8

'£.— 5

Extracts compiled from Seventh Annual Report of Board of Railroad Commissioners, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Railroad Reports, Year ending 30th September, 1875.

On some recent trials of the single Fairlie engines by Mr. A. V. Macdonald, General Manager of the Auckland Section,, the following result was attained on 1 in 40 ascending grade, combined with 6-chain curves, dead start: Weight of engine in steam, 27 tons; state of rails, wet ; cylinders, 12^ in. xl 6 in.; 6-coupled drivers 36 inches diameter ; working boiler pressure, 140 lb.; load in nine vehicles, 81 tons 12 cwt.; average speed, 10 miles an hour. Adopting the American method of computation, with resistance 12 lb. per ton for the engine, and 5 lb. a ton for the vehicles, both on the level and straight, and \ lb. per ton for each degree of curvature, the total resistances are found to work out to 8,291 lb. for the curved portion of the line, which would require an effective steam pressure of 124-3 lb. in the cylinders to overcome. It is probable, however, that these resistances are somewhat high for the New Zealand single buffer stock. Time does not admit of my recording more extended experiments with these engines, which have been made, but at some future time they will be put on record. Mr. G. Ashcroft, General Manager of the Wellington section, informs me that, in testing one of these single Fairlie engines, he took a load of 74 tons 7 cwt., in nine vehicles, up 112 chains of 1 in 35 grade combined with 5 chains reverse curves, at a very slow sjjeed, with the object of determining the utmost capacity of the engine. The steam was above the normal working pressure of 140 lb. at times, and I must regard the feat as exceptional, and not one to be obtained under ordinary working conditions. The load was carefully ascertained. The preceding data show that the American engines in New Zealand do not give results entitling them to pre-eminence in economical working, though they exhibit very good results. The much-abused Fairlie engines show results superior to the American in economical working on analysing the returns. The data obtained from the American Commissioner's reports shows that at any rate there are very large and important sections of railways in the United States which give results in locomotive working altogether different from what is shown by the pamphlet, the writer of which would lead us to infer that the somewhat inflated figures he quotes represent the ordinary American practice. J. P. M.

APPENDIX. A Letieb by W. W. Etaks, being a Commentary on Mr. Maxwell's Criticisms. SiK,— New York, 14th February, 1880. I have the honor to lay before .you a few comments on parts of a 'parliamentary document sent to me from New Zealand headed English and American Locomotives. This document contains a long and able letter by Mr. E. M. Brcreton, late Engineer-in-Chief of the Great India Peninsula Railway, a letter written by myself to Mr. Higinbotham,- Engincer-in-Cliief of the Railways of Victoria, Australia, and not intended for publication; a criticism on the above letters by Mr. J. P. Maxwell, of Sew Zealand ; and some opinions on engines by Messrs. Neilson and Co., of Glasgow, and the Tulcan Foundry of Lancashire. As the letter of Mr. Maxwell contains some errors of fact as well as opinion, I beg permission to offer, in as brief a manner as possible, a few comments on his criticisms. To combat ignorance and prejudice is a very thankless and unsatisfactory duty to perform, as it appears to be an inherent principle in the brain of man "to try to believe what he wishes- to be true." Mr. Maxwell undertook a duty that he was sadly incompetent to perform, simply because he had never seen an American locomotive and knew nothing about them, and being a civil engineer lie could not be expected to know much about locomotives of any kind. He has, however, written a long letter, stated some things that are not based on facts, and jotted down a considerable amount of special pleading and fallacious argument. Most American civil engineers would " come to grief" if they attempted to write on English locomotives, for the simple reason that they know nothing about them. Mr. Urereton has written a long and very able letter in connection with railway economy, and deserves credit instead of severe criticism. He has given piles of facts and valuable data, and expressed opinions that any unprejudiced mind was sure to arrive at with such

Total Train-mileage, including Gravel Trains and Shunting. Speed in Mil* !3 per Houi Is ame of Company. No. of Engines. Average Train-mileage per Engino per Annum. Freight Accommodation. Passenger Express. Passenger Accommodation. Freight Express. Boston and Albany Boston and Lowell Boston and Maine Boston and Providence ... Eastern Fitchburg New York and New England Old Colony ... 239 42 73 42 95 54 29 63 4,909,216 912,424 1,576,575 800,269 2,082,732 997,093 660,056 1,387,481 ■ 20,541 21,724 21,597 19,054 21,923 18,405 22,761 22,024 8a 80 30 38 28 26 25 25 25 24 22 20 22 20 21? 12 18 22 15 10 15 16 12 12 10 10 84 10 10 Average ,., 637 13,325,846 20,920 Cheshire Connecticut Eiver New HaTen and Northampton New York, New Haven, and Hartford Norwich and Worcester Providence and Worcester Springfield, Athol, and North-Eastern Worcester and Nashua ... 31 18 20 92 21 21) 4 21 633,277 329,552 371,561 2,004,062 371,284 546,720 99,158 311,953 20,428 18,308 18,578 21,783 17,680 18,852 24,790 14,855 25 29 28 30-35 30 28 25 30 22 24 25 28 22-25 20 20 23 12 15 12 17 16 10 8 12 15 15 12 12 10 15 Average ... 236 4,667,567 19,778