IS-J6.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



51 



Third Day. — In consequence of an accident by the engine running off 

 the rails, the experiments could not take place. 



Fourth Day. — Two more experiments were made with the goods train 

 of 200 and 400 tons respectively. The engine employed was the Hercules. 

 She is a six-wheel coupled engine, with 4 feet (i inches driving-wheels. 

 Fire-box, 00 feet surface; tubes, 900 feet; cylinder, 15 inches; stroke, 24 

 indies ; weight. 20 tons. 



The engine started from the first mile-post beyond York at 9h. 3Gs., 

 made seven stoppages, amounting to 40m. 50s., and arrived at the 43rd 

 mile-post at 12h. 31m. 40s. The actual time of running therefore, was 

 2h. 1 4m. 203., or upwards of 18 miles per hour. The return trip from 

 Darlington was with 400 tons, the train being above 300 yards long. The 

 train left the 44| mile post at 2h. 5m. 5s., and arrived at the first mile-post 

 at 4h. 22m. 24s., without making any stoppages. This gives something 

 like 19 miles per hour. The following is the working of the engine with 

 the monster train, viz. 47 wagons. 



It will be seen that the maximum speed was nearly 30 miles per hour. 



THE LATE ACCIDENT UPON THE NORFOLK RAILWAY. 



At an inquest commenced in December last, in consequence of a fatal 

 accident on the Norfolk Railway, considerable interest was excited on 

 account of the contradictory opinions expressed by two gentlemen of the 

 highest eminence for their knowledge of engineering — General Pasley and 

 Mr. Bidder. General Pasley did not hesitate to assert in his evidence 

 that Mr. Bidder had, in the course of his examination, expressed opinions 

 " quite erroneous and contrary to the first principles «/ mechanics. It is of 

 the highest importance to the engineering profession to ascertain the truth 

 respecting several very important views propounded during the inquest. 



It does not lie within our plan to give a detailed account of the accident, 

 it will be sufficient for our purpose to state simply that it arose from the 

 engine running off the rails. The following extracts from the evidence of 

 Mr. Bidder embody the notions which General Pasley declared to be con- 

 trary to sound philosophy. ' 



" The inclination of the line where the engine had run off was 1 in 100. 

 The permanent way was as good a piece as any in England. It was con- 

 structed on a chalk embankment, the most favourable soil for such work. 

 At the point where the engine left the rail the embankment was raised about 

 five feet above the oidinary surface of the eartn. The chalk in the embank- 

 ment was used in large lumps, and he thought the late wet weather would 

 have no effect upon it. On examining the engine he found the steam-regu- 

 lator indicated that the steam had been turned off suddenly, tlie effect of 

 which would be precisely similar to that which had been described by the 

 previous witness. The speed of the engine would be more retarded than the 

 carriages, and the train would urge the engine on, forcing it ofi' one side 

 of the rail, and the carriages on the other. He attributed the accident to 

 the impropriety of the engine-driver ;jrocee/:?;H^ at a very hiyh veloeily and 

 tsuddenly shutting off the steam. Moreover, the line near Tlieti'ord lieing tmder 

 repair, it required particular caution in passing over it, and if the deceased 

 did not exercise that precaution, it showed a great want of care on his part. 

 He had no means of judging the exact speed the engine was going, but his 

 opinion was, that it must have been very great, far beyond that of the pro- 

 per speed, viz., 'M miles an hour." 



The evidence of the next witness examined after Mr. Bidder is im- 

 portant, not for matters of opinion but matters of fact ; for it appears that 

 he distinctly stated the circumstances on which Jlr. Bidder founded his 

 opinion to be, in reality, quite different from those under which the acci- 

 dent took place. Coleman, the chief guard of the train says, that '• no 

 alteration was made in the speed more than usual," that the speed of the 

 train " up to the period of the accident did not exceed 35 miles an hour," 

 and that " he had travelled on the line frequently as fast as he did on 

 Wednesday." He says also that just before the accident, the engine gave 

 a" tremendous jump ;" that he could see distinctly what the engine-driver 



was doing, and that "the moment the engine jumped, Pickering turned 

 round and looked on one side, and then cut off the steam." He swore 

 positively that " Pickering did not shut off the steam until after the engins 

 had jumped off the raits," 



The evidence of Major-General Pasley is as follows. 



General Pasley — My opiuion is, that owing to the peculiar construc- 

 tion of the engines, like the one that met with the accident on the Norfolk 

 line, they are not the most suitable to the narrow gauge, as they do not 

 admit of any great speed without danger. They are perfectly secure OQ 

 the narrow gauge at a certaiu rate. For instance, the distance from the 

 Harsling-road station to Thetford is eight miles, and 20 minutes is allowed 

 to accomplish that distance. The distance and time noted in the Norfolk 

 Railway Company*s time-bill can be travelled over without any excessive 

 speed. If by any extraordinary neglect 10 minutes should be lost between 

 those two stations, there is IG minutes to go the eight miles, a rate of 30 

 miles per hour. 



Coroner — Can you account for the broken chair, which was 22 feet from 

 the sleeper, that was cut apparently by the engine when it got olfthe rail? 



General Pasley — I should say that the chair was broken by the motion 

 of the engine. If it was defective before, the motion might contribute to 

 its breaking entirely. 



Coroner — What description of engine was it that met with the accident ? 



General Pasley — One of most extraordinary length of such a length as 

 "was never used on the narrow or any other gauge before. If you will 

 allow me, I will mention a circumstance respecting these peculiar class of 

 engines. Some months ago thei'e existed doubts as to the safety of express 

 trains to travel by, and knowing that oscillation of carriages was no proof 

 of danger, or that their steadiness ensured perfect safety I determined to 

 ride upon the engines, with a view of more easily detecting their unsteadi- 

 ness — their oscillating indicating danger. 1 travelled lines in different 

 parts of the country, and the only engine I found having such an oscilla- 

 tion was one on the South Eastern Railway, called the White Horse of 

 Kent, manufactured by Mr. Robert Stephenson, and of the same peculiar 

 construction as tiie one that went off the rails on the Norfolk line. I went on 

 that engine at the rate of 44 or 45 miles an hour, and at that speed she rolled 

 something like a ship at sea. The oscillation, when the train is going at 

 such a rate, indicates a danger of running olfthe rail. I told the engine- 

 drivers and other authorities that if they ran 50 miles an hour, like the ex- 

 press trains on the Great Western Railway, the greater likelihood of the 

 engines rolling over. I have slated that opinion to the Gauge Comrais- 

 siouei's. The dilierence between the engine jou have alluded to as manu- 

 factured by iMr. Robert .Slephenson and those employed on the Great 

 Western, is thus- — The narrow gauge not olfering so great a diameter of 

 boiler as the broad, Mr. Stephenson, to remove the obstacle, constructed 

 the long-boiler engines to equal them iu power, and they have failed in the 

 purpose for which they were intended. The lung boiler engines, which 

 Mr. Stephenson persevered in, are four or five feet longer than those of 

 original construction, the smoke box overhangs the fore wheels, and the 

 fire box and dome the hind wheels, which will cause theni to oscillate. I 

 think such an engine as the one in question can go at 30 or 35 miles an hoar, 

 and I think I have gone at 45 miles an hour upon them ; but when they ap- 

 proach 50 I think they are unsafe, and that is an opinion not hastily formed. 

 I have mentioned it fi"equeutly to engineers and superintendents of rail- 

 ways, as well as to the Gauge Commissioners. The Great Western Rail- 

 way has been worked by engines of one pattern for the last five or sis 

 years. The motive fur forming the long-boiler engine was to gain a larger 

 evaporating surface, and thereby obtaining greater power of steam. That 

 however has failed, owing to the tube at the fore part of the boiler being 

 so far distant from the fire-box, and not being exposed to the full action of 

 the heat. The engine on the South Western, JNIauchester and Birmingham, 

 and Grand Junction Railways, of the make of Messrs. Sharp and Brothers, 

 with boilers of moderate leiii;lb, have equal, if not more power, and are 

 capable of going at any speed they will admit of, providing the ground is 

 in good order. I Ihink these long boiler engines, if they are going at a 

 rate exceeding 40 miles per hour, are liable to oscillate and run over the 

 line. The cause is the defect in their formation. It is the wheels huddled 

 together, or the axles under the boiler, that gives so much overhanging 

 dead weight at each end, which 1 have not found with any other engines 

 but those of Mr. Stephenson. 



Coroner — Did you ever anticipate an engine of this description meeting 

 with sucli an accident? 



General Pasley— -The fact is, I did not expect such an accident could 

 have taken place. I did not think that such an engine could have gone at 

 the speed it did in running oil the line. It is a rule with engine drivers 

 to shut off the steam on a descending gradient, and in all my journeys iu 

 railway travelling 1 never found them neglect doing so. I have frequently 

 informed the engine-driiers of these engines of the danger they were in- 

 curring when driving them at a r.ite verging upon 50 miles per hour. Iu 

 the north of England, however, I remember being on one of Mr. Stephen- 

 son's long-boiler engines, and two pair of the wheels were coupled to- 

 gether, and in riding upon it I fi It more secure than I would upon the two 

 other ones, as the coupling produces steadiness, and consequently safety. 

 I wish to explain why I consider that the sudden shutting off of the steam 

 could not have led to the accident — the grounds upon which I difl'er with 

 other opinions. AVhen the steam is shut olf suddenly, more especially on 

 a descending gradient, the momentum will drag the tender and carriages 



