THE BRITISH OVERSEAS RAILWAYS HISTORICAL TRUST
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Kevin Jones' Steam Index
Proceedings Institution of Mechanical Engineers
1870-9
key file
Siemens, C. William
On Le Chatelier's plan of using counter-pressure steam as a break [sic] in
locomotive engines. 21-36. Disc.: 37-59 + Plates 1-5.
Counter pressure brake and braking. In normal working,
the valve-gear was sometimes reversed in cases of urgent necessity, while
still continuing to run forwards, to obtain in an emergency the retarding
effect of the full boiler pressure opposing the motion of the pistons, for
the purpose of stopping the train in a shorter space than could be effected
by means of the brakes alone. The reversed working could not be continued
for more than a few minutes in ordinary locomotives without serious damage
to the engine, due to the heating of the cylinders and the cutting of the
rubbing surfaces from want of lubrication: the cylinders act as pumps in
the reversed working, drawing in the heated gases from the smokebox, and
forcing them into the boiler through the regulator which continues open;
their action is thus the reverse of the ordinary action, when they receive
steam from the boiler and discharge it into the smokebox. The Chatelier system
enabled locomotives taking trains down inclines to be worked continuously
with the valve-gear reversed, thus obtaining the advantage of the
counter-pressure steam as a retarding power, instead of the train brakes,
without any damage.
The heating caused by compression in cylinders when running reversed was
established by experiments on the Northern of France Railway, in which two
engines were coupled back to back on a level line, one running forwards,
and dragging the other reversed against the resistance of the counter-pressure
steam. At a speed of 18 mile/h, without either water or steam injection,
the stuffing-box packings of the reversed engine caught fire after less than
2 miles, although the blast-pipe had been closed to avoid drawing in hot
smokebox gases, and a separate opening was made for drawing in fresh air.
After renewing the packings, a jet of steam in excess was injected into the
blast-pipe, and the packings then caught fire after running between 3 and
4 miles. But with mixed injection containing a large proportion of water,
a run of 18 miles was made, without any damage. Under normal working, when
the hot smokebox gases would be drawn into the cylinders in running reversed,
the engine would be be rendered unfit for work; but when working reversed
with water injection, there was no injurious action.
For large goods engines with all wheels coupled, working heavy trains down
moderate inclines or taking moderate trains down heavy gradients, and
consequently working mainly in full gear, water injection was applied for
regular use when running with counter-pressure steam; and in addition a separate
steam jet was also applied, discharging into the water injection tube, which
was found advantageous for occasional use when the pressure fell low in the
boiler and the due proportion of steam in the jet consequently fell short,
The separate steam jet was also of service in starting counter-pressure working
at the beginning of a descent, and for clearing the passages of water when
stopping.
In passenger engines, where the use of counter pressure steam was mainly
for additional emergency braking and for stopping at stations, a combined
injection of water and steam was used with a cock being provided for each
injection, but both worked from the same handle and adjusted so that the
water supply was always about half of the steam, the total supply of water
and steam together being about 30 to 40 lbs. per minute. Experience showed
that the addition of a steam jet was not absolutely necessary, and that the
simple water jet was sufficient for all purposes. This was simpler as there
was only the water cock to operate when reversing the engine for counter-pressure
working. This arrangement was the one recommended by Le Chatelier for general
application in counter-pressure working. The most extensive application of
counter-pressure working was on the Paris and Lyons Railway, on which 1400
engines were using it regularly for descending inclines, and in stopping
and shunting at stations.
The application of counter-pressure braking had become very extensive in
France and Germany, with more than three thousand locomotives fitted with
this simple apparatus, the employment of which was more and more extended
to the regular working of the engines as the men became more accustomed to
its use. It was always used in taking trains down steep inclines, and also
very extensively for stopping at stations and for shunting, the regulator
being left full open all the time, and the retarding or stopping being effected
entirely by the reversing handle.
F.J. Bramwell (40-6) made some experiments on
the LSWR with an engine fitted with the counter-pressure apparatus described
in the paper. The trial was made on the Windsor branch, between Staines and
Wrasbury stations, where the line was straight and level ; the day was fine,
and the rails in first-rate order for brake action; the wind was rather fresh
on one side, and slightly in the direction of the running. The engine was
a six-wheeled one, with four wheels coupled; it had outside cylinders 17
inches diameter by 22 inches stroke, and the driving wheels were 6 ft. 6
ins. diameter; the slide-valves were balanced valves of very good construction,
permitting easy reversal whilst running at full speed with steam full on.
The weight of the engine in running order, without the tender, was 31¾
tons, of which 21¼ tons were upon the coupled wheels; and the total
weight of the train was about 160 tons, of which 36½ tons had brakes
applied, namely the tender, two four-wheel brake vans, and one carriage.
Four experiments were made, in each of which the train was accelerated to
40 miles an hour. In the first experiment the steam was shut off, and neither
brakes nor counter-pressure were applied: the train stopped in 5376 ft. Next
the brakes (tender and train) were applied and the train stopped in 1080
ft (there may have been some skidding on the tender). Thirdly the
counter-pressure was used alone, without any other brake and the train halted
in 2712 ft. In the final experiment both counter-pressure and traditional
brakes were employed simultaneously, but the stopping distance was not recorded.
From the data collected Bramwell considered that the locomotive with
counter-pressure braking should have been capable of halting a similar weight
train on a 1 in 80 downward gradient. Fig. 9 (Plate 4) showed the pressure
rise in the cylinders. W.G. Beattie (46-7) noted
his approval for the tests..
W. Kirtley (47-9) stated that a preliminary
trial of the counter-pressure plan had been made a short time ago with a
light tank engine on the Midland Railway, and they had been "much surprised"
at the results: in consequence a larger tank engine had been fitted with
the counter-pressure apparatus, and trials had been made on the Lickey incline
of 1 in 37. The engine was a very heavy one, intended expressly for working
that incline, its weight in working order being 36½ tons; it was a six-wheel
coupled engine, with 4 feet wheels, and cylinders 16½ inches diameter
by 24 inches stroke. Several experiments were made, the last of which may
be regarded as a destructive test where the packings were burnt and one cylinder
got "rather hot". On the previous experiment a train of six loaded coal wagons
weighing 58.61 tons, and two incline brake wagons weighing 21.20 tons and
at 16 miles/hour the water cock was opened nearly half a turn and kept open
for 5 seconds; the speed was thereby reduced in ¾mile to about 3 miles/hour.
Again at 20 miles/hour the water cock was opened a quarter turn for 6 or
8 seconds, which reduced the speed in about ¾mile to a mere crawl. No
water issued from the chimney top.
W.M. Moorsom (50-1) noted experiments with
counter-pressure working on the LNWR between Buxton and Stockport on an incline
of 1 in 60 average gradient for 6 miles from Doveholes to Whaley Bridge station.
The experiments were conducted under rather unfavourable circumstances, as
they had to be made at night. The engine employed was a six-wheel coupled,
with wheels 5 feet diameter, and cylinders 17 inches diameter by 24 inches
stroke ; its weight in running order was 27½ tons, and the tender weighed
16 or 17 tons ; and the weight of the train taken down the incline by the
engine in the experiments, consisting of several mineral wagons and one break
van, was 250 tons. The engine started with 100 lbs. boiler pressure, and
with one injector at work feeding the boiler; and on passing over the brow
of the incline, where the speed was about 10 miles an hour, the steam was
shut off and the water injection cock turned on, admitting the jet of hot
water from the boiler into the exhaust-port; and as soon as there was a discharge
of water from the funnel, which fell like rain on the foot-plate, the engine
was reversed into full backward gear; after which the regulator was immediately
opened again to the full extent, for applying the counter-pressure steam
in the cylinders. The speed of the train however increased, and continued
increasing until it was about 16 or 17 miles an hour, which was considered
too fast for descending the incline; and the tender brake was therefore put
on slightly, which reduced the speed to about 10 or 12 miles an hour. In
this way the train ran down to Whaley Bridge, but in order to stop at the
station the guard's brake and the tender brake had both to be applied, which
brought the train to a stand in a short distance. The experiment was repeated
in the same manner on the following night, and on both nights it was found
that, when the water injection cock was only so much opened as to produce
a cloud of steam and a fine spray from the chimney, the injector feeding
the boiler would not continue working, but ceased work after running about
a mile down the incline, and could not be made to start again so long as
the counter-pressure jet was kept the same ; but by turning on such an amount
of water into the exhaust-pipe that the spray from the chimney was much thicker
and fell in large drops, they had managed to make the injector work again.
When the water jet was kept on sufficiently to maintain the injector at work
all the time of going down the incline, the boiler pressure fell from 100
lbs. at the top of the incline to 80 lbs. at the bottom; this was the case
in the second night's experiment, but on the first night the injector was
only at work a short distance down the incline. The engine had been at work
on the same incline during the week previous to these experiments, and the
driver had reported that, when very little water was turned on at the jet
in the exhaust pipe, the boiler pressure rose almost immediately to the point
of blowing off, 120 lbs., and continued blowing off all the way down the
incline, but the injector would not work. Although the engine was fitted
with screw reversing gear, so that it could readily be reversed without shutting
off steam, the object of closing the regulator before opening the injection
cock and reversing had been to reduce the discharge from the chimney to that
caused by the water injection only, so that the proper opening of the injection
cock might be readily determined. The engine wheels had never been skidded
by the counter-pressure steam, except on one occasion while going through
a tunnel, where the wheels slipped on the rails.
The President (John Ramsbottom, 51-4) From what
he had seen and heard of the counter-pressure steam break, he was disposed
to place a higher value upon it than to limit its capabilities to the working
of inclines of only 1 in 80; and he believed it would be found of material
assistance in taking trains down very heavy gradients. On the Tredegar and
Abergavenny line in South Wales there was a descent of 1000 feet within a
distance of only 8½; miles, giving a mean gradient of 1 in 45, and the
difficulty of taking the trains down that part of the line was found to be
practically even greater than getting them up ; and in this case he was looking
to the application of the counter-pressure working for surmounting to a great
extent the difliculty at present experienced. In applying the counter-pressure
steam for ordinary stoppages at stations, the quantity of injection water
required to be turned on would of course diminish as the speed became reduced;
and he wm prepared therefore to anticipate some difliculty in this application
of the plan, as the regulation of the jet would probably require a, nicety
of adjustment that waa scarcely to be expected from the ordinary class of
engine drivers. Another application mentioned in the paper of the
counter-pressure working was for shunting at stations, the regulator being
kept open the whole time, and the shunting being effected entirely by the
reversing lever ; and in order to carry this plan out, it was necessary not
only that the screw reversing gear should be employed, but also that the
engine should be fitted with good balanced slide-valves ; otherwise it was
certain the men would still continue to shut off the steam before reversing,
in order to render the reversing easier. In the experiments on the Buxton
line it had been mentioned that the steam had been shut off in order to reverse
the engine, and it was-clear the regulator had been used largely in the trials;
and the men would not be got to desist from employing it extensively until
the reversing was rendered as easy with the steam full on as with it shut
off, which it appeared to him could not be readily accomplished.
In regard to the excess of pressure shown above the boiler pressure in the
counter-pressure diagram that was exhibited from the experiments on the South
Western Railway, the explanation which had been offered, viewing the column
of steam in the steam pipe from the regulator to the cylinders as performing
the part of a ram, appeared to him to be corroborated by the circumstance
of the engine being an outside-cylinder one with separate steam-chests and
forked steam-pipe, increasing considerably the distance from the regulator
to either cylinder. In an inside-cylinder engine, where the total length
of the steam-pipe would be less, and where also the action of one piston
might perhaps interfere somewhat with that of the other in forcing the steam
back into the boiler, in consequence of the . two cylinders having only a
single steam-chest common to them both, it was probable the excess of
counter-pressure might not be quite so great as in the diagram shown. Another
reason that would account for the high pressure observed in the cylinder
was the greater density of the counter-pressure vapour which had to be forced
back by the piston into the boiler if it was not boiler steam alone, but
a wet vapour largely charged with water from the water jet, which would therefore
move more sluggishly through the passages to the boiler. That the momentum
of the boiler steam rushing into the cavity of the cylinder would be great
enough to produce a considerable rise of pressure in the cylinder above the
boiler pressure appeared to him a reasonable supposition; and he remembered
hearing a somewhat analogous circumstance, that in gunnery it was it well-known
fact that when a charge was not rammed home the strain upon the gun in firing
was more severe, producing a greater expansion at the breech.
F. Holt (54-5) described work on the South
Staffordshire Railway in 1855 or 1856 (before its absorption by the LNWR).
The object had been to make use of the engine as brake power; and knowing
the difficulty of running reversed, for lack of lubrication for the rubbing
surfaces of the cylinders and pistons, it had struck him that the application
of water might be successful. He had made a trial of the plan about fourteen
years ago with a new goods engine, by inserting a 3/8in inch
gas cock in the mud plug at the bottom of the smokebox tube-plate, and carrying
a small pipe from this cock up to the mouth of the blast-pipe and then down
inside the blast-pipe to the bottom, so as to discharge a jet of hot water
from the boiler into the exhaust-port of each cylinder; the quantity of water
in the jet was regulated as required by a rod worked from the footplate.
With this apparatus the engine was worked down inclines with the valve-motion
reversed into full backward gear and the water jet turned on, and the regulator
kept full open all the time, thus giving the effect of the counter-pressure
steam in retarding the motion of the train. The engine worked down the gradients
of about 1 in 120 between Cannock and Wichnor Junction, and also down the
incline of about 1 in 75 from Dudley Port to Dudley. Locomotive engines at
that time had only the ordinary reversing lever held by a detent, instead
of the screw reversing gear subsequently introduced, the reversed running
was attended by much risk ; and after about a week or ten days’ successful
working, an accident occurred in which the lever got free and flew into forward
gear, and some damage was done to the engine. In consequence of this mishap,
he had been prevented from proceeding with any further trial of the plan,
notwithstanding that the result had been so far satisfactory in all other
respects; he had been confident the principle of counter-pressure working
was one of great value and would be attended with great success in practice,
and that it would sometime come into use.
See also Dunn Reflections page 39
Cited by Carling (Newcomen 55-10) who stated that
the locomotive concerned was most probably one of two 0-6-0s built by
Vulcan Foundry in 1855 or one of two 0-4-2s built by Beyer, Peacock in
1856.
Batho, W.F. and Aveling, T.
On a steam road roller. 109-18. Disc.: 118-34; 170-8. + Plates 18-24 and
51.
Experience in the use of steam road roller in Calcutta, India.
Marten, Edward B.
On the conclusions derived from the experience of recent steam boiler explosions.
179-200. Disc.: 200-18 + Plates 52-61.
There were 219 boiler explosions during the period June 1866 to June
1870. Ten of these were locomotive boiler explosions, and two of these were
caused by strains imposed upon the boiler by being used as the frame for
the engine. Two were caused by internal corrosion and two by internal corrosion.
One was caused by a broken connecting-rod piercing the boiler and another
by the dome hitting a railway bridge. In the period prior to June 1866 there
had been 91 locomotive boiler explosions (out of a total of 719).
Discussion: W. Bouch (217-18) observed that in locomotive and other
multitubular boilers the bursting of a tube was not attended with the disastrous
results of a boiler explosion and considered the principle of the locomotive
boiler might advantageously be applied for stationary boilers to a much larger
extent . Prior to 1849 he had experienced much difficulty in locomotive boilers
of the old Stockton and Darlington class, with internally-fired flues, from
the detriment caused by the concentration of heat upon particular portions
of the flues. This had led him to develop, in conjunction with Mr. Adamson,
the flanged flue, strengthened at intervals along its length by flanging
the plates outwards at the circular joints and inserting a stiffening ring
to which the two plates at each joint were rivetted. The application of this
flanged flue had since then been very successfully and extensively carried
out by Mr. Adamson for all stationary boilers having flues subjected to external
pressure. In the working of locomotive boilers his experience was that it
was not safe to keep them in full work longer than six years without a thorough
exanination of the tubes, firebox, and shell, the tubes requiring to be all
taken out for this purpose. It was true that in particular cases there might
be evidence that the extreme measure of pulling the tubes out was not then
necessary ; but as a general rule, when an engine had attained that age and
had been working about 100 miles per day, it ought not to be allowed to continue
running until it had undergone a very thorough examination.
Ramsbottom, J.
On the mechanical ventilation of the Liverpool passenger tunnel on the London
and North Western Railway. 22-35; 66-74; 184-99 + Plates 1-6; 17.
The LNWR left Liverpool via a 2035 yard Tunnel, of mean sectional
area of 430 feet2, on an average gradient of 1 in 97. During the
thirty-three years that had elapsed since opening this portion of line in
1837 traffic through the tunnel was worked by endless rope and a pair of
winding engines at the top of the incline. All trains coming up the tunnel
from the Liverpool station were attached to the rope and hauled up by the
winding engines; trains in the reverse direction were controlled by the addition
of very heavy brake-trucks. Delays occurred through stopping every up train
at each mouth of the tunnel, to attach and detach the rope. This caused problems
during the excursion season, when trains leaving Liverpool were often so
heavily loaded that they were divided into two portions, each portion being
hauled up the tunnel separately, and the train re-united at the top of the
incline. These delays, together with the increasing requirements of the ordinary
traffic, at length induced the directors to determine to remove the rope
and winding engines, and to work the tunnel by locomotives in the ordinary
manner; but the employment of coal-burning locomotives in a close tunnel
nearly It mile long, intimately connected at each end with passenger stations
of great importance, was of cotirse impracticable without a thorough and
constant artificial ventilation. .
Beattie, William G.
Description of a balanced slide-valve for locomotive engines. 35-40. Disc.:
41-7 + Plates 7-11.
180 engines had been fitted with balanced valves, which were now applied
to all engines either newly built or in shop for repair, the results of the
past 2½ years' working having proved satisfactory.
Storey, John H.
On Ashton and Storey's steam-power meter and continuous indicator. 75-85.
Disc.: 85-91 + Plates 18-20. 8 diagrs.
Applied to large steam engines as used to power rolling mills and
the Cunard steamship Siberia
Haswell, John A.
Description of the break drums and the mode of working at the Ingleby incline
on the Rosedale branch of the North Eastern Railway. 200-4. Disc.: 204-12.+
Plates 55-9.
The Rosedale mineral branch of the North Eastern Railway, which ran
into the main line at Ingleby Junction, was used for the conveyance of ironstone
from the mines at Rosedale in North Porkshire, worked on both sides of the
valley, near Rosedale Abbey. The Ingleby Incline, formed a portion of this
branch, was 2 mile long, with an average gradient of 1 in 5½, the steepest
portion being 1 in 5, as shown in the general section, Fig. 1, Plate 55.
Loaded trains descended the incline, drawing up at the same time the empty
trains ; and a passing place for the two trains was made in the middle of
the length of the incline, by a short length of double line, as shown in
the plan, Fig. 2; the rest being laid with three rails, the centre one being
common to both up and down trains. The incline was worked in the usual manner
of similar steep mineral inches, by means of a pair of brake drums fixed
upon a horizontal shaft, and situated at the top of the incline. The two
brake drums weighed together 68 tons, and the shaft, carriages, and brake
segments about 26 tons, making a total weight of 94 tons. The ropes were
5 inches circumference, made of steel wire, and each 1650 yards long, weighing
8 tons. The rope end was taken through a hole in the side of the drum barrel,
and wound two or three times round the shaft, and secured by a loop knot.
Discussion: Haswill (205-6) believed the idea of using cast iron for
brakin on incline sheaves originated with Mr. Thompson, the engineer of the
Pontop-and Jarrow colliery railway ; and cast-iron brake-blocks were extensively
used on the wagons of the North Eastern Railway with complete success. Before
trying the plan on a large scale on the drums of the Ingleby incline, a cast-iron
brake had been put up on the Stanley incline, a small self-acting incline
on the North Eastern Railway, worked by a wire rope passing half round a
sheave at the top, and was found to work well. From this experience, coupled
with that on the Pontop and Jarrow line, it had then been decided to try
a cast-iron brake for the Ingleby drums, and the result had proved very
satisfactory in all respects. After the brakes had been used for running
a train down the incline, the heat of the brake surfaces was so inconsiderable
that the hand could be held upon them.
E. Gilkes (210) mentioned coal wagons on the Stockton and Darlington Railway
had hollow cast-iron brake-blocks substituted for the wood blocks employed
previously, and had been found highly successful, the wagon wheels being
made of cast iron chilled at the rim. A large number of the wagons on that
line were now working with these cast-iron brakes, which proved fully as
efficient as the ordinary wood blocks in respect to break power, and had
the advantage of wearing very much less rapidly.
Cochrane, Charles
On steam boilers with small water space, and Roots' tube boiler. 229-44.
Disc.: 244-59. + Plates 64-72. 37 diagrs.
Root's water tube boiler was installed at the Ormesby Iron Work in
Middlebrough (Figs. 28 et seq). The paper also surveyed other water
tube boilers from Woolf's cast iron boiler of 1803 (Fig. 1); Hancock's boilers
of 1825 (Fig. 2) and 1827 (Fig. 7); Ogle's boiler of 1830 (Fig. 6); James'
cast iron boiler (Fig. 9); Perkins (Fig. 11); Belleville (Fig. 13); Jordan
(Fig. 15); Harrison's cast iron (Fig. 17); Benson (Fig. 19); Field (Fig.
21); Howard (Fig. 23); and Allen (Fig. 26)
Spon, Ernest
On steam pressure gauges. 281-8, Disc.: 288-92 + Plates 80-7. 29 diagrs.
Points in a satisfactory pressure gauge:
-
Freedom from risk of permanent strain of the spring by any extent of over-pressure to which it is liable to be exposed in the course of work; as any permanent set would cause error in the indications of the gauge.
-
Considerable thickness of metal in the spring, so that its elasticity niay not be sensibly affected by any corrosion to which it can be exposed, and that it may not be liable to failure by fracture.
-
Long range of action of the spring in measuring the pressure to reduce the extent to which any errors are multiplied by the motion of the index upon the dial.
-
Sensitiveness of the gauge to small variations of pressure at all parts of its range. .
Siemens, C. William
On a steam jet for exhausting air etc. and the results of its application.
97-110. Disc. 110-17 + Plates 13-20. 20 diagrs.
The date of 1829 is given as that for the deliberate action of a steam
jet to enhance locomotive boiler performance. Includes a description of Pneumatic
Despatch Tubes used in London by the Post Office . The system was also used
to raise water, to evaporate sugar and as a blower for gas producers. At
the time of the meeting Siemens was President, and it is not immediately
obvious that comments by "the President" are identical to those of the "author".
L. Olrick (112-14) considered that the improved steam jet would be applicable
to a variety of purposes, and that one application might be to the blast-pipe
in locomotives. On some railways the locomotives were made with conical chimneys
expanding upwards, which he understood were found to render the blast more
effective, and cause less back pressure in the cylinders, than was the case
with the usual parallel chimneys; and he thought that the efficiency of ordinary
boilers, where the exhaust steam was used as a blast for creating a draught,
might be very materially increased, and a saving of fuel effected, with scarcely
any back pressure in the cylinders, if due attention were paid to the results
derived from the careful experiments which had been made in connection with
the very perfect steam jet now described. (Ref: Backtrack, 1999,
13, 377)
Friday 2 August 1872 from Liverpool Meeting: visit
by special train to chemical works in Widnes, the Runcorn Bridge and Crewe
Works. 246-50.
Members proceeded from Widnes to the Runcorn Railway Bridge over the
Mersey, which is constructed of lattice girders in three spans of 305 feet
each in the clear, with 75 feet clear headway above high water level. The
depth of the girders is 28 feet, and the top and bottom flanges are 5 feet
wide and of box construction; the floor of the bridge is wholly of wrought
iron. The deflection in the centre of each girder, when tested with sixteen
of the heaviest locomotives on one span, did not exceed 1 inch. The river
piers are of masonry and brickwork, testing on the red sandstone rock; the
foundations extend to a depth of 45 feet below high water, and were put in
by means of cast-iron coffer-dams.
The Crewe Locomotive and Steel Works were then visited by special train.
In the extensive shops of the locomotive works a large number of engines
were seen in all stages of construction and repair. In the boiler shop testing
was witnessed of samples from the Bessemer steel plates, 3/8
inch thick, now being adopted for the locomotive boiler shells; these plates
are required to have a tensile breaking strain of 34 tons psi, and to stand
an elongation of 25% before breaking, and a 5/8 inch hole
punched in a sample strip of 3 inches width, cut from each plate, is required
to stand drifting out to 2 inches diameter without the metal cracking. In
the extensive Bessemer steel works the process of tyre-making, the duplex
hammers, and the reversing rolling miIls, described at previous meetings
of the Institution, were seen in operation. The Members were entertained
at luncheon at Crewe by Mr. Webb, the Locomotive Superintendent of the London
and North Western Railway ; and the special train returned to Liverpool in
the evening.
Baines, William
Description of an improved apparatus for working and interlocking railway
signals and points. 31-40. Disc.: 40-4 + Plates 1-9. 25 disgrs.
System is illustrated by an installation at a complex junction on
the Furness Railway at Lindal Cote.
Discussion: F.W. Webb (41) considered the arrangement of rack and
pawl in the compensating apparatus was very good, and he enquired whether
a rack had been in use before for the purpose.
Kitson, Frederick W.
On the Allen governor and throttle valve for steam engines. 47-55. Disc.:
55-62 + Plates 10-14. 16 diagrs.
As applied to stationary engines..
Excursions at Cornwall Meeting [visit to Royal Albert
Bridge on 1 August 1873]. 244-7.
The party arrived from the West on a West Cornwall Railway train and
were allowed to climb into the tubes under the guidance of Willkiam Wright,
the District Engineer. The total weight, including the approaches, was 2600
tons of wrought iron, and 1200 tons of cast iron; and the total cost was
£223,220. Very full account.
Sheriff, James D.
Description of the bracket chairs for suspending double-headed rails on the
West Cornwall Railway. 252-4. Disc.: 255-9 + Plate 76. 3 diagrs..
The chair was secured to the sleeper by screwed spikes or fang bolts,
and the spike hole through the inner half of the chair was slotted to allow
that half of the chair to be drawn back sufficiently for taking out the rail,
if required, without withdrawing the spike. The chair was prevented from
shifting in regular work by the slot being blocked with a circular washer,
which fitted into a recess at the end of the slot, and was kept down by the
head of the spike. The writer believed that this chair was designed by Brunel
in 1858, and was first used on the Vale of Neath Railway.
Bramwell, Frederick Joseph
Address of the President. 108-18.
Mainly an examination of the engineering profession. Bramwell was
clearly concerned about the dominance of coal and its social evils: "It pains
me when I hear a man talk of “only a bit of coal.”" and "have we
not, in consequence of the facility of its [coal's] application, been tempted
to neglect other sources of power in nature? Do we sufficiently utilise the
waterfall, the tidal wave, and the force of the wind? And, with respect to
the employment of these forces, we should remember that we are enabled to
utilise water power in a way which to the engineers of the last century was
unknown. They availed themselves of the waterfall—indeed it was their
chief source of motive power—but they were compelled to place their
manufactories close to the falls; we however know that it is perfectly possible
to transmit (at some cost by loss of power, it is true, but not at a prohibitory
cost), power to very long distances. The transmission, so far as invention
has at present gone, may be made by exhaustion of air, as practised by Hague
forty years ago, by the compression of air, by rocking rods, by swift-running
wire ropes, and by the employment of water under pressure, as practised by
Sir William Armstrong." It is strange that these comments were made just
prior to the development of electricity generation, but some of his other
comments seem highly cogent in the 21st century: "making the most of barren
hill sides, as it seems to me we might do, by planting quick-growing trees,
which, fostered and matured by the sun, would yield large quantities of wood
to be used as fuel for domestic purposes?"
"Then there are open to our members improvements in the comfort and in the
safety of our travelling by land or by sea. I trust I am not too sanguine
when I say that I hope for greater speed in both those modes of journeying;
for greater comfort, even in the mastery of sea sickness; and for greater
safety, by better signals, by improved modes of communication between those
on the train and those in the station or signal houses, and by better means
for rapidly and safely arresting the speed of trains."
"Forty years ago the business of a mechanical engineer was general: the man
who made a marine engine made a locomotive, made mill work, and made land
engines. But within the last few years the business of the mechanical engineer
has divided itself into distinct branches, so that the locomotive builder
is little more than a locomotive builder, or the marine engineer than a marine
engineer. I presume such division is the almost inevitable."
Pole, William
Some notes on the early history of the railway gauge. 66-76; Disc.: 76-91.
+ Plate 7
It was the author’s privilege, a few years ago, to be called
on to write the chapter on the gauges in the life of the late Mr. I. K. Brunel;
and in preparing himself for this work he had occasion to study many documents,
not generally accessible, bearing on the early history of the subject. He
conceives that some of the facts therein disclosed have, in recent discussions,
hardly received the attention they are entitled to, and he therefore thinks
it may be useful and interesting to put them on record.
In the first place it is desirable to take a brief view of the manner in
which that element of railway design called the “gauge” first came
into existence. Almost as early as wheel carriages were used, it must have
been remarked that the power required to draw them diminished in proportion
to the smoothness and hardness of the road on which they travelled; and this
led to the laying down of longitudinal tracks of some smooth material, such
as broad plates of wood or stone. The wagon wheels had hitherto been capable
of running either on the tram or the ordinary road; but as the traffic increased,
it was found desirable to set apart vehicles for the new road only, and this
gave the opportunity of placing the guiding flange upon the wheel instead
of upon the road-a great improvement, inasmuch as, while it answered the
purpose equally well, it very much simplified the form of track. The rail
thus became what it is now, merely a narrow face or edge of iron, projecting
upwards from the road ; this was in its first days called an “edge
rail,” to distinguish it from the flat plate or tram. The gauge under
this construction remained unchanged, as the existing vehicles were used
with merely alteration of their wheels. In many cases the wheels were so
made that they might run either on the edge or tram roads, when both existed
in the same districts, as shown in Fig. 2, Plate 7.
When Mr. George Stephenson took up the subject of the locomotive engine,
with the view of adopting it as the mode of haulage on the railroads of the
Northumberland collieries, the gauge of the lines in the district had been
already fixed. On the earliest tramroads laid down, probably the ordinary
road vehicles had been used: these determined the distance apart of the tram
plates; and when the special wagons were made with flanged wheels the same
width was adhered to. In laying out the Stockton and Darlington line (1821-25)
Mr. Stephenson saw no reason to depart from the gauge he had previously used;
and indeed, as it is on record that some of the wagons to be used on the
line were brought from the Northumberland collieries, probably the
facility of interchanging the vehicles was one reason that determined the
similarity. In this way the first important railway in England came to be
formed to the gauge of 4 ft. 8½ in., not from a choice of this width
on the ground of any peculiar advantages, but from the mere fact of its already
being in existence elsewhere. It has often in later days excited astonishment
that so odd a dimension as 4 ft. 8½ in. should have been chosen for
such an important datum ; but really there was no consideration about the
matter. No one at that period could have anticipated that the width of the
little colliery tramways would afterwards prove to be of such immense consequence
to the world. The success of the Stockton and Darlington Railway led to the
project of the line between Liverpool and Manchester; and when this was laid
out in 1826, as no fault had been found with the gauge of the model line,
no reason appeared why it should not be adhered to, particularly as it was
desirable to preserve uniformity, in order to facilitate the transfer of
engines, carriages, and wagons between different lines. Hence the same gauge
was adopted as on the Stockton and Darlington. When the Grand Junction to
Birmingham, joining on the Liverpool and Manchester, was laid out, the same
width was necessarily adopted; this was followed also by the London and
Birmingham, and thus the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge became established as the
normal one for that part of the country.
To remedy the evil [of a narrow track gauge], the following expedient was
hit upon by some ingenious person, whose name has not descended to posterity.
It was reasoned that as the resistance on a railway was so much less than
on a common road, and as the surface was so much more even, the advantages
of the large wheel and of the low centre of gravity might be relinquished
for the sake of obtaining increased width without altering the gauge. With
this view therefore a new type of vehicle was designed, in which the wheels
were kept small, and the body was raised so that it might be widened out,
projecting on each side over the tops of the wheels, as shown in the diagram,
Fig. 4. To support this better, the axle was also lengthened, and the bearings
were put outside the wheels. The earliest description of this form of wagon
is contained in the second edition of Wood’s “ Practical Treatise
on Railroads,” published in 1832, about two years after the opening
of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In this (Plate III) Mr. Wood shows
a vehicle with a raised platform overhanging the wheels, and adapted for
carrying loose boxes of coals ; adding in the description :-“ Although
the drawing shows only the form of boxes used for the conveyance of coals,
yet it will readily occur that the form can be varied to suit the carriage
of any kind of articles; the framework or body of the carriage being raised
above the wheels, the breadth can be extended to any width which the distance
between the railways (ie., between the up and down lines of road) will
admit.”
At this point however stepped in a young man of genius, who determined to
make a vigorous effort to get rid of the difficulty by striking at once at
the root of the evil, and widening the gauge. A year or two after the first
development of the defect, Mr. I.K. Brunel was called on to design the Great
Western Railway, and in a report to the directors of that company, dated
October 1835, he recommended that it should be constructed on a much broader
gauge than that adopted in the North of England. Unfortunately no copy of
this report, so interesting in a historical point of view, can be found;
but from subsequent documents still extant, there can be no doubt as to the
nature of the arguments he used. He perceived that the device adopted to
gain width by a raised and overhanging body involved mechanical disadvantages,
to which he attached more importance than hitherto. He looked forward to
a great future development taking place upon railways, and a great increase
of speed and traffic being effected upon them; and he conceived that the
power of getting diminished traction by large wheels, and increased steadiness
by a low centre of gravity, would be as much to be desired on railways as
it had always heretofore been on common roads. He therefore made up his mind
that the proper method of obtaining the width was by the more radical measure
of widening tho gauge; he says :-“Looking to the speeds which I contemplated
wouldbe adopted, and the masses to be moved, it seemed to me that the whole
machine was too small for the work to be done, and that it required that
the parts should be on it scale more commensurate with the mass and the velocity
to be attained.” [Evidence before Gauge Commission, 1845], Hence the
width between the rails being, so to speak, the fundamental dimension of
the “whole machine,” on which the development of all its parts
must depend, he proposed to begin by the enlargement of this dimension, it
being obvious that this mnst be done at first, if it was to be done at all.
He conceived that the whole of the parts of the railway and of its rolling
stock would be susceptible of continual though gradual improvement, and he
considered it highly advisable in the outset to remove what appeared a great
obstacle in thc way. He pointed out a great many advantages that would arise
from the widening of the gauge, particularly in the constrnction of the engines,
and in obtaining generally reduced resistance, greater power and speed, greater
carrying capability, and greater steadiness ; and, as is well known, his
counsels prevailed, and it was determined to take the bold step of departing,
on the Great Western lines, from the gauge already established in other parts
of the country.
Mr. Brunel had then to determine what the new gauge should be; and in this
he was guided by the principle already mentioned of getting the bodies of
the vehicles completely between the wheels. The width of the body would be
determined by the broadest article ordinarily requiriug to be carried ; this
was a private carriage, the width of which was generally about 6 ft. 6 in.
To get such a body between the wheels, would require a width of 6 ft. 10½
in. to 6 ft. 11 in. between the rails; but 7 ft. allowed of its being done
easily, and therefore this dimension was fixed on by Mr. Brunel as the standard
gauge, as shown in Fig. 5. There has been much misunderstanding as to the
motives which originally induced him to propose the change of gauge, and
they were unfortunately lost sight of amid the multiplicity of details involved
in the subsequent discussions. He has been generally charged with a mere
desire to make a bigger and grander railway than anybody else, and probably
this is the notion of most people who look at the thing now. It is however
a pure fiction, and a great injustice to him. His motives were much more
creditable, and such as did honour both to his indomitable energy and his
great and far-seeing mechanical knowledge ; and it is only just to the memory
of a great man that the true explanation should be circdated more generally
in the mechanical world. . It may naturally be asked however, why, if it
was Mr. Brunel’s design to return to the road type of carriage, this
was not done on the Great Western lines. The history of this point is somewhat
obscure. It is certain that vehicles were made with the bodies within the
wheels, and many such may be still seen on the broad gauge lines ; but it
must be admitted that Mr. Brunel never fully carried out his principle in
practice. The change back from the abnormal to the normal type was too sweeping
to be hastily adopted; and hence, although the wheels were enlarged, the
overhang was in most cases still retained. At a later period, a desire to
get still greater width in the carriages perpetuated the type, and so it
has remained in use on broad
Discussion Joesph Armstrong (80-2) remarked that
the gauge question had already been discussed for more than thirty years,
and he thought it would probably be a long time before it was decided whether
the narrow or the broad gauge was really the best. With regard to the gauge
of the colliery lines in the North, from which it was said in the paper that
the present narrow gauge had been taken, the line on which the first locomotive
engine was run was of 5f t. gauge, and this was the colliery branch from
Wylam, where George Stephenson was born, to Lemington ; the engine itself,
called the Puffing Billy, which he well remembered seeing at work
on that line, was made in 1813 by Blackett of Wylam, having been designed
by his engineer Hedley, and it continued running, or part of it did, from
that date until 1862; it was now preserved in the South Kensington museum.
There were other lines in connection with the Wylam line, which were also
5ft. gauge. The very first locomotive for the Wylam line was built in 1804
by Trevithick of Cornwall, who he thought had scarcely had justice done him,
and it was made for a 5 ft. gauge, as shown by a drawing now in his own
possession; but it never got on the line, and was sold he believed to drive
a foundry blowing-fan at Gateshead, and had continued at work there for that
purpose until very recently. Stephenson’s engine on the Killingworth
line, for a 4ft. 8½ in. gauge, was made in 1814. It was a singular fact
too that the original gauge on the Stockton and Darlington line was not 4
ft. 8½in. but 4 ft. 8 in. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was 4
ft. 8½in., and then the Stockton and Darlington was altered to the same,
because vehicles coming from the 4 ft. 8½in. gauge had some difficulty
in getting over the narrower line, particularly at crossings and curves.
Having himself gone to the Liverpool and Manchester line in 1836, he was
acquainted with the construction of the early vehicles referred to in the
paper, and he believed the credit of the over-hanging body and outside bearing
was due to Mr. Henry Booth, the secretary of that line, and Mr. John Gray,
the mechanical engineer. That construction was first carried out in the second
and third-class carriages, which being painted a blue colour formed what
was generally called the “blue train.” The wagons at that time,
of the same construction, were fair-sized vehicles; and he remembered that
on one occasion with those wagons two engines took a whole shipload of cotton
in two trains from Liverpool to Manchester; the load amounted to from 800
to 1000 tons, and the engines had to be assisted up the Whiston incline by
a bank engine. He did not think the carriages designed at that time by Mr.
Booth and Mr. Gray had been improved upon to the present day, except that
they had been made a little larger; each compartment in the first-class carriages
held six persons then as now, the main difference being that the cubic contents
of the present carriages were somewhat greater, in consequence of there being
a little more height and width. Those early carriages had also laminated
bearing buffing and draw springs, the ball-shackle screw-couplings, and the
yellow grease; and these things had continued from that day to the present.
For the last twenty years he had been engaged upon the mixed broad and narrow
gauge of the Great Western Railway, and had therefore been able to form some
idea as to which gauge was the best, commercially speaking. He did not think
it could be stated with correctness that the cost of working the broad gauge
exceeded so largely that of the.narrow gauge. No doubt the larger vehicles
were heavier, but the difference thereby occasioned in the working cost was
only to the extent of the increase of weight. If the expenses of the broad
gauge were taken for a number of years during Mr. Brunel’s life and
under the management of Mr. (now Sir Daniel) Gooch, he thought it would be
found that the working expenses of the broad gauge compared very favourably
with those of the narrow. Taking the cost of locomotive power in proportion
to the earnings, he believed it had been sbown by the published half-yearly
statements that the Great Western Railway worked their broad gauge up to
a certain time at a less cost per cent. upon the earnings than any narrow-gauge
line in the country.
With regard to the early large locomotives that had been referred to, he
believed the design of these was due not to Mr. Brunel, but to Mr. T.E. Harrison,
from whose plans the “Hurricane” and the “Thunderer”
had been constructed, having the boiler on one carriage and the engine on
another. It was quite correct that the best broad-gauge engine of that time
was the “North Star” and other engines of that class, built by
Stephenson from drawings made by Sir Daniel Gooch previously to his going
upon the Great Western Railway. Those engines he believed were not designed
specially for the Great Western Railway, but were made, three of them at
all events, for South America.
F.W. Webb (82-3) could confirm what had been stated
by Mr. Armstrong with regard to the gauge of the Wylam line, which was now
being altered by the present proprietors, Mr. John Spencer and others, to
4 ft. 8½in., because of the difficulty of not being able to transfer
the chaldron wagons from one gauge to the other. It would also be remembered
that the first portion of what was now the Great Eastern Railway had been
originally put down and opened as a 5ft. gauge, and a quantity of the rolling
stock was worked on that gauge, and was altered afterwards to the 4ft. 8½in
gauge. The Crewe and Chester line had been made originally 4ft. 9in. gauge,
and he recollected the engine wheels used to be turned with thick flanges
on purpose to work that line as a district by itself, until the gauge was
subsequently altered to the 4ft. 8½in. With regard to the alteration
made in the distance between the up and down roads, which had been referred
to in the paper, on several portions of the Liverpool and Manchester line
there was still the old 4ft. 8½in distance between the up and down roads;
and on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway he had noticed that the same was
the case on a portion that he had recently been over. He was under the impression
that the object was to have the means of working between the up and down
lines on any emergency; and he had heard the same reason assigned also in
other similar instances.
With respect to the difficulty of getting a sufficiently powerful engine
on the 4ft. 8½in gauge, with sufficient extent of bearing surface between
the axleboxes and horn plates, the most recent engines on the London and
North Western Railway had bearing surfaces larger than any broad-gauge engines,
and were working with unusually little wear; with journals of 9 in. length,
there was as much as 112 to 120 sq. in. area of bearing surface between the
axlebox and the horn plate on each side. This he considered a step in the
right direction, causing a considerable reduction in the expenses of working
the 4ft. 8½in. gauge ; some of the engines had been running from 43,000
to 44,000 miles up to the present time, and there had been no necessity yet
to touch the axleboxes in any part. He had been enabled to obtain the extra
length of bearing without at all interfering with the simplicity of the motion
or requiring the use of .weigh-bars to get at the valve-spindles.
Sir John Coode (83-4) thought there was some mistake
as to the gauge of the Stockton and Darlington line having been different
from that of the Liverpool and’Manchester for he had been told by Mr.
George Stephenson himself that the gauge on the Liverpool and Manchester
line was, so to speak, a matter of accident; that there was no question raised
about what the gauge should be upon that line, but that it was taken for
granted, and that, when the platelayers who had previously been employed
on the Stockton and Darlington line went down to lay the rails, they took
with them the gauge they had already used on this line, along with the rest
of their tools. With regard to the early large locomotives on the Great Western
Railway he had thought it was Mr. Timothy Hackworth who had had to do with
them, either as designer or as builder; he had himself been on the “
Hurricane,” and recollected the boiler being on one carriage and the
engine on the other. The grindstone which had been referred to for grinding
the rails to a true surface had certainly been brought to bear for that purpose;
but the centrifugal force soon caused it to fly to pieces, and no more was
heard of it. The piles on which the longitudinal sleepers were laid had many
of them been driven by himself, and he had afterwards had either to pull
them up again or to cut off their heads ; for in a very short time the road
became so uneven by settlement between the piles that the carriages undulated
in a most uncomfortable and even dangerous manner in running over it.
Joseph Armstrong (84) said his authority for the statement
about the gauge of the Stockton and Darlington line having originally been
4 ft. 8 in. was Mr. Timothy Hackworth’s son, Mr. John W. Hackworth,
who had lately told him that he had frequently altered the wheels of vehicles
built for the 4ft. 8½in. gauge to the 4ft. 8in. gauge of the Stockton
and Darlington line. Mr. Timothy Hackworth had been the locomotive superintendent
of that line, and his son had been his assistant, and had been for more
“than thirty years in the district. The “Hurricane” and
“Thunderer” engines had been built by Hawthorn, not by Hackworth;
and the driver who came with them from Hawthorn’s works was his present
foreman at Oxford.
Webb, Francis W.
Description of a direct-acting circular saw for cutting steel hot. 126-33.
Perkins, Loftus
On steam boilers and engines for high pressures. 117-23. Disc.: 124-57. +
Plates 15-21. 10 diagrs.
Reference back to paper by himself and Williamson in
Proc., 1861, 12, 94. Mainly
application in marine applications: steam yacht Emily which operated
in the Thames and steamers Atacama and Coquimbo of Pacific
Steam Navigation Co. also in an engine at the Dorking Grey Stone Lime Co.’s
works. Although Crampton was present and contributed to the discussion (139-40)
and C. Cochrane was also present and contributed to the discussion (140-1)
there was very little to suggest that the Perkins' boiler might ever be applied
to railway locomotives.
Supplement to notes on the early history of railway gauge,
respecting the origin of the 4ft 8 ½ inch gauge. 158-63.
Communicated by the Secretary. At a former meeting of the Institution
a paper on the Early History of Railway Gauge was communicated by William
Pole; and in the course of the discussion upon the paper it was stated that
the original Railway Gauge, instead of being 4 ft. 8½ in., as at present
existing, was 4 ft. 8 in., and that the Stockton and Darlington, which was
the first public railway, was originally laid 4 ft. 8 in. gauge, and was
afterwards altered to 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge, in consequence of that having
become the general railway gauge of the country. The result of subsequent
enquiry that has been made upon this subject has been the confirmation of
the above statement, and the addition of some further interesting information
respecting the origin of the present 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge, which clears
up a point not before understood, and corrects some errors in previously
published accounts. It is therefore thought desirable for this information
to be recorded in the Institution Proceedings by means of the present supplement
to the above paper.
The Stockton and Darlington Railway, which was opened in 1825 (the fiftieth
anniversary of its opening having been recently celebrated), was made 4 ft.
8 in. gauge inside the rails, and 5 ft. gauge outside the rails, these being
2 in. width, of wrought-iron rolled fish-bellied, with half-lap joints, and
weighing 28 lb. per yard; a small portion of the line was laid with cast-iron
fish-bellied rails. A specimen of the original wrought-iron rails is upon
the table, which has been kindly sent by Mr. John Anderson of Middlesbrough.
This gauge of 4 ft. 8 in. inside and an even 5 ft. outside the rails appears
to have been at that time and for a long period previously the regular gauge
for the colliery tramways worked by horses, that being the gauge of the chaldron
coal wagons in general use ; and when locomotive engines were introduced
they were consequently made the same 4 ft. 8 in. gauge. The original engine
that opened the Stockton and Darlington Railway, named Locomotion, which
was made by George Stephenson at Newcastle, and is now preserved at Darlington
Station, was made 4 ft. 8 in. gauge, and remains so at the present time,
the gauge between the wheel tyres being 4 ft. 5 in. ; the tyres are cast
solid with the wheels.
The following information respecting the Stockton and Darlington gauge has
been kindly supplied by Mr. Mac Nay, the Secretary of that branch of the
North Eastern Railway. In the original Acts of 1821 and 1823, under which
the railway was made, there was not any gauge specified; but in the subsequent
Act of 1828 (three years after the opening) for extending the line from Stockton
to Middlesbrough, it was provided “that the distance between the inside
edges of the rails shall not be less than four feet eight inches,
and the distance between the outside edges of the rails shall not be more
than five feet and one inch.” This is the earliest case known of railway
gauge being fixed by Act of Parliament. The 4 ft. 8 in. gauge continued upon
the Stockton and Darlington line for fifteen years, until the opening of
the main North line between York and Darlington in 1840, when the gauge wits
altered for the purpose of removing the obstruction then experienced in the
interchange of traffic, by allowing any wagons of other railways to run upon
the line ; as previously only those of the wider-gauge wagons that had thin
flanges could be taken on the line. The Stockton and Darlington was however
only altered to 4 ft. 8¼ in. gauge at that time; the reason for not
making it the full 4 ft. 8½ in. being that most of the wagons employed
on the line were the old chaldron wagons, which were slack to the 4 ft. 8
in. gauge, or had excessive side play, and the line being at that time laid
mostly with stone blocks, having no tie between the rails, was liable in
bad weather to get wide in gauge. The subsequent alteration to the present
full 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge was carried out gradually as the course of repairs
and the relaying of the line gave opportunity; and this alteration was greatly
facilitated by the circumstance of the rails being laid on blocks, and not
tied together by transverse sleepers as in the later construction of permanent
way.
Information has been also supplied by Mr. Carson of the North Eastern Railway,
Stockton, respecting the Clarence Railway in the same neighbourhood (opened
in 1838 for passenger traffic by locomotives and worked previously by horses),
that the gauge was originally 4 ft. 8 in., and this was altered to 4 ft.
8¼ in. about 1842, and the gauge was subsequently made 4 ft. ½
in.
In reference to the gauge of the early colliery lines previous to the making
of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the following information has been
supplied by Mr. Cuthbert Berkley of Gateshead, manager of the Marley Hill
and Springwell Collieries, Newcastle. The Springwell Colliery Railway, one
of the oldest in England, was laid to 4 ft. 8 in. gauge, and this was only
altered about 1854, when the Springwell line was connected to the Marley
Hill and other collieries, which were already in connection with the North
Eastern Railway. The difference of the gauge was then found out by running
the North Eastern Railway wagons over the Springwell line ; the wagons would
run, but the gauge was found very tight, and the platelayers' gauges were
consequently altered from 4 ft. 8 in. to 4 ft. 8½ in., and the new wagons
afterwards put on the line were made for the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge.
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which was the second public railway,
was opened in 1830, five years after the Stockton and Darlington; and the
conclusion drawn from the information received is that it was commenced at
the Manchester end on the same gauge of 4 ft. 8 in., being laid by platelayers
taken from the Stockton and Darlington, and using their old gauges. In reference
to this the following information has been received from Sir John Coode :
“ It was stated to me personally by Mr. George Stephenson, that when
the platelayers went from the Stockton and Darlington to the Liverpool and
Manchester line they took their gauges with them as parts of their stock
of tools, and these gauges were used as a matter of course in laying the
rails.” The original engine, the ‘‘Rocket,” that first
ran upon the Liverpool and Manchester line at the competition in 1829, for
determining whether locomotive or stationary engines were to be adopted for
the working, was made 4 ft. 8 in. gauge, as shown by evidence preserved at
Messrs. Robert Stephenson and Co.’s factory, Newcastle. During the progress
of the line however the gauge was settled to be 4 ft. 8½ in. The following
information on this subject has been supplied by Mr. Thomas L. Gooch of Saltwell,
Gateshead, who was engaged in the construction of the Liverpool end of the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway under Mr. George Stephenson : "There was
much discussion during the construction of the line about curves and the
self-acting value of the conical tyre in relieving the pressure of the flange
against the rail, and the consequent need of a certain amount of play in
the gauges of wheels and rails; especially as considerably higher speed was
contemplated (even before the ‘Rocket’ was produced) than that
on the Stockton and Darlington Railway. I venture to think therefore that
the extra half inch was given to meet these considerations, and that this
was the true origin of the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge.”
The conical tyre appears to have been first used on the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway, the previous tyres having been all cylindrical; and as an increased
play between the rails would necessarily be required in order to give effect
to the conical tyre, the most likely conclusion appears to be that the extra
half inch was then added to the gauge for that purpose, thus increasing the
original 4 ft. 8 in. to the present 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge.
The same gauge as the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, 4 ft. 8½ in.,
had to be used for the Grand Junction and the London. and Birmingham Railways,
forming the through communication which was opened eight years later, in
1838, from the Liverpool and Manchester line to London ; and 4 ft. 8½
in. became consequently established as the standard dimension for the gauge.
In several of the succeeding railways, as in the following list, the original
gauge was increased half-an-inch more to 4 ft. 9 in. ; but‘ these were
subsequently altered, and 4 ft. 8½ in. has been since adhered to as
the standard gauge.
Railway |
opened |
Original |
Present |
Stockton and Darlington |
1825 |
4ft 8in |
4ft 8½in |
Liverpool and Manchester |
1830 |
4ft 8½in |
4ft 8½in |
Grand Junction |
1838 |
4ft 8½in |
4ft 8½in |
London and Birmingham |
1838 |
4ft 8½in |
4ft 8½in |
York and North Midland |
1839 |
4ft 9in |
4ft 8½in |
Birmingham and Derby |
1839 |
4ft 9in |
4ft 8½in |
Chester and Crewe |
1840 |
4ft 9in |
4ft 8½in |
Manchester and Birmingham |
1840 |
4ft 9in |
4ft 8½in |
Manchester and Leeds |
1840 |
4ft 9in |
4ft 8½in |
.Some information respecting the original gauge of the Newcastle and Carlisle line has also been received through Mr. George Dove of Carlisle. This line was in progress during the making of the Liverpool and Manchester, and the first portion opened was 4 ft. 8 in. gauge; a, part of this was single line, and afterwards doubled by adding an extra rail on each side, thus leaving the intermediate space between the two lines only 4 ft. 8 in.
Hawksley, Thomas
Address of the President. 167-75.
Wilson, John C.
On the construction of safety valves. 176-96.
Webb, Francis W.
On an improved form of slide valve for steam and hydraulic engines. 197-200.
Disc.: 200-5. + Plates 27-30. 17 diagrs.
Circular slide valve
Geach, John J.
On the mechanical appliances used in the construction of the heading under
the Severn, for the Severn Tunnel Railway. 206-20.
Riches, T. Hurry
On the Tynewydd Colliery inundation, with particulars of the appliances used
for rescuing the miners and recovering the workings. 221-36.
Fell, John C.
On the economy of variable automatic expansion in steam engines. 276-82.
Disc.: 282-95. + Plates 44-7
Widmark, H.W.
Description of improved radial axleboxes and guides. 304-13.
Sanders, D.
On continuous brakes for railway trains. 67-81. Disc.: 81-105. + Plates 5-14.
21 diagrs.
Conditions necessary to be fulfilled by a perfect system of continuous
brakes are:
1. Complete control both in applying and releasing them throughout the entire
train by the driver.
2. Control in applying them in time of danger by cither of the guards.
3. Automatic action in the event of an accidental separation of the train.
4. The brakes to be their own tell-tale in the event of any derangement of
the apparatus; and the automatic action not to be contingent upon the proper
working of a cord communication, or of any appliances requiring attention
to put them into operation when necessity arises.
Reference to Fay & Newall screw type brakes on LYR, also to experiments
with chain, vacuum and compressed air barkes.
Robinson, John
Address of the President. 295-300.
Divided engineering into:
1st. Agricultural Engineering—the primary object being the production
of food, and of the materials for clothing, with the least possible effort
of the body.
2nd. Manufacturing Engineering—the object being to convert the
products of nature into forms more and more suitable for the food and clothing
of man.
3rd. Commercial Engineering—by which I mean the creation of
appliances for the transport of these original products to the workshops
of the manufacturer, and again to the homes of the consumer ; together with
the means of facilitating communications respecting them.
4th. Mditary Engineering—the object of this science being the
protection of what we may already have become possessed of from violent attack;
and perhaps also the duty of aiding to keep order over the whole surface
of our globe.
Mallet, Anatole
On mechanical traction upon tramways. 395-419. Disc.: 420-39
Galton, Douglas
On the effect of brakes upon railway trains. 467-79. Disc.: 479-89. + Plates
58-63. 14 diagrs.
The experiments were conducted on the LBSCR under its locomotive
superintendent, Stroudley, who provided a van and other facilities for making
the sxperiments ; and with the assistance of Westinghouse, by whom the recording
apparatus was designed. The author waa assisted in making the experiments,
and in their reduction, by Mr. Horace Darwin.
The experiments described in this paper were made on the Brighton Railway,
with a special van constructed for the purpose; it was attached to an engine,
and was run at various speeds, during which time various forces were measured
by self-recording dynamometers. The principle of these dynamometers is that
the force to be measured acts on a piston fitting in a cylinder full of water,
and the pressure of the water is measured by a Richards indicator connected
by a pipe to the cylinder; thus, as the drum of the indicator revolves, diagrams
are obtained giving the force acting on the piston. The advantages of this
method are obvious, as the indicator can be placed at any convenient point,
and the inertia of the water tends to make the pencil keep a position
corresponding to the mean force.
The principal results were:
1. The application brakes to the wheels, when skidding is not produced, does
not appear to retard the rapidity of rotation of the wheels.
2. When the rotation of the wheels falls below that due to the speed at which
the train is moving, skidding appears to follow immediately.
3. The resistance which results from the application of brakes without skidding
is greater than that caused by skidded wheels.
4. Just at the moment of skidding, the retarding force increases to an amount
much beyond that which prevailed before the skidding took place but immediately
after the complete skidding has taken place, the retarding force falls down
again to much below what. it was before the skidding.
5. The pressure required to skid the wheels is much higher than that required
to hold them skidded and appears to bear a relation to the weight on the
wheels themselves, as well as to their adhesion and velocity
Discussion: J. Tomlinson (483-4) agreed with the conclusions, wlthough considered
that they were opposite to those of many railway men, although well known
by every practical engine-driver for the last twenty-five years that
skidding of wheels was a great mistake. He remembered that in 1846, when
he joined Mr. J.V. Gooch on the London and South Western Railway, the orders
to the drivers were that they were on no account to skid the wheels and that,
the moment the wheels were skidded by accident, they were slightly to release
the brake and let the wheels revolve. That was the result of the practical
experience of Mr. Gooch and others at that time, and it accorded with his
own experience. Thus the experiments that had been made simply bore out that
which practical men already knew. He had at the time disputed the
correctness of the conclusions of the Royal Commission, that a skidded wheel
must do more than a revolving wheel and he thought that almost any ordinary
engine-man, if asked the question, mould say that if he “picked up”
the wheels of his engine she would slide on the rail like sliding on a pair
of skates, and that no retarding force, comparatively speaking, would result.
In many cases on the Metropolitan Railway he had known slight accidents take
place from running against stops and the excuse of the driver had always
been, “picked up my wheels just as I was entering the siding” The
experiments of Capt. Galton confirmed the correctness of his views, and proved
that the excuses of enginemen for mishaps were not always wrong, though they
were often considered so by those who had to deal with the cases; and they
also proved conclusively that the deductions of the Royal Commission on the
brake trials at Newark were not correct.
Charles Hawkesley (486-7) suggested obviating skidding with an experimental
brake-van. If a governor were attached to the axle of the wheels to which
the brakes were applied, and another similar governor to the axle of the
wheels that were allowed to revolve free, a differential motion might by
that means be obtained by mhich the brakes might be applied to the wheels
with just such a pressure as would produce a maximum effect of retardation
without skidding the wheels completely. Of course this was a mere crude
suggestion, and he could see that many difficulties would arise in carrying
it out; but he imagined that those difficulties might be overcome. He thought
that the experiments described showed very conclusively the correctness of
what had been observed by William Bouch some time ago (as referred to by
himself at a previous meeting" of the Institution), namely that skidding
scaled off the iron both from the wheels and rails: so much so that on the
Stockton and Darlington line, where there was an incline of about 1 in 50
for five miles in length, the rails on the line used in descending the gradient
were soon worn away, and scales of iron were deposited dong the line by the
side of the track, which was not the case on the line used in ascending the
gradient.
Galton, Douglas
On the effect of brakes upon railway trains (second paper). 590-616. Disc.:
616-32. + Plates 83-9. 18 diagrs.
Conclusions.-In conclusion the author would recapitulate what appear
from these experiments to be the essential conditions of a good brake, in
addition to other matters not coming immediately within the scope of this
enquiry.
1st. The skidding of the wheel, so that it slides on the rail, is altogether
a mistake, so far as rapid stopping is concerned.
2nd. The pressure with which the brake-blocks are applied to the wheels should
be as high as possible, short of the point which would cause the wheels to
be skidded and to slide on the rails.
3rd. The rotation of the wheel is arrested as soon as the friction between
the brake-block and the wheel exceeds the adhesion between the wheel and
the rail ; and therefore the amount of pressure which should be applied to
the wheel is a function of the weight which the wheel brings upon the rail.
The value of this function varies with the adhesion; hence with a high adhesion
a greater pressure can be applied, and a greater measure of retardation obtained,
than with a low one.
4th. In practice and as a question of safety it is of the greatest importance
that, in the case of a train travelling at a high speed, that speed: should
be reduced as rapidly as possible on the first application of the brakes.
For instance, a brake which reduces the speed from 60 miles an hour to 20
miles an hour, in say 6 seconds, has a great advantage as regards safety
over a brake which would only reduce the speed from 60 to 40 miles an hour
in the same time.
5th. The friction produced by the pressure of the brake-block on the wheel
is less as the speed of the train is greater ; to produce the maximum retardation
so far as speed is concerned, the pressure should thus be greatest on first
application ; and should be diminished as the speed decreases, in order to
prevent the wheels from being skidded (or sliding on the rails) in making
a stop. It should be added that the coeficient of friction decreases as the
time increases during which the brakes are kept on ; but this decrease is
slower than the increase of the same coefficient due to the decrease of speed
; it has therefore little influence in the case of quick stops.
6th. The maximum pressure should be applied to the wheels as rapidly as possible,
and uniformly in all parts of the train.
7th. To prevent retardation from the dragging of the brake-blocks against
the wheels when the brakes are not in use, care should be taken that the
brake-blocks are kept well clear of the wheels (say half an inch) when in
a state of inaction.
There are various mechanical questions connected with brakes, such as the
desirability of automatic action, and other considerations, which do not
enter into the scope of the present enquiry: the special object of which
was to ascertain by direct experiment the forces brought into action in applying
the brake-blocks to the wheels.
Railway companies, in considering what form of brake is best suited for traffic,
must, whilst they give full weight to the mechanical conditions discussed
in this paper, also consider the question of the convenience of any particular
form of brake, and ascertain its durability and facility of maintenance and
repair. It is further clear from the present series of experiments that the
universal application of continuous brakes will raise many questions as to
the strength of the rolling stock now in use, much of which was constructed
originally to meet other conditions of traffic.
In concluding this paper, the author would again apologise to the Institution
for its incomplete character : the fact being that the enormous mass of
information which has been collected has entailed so much detailed study
that he has only been able to bring before the meeting on this occasion the
present very incomplete sketch. He hopes on the next occasion to be able
to complete his contribution upon this important subject.
Williams, R. Price
On the economy of railway working. 96-153.
Marie, George
On recent brake experiments upon the Lyons Railway. 157-69.
Trains and apparatus are described. The experimental van used in Captain
Douglas Galton's British experiments was sent over by the London Brighton
and South Railway.
Galton, Douglas
On the effect of brakes upon railway trains (third paper). 170-218. + Plates
19-24 18 diagrs.
To prevent of accidents there is required:
(a) The instantaneous application of the greatest possible amountof retarding
force.
(b) The continuous ackion of this force until the energy of the train is
destroyed.
The retarding force now used in practice is that due to the frictionresulting
from the forcible application of metal or wood brake-blocks to the tyres
of the wheels ; this friction impedes the rotation of the wheels, and tends,
through the adhesion of the wheels upon the rails, to destroy the energy
stored in the train. The retarding force is therefore limited to the adhesion
available between the wheels and rails. The greatest possible amount of retarding
force can thus be obtained only by applying brake-blocks to every wheel in
the train, each block being pressed with sufficient force to produce a resistance
to the rotation of the wheel just equal to the greatest possible friction
between the wheel and the rail. This greatest possible friction ccurs when
the adhesion of the wheel to the rail is just about to be overcome by the
superior effort of the brake blocks, which effort, if further increased,
immediately begins to stop the rotating movement of the wheel, and thus causes
it to slide upon the rail. When a wheel slides upon the rail, its retarding
effect is most materially lessened, as has been fully demonstrated, The necessity
for the instantaneous application of the maximum brake-block pressure throughout
the train is so evident, tbat it is only necessary to call to mind that,
at a speed which is frequently attained, namely 60 miles per hour, a train
passes over 88 feet in each second. From the foregoing it will be seen that,
in order to stop a train in the shortest possible distance, it is
necessary:
1st. That the brake-blocks should act upon every wheel in the train.
2nd. That they should be applied with their full force in the least possible
time.
3rd. That the pressure upon them should be regulated according to speed and
other circumstances, so that the friction shall nearly equal, but never exceed,
the adhesion of the wheels upon the rails.
Greig, David and Eyth, Max
Experiments referring to the use of iron and steel in high-pressure boilers.
268-327
Clark Steam engine p. 658-9 notes that Mr. F. W. Webb, in
discussion of the paper of Messrs. Greig and Eyth, stated that after having
tried various proportions of rivets and pitches, he had arrived at a
single-riveted double-welt joint for 7/16-inch boiler plates of steel, possessing
71.6 per cent of the breaking strength of the whole plate, made with ¾-inch
rivets at 2 inches of pitch. The covering plates are 3/8-inch thick and 5¼
inches wide, making a lap of 2 5/8 inches on each plate, and a width of 1½
inches from the centre line of the rivets to the edges of the plates. He
believed this distance, 1½ inches, to be the best, and previously to
the adoption of the given proportions he had found that the holes went oval
long before the joint ought to have been destroyed
Mallet, Anatole
On the compounding of locomotive engines. 328-63.
Webb (probably pp. 349-51) contributed to discussion
Robinson, John
Address of the President: On cheap internal transport considered as a necessity
for the prosperity of a country. 399-405
Noted that during the previous twelve months the country had passed
through an almost unexampled period of commercial and agricultural depression,
and it seemed reasonable that engineers should look everywhere for means
to palliate the effects of this disastrous state of things by a still wider
extension of the means of cheap communication, Means suggested for both rural
and urban light railways included narrow gauge and roadside construction
(citing Mont Cenis).
McLean, W.L.E.
On the forging of crank shafts. 461-71. Disc.: 471-83 + Plates 59-61. 33
diagrs.
Crompton, R.E.B.
On the working of traction engines in India. 494-512. Disc.: 513-33 + Plates
65-8. 8 diagrs., 4 tables.
Transport conditions in India were considered to be difficult as
agricultural produce formed the greater part of freight carried and all channels
of communication are fully worked for a brief period following harvest time,
while for the rest of the year the capital employed lay idle and unremunerative.
Results obtained by R.W. Thomson of Edinburgh with rubber-tyred traction
engines, or “road steamers”, led the Indian Government to purchase
five engines, with which a regular service of trains was kept running between
two towns in the Punjab for six months each year from 1873 to 1875, in addition
to isolated experiments under various committees of engineer officers appointed
by the Government to watch and verify the results.
Programme of excursions and visits on and from Tuesday, 5 August 1879 in,
and around, the city of Glasgow. 567-81.
At the North British Railway Locomotive Works, Cowlairs, the flanging
of the back plate of a fire-box casing at one heat between dies in a hydraulic
machine was witnessed. The erecting shop in these works is fitted with hydraulic
travelling cranes, in which the lift is given direct by the piston-rod of
the hydraulic cylinder. In the carriage shop the right-angle shafting is
driven by ropes, instead of gearing.
At Messrs. Neilson’s works, in Springburn which are among the largest
and oldest locomotive works in the Britain, having been established as early
as 1836, many special appliances were seen, amongst others planing machines
with four and eight tools, for planing simultaneously both ends of connecting
and coupling rods and slide-bars; and quartering machines for turning outside
crankpins and boring crankpin holes, after the wheels have been fixed on
the axles. A special feature is the use of stamping for small forgings, extended
to sections of locomotive wheels. Milling is also largely employed, and milling
cutters and twist drills are made on the premises. Multiple tools are very
numerous, e.g. the frame-planing machine has fifteen tools, and the tube-plate
drilling machine has six spindles, capable of adjustment to dilfferent pitches.
A tramway locomotive on Moncrieff‘s compressed-air system was here seen
in operation.
The Caledonian Railway workshops at St Rollox are of very large extent. At
present only engines and tenders of the 8-ft. class and a certain number
of wagons are built here, most of the new rolling stock being built by contract.
In addition to the usual shops, such as fitting and erecting shop, smiths’
shop, boiler-makers’ shop, brass foundry, and saw mill, there is a grease
house capable of turning out between 5 and 6 tons of manufactured stuff per
week, and a wagon-sheet shop, which is a large building standing at a
considerable distance from the main shops, and capable of turning out 100
new and 120 repaired sheets per week, with drying room for drying 900 sheets
at one time. In winter the drying process is forced, by diverting the exhaust
steam from the engines through a series of pipes raised above the floor.
The coating process is principally done by machine, and finished by hand
labour. Adjoining the sheet shop is the sewing room, containing four large
sewing machines, two of them provided with double needles for stitching the
double seam at one operation. There are also tailors’ shops for making
the uniform of the company’s servants. About 1600 men are employed at
the works, and dining rooms &c. are provided for their accommodation.
At Messrs. Dübs’s works, which were started in 1864, special attention
has been paid to the systematic arrangement of the various shops, so that
every article may move forward gradually from the stores to the erecting
shops without any reversal or confusion The absence of ked or travelling
cranes (except in the erecting shops) is also noteworthy, the work being
done to a great extent by small locomotives having a crane mounted on the
top of the boiler and worked by the engine. The power is supplied to each
shop independently by a wall engine fixed at the end of the line of shafting
; thus by simply shutting off steam the machinery in one shop can be stopped
for repairs, without affecting the rest.
On the route, the Members had an opportunity of travelling on: the Vale of
Clyde Tramway, worked by Hughes’s tramway engines. The line, which runs
through a crowded thoroughfare, has been worked by these engines for more
than two years, during which time they have run over 400,000 miles, to the
satisfaction of the local authorities and the public. The engines emit but
little smoke, and the steam is entirely condensed.
Francq, Léon
On fireless locomotives for tramways. 610-26. Disc.: 626-41 + Plates 79-80.
See also Volume 31 page 37 et
seq
2010-01-08
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