LIGHT ROLLING STOCK FOR RAILWAYS.

Bruce Herald, Volume VI, Issue 402, 17 January 1872, Page 3

LIGHT ROLLING STOCK FOR RAILWAYS.

On Fi-iday s 'M^'"^^lSepi., apafty of en-' -gineers and other gen tleYnen interested in the 'construction and maipienande of "railways ( visited -Bristol-forr ' theplirpose^of jinjapecting • a new double b6gi§~ ldcb^notive 1 aiid some : light rolling stbck, all constructed after the •design's of Mi- Fairlie. -The 'engine Her--cules " is for the Tquique feaihvay ih Peru^ and is tof t ttlfe.ka r mel geneml character t'aVohe previously made for the 'same* company, and "described in '-ThevTimes ' iasfeyear. • It has four 15 -inch cylinders, of - Ji^iiVehes "stroke, - and its total weight (60 ; tons) resi.3 upon 12 'wheels, arranged in two groups of "six, "coupled toge&ier, and all assisting in the -adhe^i<m;^ \lt(will be req'uire'dto'wofk heavy 'traffic over a -gradient bf 1 iii 25 for 11 miles, :: and rbund curves of thfee chains ; and during "the experin\e'nts on Friday- it went round •curve's of 2£-chains with the greatest facility, ''the deflection of the centre of the; leading-

bogie platfbfm from the end 'of the boiler -.amounting 1 to 14 ihcliea.' It -was then taken "through a boiler shop and a smith's ,shop,, •andso upon "a very irregular and badly k-ep"t : piece of lifce'belonging 'to the .Midland Company. «Here"itstrVw^sVefetrlcted by 1 certain bridgea and 'platforms which it could not ~ pass ; but it'ran up and down, over'a-lengtli- *• of about a. quarter, .of amile,.with the-j perfect -'smpotliness'-foV wh'icli'the ddublebogie is bo ' remarkable. Its passage_over roughly-laid ' points Vas distinctly audible to those riding ■ upon- it ', but communicated no/ jolt- to .the ■ driver's platform. It has been built by tlie - Avonside- Gompanyjifpr Ji^essrs Montero, of • Peru. The 'light jstpQk js being made at ; the shops of the Bristol Waggon Company; ■■ and the.specimens • exhibited wlere^or three • different giiagesf one* of 4ftrS£in/{the pre-vailing-gauge of this country- and of Europe), '• one • of-3f t. '6m. , : and, r one. of 2ft. f 6in. , T,he r 3ft. 6in. stock has been 1 hiade for the DunV edin &nd Poit^Chajmers ; Railway, and the : 2ft tim; stoek'fur a rWfway iirPeru, it being - intended; that both lines should be worked - entirely" with Mr Fairlie's carriages and '" engines, " r and upon the -system for which he

has so : long cdhtended. TEe%ho|e bf jthe^stbck ;■ furnish ed/S-triplfe - evidence how little the capacity of carriages

- and waggons need fbe^diminished by even a •- considerable reduction in gauge. The light

• waggonsCforjth'e 4ft; B|m :or ordinary harrow. : gauge are-'l4ft. long and 7ft. wide by inside -measurement. Their sides are 2ft. 6in. high 1 , T - they -weigh -2 tons 5 cwt., and-, will, carry 7 *tons. If fitted with a patent 1 bre^k, their weight will be increased ;tq 2 tons 7 cwt. The - 3ft.':6in.'waggons are six inches longer than y the foregoing, %,nd of the same dimensions in

- : all other respects. v They w,eigh about 2 tons - 2 cwt-., and will ; carry seven tons. The 2ft. "Gin. waggons 'are 6ft. wide by 12ft. long ; and 1 2ft. ' 6in.' deep'; they weigh 1 ton llrcwt.,~ ~ and^itt" carry -five ' ■■-•-'-

The>passenger carriages for the 3ft. 6in. ' guage are commodious. As' first-class carriage -is I:9ft,; 1 6in. long, andr 7ft. Sin.^vide. : It is " divided into three equal c jmpartments, each with seats i for eight persons, and- the. height rom ; ; flo6r' to roof- in the centre : is 6ft. Bin. The 'roof is lined over the''- seats" with' ■-thin, * mahogany, nnd 'over the centre . with bird's--eye maple, -anid* the la^ is wholly above the ruof level, countersunk, so to speak, within -a polished reflector, calculated to light vp v the 'whole, interior and to -render reading possi-: 'ble. Th&general trimmings and 'decorations °of the interior -are very tasteful and pretty. The" second-class carriage is 18ft. 6in.in

'length,. but of the same width and height as "'the - first-class, and divided ;in> the same 'manner, althouglf each of its three' compart-

■ meuts will accommodate ten persons. The 'weight of the first-class ' carriage is 3001 b., -and that of 'the second-class carriage 2321 b,, each seat"-; "so that^-if ihis stock^ can only

J be filled, the ordinary proportion between * dead and paying weightHn a passenger train be very : Materially ; modified.; The "covereti goo^?s ■waggbhs'fo'r the" same guage : aTe 14ft. -Gin. long, 7ft. Wide, 6ft. high, and ■*weigh"2 tons 15 cwt. '* ' Thjß -cliief ■ diificulty^in'ihe way pi .designing -a iigh't*"raiiway stSck'is tKe' amount of solid material that has -hith'ertb , been thought in order to give sufficient strength 'to resist the'shocks and concussions, incsidental to the daily •working-of a line. Jln Ordinary ' goods waggons, for example, the buffers are 'only' the sides of ; the "frame prolonged, and

every tiiJi.e these buffers meet the .. wholfe^of , the Vfranie : ; is :riid'ely striamed arid shaken.; 'Tha^WhidK'may thus be'Veen^'to 'at -any station whetija goods train is bfeihg • ; shunted happens also, although in less degree, with, Ipassenger carriages; .and. the. great -strength; of which^reat weight is'Hhe heces;sary eohseqiience, hasr been • requirfed as a agaiiJist sudden -contacts, and in 'ordprjtp«preyent the^stockfroili being shaken -to pieces by : the jars to which it must be • subjected.!. As.' a.first step itowards t lightness Mr Fairlie has aimed at diminishing cohcus--'sidrrs, arid for-'this purpose he has introduced : a 'new "system of buffers. and of coupling. •Beneath the c frame of ! ; eacn' carriage there 'turfs an iron drawbar, and the drawbars of •adjacenfcarriages : are closely coupled" by a : single link. . Every- carriage is 'furnished at both' ends '^rith a single central biiffer, pre-

'seritirig a'corivex surface, and these buffers •■affe'broughtalmqstinto coiitact.. i iEach buffer, } is : f firnfehed "with a very strong coiled spring, : and 'has about an inch of " play, the general'

2 resutt being that the closeness Of the., ; coupling and 'the; continuity of tlie drawbar render

"'the: train^^of t carriages' movable" as. a single 'xnSss, and not as a succession of -detached which may be -knocked'' about ■almdst .:indep;end'ehtly of each other. r. • The Tpas^age of me united train round curves, is ~prrfvided : f6rin ; the mode of attachment 1 of "the 'drawbar under each, carriage,.. and the 'closeness 'of .the coupling has rendered ifeces/sary : a t6tal departure-from the ordinary '■mdde.'oi faste'Mng, by which so many railway been killed atidinjuredv '' 'th' "'the *6w*: : c^rriages the. drawbar terminates, in ; a s6r'tof "expandhig ci'7p' 'or " receptacle, 'corn-

Iparable r tt ; ;a i uniiel i jonly^square|instead; of •circular., '1 hrougii' the sides of this recep"tacle a horizontal .bolt passes* and;:ca"n be ! moyed in or out by. a lever and bell crank

r worHng from abbut ;a the : middle of the carriage.. ,-. • When r tv£o carriages, are be -joined, J a singfe iron link,' about' 8 V inches' in length, is put into the recep'tacle^of one of them and the bolt is shot 'through it. The carriage, -with the linkipr.ojecting, is m'6ved uprto- :its iyokefellow, and the free end oTthe lin^c, enters the receptacle* ' of : the' f second- carriage, where, it also is secured by shooting the .horizontal' bolt: y ThV expanding character /of the receptacle secures the entrance of the link if it should droop a little, or if the carriage to •which- it is; attached shqttld be sunk' n#pn its : spririgs by a heavy load to a slightly lower level than the : other/one. . T^he .fastening is "iefifectad instantaneously, by a single movement of the lever, as thecafriages come into n6t ; or4y much more:-expedi-xljjoub than the preseht'system,' but' seems^o absolutely, frjae frpui: danger to those who

are concerned ; in carrying., It put. ; . ,If ,'||iese plansj.re^quiiiito woHjc in aijtnai "practice as weJLas they dp~in^xperiThental _""triaisy~tiier new (buffers and couple's will not only ' save enoijmous expenditure in the; conveyance of dead weightj but they will also save majiy valujable lives. Every ccroner is aware thit the trapping of a railway, servant between buffers is a matter of no uncommon. ooccurr r "rencle., v , , ....... „. '/...'- '. ■ '„.... r An incidental advantage 'of the trde'tion froni a central point is that a narrow line might be laid do win' inside oiie ! ' of' broader guage'ii"'arid v;th r a£ ari--' engiiie •funniug'.upQh" either would draw a - a composite -train niade up of carriages some of which jwere wide and som<3 narrow. In the shops of : / the Waggon Company, at Bristol, the 'three gauges were •;thus laid down in- lone -track," -and- ! such aft f arrangement .might offer many facilities for connecting cheap : narrow-gailge branch s witli a trunk line cb'hstru'ctedupoir a' larger scale. ' -- .-V..■ -. ' '':'■ - ; '-1 ■ . ■ --The double bogie -engines for the Peruvian liriej of 2ft. 6in. will be required to work over long gradients of 1 in 20; -and round curves of 2 chains radius.^' (It isiestimate;d}t'l?.at,they Ayilli <?o this at 30 mil.es an hour, and that they will be equal, to ariy'trafßc' which a railwayj can be called up'bh-t'rt'undertaicelV We learn also tluit various, English engineering firnis have now double ,bpgie v .iocomptites in •course of .cohstructic>n,''trt 'the' number of nearly 50, for lines'; mostly of narrow-gauge, in l^eru, Mexico,, CanadavNpva/ScptiaiTNew Zealand, Russia^ Sweden, .and'^Brazil It .seems that problems connected .- with the "Railways pi the Future " are on the way to receive' a spdedy' arid' practical solution. <; -