12 Continuous Railway Breaks. [January, 
exhausted from the collapsing cylinders under the carriages 
throughout the train. By means of a cord attached to the 
cam lever in the van, and running the whole length of the 
train and on to the engine, the driver, or any guard or pas- 
senger in the train, had the power of starting the exhauster. 
In addition to this there was a cord connected with the 
collapsing cylinders under the carriage, by which any move- 
ment in them was made to sound gong-bells in the guards’ 
vans, and close to the driver on the engine. Also by the adt 
of the driver exhausting the air from the collapsing cylin- 
ders, by means of the ejedtors, the pump-exhausters in the 
vans are started. 
The reports on the working of this break, where it has 
been practically tried, are generally very satisfactory, and 
there can be no doubt that it is a far more effective machine 
than either the chain or the hydraulic break. It however 
undoubtedly possesses two weak points ; the one being the 
necessity for employing a cord communication to enable the 
driver to set in motion the break-apparatus in the guards’ 
vans ; and the other the employment of rubber sacks and 
rubber reservoirs, which, though somewhat cheaper in first 
cost than more durable materials, cannot be maintained as 
cheaply as iron cylinders and iron reservoirs, and, besides, 
they must be less reliable, and must at times be more apt 
to fail as they get old, when they are urgently wanted to act. 
The slightest cut or pundture would of course detract from 
their power, if it would not entirely neutralise their use ; 
and this might easily be occasioned, in the event of a part 
of the train leaving the rails, by sharp stones thrown up 
from the ballast by the wheels, just when the efficient adtion 
of the break was of the greatest importance. 
4. The Air Break . — The Westinghouse automatic air 
break is the best type of continuous air breaks brought be- 
fore the Royal Commission. The mechanism of this break 
and the mode of operating with it may be thus described : — * 
A small engine fixed on the locomotive, and deriving its 
steam direct from the boiler, worked a diredi-acting pump, 
which forced air at pressure into a main reservoir, of nearly 
9 cubic feet capacity, placed underneath the foot-plate. A 
line of tubing extended from the main reservoir longitudi- 
nally throughout the whole length of the train, with a cock 
at each end of each carriage. The connections between the 
carriages were formed of india-rubber hose and metal 
couplings. Under each vehicle a branch from the main 
pipe led through a triple valve— of special and complex 
construction— to a small supplementary air reservoir, and 
