1841.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL 



197 



IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAYS AND THE WHEELS OF 

 LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND CARRIAGE?*. 



In the first place, the leading and trailing wheels of locomotive en- 

 gines either with four or six wheels would work better were each 

 wheel to be keyed upon a separate shaft, so as to revolve independent- 

 ly.* This may easily be done in the following manner: let the wheels 

 be keyed upon their respective shafts in the usual way, with either 

 outside or inside bearings, which ever may be the most convenient, 

 and let the shafts have middle bearings to meet in the regulating line 

 common to all. If the wheels and axles are made in this way, the 

 wheels on the outside rail would revolve quicker than those on the in- 

 side, and would allow the engine to find its own bearings. This would 

 be particularly evident in going round curves, and would be the means 

 of preventing many accidents from engines being very liable to be 

 thrown oft' the rails on those parts according to the present system. In 

 the second place, it is proposed that each of the leading and trailing 

 wheels shall be keyed upon a hollow shaft, in the usual way ; these 

 shafts to have no external bearings, but to be bushed with brass bored 

 to fit the solid shaft, or spindles which will be required to work into 

 them. The solid shafts to have a bearing at each end, and one in the 

 middle if required. This plan will allow the outside and inside wheels 

 to revolve indejjendently on the curves or otherwise, and will also pre- 

 vent them wearing irregularly- Should any obstacle be thrown in the 

 way of tlie engine, the wheels revolving separately would prevent it 

 from coming oft' the rails, as the wheels would act as a check to each 

 other, or as a complete check or guard rail on any part of the line as 

 hereafter explained. 



Thirdly. The wheels to be made of either wrought or cast iron, (the 

 latter would be preferable,) and to have a flange on each side, by 

 which plan they would not be required so strong as those now in use, 

 because they would take the lateral concussions or side jolts more 

 equally than tlie present kind. Should the engine be thrown to one 

 side, both wheels would take an equal share of the strain or jolt, 

 whereas in the present system the wheels on one side take the whole 

 strain. This properly adjusted, the conical wheels may be dispensed 

 with, as well as the check or guide rails upon the whole line, which 

 latter checks are a great nuisance. In the plan thus proposed the rails 

 would be laid level or horizontally across and not at an angle as at 

 present, and the wheels would have to be the segment of a circlei- upon 

 the face, in place of being conical. Each wheel would tlius act as a 

 check rail for the other during the whole of the journey. Should the 

 rails be out of gauge so as to cause the wheels on one side of the en- 

 gine to moimt upon their flanges, and throw the train oft' the rails, as 

 is very often the case with the present system, the double flanges 

 ■would' obviate this evil and keep the engine in its proper course, until 

 the wheels again found their places. The switches will remain with- 

 out alteration, but the points may be altogether dispensed with. By 

 this method of working, there will be a great saving in the wear and 

 tear of the engines and rails, it will reduce the cost of keeping the 

 engines and road in repair, and lessen the friction, as well as the 

 quantity of fuel with all other expenses in like proportion. In con- 

 structing the permanent way much time might be saved, as no atten- 

 tion will be required in laying the rails to an angle, as they would then 

 be horizontal where the road itself is straight. Giving to the outside 

 rails the proper rise in tlie curves, the angle of the two rails will in- 

 cline both one way, and not reverse to each other as at piesent. This 

 will artbrd the engine another mechanical advantage on the curves, 

 giving gravity a much greater opportunity of acting against the mo- 

 mentum of the machine. The engine will also he kept in its proper 

 course in the curves much more forcibly than is aftbrded by the present 

 method of laying railroads by the present system, as the angles of the 

 two rails are acting against each other, the outsides of both being 

 higher than the insides, and causing a great friction upon the axles, 

 brasses, wheels, and rails ; this the proposed alteration will entirely 

 obviate. All the conical wheels now in use, through concussions and 

 constant rolling upon the rails, squeeze out on one side. No conical 

 wheels retain their proper form much longer than two months if daily 

 at work ; each wheel causes the flange of the opposite wheel to act 

 with great force on the inside of the rail, and vice versa. The large 

 hollow fillet that is left in the angle of the flanges of the wheels crushes 

 down the inside angle or corner of the rails ; which the proposed wheels 

 would obviate — the weight of the vehicle would be also much better 

 distributed over the surface of the rails. This alone is a great induce- 



" Our corrcspcnclent will find that Mr. Coles has anticipated him, if he re- 

 fers 10 ihc Journal for A^ril last, where he will see described a method of 

 making the wheels revolve ii dependently of each other. — Ed. 



^ Wheels wilh concave rims were used on the Penryhn Iron Railway. See 

 Repertory of Arts, kc.. for 1803, page 285. — Ed. 



ment to the introduction of double flanged wheels on loose axles, as 

 the rails would last double the length of time. 



In the fourth place, the doub'e flanges would prevent the wheels 

 squeezing out, as they seldom squeeze out on the side next the flange, 

 and being all made from cast iron, there would be no spreading. The 

 longitudinal shake or clearance that is generally given to the axles in 

 their brasses will not be required, as the action of each being entirely 

 in itself, and inclosed in brass, will retain the oil much longer and not 

 require that attention which the present do. Were the engines and 

 carriages made according to this arrangement the loss of power in the 

 curves would not exceed from S to 10 per cent, above that used on a 

 straight line, always of course depending on the radius of the curves. 



In the fifth place, the whole of the engine and tender wheels should 

 be furnished with double flanges, the latter to be of different diameters ; 

 causing thus difTerent depths from the face of the wheel to the tops 

 of those flanges. The reason of this will be easily explained. 



Railways at present are nothing but a series of complication of 

 curves, all dift'ering in intensity. To carry engines round those con- 

 tinually changing curves without trailing and great friction, would 

 require wheels of greater and less diameters, and this difficulty I pro- 

 pose to surmount bv means of those flanges, which will become bona 

 fide for the time the wheels of the machine. 



To enable me to make use of the above arrangements, [ propose to 

 have radiated plates or segments put down on each side-of the main 

 rail, at such a depth from the face of th;> rail, as to cause the wheels 

 to be lifted from the rail, and allow the fidnges to act on those seg- 

 ments ; the machine rolling at one time on the large flange, at another 

 time on the small, and from thence on the face of the wheel, those alter- 

 nations of course depending on the nature and radius of the curve. 

 The length and position of those segments would be found by a calcu- 

 lation depending on the intensity of the curves. 



Were engines, carriages, &c., provided with such wheels, and the 

 railways vpiui segments to suit, it would be next to impossible for the 

 train to leave the line of road ; for, even supposing the whole of the 

 tires on one side were to come olF, the train would be kept in its 

 course by the double flanges of the wheels on the opposite side. At 

 present if a single tire comes off, the engine is precipitated from the 

 rails, and if without any more serious result, the train is detained till 

 the arrival of another engine, train, or^ther means of locomotion. 



I may in addition mention that the fatal accidents arising from 

 furious driving which is more or less practised on all lines, and is a 

 terror to all travellers who have not the iron nerves of his Grace the 

 Duke, wotdd be altogether prevented; for not even the velocity of 

 lUO miles per hour could force the engine or carriages oft' the line, so 

 firmly would the wheels be bound to the rails, and so sweetly would 

 they glide round the curves if made on the above construction.^ 



With many apologies for intruding my ideas on your acquaintance, 

 I am, your obedient servant, 



WiLHAM Andrews. 

 Paddington, March 26, 1^41. 



P.S. Were the wheels and segments calculated for each other, the 

 parting or cutting of the shafts could be dispensed with, and they 

 might remain just as thev are at present. 



•* ' W. A. 



MR. MUSHET'S PAPERS ON IRON AND STEEL.— No. 2. 



Sir — It is my intention in this letter to make a few remarks on 

 the latter part of the paragraph in Dr. Ure's dictionary (alluded to in 

 my former letter) in which he says "the incorrectness of Mushet's 

 statement becomes most manifest when we see the white lamellar 

 cast iron melted in a crucible lined with charcoal take no increase of 

 weight, while the gray cast iron, treated in the same manner, becomes 

 considerably heavier." 



This remark is as inapplicable to my table of proportions as the 

 remark made in the former part of the paragraph. My experiments 

 were confined solely to the changes produced in the character of iron 

 by the fusion, not of cast iron, but of bar or malleable iron in contact 

 w'ith certain quantities of charcoal. 



I have no where professed to account for the a/fcgei fact that while 

 white cast iron when fused alone with charcoal does not increase in 

 weight, gray cast iron does, nor have I any where either asserted or 

 denied that the fact is as stated by Dr. Ure, and I cannot help think- 

 ing that it is unfair in that gentleman, to raise up objections which 

 have no foundation except in his own imagination, in order to throw 

 them at what he calls my statement. 



In my former letter the difficulty of obtaining an increase of weight 

 in fusing cast iron alone with charcoal, is accounted for by the great 



2 E 



