TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 639° 
6n account of the injury it caused to the engine. Mr. McConnell, whose engine: 
brake ;was tried by Colonel Yolland, appears to have endeavoured to remove this 
objection to a brake on the engine, by applying blocks to the rail instead of to the 
wheels of the engine, the block being forced down on the rail by means of an 
elbow joint. Colonel Yolland found that the amount of retardation caused by 
this brake was comparatively small, and insufficient to prevent an imminent 
collision. The second principle, the connection of several brakes united under 
the control of one driver, was chiefly represented by the invention of Mr. Newall. 
In this system two or more carriages, or if necessary the whole train, were fitted 
up with brake blocks, all of which were brought under the control of one guard 
by ‘means of a longitudinal shaft, which transferred the motion of the guard’s 
wheel to the brakes throughout the whole length of the train. In this way an 
enormous increase of retarding power was obtained proportioned to the number 
of wheels, and consequently to the length and weight in the whole train. © This 
principle has been applied in all good brakes since invented, however actuated ; 
and it appears to be the sound principle for the application of the retarding’ 
force. Nevwall’s application of it has only been superseded by the transfer of 
the motive force from the brake van of the guard to the engine, where it is 
best placed for immediate application, without manual exertion, and under 
the control of the engine-driver, who is the first to see any obstruction of the 
line, and can be easily communicated with by the guard or passengers in case 
of any other cause for the stoppage of the train than that which’ may be seer 
from the front. Indeed, the contrary plan which prevailed for so many years, 
and is not yet entirely abandoned, appears to be as irrational as it would ‘be 
to take the reins out of the hands of the driver of a coach and to place them 
in those of the guard behind. Im principle it may be taken to be admitted 
that the engine-driver should control the brake, that it should be applied to every 
wheel of the train, and that in certain cases the brake should apply itself to the 
wheels. All recent efforts for the improvement of brakes appear to have been 
devoted to making the action of the brakes automatic, and to increasing the 
rapidity with which they can be applied. 
I do not intend to enter into the controversy respecting the best system in use 
for obtaining these results. There are several systems by which they are attained 
more or less effectively ; and whereas trains which 80 years ‘ago weighed on the 
average 30. tons, with engines of the same weight, running at 35 miles an 
hour, could scarcely be brought to a stand in a distance of about 800 or 1,000 
yards, now trains of twice or three times that weight, and running at a much 
higher speed, can be brought to absolute rest in 20 or 30 seconds, and within a 
distance of from 300 to 400 yards.. 
. When railways were first made, the locomotive was a very imperfect machine, 
which could only travel:economically on roads almost level and straight. | As there 
are no level plains of great length in this country, and as reducing the natural 
surface of the country to a fair level is both tedious and costly, considerable 
détours were made to avoid steep gradients or their alternative, long tunnels, deep 
cuttings, and high embankments. In some cases where avery steep gradient could 
not be avoided, a stationary engine and rope traction were adopted. The great 
improvements in the locomotive gradually led to the almost entire abandon- 
ment of rope traction in this country; and gradients which it would have been 
impossible for the earlier engines to surmount with a load equal to their own 
weight, are now ascended with ease with heavy trains at moderate speeds, 
Abroad, however, great natural difficulties, and a limited capital, were not 
infrequently concurrent conditions which offered to the engineer troublesome 
problems for solution. In some districts the locomotive could not do the required 
work, and other means have had to be resorted to. The plans adopted for over= 
coming the difficulty presented by the sudden elevation of the surface over which 
a railway must pass, may be typified by the  wire-rope system, as employed by 
myself on the St. Paulo Railway of Brazil, and by the central rail system of Mr. 
Fell, first employed on the Mont Cenis Railway, and since on steep inclines in New 
Zealand, 
