436 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[May 22, 1885. 



Weak action of the heart. (3) Palpitation of the heart. 

 (4) Partial loss or weakening of the voice. (5) Vocal 

 tremor. (6) Relaxation of the muscles, especially seen in 

 the shaking of the head when walking ; if a hat be worn, 

 the brim acts as an |index and vibrates at each step. If no 

 hat be worn, the scalp at the back of the head will be seen 

 to move. (7) Spasmodic muscular action as seen in hand 

 trembling and sudden involuntary bodily movements. (8) 

 Fits of perspiration and chills. (9) Irritability of the 

 cognisant centres of the braiu, as shown by fright at slight 

 causes. (10) Sleeplessness. 



(To he contiynied .) 



EAILWAY PLANT AT THE INVEN- 

 TIONS EXHBIITION. 



TTTE are all so directly dependent upon railways as a 

 \ V means of transport from place to place, that the 

 collection of railway material at the Inventions Exhibition 

 is sure to attract considei'ablo attention. Although, in 

 many respects, the exhibit is a restricted one, nevertheless 

 there are a goodly number of features in railway working 

 brought prominently forward. 



'■ First, foremost, and frontest," as Mr. Moore would 

 say, is the mammoth engine by Mr. Webb, of the London 

 and North- Western Railway. To this a brief or passing 

 rtference has already been made. Some of its features 

 may, however, be appropriately mentioned here. 



Without, perhaps, embodying much that is at this 

 moment new in principle, it is nevertheless a monument of 

 ingenuity and a testimony of unwearying patience. It is 

 practically the outcome of some years of the closest and 

 most enthusiastic application to the study of engine- 

 building. It is called the " Marchioness of Stafford," and 

 belongs to what is known as the " Dreadnought " type. It 

 is a compound engiue, and has two high-pressure cylinders, 

 \i in. in diameter and 24-in. stroke, and one low-pressure 

 cylinder 30 in. in diameter and 24-in. stroke, the driving 

 wheels being G ft. 3 in. in' diameter. The leading wheels 

 are of cast steel, the others of wrought iron. The working 

 pressure is equal to 175 lb. per square inch. The weight 

 of the engine empty is 39 tons 10 cwt., while the working 

 weight is 42 tons 10 cwt. There are only three of 

 these engines in use, seventeen others, however, being 

 in hand at the Crewe works. The " Experi- 

 ment," the first Webb compound which was built, 

 ran 173,802 miles between the dates of February, 

 1882, and March, ISS-""), while the distance covered by the 

 " Dreadnought " from September last until March 20th was 

 l.''>,477 miles, with trains averaging twelve vehicles, 

 between Crewe and Euston. The aggregate number of 

 train miles which have been run by the various compound 

 locomotives on the London and North- Western Railway is, 

 to March 20th last, 1,820,031 miles. One great object in 

 introducing the compound type of locomotive was to reduce 

 the cost of fuel ; and it is stated that an engine converted 

 from the ordinary non-compound type, and running between 

 Broad street and Mansion-house on the District Railway, 

 in the course of nine months ran 33,014 miles, with an 

 average consumption of 235 lb. per mile, as against 31'41b. 

 per mile by the other engines doing similar work. 



This engine is standing on a length of steel permanent 

 way of a pattern which has been introduced by Mr. Webb. 

 The sleepers are rolled from Bessemer steel ingots, the weight 

 of a complete sleeper being 1741b., made up as follows : — 

 Sleeper, 9 ft. long, 124 lb. ; two chairs, 28 lb. ; rivets, 5 lb. ; 

 two lining plates, 151b.; and two oak keys, 21b. A 



creosoted wooden sleeper, such as is more generally used> 

 weighs 242 lb. complete. The balance in favour of steel is 

 considerable, and, seeing that they are much smaller, more 

 easily packed, and presumably more durable than timber, 

 they are sure to come into favour ere long, and the wonder 

 is that even for the erst intended Suakim-Berber Railway 

 they were not adopted. There would have been no danger 

 of their being burnt or stolen. 



Automatic brakes are brought very prominently under 

 notice, and deservedly so; for in these days of fast travelling 

 and rapidly-following trains, it is absolutely necessary that 

 the greatest possible security against collision or other acci- 

 dent should be provided. In the face of the fact that with 

 proper apparatus a train may be drawn up in its own 

 length, it is tantamount to criminal negligence to allow a 

 train to run the risk of disaster with nothing between it 

 and destruction but the brake-power which can be supplied 

 by the engine to its own wheels, supjilemented by the 

 puerile efforts of the guard in the manipulation of his toy, 

 otherwise dubVied a hand - brake. The exhibit by the 

 Westinghouse Co. is very complete, practical, and impres- 

 sive. We have already (Knowledge Nos. 147 and 149) 

 enlarged upon this system, and need say no more con- 

 cerning it, save that it is as secure as ever against competi- 

 tion. Its only enemy is its expense ; but we are fain to 

 imagine that when a company like the Brighton can afford 

 to apply it to every train, expense is but a lame excuse, 

 and nothing but an excuse. 



The Vacuum Brake Company make a good display of 

 their apparatus as employed on the Midland and other 

 railways, but it is rather too crowded, and an air of 

 mystery pervades it, so that it receives less attention than 

 it might. 



A source of attraction is a working model illustrating 

 the Welch-Parker Smith Automatic Brake (pressure or 

 vacuum). This is a modification of the Smith brake in 

 use on the Great Northern Railway. The model consists 

 of a carriage which is made to ascend a steep gradient, and 

 which is arrested at the summit, and again at the middle of 

 its descent by tbe application of the brake. Working models 

 are always taking, this one especially so. 



Another detail in railway-working is the buffer — by no 

 means an unimportant detail. Several forms of spring 

 buffer are exhibited, the Fairlie Engine Company showing 

 specimens of Mr. R. H. Hepburn's encircling spring 

 " stop." Spring buffers consist of very stout volute or 

 conical springs of various kinds, encased in an iron 

 chamber. It is found that the concussion frequently 

 fractures these springs, and Mr. Hepburn's improvement 

 consists in the addition of an encircling hoop, somewhat 

 broader than the section of steel forming the spring. This 

 constitutes an eirectual " stop," whence the spring cannot 

 be overstrained. 



Couplings are responsible for the loss of life and limb to 

 large numbers of railway employes every year, and every 

 improvement which tends to reduce the risk of such 

 accidents is worthy of serious attention. The Brocklebank 

 Automatic CoujJing has the merit of being workable with- 

 out necessitating the presence of a " shunter " between the 

 trucks or coaches. Each vehicle is provided with a sort of 

 two-pronged claw hinged under the floor. When two 

 vehicles approach, one claw glides up over the other and 

 interlocks with it. The movement of a lever at the side of 

 the truck sets it free ; so that there is no necessity for 

 any one to endanger his life by getting between and from 

 there beneath the trucks. This coupling may be applied to 

 existing apparatus, apparently with an ultimate reduction 

 in the expenditure. 



The conviction that our present system of fog-signalling 



