386 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[Dko. 



springs can be accounted for. As regards durability, there can be no 

 question that the continuous bearer of the broad gauge is far superior to the 

 liridge rail of the narrow, — and probably that may account for much of 

 the alleged advantage in working expenses. The want of continuous 

 bearing in the mode of laying rails in chairs on cross-sleepers is a serious 

 evil. At the joint chairs tlie strength of resistance is not one-third that of 

 the intermediate chairs, and therefore it is that the passenger counts every 

 joint as he passes over tliera. The cross sleepers at tlie joints are beaten 

 down, and the ground is hollow beneath them. Water gets in, and "main- 

 tenance of way" increases in amount. The rails hammer in the chairs, the 

 keys get loose, and danger becomes imminent. If there be one rule more 

 important than another in " maintenance of way," it is that of making 

 the whole road, both rails and substructure, of equable resisting power 

 throughout. It were better and safer to have a Uexible rail throughout, 

 than one alternately hard and flexible ; and therein is the prominent advan- 

 tage which the structure of the broad gauge has over the narrow, — though 

 probably, taking the weight of the engines into comparative account, the 

 rails of the narrow gauge are better proportioned as to size than those of 

 the broad. The importance of this question will be obvious to every 

 mechanical mind. Kqual movement in all moving machinery is the thing 

 aimed at in every case where durability is desired. Why else are fly- 

 wheels — and why are blocks of iron placed on engine wheels to balance 

 them? Wiiy is it sought to keep locomotive cylinders as close as possible 

 to the central line of the train? What but for equal movement? And yet 

 the rail is so contrived as to produce continually-/ecurring blows at every 

 joint. This must be amended before economy can be obtained. 



That the railway dogma, " AVeight is Speed," is a fallacy, may be ga- 

 thered from the whole animal creation. The swift eagle, when divested of 

 his wings and feathers, is reducible to a very small bulk of body. The 

 slow goose or duck is chiefly body, with but small wings. The swift Arab 

 horse is light, but muscular, like a double cylinder engine, working by 

 pure elasticity. The slow Flanders horse is like an atmospheric engine of 

 the olden time, the muscles only serving to put the gravity in action. Who 

 ever dreamed of applying a Flanders horse to a fast coach ? Who ever 

 dreamed of applying an Arab steed to draw a coal-wagoo ? Yet this is 

 what railway competitors have been doing up to the present time. Ele- 

 phants, leviathans, were a fitter term than horses. We have heard that 

 there are existing engines weighing 35 tons, and that engines yet in em- 

 bryo will, when they achieve their monstrous birth, weigh 40 tons. It is 

 some years since a strange nondescript, called Harrison's Patent, was pro- 

 duced on the broad gauge. It made a trial — but all its try ended in stand- 

 ing still. We asked a " rude unlettered driver of the rail" why it did not 

 answer. The answer was concise, — " It weighs forty tons." That reason 

 is fast getting to be obsolete. If the proportion of engine weight to train 

 ■weight continues to increase as it has done for some time past, the horse 

 will soon cut up the carriage. As a rough and ready acquaintance re- 

 marked,— "The train is nothing; anything can draw these carriages, so 

 long as the engines can draw themselves." 



Many men have had their doubts of the truth of the railway dogma, 

 " Weight is Speed." One man — a railway officer — was found bold 

 enough, after some preliminary thinking, to put the dogma to the test of 

 experiment. Having had constructed for him a manumotive carriage, he 

 found that considerable speed could be attained with a light vehicle, but the 

 speed was limited by the limited strength of man. To get a steam loco- 

 motive constructed for a speed of twenty miles per hour, and weighing 

 only 6 cwt., was his next problem, — the object being to lift it olf the rails 

 to get out of the way of fast trains. Builders were found to undertake 

 this: the axles were made as light as those of a pony gig, the wheels of 

 vpood, and all parts reduced to the minimum. It worked, and would 

 ascend an incline of 1 in 19; but the boiler was not well arranged, and 

 the axles were too close together for steadiness. It was taken in again, 

 the axles set ten feet apart, and a new boiler applied. But there were two 

 serious defects : the axles were too light for the increased weight, and the 

 wheel tyres were too narrow for the " points." It was evident that, as in 

 most cases of alteration, the parts were not fitted to each other. The 

 second trial was made, and it soon became evident that the engine would 

 go, but not for any length of time. As predicted, the engine went ofl' the 

 rails at the points, strained the axles, and again came into dock. New 

 wheels, of iron, were applied, and stronger axles ; and those who pre- 

 dicted, first, that the engine would not go, and, secondly, that it would fly 

 off the rails by reason of its lightness, were out in their calculatione in 



both cases. The maximum speed attained was 47 miles per hour 40 



miles the average of 56 miles from London to Cambridge. The total 

 weight, with fuel and water, was 22 cwt , and the number of passengers 

 were eight, including the driver. On that memorable day the dogma, 

 " Weight is Speed," was extinguished for ever. One hundred-weight was 

 ou nd equivalent to thirty hundred-weight, and the vehicle was steadier at 

 maximum speed thau a first-class carriage. 



The railway officer who established this fact, of measureless importance 

 to all future railway progress, is Mr. Samuel, the resident engineer of the 

 Eastern Counties railway. The builders of the engine are Messrs. Adams, 

 of Fairfield Works. The draughtsman of it in its original tiny form is 

 Mr. Keynolds, of the Eastern Counties, and formerly a pupil of the 

 Fairfield Works. 



We have not given the working drawings of this remarkable production 

 of foresight and perseverance, as the engine, though a practically useful 

 machine, and money-saving to the Company, will not be a pattern, but will 

 be far eclipsed by its successor. We give the general form and dimensions, 

 as being all that the intelligent mechanic would really desire to know. 



An oblong box, the frame being of angle-iron, measuring 14 ft. in length, 

 by 4 ft. 4 in. in width, is su-pended by axle girders in spiral springs, be- 

 ueaih the axles of and within side four wheels, eich 3 ft. 10 in. in diameter, 

 the axles being 10 ft. apart. The axles are three inches in diameter. One 

 of the axles is double-cranked at right angles, in the usual mode, and to 

 this the connecting rods of a pair of steam cylinders are applied to produce 

 motion, also in the usual manner. The oblong box is divided about mid- 

 way by a partition. At the front end of tlie box thus divided, is placed a 

 vertical boiler and the machinery, with the driver, the whole being con- 

 tained within the base of the four wheels, and supported below the level 

 of the axles. In the hinder part of the box are placed seats for seven pas- 

 sengers, some along the sides and some above the axle, which passes through 

 the box, the entrance being behind. The cross-seat for the driver has the 

 water-tank within it. The cylinders are 3J inches diameter, with a 6-inch 

 stroke. The reversinggear and link motion are as usual. The diameter of the 

 boiler is 1 ft. 9 in. ; the tubes are in number. It has been proved by 

 cold-water pressure to 200 lb. on the inch. The consumption of coke is 

 2 lb. per mile, and the total expense for driver, coke, and oil is under one 

 penny per mile. It will be obvious to every one that, with a pressure of 

 only six to seven hundred weight on each driving-wheel, " maintenance of 

 way" need not be taken into the account, as where six to nine tons are placed 

 on each driving-wheel ; and, also, that as no deflection of the rail takes 

 place, there will be no slipping. 



Changes, however, cannot take place rapidly, and, as a matter of course, 

 those who propounded the dogma that " Weight is Speed," are nut likely 

 to acknowledge their error ofl-hand. 



But our business is with the question, commercially and mechanically. 

 The press teems with complaints of the absorption of money by the ex- 

 tension of railways; and either railways must stop progress, or they must 

 be produced at a far cheaper outlay than hitherto. 



As regards passengers, speed is the object : as regards goods, weight is 

 the object more than speed ; but when goods are borne on the same rails as 

 passengers, they must, for the most part, travel at the same rate of speed. 

 DiBering speeds on the same line of rails, unless with long intervals, are a 

 fruitful source of collision. 



On the main lines of rail the traffic is stated to be so enormous, that 

 goods wagons are constantly in arrear. 



If therefore, the passenger traflic could be transferred to other lines, ex- 

 clusively devoted to passenger traffic at great speeds, it would be a very 

 considerable advantage to the public, both in point of safety and rapidity, 

 and also in the forwarding of goods. 



At such a proposition the short sighted amongst existing railway owners 

 will take the alarm, for fear of the depreciation of their property. How- 

 ever we do not see how their alarm could benefit them. The best way is to 

 look all danger steadily in the face, when, where, and how it may occur. 

 But, fortunately for them, the danger in the present case is purely 

 imaginary. 



It will, we believe, be a conceded point, that the public would prefer 

 frequent trains carrying small numbers of persons, to unfrequent trains 

 carrying larger numbers, and would also prefer increased speeds. And, 

 provided it can be made apparent that they can thus be carried also more 

 cheaply, we presume that both directors and shareholders would agree as 

 to its desirability. 



Now, in the first place, a large train involves the use of a heavy engine, 



