382 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[November, 



Mr Vignolcs did not, by any means, pretend that this was other than a pro- 

 bable anproximation. Some lines had been worked at a lo.ver rate per mile 

 per train. incUuling all the above expenses ; for example, the latest accounts 

 of the North Union Railway show the co,st to have been only 3s. id., not 

 including any funds for reserve. The Professor himself thought that 3s. was 

 a fair sum, exclusive of taxes and duty, which, however, together forma 

 large proportion of the expense. On the other hand, there were instances m 

 which the expenses had gone up to 5s. per mile per tra n. He consdered it 

 would be a great public benefit if all railway companies, in their reports, 

 would give fuller details of the working expenses, and state the niiniber ot 

 miles run b,/ trains. Some few boards set a very good example in this re- 

 spect. This was sometimes done for locomotive power, but the miles should 

 only be computed as actually run with the trains, and not to include the 

 various extra distances passed over in manoeuvres, piloting, signals, &c., 

 which, though necessary, were not part of the actual mileage of trains. 



The Professor then dre.v the attention of the class to the fact, that the 

 locomotive power formed about one-third of the gross expense, and of that 

 one-half only is likely to be aflected Ijy the gradient or load, being only 

 one-si.-cth of the whole of the working expenses, which was but a small item 

 upon which a saving was to be made, to justify a railway being con- 

 structed theoretically perfect, unless the traffic was likely to be continued, 

 regular, and very heavy. He further observed, that though he had proposed, 

 for the sake of an easier comparison, to reduce all the items of the working 

 expenses of a railway to a mileage per train, it was manifest that a consider- 

 able addition to the number of trains daily, and, of course, to the number of 

 miles run, would very materially aflect the locomotive power only. The 

 taxes would he contingent on the receipts ; and all the other items would be 

 increased but in a very small degree, on the annual totals, by an increase in 

 the number of the trains, with a carriage or two less at a time. It was im- 

 portant to remember this, as it aftected greatly the question of laying out 

 railways. Mr. Vignoles insisted that the extension of railways in England, 

 especially in remote districts, wotdd not be carried into effect until this sub- 

 ject had been more closely analy.sed, and had become better understood. 

 Looking at the practical working of the Newcastle and Carlisle, the North 

 Union, the Manchester and Leeds, the Sheffield and Manchester, as far as 

 opened, and flther lines, all having very heavy gradients, and contrasting 

 their working expenses with those of lines whose inclinations were much 

 more favourable, the average cost per train per mile did not vary greatly. 

 Lines which had been formed at a cost of from £50,000 to £60,000 per mile, 

 a large portion of which was to obtain perfect gradients, seemed to require 

 little less to work them than lines costing only from one-third to one-half 

 that sum. It is true they might be able to carry heavier trains, and did so 

 carry them occasionally, but the average was very nearly what had been 

 stated, and, besides, the public were best accommodated by lighter trains 

 going more frequently. The Professor said, he could only hope that his 

 arguments would draw attention to the subject, and that when, after the 

 analysis of the cost of all the railways had been brought out in the way 

 shown in his last lecture, and that of the working expenses, as in the present 

 one, materials would be obtained for the solution of the problem, of what 

 must be the rule for constructing hnes of passenger railways hereafter. 



LECTUBE XV. — WORKING EXPENCES OF RAILWAYS (continued J. 



Having, in the last lecture, analysed the working expenses of railways, in 

 reference to the train— that is, reduced to a rate per train per mile, with an 

 average l^ad at the usual velocity, the Professor considered it might be well 

 lo consider the same subject in another light. In the preceding mode of cal- 

 culation no regard was paid to the amount of what might be called the useful 

 weight carried. It seemed to the Professor, that the proportion between the 

 dead weight of theengine, tender, and carriages, and the wei,-;ht of the pas- 

 sengers and their luggage— in short, between the unprofitable and the profit- 

 able load— formed an important element for consideration, even if it did not 

 affect the principle on which railways ought to be worked. In the common 

 omnibus, with a full complement of passengers, the proportion was one to 

 one— taking the average load, about five to three— or including the weight 

 of the horses (the moving power which has also to carry itself) about three 

 to one, or, with a full load of passengers, something less than two to one. 

 But, on the railway, owing to the far greater weight of the carriages, and 

 general arrangement on most lines, the proportion of dead weight is much 

 greater. In a first class carriage, as adapted for long lines, and fully loaded 

 with passengers and their luggage, the proportion is two and a half to one, 

 hut, taking the average load, it is about lour to one, and, when but little 

 luggage is taken, four and a half and five to one. On short lines, where the 

 trains run often, with many carriages, the proportion is sometimes as high 

 as eight to one, or, including engine and tender, as twelve to one. In an 

 ordinary train of about seven carriages, their weight, and that of the engine 

 and tender, may be taken at about filty tons ; the average number of pas- 

 sengers has, on a former occasion, been shown to be about sixty per train, or 

 four tons without, and, periiaps, five tons with, their ordinary weight of 

 luggage, and say one or two tons of packages and parcels paying freight, 



being a proportion of six or seven of unprofitable to one of profitable load"; 

 and if the carriages were all full, about four and a half or five to one, as 

 above, and on the average, the proportion might very fairiy be taken as at 

 least five to one. It appeared to the Professor that there was some radical 

 error here, and that some arrangements were wanting to reduce this propor- 

 tion as far as the carriages were concerned, for of course, as long as the 

 locomotive engine was used, its weight would always form a large proportion 

 of the load, particularly with light trains-though the carriages certainly 

 required to be made strong and heavy on this system-and this seemed an 

 inherent defect on this principle of locomotion, perhaps quite irremediable. 

 Yet at all events, on many lines the proportion of dead weight of carriages 

 was'much too great, and might be remedied. Of late this had lieen done on 

 the Greenwich Railway, where, by combining two classes of seats in the 

 same vehicle, much fewer carriages sufficed. There was a great contrast to 

 this on tlie Blackwall Railway, where, from Iiaving a separate carriage for 

 each station, according to the peculiar mode of working that line, the pro- 

 portion of dead carriage weight was generally about three, and often tour, 

 times as much as on the Greenwich, though the carriages were of the same 

 buil.l 0»ing to this and to other causes, extra guards, rope, &c., notwith- 

 standing the generally admitted economy of stationary power, the expense 

 of working the Blackball Railway, per train per mile, was double what the 

 Professor found was the average for the working on several locomotive lines, 

 and quite as high, if not higher, than the present rate of working on the 

 Brighton Railway, which was the highest of any that had yet come under 

 his connisance. Although, abstractedly, this over proportion ot dead weight 

 carried was not always connected with the moving power, yet an engmeer 

 ou^ht to point out, and. when within his control, to remedy such an evil, as 

 the^loss consequent on carrying useless weight is equivalent to that arising 

 from increased resistance of gravity in surmounting an unnecessary ascent— 

 a case which every engineer is naturally anxious to avoid. 



In the mode of reducing railway expenses to a mileage, adopted in the last 

 lecture, the number of passengers, and their proportion to dead weight ot 

 carriaoes, had not been considered, for it was clear that the arrangement ot 

 carriages in any train being supposed to be duly proportioned to the average 

 traffic, any addition to the average assumed load would be pure profit, and 

 would not cause any sensible addition to the cost of the transit of the regular 

 load for which all the necessary arrangements of engines, tenders, carriages, 

 guards, stations, and the whole working and carrying establishment of the 

 railway was already provided and paid for. But, suppose another mode of 

 considering the working expenses be adopted, viz. from the number of pas- 

 sengers in a train, deduced from an average of many lines for several years, 

 or from any assumed number per train, let the cost per passenger per mile be 

 worked out. and this will lead to the consideration of the true policy tor 

 attracting the greatest number of persons, and trying lo fill the trains up, as 

 they must go, at any rate. 



The Professor then went through the various items of railway expenses 

 stated in the former lecture, and brought them out in decimals of a penny 

 per passenger per mile-the result being, that, taking account ot experience 

 »ained and applied, and economical arrangements duly introduced, the ex- 

 pense of locomotive i.ower might be taken at id. per passenger per mi e, 

 which was coming back to the original estimate made for the working of the 

 London and Birmingham Railway. Other expenses, including Government 

 duty, would bring the total up to two-thirds of a penny, and, under favour- 

 able circumstances, of well filled carriages, this might sometimes be brought 

 down to id., but taking the average of lines as now worked, the cost was 

 about W'per passenger per mile. On many of the American railways the 

 cost was as low as id., and for long lines on the continent, m India, &c. 

 where wages were low, and coal or wood might be got very cheap for loco- 

 motive fuel, and no rates or taxes on profits and passengers were laid, the 

 charge nf carrying passengers per mile might he fairly taken at id. only. 

 Now, if the propi^rtion between the unprofitable and the profitable parts of 

 the load were reduced to three to one, as regarded carriages only, and six to- 

 one as regards the whole weight of the train, the expense of carrying pas- 

 sengers, taken by weight, will be still at least three times as expensive as. 

 carrying goods only at the same velocity, the proportion being of wagons to 

 goods as two to three, and of the whole train, including engine and lender, 

 at less than two to one, and with heavy trains, of go. ds only, about one to 

 one, and for coal and mineral traffic, at diminished rates of travelling, still 

 less The Professor observed, that the cost of conveying merchandise might 

 be taken at about Irf. per ton per mile for railway expenses only, exclusive ot 

 collection and distriljution at the termini of lines, and that of coal and mine- 

 rals at about id. per ton per mile. With these elements, therefore, of the 

 expense of working railways either per train, or per passenger, or per ton, it 

 is for the politic manager of a public concern to consider what should be the 

 rate of charges above these cost prices to make to the public, so as to induce 

 the greatest amount of traffic Mr. Vignoles then observed, that tliere was. 

 a third way of considering the subject of the working expenses ot rai »ays, 

 in reference to the number of engines employed, which was the mode adopted 

 by the Irish Railway Commissioners, and which was, perhaps, tlie piopec 



