1842.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



381 



MR. V1GN0LE3' LECTURES ON CIVIL ENGINEERING, AT THE 

 LONDON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE. 



SECOND COURSE — LECTDRE XIV. — WORKING EXPE.NSES OF R.VILW.VYS. 



Mr. Vignoles commenced by reminding the class, what he hoped they duly 

 felt, that Ihe great object he had had in view during the present course was 

 to consider, in every bearing, the proportion between the cost and expendi- 

 ture upon any work, as compared with the probable profitable returns. Al- 

 though this consideration, and that of the good result of any such specula- 

 lions, might be tliought not to C(ime strictly within the duties of an cngiueer, 

 and until of very late years had Ijeen neglected, and, in some striking cases, 

 absolutely repudiated, by eminent men, yet Mr. Vignoles was of opinion that 

 it must ever be kept in view, and should absolutely form a branch of the en- 

 gineer's study, for he ought to feel that any works he may be called on to 

 construct should not only be such as will reflect credit on him, as a profes- 

 sional man, for design, arrangement, and execution, but, as the Professor 

 had often urged, such as, in this commercial country, where private enter- 

 prise and speculation attempts and elfects so much, will, by their success, 

 prove the accuracy of his judgment, and his capacity, as an adviser, to lead 

 spirited undertakers into future operations of Ihe same kind. In short, that 

 the success of an engineer depends, perhaps, more on the beneficial results of 

 liis works to the proprietors, as commercial speculations, than on his own 

 masterly conquest by art over natural difficulties. But the engineer should 

 further look at this subject in a higher point of view, and consider that all 

 unprofitable expenditure is so much waste of the resources of a country, and 

 that, of all professions in society, his is the one most called upon to direct 

 the laying out of large sums on what may truly be considered national ob- 

 jects, for the judicious and beneficial results whereof he is responsible, and, 

 consequently, whereon his reputation must ultimately depend. Referring to 

 an expression in a late lecture, the ProfeESor observed, that he by no means 

 intended to represent that it was not necessary, in the construction of rail- 

 ways, to reduce the natural undulations of a country to uniform inclinations, 

 but that it was to be maturely considered at what cost such advantage is to 

 be acquired, keeping constantly in view a cumparison of this cost with the 

 working expenses of a line more or less perfect. It was the investigation of 

 these worKing expenses that Mas now to be entered on. In proceeding to do 

 this, Mr. Vignoles observed that he considered it by far the best way to re- 

 duce to a mileage not only their gross sum, but also each of the items, these 

 being again subdivided as far as possible. By a "mileage" he understooil 

 the result arisiug from dividing the periodical amount of the expenses by the 

 total number of miles run by locomotive engines wltli Imins after them. The 

 Professor insisted that th's was the proper way, and gave a number of rea- 

 sons for his opinion, and for not at all considering the expenses with refe- 

 rence to any proportion they might form of the gross receipts — the two 

 sources of income and expenditure being perfectly independent of each 

 other; and Mr. Vignoles further thought this mileage comparison was the 

 only one from which correct results coul 1 be drawn, and wiiereby materials 

 and experience might be collected, so as to result in the practical benefit of 

 companies being able, before long, to enter into contracts for most of the 

 items of expenditure at given rates. Some companies had already contracted 

 with each other for the supply of locomotive power, carriages, &c. at a mile- 

 age ; the maintenance of the way was now almost universally I'aid for by the 

 hneal mile of rail, and he had no doubt but that, after a little more e;^peri- 

 ence. other of the working expenses of railways would form subjects of such 

 a kind of contr.act. 



Mr. Vigiioles then proceeded to enumerate the general heads of these ex- 

 penses, viz. 1, loeomotiec power, subdivided into drivers' wages, fuel, oil, hemp, 

 &c. ordinary repairs, water and iuel stations, reserve fund; 2, eurrlages ; 

 3, ma'uttenaucc of line ; 4, police ; 5, condtictUig trafic and stations : 6, rates and 

 taxes: 7. Gooernment duty; B, miscellaneous charges; 9, management. These 

 were the proper items, exclusive of interest on loans, which, altliougli to be 

 deducted before a dividend could be made, of course formed no [^art of the 

 positive working expenses of a r.uUvay. The Professor then went into a 

 minute analysis of tliese several items, as actually disbursed on certain rail- 

 ways of various lengths, and particularly of various gradients, explaming 

 the reasons of excess or of diminution in one or other item on ihe respective 

 lines, exhibiting als.t comparative tables, and making many valuable oljser- 

 vations upon obtaining the best attention and greatest economy from the 

 servants of a public company, by instituting premiums graduated in propor- 

 tion to the diminution of annual working expenses. 



Loeomotiec poivcr. — In considering this item. Mr, Vignoles showed, from an 

 average of a number of lines, where the arrangements were properly esia- 

 blishc'd, and the railway hail been long enough at work to have got all mat- 

 ters systematically arranged, the subdivision per mile per train might be 

 taken as folluws^viz. wages, 2d. ; fuel, id. ; oil, hemp, &c., Irf. ; making T(/. 

 per mile as the mere cost of motion, exclusive of repairs of any kind. This 

 might be considered as applicable to an average of six or eight carriages per 

 train. Heavier trains only came occasionally in the course of the 2-1 hours, 



and unless upon linos having exceedingly favourable gradients, auxiliary en- 

 gines were then applied, the cost and mileage of which being included in the 

 annual accounts, the above rate of calculation would still apply. On railways 

 not having a very considerable traflic, the number of carriages, on the ave- 

 rage, were fewer than above slated, and the engine and tender might be fairly 

 taken as constituting half the gross load of each train. The items of wages 

 and oil, hemp, fcc. would not materially vary on different lines, except, per- 

 haps, the first, or on short lines wi!h very great traffic, with quarter or half- 

 hour trains, such as Ihe London and Greenwich Railway, the Dublin and 

 Kingstown, Sec. The fuel would be a variable quantity, but it would rarely 

 exceed Gd. Next must be taken the ordinary repairs, and the Professor stated 

 that in no case was the old adage of " a stitch in time " so applicable as in 

 a constant vigil.ince and daily inspection and remedy of the smallest defect 

 in locomotive engines. A plentiful stock of engines of t!ie very best ma- 

 terials and workmanship, and an efficient and roomy repairing establishment, 

 though somewhat costly at first, would be found to be the means of keeping 

 don n the expense of repairs to a low figure. The amount of this item spread 

 over a year's working appeared to average, on well-regulated lines, about 

 Id. to 8rf. per mile; some instances had been as low as Gd. The expense of 

 water and fuel stations varied from \d. to hd. per mile. The reserve fund 

 was an arbitrary charge ; Mr. Vignoles assumed that about 10 to Ij per 

 cent, on the ordinary repairs would be sufficient— say Urf. Thus it would 

 seem that the total cost of locomotive power ought to be about lad. or IGrf. 

 per mile per tram. In some instances it had been reduced so low as Is. ; in 

 others this amount had swelled to 18rf. and even up to 2s. 



Mr. Vignoles then analysed the other heads of the working expenses — viz. 

 carriages, which he seemed to consider an expensive item, varying from IJ. 

 to 6if. per mile per train— say from irf. to Irf. per carriage per mile, including 

 the various descriptions of vehicles for passenger traffic. The maintenance of 

 the railway varied most remarkably, from 2rf. per mile per train (which had 

 been the cost on the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, and was now even 

 lower, and Mr. Vignoles believed that on the Greenwich Railway this was 

 also a small item, since they had replaced their stone blocks by timber sup- 

 ports), up to \s. per mile per train, which was the cost on several lines ; but, 

 on a railway with Ihe upper works properly constructed, he thought that 6rf. 

 to 8rf. per mile per train ought to keep a double road in good order, including 

 a reserve or dcpreciati :n fund for reneiving the iron rails — a contingency 

 that should by no means be lost sight of. The Professor here made a long 

 digression on this item, as to how much of Ihe cost should be assigned to 

 atmospheric causes, and all collateral and contingent circumstances ; how 

 much to the mere dislocation of Ihe upper works ; and how much to the 

 positive wear and tear of the iron; and pointed out some remarkable in- 

 stances of saving in maintenance, where the lungituJinil limber hearings had 

 been adopted. The charge of police varied from Irf. to Grf. per mile per train, 

 according to the vigilance exercised ; in placing 2rf. per mile as an average it 

 was to be considered only as an approximation. Conducting the traffic and 

 stations was an item that did not seem to differ much on Ihe various lines ; 

 for the passenger department it appeared to he about 5rf. Local rales and 

 taxes woul.l, of course, vary materially; the poor rate formed a serious 

 charge on all railways; this item was inJircctly contingent on the actual 

 profits of the company ; it appeared, however, to be seldom less than 3rf. per 

 mile per tr in. Government duty had heretoi'ore be^n computed at |rf. per 

 passenger per mile — henceforth it was to be calculated at .3 per cent, on the 

 gross receipts for passengers only. This would, of course, make greater dis- 

 crepancies ; still, as tlie new duty on the gross was estimated to be equiva- 

 lent to the old duty, an account might be obtained if the number of passengers 

 per train were known. Assuming this number to average forty, taking all 

 the railways of the United Kingdom, Ihe Government duty might be esti- 

 mated at 5rf, per mile per train. Taking a mean of four or five railways, the 

 miscellaneous expenses were found to be about 2rf. and the management 

 about 3rf. per mile per train. Now, to make a summary of all these, which 

 was, however, to be taken generally, and, of course, liable to be affected in 

 the details, but was still interesting to be submitted in a popular form, and 

 might be useful as giving a comprehensive view of the system ; 



Abstract of the average working e.Ypenses of a railiuaij per mile per train. 



Locomotive power — viz. wages, 2rf. ; fuel, 'Irf. ; oil, hemp. 



ordinary repairs. Id. ; water and fuel stations, Irf. ; 



fund, Urf. 

 Carriages 

 Maintenance of line .. .. .. 



Police 



Conducting traffic and stations 



Local rates and taxes 



Government duty on passengers 



Miscellaneous expenses 



Management 



Total 



4 



3 H 



