1S46.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



211 



them by this clause, f o require that tlie narrow gauge rails shall be laid down 

 from Rugby to Oxford forthwith. They would, therefore, submit that it is 

 not necessary to interfere with the construction of the line on the broad 

 gauge, as authorised by the act. In order to complete the general clain of 

 narrow gauge coramunication from the north of England to the southern 

 coast, they beg to repeat with a slight variation the suggestion of the com- 

 missioners, that ' any suitable measure should he promoted to form a narrow 

 gauge line from Oxford to Basingstoke,' or l)y any shorter route connecting 

 the proposed Oxford and Rugby line with the South-Western Railway. 

 With the same view they beg to sujgest that any suitable measure should be 

 promoted for forming a narrow gaugf link from Gloucester to Bristol, and so 

 completing the general chain of narrow gauge ccunmunication between the 

 manufacturing districts, the centre and north of England, and the port of 

 Bristol." 



2. Ojiford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton line. 



" In the act by which the company was incorporated in last session the 

 following clause was inserted : — 



" ' That the said company hereby incorporateii siiall, and they are hereby 

 required to lay down and maintain upon the whole extent of the railway 

 hereby autliorised, between tlie point of junction thereof with the said Bir- 

 Diinghara and Gloucester Railway at .\bbotswood, and the point of junction 

 thereof with the said Grand Junction Railway near Wolverhimipton, as 

 well as on the said branch railways by this act autliorised to Kingswinford 

 and Stoke Prior aforesaid, such additional rails, adapted to the gauge or the 

 said Birmingham and Gloucester and Grand Junrtinn Railways respectively, 

 as may be requisite for allowing tlie free and uninterrupted passage, as afore- 

 said, of carriages, wagons, and trucks passing to or from the said Birniingliam 

 and Gloucester, and the said Grand Junction Railways respectively, or from 

 the last-mentioned railway to the said Birmingb.im and Gloucester Railway, 

 or passing from one portion of the said Birmingham and Gloucester Railway 

 to another portion thereof, or to or from any intermediale place between the 

 two said railways to the one or the other of them ; and such additional rails 

 shall be laid down, and maintained and used, to the satisfaction and approval 

 of the Board of Trade, and all necessary facilities and accomodations shall 

 be afforded by the company hereby incorporated, or their lessees, lor the 

 convenient use thereof; aiid it shall be lawful for the said buaid at any 

 time, on complaint made by any company or person interested in the ques- 

 tion that such aiUlitional rails have not been laid, or that such facilities or 

 accommodations are not afforded, to order anil direct the said company 

 hereby incorporated, or their lessees as aforesaid, to adopt such regulatinns 

 as they may see fit to require with reference to the laying down of such 

 additional rails, or to the use of the said additional rails and other conveni 

 enees as aforesaid, and for the purpose of securing such free and uninter- 

 rupted passage thereon as aforesaid.' 



" It is their lordships' intention to exercise the power given to them in 

 this instance, as in the case of the Oxford and Rugby line ; and on the same 

 grounds they would submit that it is not necessary to interfere with the con- 

 struction of this portion of the line on the broad gauge in the manner autlio- 

 rized by the act. And, since they regard the break of gauge as a most serious 

 evil, more especially in the conveyance of goods, they conceive that a con- 

 tinuous and a second line of communication between London and the district 

 of Statfordshire, &c , must be regarded as of great value and importance. 

 They accord ugly submit that the line from Worcester to Oxford should be 

 made as proposed on the broad gauge. They regret that the provision fur 

 the formation of a second line of rails was not inserted iu the act affecting 

 the portion of the line between Oxford and Worcester, in the terms of the 

 clause regulating the portion lying between the Birmingham and Gloucester 

 line and Wolverhampton ; and they would recommend, that if it should 

 hereafter appear that there is a traflic requiring accommodation on the nar- 

 row gauge between the Staffordshire districts and the southern coasts, any 

 suitable measure should be promoted by Parliament to form a narrow gauge 

 link from the Birmingham and Gloucester line to Oxford, on the same grounds 

 and in the same manner as the commissioners have recommended that it 

 should be formed between Oxford and the South Western Railway." 



The Board of Trade declines to give an opinion on the merits of the 4 feet 

 8,^ inches gauge. They do not think that its ado|>tion by the legislature as 

 a national gauge — recommended by the commissioners — ought to be positive 

 and final. They would leave an opening to adopt what may be recommended 

 by the experience of Ireland or foreign countries. 



" With this explanation, my lords beg to recommend, that no line shall 

 hereafter be formed on any other than the 4 feet 8^ inches gauge, excepting 

 lines to the south of the existing line from London to Bristol, and excepting 

 small branch lines of a few miles in extent, joining the Great Western Kail- 

 way, and conveying to it the traflic of places in its immediate vicinity ; and 

 they further recommend, that no bill for any such line as above exiepted 

 shall be passed liy parliament, unless a special report shall have been made 

 by the committee on the bill, setting forth the particular reason which have 

 led the committee to advise that such line should be formed on any other 

 than the 4 feet 8 J inches gauge. They concur, also with the commissioners 

 in recommending that, unless by the consent of the legislature, it shall not 

 be permitted to the directors of any railway company to alter the gauge of 

 such railway." 



The suggestions of the board, recapitulated in a condensed form at the 

 close of the minute, are as follow : 



" 1. That so line shall hereafter be formed on any other than the 4 feet 



85 inches gauge, excepting lines to the south of the existing line from Lon- 

 don to Bristol, and excepting small branches of a few miles in length, in 

 immediate connection with the Great Western Railway ; but that no such 

 line, as above excepted, shall be sanctioned by Parliament unless a special 

 report shall have been made by the committee on the bill, settine forth the 

 reasons which have lead the committee to advise tnat such line should be 

 formed on any other than the 4 feet H.J indies gauge. 



" 2. That, unless by the consent of the legislature, it shall not be permit- 

 ted to the directors of any railway company to alter the gauge of such rail- 

 way. 



" 3. That, in order to complete the general chain of narrow gauge com- 

 munication from the north of England to the southern coasts, and to the 

 port of Bristol, any suitable measures tlioiild be promoted to form a narrow 

 gauge link from Gloucester to Bristol, and also from Oxford to Basingstoke, 

 or by any shurter route connecting the proposed RugOy and Oxford line with 

 the South-Western Railway. 



" 4. That the South Wales line, and its branches to Monmouth and Here- 

 ford, should be permitted to be formed on the broad gauge, as sanctioned bv 

 their act. 



" 5. That the Rugby and Oxford line, and the Oxford, Worcester, and 

 Wolverhampton line, should he peiniitted to be formed on the broad gauge, 

 as saiictiuncd by tlieir acts; that the Lords of the Committee of Privy 

 Council for Trade shall exercise the powers conferred upon them by the 

 several acts, and shall require that additional narrow gauge rails shall forth- 

 with be laid down fmin Kugl.y to Oxford, and from Wolverhampton to the 

 junction with the Birniingliam and Glnucpster line ; and that if it should 

 hereafter appear thai there is a traflic requiring accommodation on the narrow 

 gauge Irom the Slatfunlshire districts to the southern coast, any suitable 

 measure shall be proumted by Parliament to form a narrow gau^e link from 

 Oxford to the line of the Birmingliam and Gloucester Kailwav." 



THE GAUGE COMMISSION. 



Analysis of Evidence given before the Royal CommissioDera appointed to investigate 

 the subject of the diversity of Kailivay Gauges. 



{Continued from page 183.) 



Mr. James Edward MConnell: Is, and has been for upwards of four 

 years, superintendent of the lucouiotiie deparlment on the Birmin"ham 

 011(1 Gloucester Railway, now part of the Urislol and Birmingham. If as 

 large an amouut can be got of evaporating space, compared with the 

 Height of the engine, on ihe narrow as on the broad, they would be equal 

 in that resp> ct. 



Dimensions of Mr. M'Connell's Locomolive Engine ut BromsTore. 

 The dinieusiuus of ihe Great Britain Locomotive Engine, constructed at 

 Broiiisgrove Slatiou and now emplojed to work Ihe heavy goods trains 

 upiMi the Lickey luclioe on the Bristol and Birmingham Railway, are as 



foliOw, viz. : — 



Diameter of cylinders . . 



LeOKtl' or stroke ... 



Diameter of each of the six wheels 

 Distance trtiin centre lo centre of 



Iroiit wheels ... 6 



Distance trom centre to centre of 



hind wheels ... G 



Leng h of boiler . . . IJ 

 Length of tank over bjiirr . II 

 Breudth ot ditlo. . . S 



Depth of ditto ... 2 



Distance from centre to centre of 



cylinders .... 6 



Length of tubes. No 134. . 12 

 Diameter or nitto ... 



Didineter of piston rods , . 



Ft. In. 



Diameter of pump rams . , 

 lireadth of shell of tire-box . 

 Length of ditto, outside . 

 Height from bottom to top 

 Heigh' of lower edge of cylinder 

 Length of chimney ... ti 

 Circumference of ditto . . 5 

 Total weight of ensine . aO tons 

 Weight on front wheels . 9 tons 

 Weight ou centre wheels IL' tuns 

 Weight on hind wheels . y tons 

 Height of smoke-box . . 6 

 Width of ditto. . '. . 4 

 Diameter of boiler cylinder verti- 

 cally 3 



Ditto ditto horizontally 3 



In. 



H 



4i 



II 

 s 





 9 

 6 



The Lickey incline is one in thirty. seven, which is a very steep gra- 

 dient, and has always beeu worked by a locomotive eugiue. For the last 

 four years, engines were >■{ so light a construction that they had not 

 soflicieiit adhebion on Ihe driving wheels; in order to test the relative eco- 

 iiiiuiy of a heavy and light engiue in v%orking this steep gradieut, witness 

 made an engiue which lias beeu at work now the last two months, with a 

 cjlinder 18 inches diameter, stroke "JO iuches, and the driving-wheels 4e 

 inches diameter, SIX wheels, ad coupled. The eugiue carries its water in 

 a tank ou the top of a boiler, so as to give it the advauiane of all the 

 weight possible to increase the adhesion ot the wheels, and it weighs in 

 working order somewhere about aO tons. There is a great variety in 

 the weight of the engines ou ihe tv\o lines, from I04 up to 30 tons • 

 the average weight of the 30-iiich cjlinder passeuger-eugiaes is about 

 123 tons, with 5 feet driving wheels. Four have 5ft. (iin. wheels, for 

 mail and express trains, and weigh about 13 tons. The average 

 speed of express trains about 30 miles an hour, with 15 tous load. 

 The luggage van is about half a tou lighter than Ihe passenger carnages, 

 and is placed next the engiue. For the last three years, the van has beeii 

 placed there, on the recommendation of the Board of Trade, for public 

 safety, and if they had two, or any empty carriages, they would be placed 

 there lo prevent risk to passengers. Is aware that ihe lighter the cairiaga 



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