188 report — 1877. 



Brakes, in the proper sense of the term, appear to have come in with the intro- 

 duction of edge rails ; and we read of such being used on the Tyne and Wear Rail- 

 ways, where the wagons were controlled by pressing on the end of a bent wooden 

 lever moving on an axis fitted to the side of the wagon, and rubbing against the 

 opposite surfaces of the two wheels on that side of the wagom 



Here we have presented, in a rude form, the type of the ordinary lever brake now 

 generally in use in mineral and goods wagons. 



Such a form of brake, but moving on a vertical instead of a horizontal axis, is 

 in the present day, and probably has been almost from time immemorial, applied 

 to the ox-carts of Spain which travel on the common roads and mountain tracks of 

 that country conveying mineral and other produce. 



Such were the rude contrivances which maintained their ground until the close 

 of the first quarter of the present century, though here and there it may have been 

 that some thoughtful mechanic sought to introduce a more perfect mechanism. 



That such was the case in one instance is clear from the description, given in 

 1 Desagulier's Experimental Philosophy,' by Charles de Labelye, of a particular form 

 of brake which was applied early in last century, as the writer states, to the 

 " Carriages made use of by Ralph Allen, Esq., to carry stones from his quarry, 

 situated on the top of a hill, to the waterside of the River Avon near the City of 

 Bath." 



Here the rails were of oak, the wheels were of cast iron with flanges, the brake 

 a lever brake. The end of the brake-lever, or "jig-pole," as it is there termed, was 

 pulled down by a chain wrapped round a windlass worked by an iron hand spike, 

 whilst the brake-block could be held down to its place until released by raising the 

 pall which had dropped into the teeth of the ratchet-wheel on the barrel. 



Here we have the germ of the chain-brake, now so much used on the lines of 

 North America. Hand-brakes of improved construction, worked by levers as 

 applied to wagons, and by screws in the case of carriage?, were devised for the 

 rolling stock of the first passenger lines : and brakes of this description, varying in 

 the minor mechanical details, have maintained their ground to the present day, 

 and are generally used in the working of ordinary trains. 



It is scarcely necessary to advert to the fact that since the year 1830 many 

 attempts have been made, and patents taken out, for brakes intended to supersede 

 those of the ordinary type — some to be self-acting and operated upon by the 

 momentum of the train ; some to act as sledges or shoes ; some to nip laterally the 

 upper tables of the rails ; but nonejof these proved to be successful. Brakes acting 

 through the buffer-springs and buffer-bars would stop a train when steam was 

 shut off, and the momentum tended to compress the springs ; but from the same 

 cause the brakes could not be kept out of action when backing the trains. Sledge 

 brakes, or shoes, pressed down before the wheels had the effect of throwing the 

 engine or carriages off the rails, and, indeed, were often broken by the shocks which 

 suddenly came upon them. 



All these forms, therefore, came to be rejected, and if ever adopted for the regular 

 service of trains, were speedily abandoned. 



The continuous brakes of Newall and Fay, however, did not involve auy new 

 principle of this kind, but simply proposed a wider distribution of power over the 

 different vehicles of the train, and gave the means of applying and controlling that 

 power by one or at most by two attendants. 



It is in this direction that the ingenuity of inventors has of late years been 

 turned ; and we have now presented to us several systems of continuous brakes, 

 which are successfully working on many of our leading railways, each claiming some 

 special advantage over its rivals, whether as more simple in construction, less 

 expensive in application, or effecting more complete control of the trains. 



The Royal Commissioners desired that our attention should be primarily 

 directed to the following points : — 



a. To test the distances within which trains running at various speeds can 



be controlled by the system of brakes in ordinary use on the different 

 lines in the United Kingdom. 



b. To ascertain what results can be obtained by the additional application of 



brake-power. 



