was a 

 new engine, and had sufficient space for the gear for a high velocity. 

 The improvements which had been made in engines rendered the gearing 

 simple. Outside cylinders were more economical ; inside cylinders he 

 considered perfectly adapted to a rate of speed of 4.i miles an hour. He 

 thought there was a little more oscillation with the outside cylinders. 

 The safety was the same with both at a rate of 45 or of 60 miles. The 

 safety was equal ou both lines. A high speed was not expedient — the 

 public did not like it. — Iron Times, 



The Liverpool Assize Courts. — The v^'ork continues still to make a very 

 slow progress, Ttie sound of the tiammer and chisel is to be heard at everv angle; and 

 we have no doubt, from what we saw and learned on our visits, although the walls are 

 bare, and the building Itself is neither roofed nor floored, that a very considerable portion 

 of the preparatory part of the workmanship has been accomplished. The twenty-four 

 granite cuiiimoa which are to adoin St. George's-hall have arrived from Aberdeen. The 

 columns u-ill have an extremely grand iindimp'jBing effect, the granite being of the richest 

 vein we ever before had the opportunity ot inspecting. The only other columns in tha 

 kingdom wliich bear any comparison to them are the tour in the British lUuseum in Lon- 

 don. There the columns are each hewn from the one block, and present to theeyeofa 

 beholder a very elegant appearance. Here, in order to save expense, each column will 

 consist of five or six different pieces, aod the joinings must necessarily detract to some 

 extent from the general effect. Still, viewed from either end of the magnificent hall, 

 which will be l'J9 feet in length, the gruiideur and massivenrss of the sight will be un-. 

 equalled. The colu.-nns for the front entrance are also nearly completed, and so are the 

 sixteen Corinthian capitals. The capitals are from the design ot Mr. S. C. Ketsey, of 

 London, who has been superintending their execution ; and some idea ot their massive- 

 ness will be gathered from the fact that each of the circular ones weighs 9 tons, and each 

 of the square ones 11 tons. Many of the internal en. bellishments, though not yet tixed 

 in their respective places, are either completed or in a state of great forwardness ; and we 

 may add, as a proof that Mr. Elmes, the architect, is availing himself of the present tine 

 weather, that he has at present 170 workmen daily employed. There appears to be very 

 little dilTerence of opinion, honever, on this important point, — that it will take from ttto 

 to three years, at the very least, to finish the building. But, however distant the period 

 of its completion may be, it will, when finished, be such an ornament to Liverpool as i<i 

 other town in the kingdom can boast of possessing. Its extreme length will be 498 feet. 

 The length of the hall, as we have said, will be 1911 feet ; its width 72 feet 9 inches j its 

 height 87 feet 6 inches. The length of Ihe courts will he 69 feel 9 inches; their width b» 

 teet H inches ; their height about lUi feet. The concert-room will be 70 feet square by 

 about 4U feet high.— 'Liverpool Albion,' 



