TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 193 



Westinghouse vacuum (London, Brighton, and South Coast) and Smith's 

 vacuum (Great Northern Railway). 



3. Two forms in which the power was that of compressed air forced through 



a continuous pipe into suitable vessels and operating upon pistons : West- 

 inghouse's Automatic (Midland), Steel and MTimes' (Caledonian). 



4. Two forms in which the power was transmitted by pressure of water 



pumped through a continuous pipe against pistons working in cylinders : 

 Barker's Hydraulic (Midland), Clarke's Hydraulic (Midland). 



These brakes have been so frequently described in detail that it may not be 

 needful to do more than glance at some of the points hi respect of which they 

 differ. 



Of the mechanical brakes, Fay's is worked by hand-gear in two separate sections, 

 actuated each from its own van. Blocks are drawn on to the wheels by means of 

 a shaft passing under the centre of each carnage, with sliding-jointed connexions 

 rendering it continuous throughout each section of the train, and made to rotate 

 by a vertical shaft and hand-gear in the van. 



Clarke and Webb's brake is also applied to the train in sections, but the power to 

 work it is derived from the momentum of the train itself. This is transmitted by 

 means of a friction-pulley fixed on to the axle of the guard's van. Another fric- 

 tion-pulley, with barrel and chain on the same axis, is brought into contact with 

 the first by the guard releasing a lever in the van. The chain is thus wound up, 

 forcing the brake-blocks on to the wheels. The driver, too, is able to put on the 

 brakes by pulling a cord which extends from the tender to the vans. 



Fay's brake, and also NewaU's, which it closely resembles, have been generally 

 adopted throughout the Lancashire and Yorkshire system, where they have been 

 in use for twenty years, and it is stated that all the passenger-trains are fitted with 

 and controlled by them. 



On the North-Staffordshire line all the passenger-trains, with one exception, have 

 been fitted with slide-brakes after the manner of Fay's, and these, the Company 

 state, have been found to answer the requirements of the line. 



No train fitted with Newall's Brake was presented to the Royal Commissioners 

 for trial. In addition, however, to its use on the Lancashire and Yorkshire system, 

 it has been adopted since 1863 on the Highland Railway for all their through 

 passenger-trains. 



The London and South- Western Company has applied it to 110 of their brake- 

 vans, and the North-Eastern Railway to 55 vans, as also to some of their carriages. 



Clarke and Webb's brakes have been extensively adopted on the London and 

 North-Western system. According to a published return as many as 943 of their 

 carriages have been fitted with the brake apparatus, and 712 with the attachments 

 to enable them to be worked in the continuous sections. The remainder of the 

 stock is being thus fitted. On the North-London line twenty-three trains are run- 

 ning with an improved brake, which is gradually displacing Clarke's original chain- 

 brake, with which all the trains were fitted about twelve years ago. Trials of the 

 brake have been made on the Caledonian, Great Eastern, and Great Northern and 

 Midland lines. 



In the Westinghouse Vacuum Brake and Smith's Vacuum Brake the exhaustion 

 of air is effected by one or more air-ejectors worked by steam-jet fixed on tho 

 engine. To apply the brakes it is only necessary to exhaust the air from the pipes, 

 which, in the case of the Westinghouse, connect with a pair of cylinders with 

 pistons placed under each carriage ; and, in the case of Smith's, with collapsing- 

 India-rubber bags or cylinders, one to each carriage, and the movable ends of which 

 are connected with the brake-gear of their respective carriages. 



In the first and rear van of the Great Northern train thus fitted with Smith's 

 brake was an air-exhauster, worked as might be required by means of friction- 

 wheels from the van-axle, to enable the application of brakes to be made on an 

 emergency and independently of the Ejectors. These Exhausters are also started 

 by the action of the Ejectors. 



The Westinghouse Vacuum Brake is used on the London, Brighton, and South 

 Coast line, and in the train which was made the subject of several of our experi- 



