AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 551 



to the first car string, and diminish the force as the distance of 

 the car from the engine. In 1850 a steam brake was applied to 

 one of the engines of tlie Liege railway, Belgium. The plan was 

 a shoe between the driving wheels of the engine, which was 

 pressed on the track by steam from the boiler actuating a piston 

 connected by levers to the shoes on the track. In 1846, Mr. Car- 

 rum's self-acting brake by reversing the engine and having to hold 

 the brakes against the wheels. Wm. Clayton's plan was to gripe 

 the edge of the wheels instead of the tread, to avoid weai* on the 

 surface and relieve the axle from strain. La Hayes' plan is byre- 

 versing the engine. This is said to work well, and has been used 

 on the Reading road with some success. McLaughlin's is worked 

 also, by reversing the engine. I have seen this on two of the 

 cars of the Camden and Amboy railroad; but like all plans of that 

 kind, where the power is transmitted from car to car, there seems 

 to me %fatal objection to the whole principle, modify it as you 

 may. The brakes will be powerfully applied to the first car, and 

 diminishing from one car to the other, so that beyond the third 

 car it is of no efficiency. 



Moody's plan was also by reversing the engine. 



Leech's plan the same. Bachelor's the same; the brakes con- 

 nected to the draw head and operated by the windlass also; this 

 is rather complicated. Reimer's plan was a block hung between 

 the wheels by a chain connecting to a bar operated by reversing 

 the engine. Cone's was a wedge shaped block operated by a cam 

 and bearing on the wheel and rail simultaneously. 



Skimer's was a shoe with an elastic band in front of the wheel 

 for the purpose of checking the sudden jar of the shoe taking 

 under the wheel. Norton's was a mechanical management, with 

 the brake bearing in the forward side of the wheel, to avoid the 

 lifting movement on the truck when the pressure is on both 

 wheels. It was very complicated. Treadwell's plan was a shoe 

 of soft iron bearing on the track between the trucks of the cars. 



It appears to me that if any plan of track brake is used, it 

 must be between the truck v/heels rather than between the 

 trucks, for the reason that when operated the trucks should re- 

 main close to the body of the car, instead of raising the car from 

 the truck as would be the case when the brake was pressed on 

 the track. 



Many persons suppose that the wearing of car wheels is caused 

 by the friction of the brakes; I think the idea is erroneous, ex- 

 cept in so far as the brakes stop the wheels. The wear of the 



