588 



Original Articles. 



[Oct., 



days, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Three trains, as well as all the 

 state and saloon carriages of the company, have been supplied with it, 

 and a fourth train is in hand. The voltaic circuit is carried through 

 the trains by means of one wire under each vehicle, bifurcated as 

 shown in Fig. 1, and connected with a coupling, and a coupling- 



Fig. 1. 



COUPLING , 

 @ ■« »d 



hook, at each end of each vehicle, to provide for its running in either 

 direction, and to ensure more perfect action. The earth connection 

 passes through the wheels, and the batteries and bells are so arranged 

 — as shown in Fig. 2 — that they are quiescent as long as the wire 



Fig. 2. 



BATTERIES 



is clear, but that if the wire be put " to earth " at any one point, 

 every bell will ring -throughout a train. The couplings between the 

 carriages, which are shown in diagram 4* (Plate), have already been 

 used for some time in France, on the Chemin-de-fer du Nord. 



The coupling-hook (A) is of gun metal, and £s kept from contact 

 with a knob (B) of similar metal above it, as long as the eye (C) is 

 upon it ; but, as soon as the carriages become detached, the eye is 

 pulled off the hook, the hook is forced up by the action of a self-con- 

 tained spring against the knob, and the circuit being thus completed, 

 the bells are rung throughout the train. 



According to the latest modifications, there is no signal from the 

 carriages either for day or for night, it being considered that when- 

 ever anything serious is the matter, the passengers will themselves 

 direct attention to the carriage, in all cases in which no defect is 

 visible to the servants of the company. Much expense is thus 

 saved. , 



The bells in the guard's van and on the engine, are trembling bells, 

 ringing incessantly as long as the current is maintained. The electro- 

 magnet (H), acting upon the armature (E), causes the striker (C) to 

 strike the gong (D) under the action of the current ; and the bells 



* This diagram has unfortunately been turned upside down by the lithographer, 

 and the reader will therefore understand it better by reversing it. 



