1S44.J 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



457 



To have parties who are influential upon the present lines, so that the public 

 convenience may be secured for the whole length, might be an advantage. 



Working of the Railway. — As the survey of the inland line of railway is 

 unfinished, I have not inquired into the working of the Great Western Rail- 

 way, hut I have into that of the London and Birmingham, and I have re- 

 ceived every facility and attention in doing so from Mr. Glyn, the chairman, 

 Mr. Creed and Mr. Bury, with an expression of readiness to consider liberally 

 any suggestion that might lie made. A few which I named, and will now 

 state, were received in this spirit. Ten minutes are allowed for the first mile 

 from Euston- square, on account of the stationary engine work; this is at the 

 rate of six miles per hour; it may be done and often is done in less time, 

 but the difference is lost at the first stoppage, as the train must wait its time 

 there. Now it is agreed that the locomotive engine might go to the terminus 

 and start at once. This would save five to seven minutes. In two hours 

 after starting there is a stoppage of ten minutes at Wolverton, where refresh- 

 ments are supplied and invitingly served ; less than half the time would do 

 for changing the engine. There is no similar stoppage between Liverpool 

 and Birmingham, although Birmingham is nearly equidistant from London 

 and Liverpool. The arrangements near Birmingham are still more unne- 

 cessary and more tedious. Here the up and down trains are taken off the 

 direct course to the Birmingham station, to a point which obliges the car- 

 riages to be turned round upon turn-plates ; half an hour is usually allowed 

 for this and for refreshments. These operations being finished, the train 

 returns along a curve upon the Grand Junction Railway to the valley of the 

 Tame. In addition to the stoppage, we have had 2£ miles of unnecessary 

 travelling, the straight line or base of the triangle being 2£ miles, the two 

 sides which are travelled 4§ miles. I see no reason, except " the good of the 

 houses," why the mail, or a traveller to Liverpool or Dublin, should be kept 

 ten minutes at Wolverton, and then be carried two miles out of his way in 

 two hours afterwards, to be refreshed for half an hour at Birmingham. 3 

 Delicate persons, requiring frequent and long stoppages, will have the oppor- 

 tunity of travelling by other than the mail trains. Between 8 o'clock p.m., 

 when the mail coaches upon the road leave London, and the same hour next 

 morning, no time is allowed but for changing horses. If a few minutes be 

 taken at some one place, it has to be made up for on the road. This may be 

 the other extreme, and insufficient ; it is worse than having no stoppage, 

 exceeding five minutes, between London and Holyhead. Even Birmingham, 

 for the sake of conciliating which the Birmingham detour was made at the 

 time, will, I think, agree, that its convenience would be answered by having 

 the Birmingham carriages to detach from the train. The accompanying 

 plan (No. 6) illustrates my remarks on the Birmingham detour. In justice 

 to the Railway Companies themselves, and to such of their passengers as are 

 desirous of " getting on," the cut ought to be made now. The Companies 

 can afford it ; I have had it surveyed. The execution would not be expen- 

 sive, considering its importance. There are no buildings in the way. By the 

 above plan, and the alterations lower down to which I have referred, the 

 worst curves between London and Holyhead will be avoided, and the distance 

 reduced nearly five miles. 4 



Speed. — Then as to speed. The London and Birmingham Company began 

 very prudently at 18 mdes per hcur; the work was new to them; they rose 

 to 20, then 22 J- ; the last return of their mail trains was 20^. "With the 

 exception of their power being occasionally too small for their loads to en- 

 sure punctuality, their work has been regularly, safely, and creditably done, 

 so far as I have observed or heard, and has progressed steadily ; their con- 

 cern has paid well, and they appear disposed to attend to what the public 

 convenience requires of them. The present Great Western speed is 29. 

 These include stoppages. There is, in my opinion, nothing in the difference 

 of gage of the two railways to prevent the Birmingham and Grand Junction 

 being as quick as the Great Western, if they would apply sufficient power. 

 That the Directors think so, is evident, from their allowing a speed of 40 

 miles per hour to be run when the inclination is in favour. The Northern 

 and Eastern return 30 miles as their speed exclusive of stoppages. My 

 observations upon this railway, and part of the Brighton, and also the South 

 Eastern, make the speed vary from 36 to 40, and occasionally 42. The 

 Great Western is often 45 ; on special occasions, it is still more. 



The following calculations of time and speed are meant to refer to the mail 

 and fast trains only. I propose to show, that after the extension and im- 

 provements to which I have referred are made, the journey between London 

 and Dublin may generally be made in about 14 hours, and that the answers 

 to letters posted in the evening may be received by the morning delivery, 

 after one day's interval. By the received measurements of the present rail- 

 ways, and of the Ordnance map from Chester to Holyhead, the distance be- 

 tween London and Holyhead, allowing for the straightening at Birmingham 

 and other places, will be 207 miles, which, at 30 miles per hour, is 7 h. 25 min. 



Add for one stoppage of 15', two of 10', two of 5', and five of 4' 1 5 



Makes between London and Holyhead stations . . . . 8 30 



or 31^ miles per hour, including stoppages. 

 Allow for crossing to Kingston and reaching the Dublin Post Office 5 30 



Is from Euston station to Post Office, Dublin . . . . . . 14 



Allow time in Dublin .. .. .. .. .. ..5 



Journey hack to Euston-square .. .. .. .. ..14 



Making the journey from Euston-square to Dublin, and back to 

 Euston-square 33 hours. 



According to this, if the train leave the Euston station at 8 30' 5 p.m., the 

 present time for departure. The mail would be in Dublin Post Office at 

 10 30' on the following morning; it would leave at 3 30' in the afternoon, 

 and arrive at Euston-square at 5 30' next morning, being the present time 

 for arrival there. Some modification may be required in the detail, but a 

 very small allowance upon the present speed is required to justify the con- 

 clusion as being practicable. Whether the Great Western course will pro- 

 duce something still superior, remains to be shown when I have the mate- 

 rials for making the calculations ; but to have taken the Birmingham and 

 Grand Junction lines, without including the improvements of which they are 

 capable, would" have been unfair, as I think the Birmingham and Grand 

 Junction companies will see it, to be their interest to make these improve- 

 ments, because, without them, the above results for the time of the mails 

 between London and Dublin could not have been brought out. 



I named having inspected the country between Bangor aud Porth-dyn 

 Uaen, which has been surveyed by Mr. Vignoles and Mr. Purdon for a rail- 

 way. A higher level near Penryhn Castle must be kept to accommodate this 

 line ; but, after getting through the hill above Bangor, which, according to 

 my opinion, the Holyhead as well as the Porth-dyn-llaen line should en- 

 counter, therctiis no difficult feature for a great length. The line keeps 

 within a short distance of the turnpike road which skirts the Menai Straits 

 an dCaernarvon Bay, except near Caernarvon, which it passes 1£ mile east of 

 the town. The country is favourable, very much more so indeed than its 

 vicinity to mountains would have led me to expect. The only difficulty of a 

 formidable nature is the Rivel mountain, which the engineers manage by 

 keeping close to the shore, where the mountain is so narrow that only two 

 short tunnels, together one mile in length, are required. There is also a 

 deep and difficult cutting west of the Rivels, two-thirds of a mile long, 

 through rock. The greatest inclination is 1 in 400. The length from Ban- 

 gor to Porth-dyn-llaen is four miles greater than to Holyhead, but of the 

 two, I consider that to Porth-dyn-llaen the easier ; and if an inland line to 

 Holyhead, whether through Worcester or Shrewsbury, can be shown, which 

 shall be as good as by far the greater portion of the Bangor to Porth-dyn- 

 llaen line, it will be superior to the coast line, which has some heavy rock in 

 parts, and which, in some places upon the coast, will be much exposed to 

 storms. 



3 There is no Post-office arrangement requiring so great a delay. 



4 The line that was projected from Stone to Rugby would save 7 miles, 

 by making 00 miles of railroad. 



= All Greenwich time. Dublin time is 25' 22" later. Much confusion 

 and disappointment would be prevented by the clocks in the United Kingdom 

 being all kept to Greenwich time ; the true time for astronomical purposes 

 might also be shown upon the dial. 



GILDING AND SILVERING BY IMMERSION. 



The following new methods of gilding and silvering by immersion have 

 been adopted on the Continent. Their easy execution puts them within the 

 reach of persons who have hitherto been strangers to this kind of operation. 



Gilding on Silver. — Silver is gilt very readily by means of neutral chloride 

 of gold added to a solution of sulpho-cyanide of potassium till the precipitate 

 formed at first is redissolved. It is necessary that this liquid should preserve 

 a slightly acid reaction, and if it has lost it by too great an addition of sulpho- 

 cyanide, it must be rendered so by adding a few drops of hydro-chloric acid. 

 In order to gild, the silver is plunged into this liquid nearly boiling and 

 tolerably concentrated, in which state it is kept by pouring, from time to 

 time, some hot water to replace that which has evaporated. In this manner, 

 inconveniences which would result from too great concentration of the acid, 

 is avoided, whose pressure is, nevertheless, useful to oppose the formation of 

 an auriferous precipitate which takes place by elevation of temperature, when 

 alkali predominates. 



To Gild and Silver on Copper, Brass, and Bronze. — The solution of the 

 cyanide of gold or silver has been already pointed out for silvering and gild- 

 ing under the influence of electric forces, but it has been found that the same 

 solutions, brought to a temperature near their point of ebullition, can also 

 gild and silver by dipping. With regard to their preparation, if it were 

 necessary to obtain them chemically pure, it would be expensive, without 

 any advantage being obtained ; the operation can be simplified and rendered 

 much less expensive, by adding directly, either to the chloride of gold, or to 

 the nitrate of silver, neutral, the cyanide of potassium in excess, so as to 

 obtain the soluble double cyanides. 



Silver cannot be gilt by this method, but as has already been stated, the 

 6ulpho-cyanide of gold and potassium gilds this metal very well. 



The solution of the cyanide of copper in the cyanide of potassium, will not 

 copper silver, even in contact with zinc ; however, it will copper this latter 

 metal in a very solid and perfect manner. 



It must, however, he stated, that these processes, though so very conve- 

 nient, because they always succeed and require hut a few minutes for their 

 preparation, deposit, unfortuately, but a very thin coating of the precipitated 

 metal. This is an inconvenience common to all methods of coating by 

 simple immersion. 



