190 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[Junk, 



INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS AT BIRMINGHAM. 



On Wednesday, April 23, a numerous meeting of the members and friends 

 of the above Institution was held at the Queen's Hotel, Birmingham, for the 

 general transaction of business, and the reception of scientific communica- 

 tions from the members. 



In the absence of George Stephenson, Esq., President, Mr. M'Connel! 

 was called to the chair, and the minutes of the last meeting having been 

 read by the Secretary (Mr. Archibald Slate), 



The Chairman rose and said, the present meeting was one of the four ordi- 

 nary meetings provided by the rules of the Institution, and required to be 

 held on the fourth Wednesday in April. Since the last meeting, the Council 

 had rnet on several occasions, and after discussing various subjects of interest 

 to the Institution, they invited the London and Manchester branches of the 

 body to meet them, consider tlieir proceedings, and confirm them if approved 

 of. The gentlemen from Manchester accordingly attended a meeting of the 

 Council, on the 21st April, confirmed the past minutes of Council, and sug- 

 gested some further improvements in the management of the Institution. 

 The liusincss of the present meeting was to confirm the minutes of the last 

 genpral meeting, to receive new members and communications, and consult 

 as to future operations ; and here, perhaps, before they proceeded further, he 

 might be allowed to say he had a very agreeable piece of intelligence to 

 conirnunicate, which he was sure would he very gratefully received by the 

 meeting. It was the announcement of a handsome donation of 100/. to the 

 Institution, by their worthy and higlily-esteemed President, to whom he begged 

 leave to propose a vote of thanks for this additional mark of his estimation 

 of the Institution, which was unanimously assented to. 



The Chairman stated that the Council was of opinion that the members 

 ought at once to proceed to work and supply information on useful subjects ; 

 and, in order make a commencement, they had forwarded the following sug- 

 gestions to each member of the institution : — 



" 1. The best form oi raihv.iy axles and wheels. 



" 2. The best description of engine and mill for manufacturing iron. 



"3. The best form of barker mill or turbine. 



" 4. The best form of luggage-engine for narrow gauge. 



"5. The most economical stationary steam-engine, with coal at Gs., 12s., 

 and 24s. per ton, taken in a commercial point of view. 



" 6. The best form of air-pump valves. 



" 7. The best high-pressuie marine boiler. 



" S. The best description of pumping engine for the thick coal district of 

 Staftbrdshire. 



" 9. The flow of water through straight mains and curves." 



The following papers were tnen read : — • 



1 . " Apparatus to be applied to Railway Carriages for lessening the dan- 

 gerous effects of Collisions on Bailways." By Mr. E. Chesshire. 



This method has been described in the .lournal for September last, p. 285, 

 it simply consists in applying beneath all the length of the body of each pas- 

 senger and other carriage of every train an inflexible unyielding rod, which 

 is termed a " safety-buffer," of wrought iron, and a tube plugged with wood, 

 supported in suitable bearing-sockets beneath the framework of the carriage, 

 at the middle of the breadth thereof, and left loose in those sockets. The 

 safety-buftVr terminates at each end with an enlarged head like those of 

 ordinary liufl'ers, and the heads of the safety-buffer of each carriage corre- 

 spond to the like heads of the safety-butter of the preceding and following 

 carriages. When the usual coupling links are screwed up to bring the ordi- 

 nary liuiFer lieads of the several carriages into elastic contact one with 

 another, as is usual, there will be a vacant space between the safety-bufl'er 

 head of each carriage and that of the next adjacent carriage, varying from 

 three to six inches, more or less, according to circumstances, and the safety- 

 buffers will not have any effect or operation in the ordinary course of tra- 

 velling, bnt only in case of a collision. The safety-buffers in the van, at the 

 hinder end of the train, and in the tender at the front end, are not to extend 

 throughout the whole length of those carriages, and need not have any end- 

 way motion, but may be firmly fastened to the framework of those carriages, 

 or they may be applied against strong elliptical springs, placed end to end 

 for expending some of the force of the collision. The van is to be lower than 

 the passenger and other carriages, in order that its centre of gravity may be 

 nearer to the level of the rails. The van at the hinder end of the train is to 

 have its ordinary buffers with easy yielding springs, which, with the same 

 force applied to them, will allow those butters to move through a much 

 greater space in respect to the van than the ordinary Iniffers of the carriages 

 of the train, so that, in case of a collision from behind, the ordinary buffers 

 of the van being so yielding, they will not act with much force against the 

 corresponding buffers of the hindmost carriage of the train. 



Remarks. — Mr. W. Robinson, of London, said, it might be advanced 

 against the proposed improvement, that every rod being six inches less in 

 length than the side buffer, would lose six inches in every carriage ; conse- 

 quently, supposing a train to be composed of, say 50 carriages, it would re- 

 quire 25 feet for the stroke of the last buffer. It might also be objected that 

 the rod would double uji; four or six inches in diameter was not suflicient 

 to take the amount of force imparted by the collision. He would estimate 

 that it would require 13 feet diameter to oppose the force of the shock im- 

 parted to it. 



Mr. Chesshire replied, that the momentum was communicated to the 

 first rod, and through each individual rod to the last instantaneously, and 

 through it to the hinder van, just as in the case of a number of billiard balls 

 jjlaccd in a row. \\'hen the first was struck, the last was driven away with 

 all the impetus communicated to the first, leaving the intermediate halls per- 

 fectly at rest. 



A Member suggested that it would require 300 tons to double up a rod 

 four inches in diameter. 



Mr. CuEssHiaE — I take it at that calculation, and say, consequently, sup- 

 posing the momentum of the collision to be greater than that, it was quite 

 evident that 300 tons must be taken from the amount of collision imparted 

 to the train and expended upon the van behind tli° train. jVs the stroke of 

 the side buffer was 13 inches, it was quite clear six inches might be allowed 

 for the stroke of the centre buffer without any injury to the passenger car- 

 riage ; consequently, if 25 feet were lost in tlie centre buffer in a train of 50 

 carriages, 54 feet would be gained by the stroke of the side buffer, leaving a 

 surplus of 29 feet. 



2. " Dliconnecling Coupling." — Mr. Johnson, locomotive superintendent of 

 the Manchester and Leeds llaihvay, produced a model of an invention for 

 disconnecting the carriages from the engine, in the event of an obstruction 

 on the line, or any other accident which would cause the engine to run off 

 the rails, by a self-acting disconnecting coupling chain, which he proposed to 

 apply between the tender and the luggage van. It was exceedingly simple 

 and inexpensive, and might be applied to any train with a slight alteration of 

 the present coupling crook of the luggage van or carriages. In case the en- 

 gine or tender got off the rails from any cause whatever, regardless of the 

 speed, the engine or tender would be immediately disengaged from the train, 

 allowing the latter to remain on the line perfectly uninjured, and tiiereby 

 accomphshing the object for which it was intended, lie bad had a working 

 model twelve months, and during that time tried it repeatedly, and could 

 now speak confidently of its merits. 



Mr. MiDDLETON, having inspected the model, said he believed a patent 

 had been taken out some years ago for a similar invention. He thought the 

 plan a very good one ; but he was under the impression that at the time Dr. 

 Church's carriage was before the public, it was said that such an iuventioa 

 had been patented. 



Mr. Bever was also of opinion that the idea or principle of the inventioa 

 was not new, as it had been proposed by Mr. Watson Buck, engineer, on the 

 opening of the Manchester and i3irmingham Railway. 



Mr. Ramsbottom, of the London and North- Western Railway, feared the 

 violent oscillation of the carriages would produce the same result, lie had 

 seen carriages vibrate very much when not sufliciently tight. 



3. " Railway Axles." — Mr. H. Bessemere, manufacturer, London, produced 

 a model of a railway axle, to do away with the necessity of covering the tire, 

 which the inventor stated caused great tear and wear of the rails and tires, 

 and also a tendency in the carriages to an oscillating or vibratory motion 

 when running on a straight line. Mr. B. stated that the means by which he 

 proposed to effect his object was by cutting the axle in two in the ceutre, 

 and holding it rigid and in its place by a long coupling, with concentrated 

 grooves, so that each wheel, and the eud of the axle, could revolve inde- 

 pendently of the other. 



Mr. Beyer said an invention for accomplishing the same object had beea 

 proposed, and applied before, and in his opinion one more simple had been 

 tried. He had seen the same idea carried out in two different ways. He 

 questioned the desirableness of having such an invention at all. 



4. " Description of a netv Railway Break," by Mr. F. Knisht, was read, 

 which requires a drawing to make it understood. 



Mug IS. — Mr. J. E. M'Connell, in the Chair. 



" On the use oj the Fan-ilast for manu/ucturing purposes." By Mr. 

 Buckle, the following papers were read : — 



1. This paper described a series of experiments on the fan-blast, as ap- 

 plied to maoufacluring purposes. They were made for the purpose of 

 guiding the cooslructiou of the fan, so that the greatest quantity of air could 

 be accumulated with the least possible expenditure of power. The original 

 application of the fan was for the purpose of separating and dressing seeds, 

 (he speed and density of the air being limited to manual power. But since 

 their application to smilheriesaud foundries, sleuiu and other motive power 

 have been used, their speed so increased tiiat the density of the air ranges 

 from 3 oz. to 12 oz. per square inch. Various forms of fans have been 

 made, but the one generally ineferred is called an eccentric, with three or 

 six blades or arms radiating Iron) the centre. 'I'liis indispensable niachiue 

 is one that has abridged much time and labour ; the uniform stream of air 

 admits of no comparison with the pufling blasts of the bellows or cylinder. 

 The smith cau heat bis work w ith precision, proportion the size of his 

 nozzle tuyeres to suit his work, v\ithout deteriorating the intensity of the 

 blast, and in some insluoces it enables him to heat one piece of work while 

 shaping another, the pressure of the blast ranging from 4 uz. to 5 oz. per 

 square inch, with nozzle tuyeres 1? inch diameter ; but in a well regulated 

 smithy, the nozzle is fitted with nosepipes as ferrules, varying from 1 to 3 

 in. diameter, to suit the quantity of blast required. An ecieulric fan 4 feet 

 diameter, the blades of vvliich are 10 inches wide by 14 inches long, and 

 running S70 revolutions per minute, will supply air at a density of 4 oz. 

 per square iucb, to 40 tuyeres of l'' inch diameter each, without any falling 



