62 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[February, 



likelv to be laid aside. Tl)e Willow Mr. Montgomery prefers is that 

 called Mason's Willow, wliicli he says is decidedly the best and occu- 

 pies little room. In the English factories the .Scutching and Spreading 

 Machines are generally Iwo separate machines, but across tlie Atlantic 

 they are combined into one called the lap spreader, in which they 

 have only one, two, or most three beaters or scutchers, wliilc in Eng- 

 land they have generally four or five. There are, says Mr. Montgo- 

 mery, three most essential processes in the cotton manufaclnre which, 

 in the factories of the United States are not so well attended to as in 

 those of England. First, the cotton is not so well mixed ; second, it 

 is not so well cleaned ; and third, it is not so well carded. With re- 

 gard to the first our author is of opinion that by far loo little room is 

 allowed for the picking houses in the United States. U^pon carding it 

 is observed that few mills in the States nse simple carding, mostly all 

 have breakers and finishers, even those that manufacture the coarsest 

 goods. The average speed of the cylinders there is about 100 

 to Ho revolutions per minute, there being no carding engines, 

 driven at so high a speed as those in England, or which make work 

 equal to those of the latter country. Indeed the English manufacturers 

 generally make superior work with single carding to what the Ameri- 

 cans do with double carding. The work before us says that it is the 

 practice with them to crowd the cotton on to the cylinder so rapidly, 

 that, instead of being taken away from the feeding rollers in single 

 filaments, it is <lragged in by the slow motion of the revolving cards in 

 large flikes, which are not allowed to remain long enough under the 

 operation of the tops, to be suflficiently teased out, the doffing cylinder 

 being also driven too fast in proportion to the speed of the main cylin- 

 der. In England the practice is directly the reverse ; the cotton is 

 led into and delivered from the cards by a very slow motion; that is 

 the motion of the feeding rollers and doffing cylinder, are comparatively 

 slow in proportion to the speed of the main cylinder. For example, a 

 main cylinder 36 inches in diameter will revolve between TO and 80 

 times for one of the feeding rollers ; in America their motions are as 

 35 of the former to one of the latter. The proportions of the revolu- 

 tions of the main cylinder and doffer are in England as 25 of the former 

 to one of the latter ; in America as 17 to 1. The mode of stripping 

 the cards adopted in the States is also inferior, as also that of grinding 

 the cards. The drawing process is stated not to be so well performed, 

 and to take twice the amount of labour across the Atlantic. The spin- 

 ning warps Throstle Spinning Frames are univei-sally used, except in 

 some factories where very fine goods are made. They appear to be 

 worked at a higher speed there, and with advantage, power being 

 cheaper ; Gore's Spindle which failed in Glasgow being most success- 

 ful in the States. In weaving by power Mr. Montgomery considers 

 that the Americans in every respect equal and in some things surpass 

 any thing he has seen either at Manchester or Glasgow, partleularlvin 

 common power weaving. In fancy weaving however they have not 

 made a beginning. The spooling machine is cited as superior to that 

 used in England, being much more simple, and capable of being attended 

 by girls of 11, instead of women of 3o. The warping machine is much 

 the same as here ; the dressing machines are entirelv different, said to 

 be more simple, more easily attended and kept in order, requiring less 

 power and oil. The Power Looms are generally of improved con- 

 struction. 



We have we trust in this sketch shown enough of the merits of 

 this work, to give a favourable idea of it to our readers, so that we 

 shall conclude by congratulating Mr. Montgomerv on this interesting 

 contribution to the literature of a subject so important. 



T/ie Raiiimys of Great Britain and Ireland. By Francis Whish.\w, 

 C.E. London : Simpkin and Marshall, 1S40. 



As we mean to j)ay several visits to this work, we shall for the 

 present content ourselves with a few extracts, illustrative of the pecu- 

 liarities of various lines, having in the meanwhile already said enough 

 in our last notice to recommend it to the attention of our readers. 

 Taking up the Aylesbury as the first subject, we find 



This railway is laiil to the English standard gauge, viz. i feet 8J inches. 

 Although the hind taken is wide enough for a double wav, being about 17 

 yards, there is at present only one pair of rails laid down from end to end. 

 It is one of the rare instances of a railway being constructed eutirelv without 

 river, road, or other bridges, which is owing to its pecidiar locality ; 'but there 

 are fiye level road-crossings, and three of these are highways, which are fur- 

 nished with folding gates, each 9 feet long, shutting both across the railwav 

 and roads, according as they are required. 



The station at Aylesbury is conveniently laid out : a triple w ay, coimected, 

 at a eonyenient distance from the offices, with the main line, ruiis into a rail- 

 way-dock 33 feet wide at its entrance, and 12 feet at its connexion with the 



terminal tura-table, the side space of which is 4 feet 10 inches j the height 

 of the quay, which has a curved batter of 2f inches, is 3 feet 4 inches ; the 

 quay on cither side is about 10 feet in width. There is a carriage-dock 10 

 feet 8 inches in length, and 8 feet 10 inches wide, famished at its entrance 

 with a jjroper turn-table, .uid abutting on the yard, conveniently situate for 

 the arrival of common-road vehicles ; the arrival door for passengers is at the 

 booking-otiicc, on the left side of the railway as you approach .-Vylesbury ; the 

 departure-gate is on the right side : for the whole length of the station there 

 is a siding for carriages when not in use. 



The booking-office and general waiting-room are in one ; there is, how- 

 ever, a separate room for ladies. This is, upon the whole, one of the best- 

 arranged stations for a short line of railway that we have any where met with. 



On the Ballochney, 



There is a self-acting plane of 1200 yards in length on that portion of the 

 line next the Monkland Railway ; the lower part being a single way, the mid- 

 dle part double, and the upper part formed with three rails. The ascending 

 train consists usually of four loaded wagons, and the descending train of six 

 or seven empty wagons ; the time occupied in the ascent is 350 minutes ; 

 the rope used is about 4i inches circumfereuce ; the sheaves are of 14 inches 

 diameter, and are placed at intervals of 21 feet. 



With regard to the Birmingham and Gloucester, Mr. Whishaw says, 



The Lickey Incline of 1 in 37 extends for 2 miles 3-3o chains, and is, we 

 understand, to be entirely worked by locomotive engines. 



If this is satisfactorily effected, it will throw a new and useful light on the 

 laying out of railways, and will save a vast original outlay in future works. 

 M"e have long considered that the present system of making the sLvteen feet 

 gradient the minimum, is far from desirable. The advantages in working a 

 railway thus graduated are not equivalent to the immense original outlay ne- 

 cessarily incurred by tunnels and overwhelming earthworks. 



Bridges, — The whole number of bridges on this line is one hundred and 

 sixty-two, besides one hundred and twenty-seven culverts. They are built of 

 brick, of stone, of stone and iron, and some of wood. The span of arches 

 over the railway is 23 feet ; and the arches under the railway vary in span 

 from 16 feet to 48 feet. The occupation-arches imder the railway are each 

 of 12 feet span. 



There is a particular description of lattice-work wooden bridge used on this 

 railway, which, we understand, was introduced from America by Mr. Hughes, 

 the resident engineer ; one of these we observed over a cutting near Bredon, 

 which is about 117 feet in span, 17i feet wide in the clear, about the same 

 height, and 200 feet in extreme length. 



The roadway planking is supported by transverse joists about 6 feet below 

 the top rail ot framing. These ioists are placed about 3 feet from centre to 

 centre, and have a bearing on each side on the middle rail, or band, which 

 runs from one abutment to the other. Besides tins hand, there are two 

 superior and two inferior bands, running the whole length of the lattice-work. 

 Each end of the framing has a bearing on cross sleepers bedded in the soUd 

 ground in proportion to the span, aud is let into a pedestal at each end. Be- 

 neath the level of the roadway, the lattice-work framing on each side is con- 

 nected together with cross ties and braces, both of wood. 



In order to give this bridge a horizontal appearance, the longitudinal tim- 

 bers should have a slight camber. One of these structures, on our new of 

 this railway, appeared to have sunk considerably in the middle. 



The largest bridge is that which cairies the railway over the riyer .\vou, 

 near Eckington, It consists of three cast-iron segmental arches, each of 73 

 feet span, and supported upon two lines of iron columns resting on iron 

 caissons filled with masonry. The ribs and other castings of which this bridge 

 is composed are not so sightly as they might have been; and the iron railing 

 is of too studied a design for such a work. The whole length of this bridge 

 is about 270 feet, and the clear width 23 feet. The total cost is stated to 

 have been 10,000/. 



It is a pecidiar feature of this line, that although the rails are not laid 

 throughout on longitudinal sleepers, there is an entire absence of stone blocks. 

 This plan is gaining ground every day ; and on some hues we have known 

 sleepers substituted to a great extent for stone blocks, which had been origi- 

 nally introduced at great cost. 



Of the travelling on the Brandling Junction our author seems to be 

 by no means an admirer, for he says. 



In consequence of opening this portion of die line at too eariy a period, 

 the traveUing over it was of the most extraordinary description we have ex- 

 perienced on any railway in the kingdom ; for. besides the snail's pace at 

 which the train proceeded, the motion of the carriages was precisel\' similar 

 to that of a boat in a somewhat troubled sea. 



It is an error, which most railway Companies have fallen into, to open then- 

 lines, or portions, before the embankments have sufficiently subsided to allow, 

 if not of a safe, at any rate of an easy passage for the heavy trains made to 

 pass over them. Some of the consequences of such hasty proceedings are to 

 entail a large additional outlay on the proprietors, to bring discreilit orf the 

 particular railway, and to give the now happdy few enemies to the railway- 

 system just cause for complaint. 



A foot board on the carriages of the same line is more favourably 

 noticed. The number_of wagons seems large enough. 



