54 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Februaby, 



I leave the fienoralto say wlielher this iliffeience of six incliesjiistifies 

 the epithet, " huddled together," as applied by him to the wheels of the 

 Norfolk engine. 



Thf General, ia another part of his evidence, says, " These engines 

 (alludiug to Slaughter's), although they are of a long boiler construction, 

 have DO overhan;;iDg weight like Mr. .Stephenson's." This, like the last, 

 is merely a question of dimension, tlie fact being that at the cliimney end 

 Slaughter's engine overhangs precisely to the same extent as the Norfolk 

 engine — viz., 4 feet 9 inches ; at the lireliox end in Slaughter's engine the 

 axle is placed underneath the n]iddle of the lirebox, whereas in the olhers 

 it is placed imniediately in front o( it, without, however, giving the engine 

 more than G inches additional base upon the railway, and this in a distance 

 of 11 feet; yet this shade of dillVrcnce, according to the (Jenenil, makes 

 the one engine safe and steady, and the other dangerous, and apt to '* roll 

 like a vessel at sea,*' and this without reference to the fact that the centre of 

 gravity of the Norfolk engine is fully a foot lower than Slaughter's. 

 Were it necessary to adduce any further evidence it w<juld only be neces- 

 sary to recall to mind the base of the London and liirniiugliam engines, 

 where, with an overhanging lirebox, the base of the rail does not exceed 7 

 feet. 



I do not think that comment on such a conclusion is necessary ; if a 

 shade of difference of this kind be really adequate to produce such conse- 

 quences as are here staled by the Inspector-General, the sooner the cou- 

 struction of every class of locomotive engine is revised the better. 



General Pasley states in another part of his evidence, that " the nar- 

 row gauge not offering so great a diameter of botler as the broad, Mr. 

 Stephenson, to remove tlie obstacle, constructed tiie long boiler engines, to 

 equal them in |)ower, and they have failed in the purpose for which they 

 were intended." And again, "that owing to the fore part of the bailers 

 being so far from the firebox, the tubes being so much distant, the engines 

 do not alVord tlie power that was expected from them." 



This paragraph I have no hesitation in declaring to be entirely erro- 

 neous. In the first place, the motive for lengthening the boiler had no 

 reference to gauge at all, because it is equally applicable to all gauges ; 

 the object was to save fuel, hy preventing the escape of a large quan- 

 tity of waste heat up the chimney ; in this it has been perfectly success- 

 ful, which has been established by every experiment tried with this ob- 

 ject. Even with the longest tube yet introduced in locomotive engines, 

 the temperature at the chimney end has been found suHicient to melt 

 lead, which is upwards of 200 degrees above the temperature of the 

 water in the boiler. The opinion of General I'asley on this point is 

 equally at variance with the most extensive experience with slationary 

 engine boilers, which are much longer, with much less velocity of draught. 



It must be obvious to every one that every addition to the economy of 

 fuel obtained by an enlarged evaporatory capacity is necessarily attended 

 with a corresponding increase of power, and therefore, as before observed, 

 although my original object in lengthening the boiler was with the view 

 of economical results, it has been attended with a large increase of po- 

 wer. I beg therefore to remove the impression produced by General 

 Pasley's evidence, by emphatically declaring that the long boiler arrange- 

 ment suggested itself to my mind, indeed was in actual tiperation, years 

 before the question of gauges was agitated. 1 forbear liere going into 

 the question of gauge, which has been so pointedly introduced by Ge- 

 nera! Pasley both in his evidence and in his letter in Tlit Times, because 

 it is both foreign to the subject, and can lead to no result whilst it is 

 under the consideration of the commission appointed for that purpose. 



In conclusion, I am willing to believe, nay, I am sincerely convinced, 

 that General Pasley, in giving his evidence, was actuated by no other 

 molive than a wish to arrive at the truth, but in the present instance I 

 must be excused for regarding him as having ventured to give opinions 

 upon a diflicult subject, and one with which neither his education nor 

 experience can have made him thoroughly acquainted. In venturing 

 thus to express myself, I am far from wishing to imply the least disres- 

 pectful feeling to General Pasley ; on the contrary, my experience in the 

 mode in which he has filled the difficult ollice of Inspector-General has 

 led me to respect him, and at all limes to aid him by giving him opinions 

 on practical subjects wheuever an opportunity presented itself; but in 

 the present case I am so personally involved by his evidence, and feel so 

 strongly convinced that his views are entirely erroneous, and calculated to 

 injure raiUvay interests, that to express my opinion with any reservation 

 would be injustice to many railway companies whose confidence 1 en- 

 joy- 



1 am, (Jentlemen, your obedient servant, 



KolltKT STtPHLNSON. 



24, Great George-street, \\estniinster, Jan. 21. 



FALL OF A VIADUCT ON THE ROUEN AND HAVRE 

 RAILWAY. 



{Extrnct from a Private Letter.) 

 It being possible that the news of the falling of the whole of the viaduct 

 of Barentin, ou the line of the projected railroad betwi'eii Ifouen and 

 Havre, and within three leagues of the former place, may not yet have 

 reached you, I therefore hasten to send you all the particulars that I have 

 collected. 



This event took place on Saturday last, the 10th .January, and has made 

 a deep impression on the feeling and fears of the population of Havre, who 

 looked forward with much anxiety to the speedy and safe accomplishment 

 of an undertaking in which their commercial and general interests are so 

 importantly involved. Now that the accident has happened, opinions, 

 which were formerly kept in subjection, are expressed without reserve, and 

 it would appear that duiibts have long been enteriained of the solidity of 

 the works, of the amount of care observed, and of the quality of the mate- 

 rials used in the < onstruction of this railroad. One shudders at the idea 

 of the dreadful consequences which might have ensued had the road beea 

 in full operation at the time of the accident. The fall of this enormous 

 work, raised to the height of 32 yards French, (about 10.5 English feet) 

 above the soil, naturally gives rise to the most serious apprehensions for 

 the eventual fate of two others, those of .Malauney and JlirviUe, which the 

 same conditions expose to a like result. 



Public confidence in the general stability of the works upon this railroad 

 has, by this dreadful event, received a blow, the effects of w hich can only 

 be removed by the test of time and a long series of successful operaiions. 

 Happily, no lives have been lost, nor much property in the immediate 

 vicinity destroyed by the fall of the viaduct. A lluurmi'll, situate upon ihe 

 river St. Austreberthe, was entirely knocked down, and it was not till 

 within an hour afterwards that the inhabitants of Uarcntin could make their 

 way across the masses which encumbered the road to the rescue of Ihe sole 

 inmate, who miraculously escaped with a slight wound only of the finger. 

 The machinery and fragments of the mill were scittered about in every 

 direction. 



The Journal Jes Debuts publishes the following letter on the subject of 



the late catastrophe which occurred on the Rouen and Havre Railroad : 



" i have the honour to address you the following note, with a request that 

 you will insert it in your next number. The directors of the Rouen and 

 Havre Railroad Company hasten to publish the first information transmitted 

 to them on the state of the viaduct of Berenlin by Mr. Locke, the principal 

 engineer of the company. The directors have siuce had a conference with 

 the principal engineer, at which the announcement made in the journals of 

 last evening was fully confirmed — viz., that the cost of the rebuilding of 

 the viaduci of Barentin will be at the ex|iense of the contractors, and that 

 the reconstruction of the viaduct will not retard for more than two months 

 the opening of the line. The plan of the reconstruction was this day ar- 

 ranged by the board of directors, and will be presented to-morrow to the 

 Minister of Public Works. The damage caused to ihe proprietors in the 

 neighbourhood of the viaduct is of no serious importance, and can give rise 

 but to a slight indemnity, already partly arranged.— E. Delacour, Secre- 

 tary to the Company." 



THE JANUS STEAM SHIP. 

 (Wee opy the following article, addressed to the Editor, from the Tintes.) 



Sir — The frequent articles inserted in your universally circulated paper 

 relative to the Janus, indicate that the success or failure of the engines, 

 boilers, and lines of construction are subjects of public interest. 



Being thus confirmed in my opinion, I enclose to you the last report 

 made on the original revolving engine erected by the late Admiralty in 

 Portsmouth Dockyard, tlie performance of which engines gave to the pre- 

 sent board the confidence they have manifested in promoting the attainment 

 of an object highly interesting to the naval service. 



Those only who attempt to introduce an iinporlant novelty can estimate 

 the effects of jealousy and prejudice. I confide, however, in your liberality 

 to aid in their removal, and beg that you will inquire whether any recipro- 

 cating engine has ever performed duty equivalent to 13 consecutive double 

 voyages from England to America (as the Portsmouth engine has done), 

 almost without repair ? 



I am. Sir, your obedient servant, 



Portsmouth, Jan. 8. Dundonald. 



UejioTt of the Earl of Dunilonald's Rotatory Engine erected in Her 

 Mojestij's Dor.kijarii at Portsmouth. 



On the 22d of December, 1S45, two years and nine months of constant 

 performance o.f the rotatory engine expires, during all which lime it has 

 been working in the most elfectual and satisfactory manner, no derange- 

 ment of consequence having ever taken place. 



It is presuuied (hat these two years and nine nionllis of constant and 

 laborious operation (requiring no more than slight attention by the work- 

 men) have gone far to establish that quality which, until now, had not 

 been suflicieutly developed,— namely, durability, and consequent continuuy 

 of operation. 



The principal repair this engine has required was taken in hand about 

 nine months ago. This was so trifling that six men could have accom- 

 plished it in one day, but having been much pressed with work at the time, 

 one man only could be spared, which consequently protracted its comph- 

 tion for one week. 



Thus after four years and nine months constant working as a prims 

 mover, two years and nine mouths of which have been so successfully per- 

 formed, nothing more can be wanting even by the most sceptical to esta- 



