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Account of the performance of various rail-road carriages on the Liverpool and Manchester rail-way
Pe~fo7vnance of RaiLrocid,Garriages.respectiv.cly, the skeletons of a man and a explanstlotl of the anatomical structure manner in which the muscles act upon tions of the cfntre of gravity when the’ man or the in pulling or In carrying a load ;-and from the ture existing between the human being and the quadruped, dedbcin tile inference that man was not intended to bc a toiling anima P. 6~His entlcavour, therefore, ought to be to diminish the efforts of the body, and increase those of the mind; and nothing can so effectually accotnplA these objects as theincreased employment of machiner the etlect of which will be, that his body will enjoy better henlt K, his mind will suffer less anxiety and turmoil, uncl the general amelioration of his condition will follow as a natural consequence.”
[Exiracfor.
the tread mills of prison celebrity, and the clog mills which we have sometimes heard nf, only that horses, instcatl of men or dogs, -4 still neilrer resemblance to it ~nay be 3re the agents cmployctl. traced in the common squirrel cage, if the reader will, but for the sake,of the comparison, suppose that the squirrel drives its circular cage round by treading on ihe outside instead nf the inside. A common wagorl I’ramc rnountcd on wheels is divided longitudinally into two rompartments or stalls, and the bottom 61’.ISCII of. these stalls is occupied by an endless chain of cross bars, which work into ‘I’he Ilorses are placed nntl revolve round lhe axles of the carriage. ill the stnlls, and by treading on the entllcss chains, produce ‘the rotary motion requisite to propel themselves and the carriage furward., The experiments made on the rail-way with this~cngine, did’irot, WCbelieve, establish any gain, either in point of powei or ipeed, by this new mode of applying horse power; but the apparatus w& of rutle construction, and can scarcely bc said to have given the prinThe ,stalls, in particiilar, aere too ciple of the invention fair play. We have no Ilarrow, and greatly cramped the action of the horses. lloubt that in a well constructed carriage of this description, horses nlight be made to work on a ~rril-wry with considerably more effect eff~xt antI more ensc. One than by drawing, or, at least, wit11 quaI sf the principal elements of the velocity attainable on rail-ways, is the momentum which a body in motion acquires on a level or clown an inclined plane; and this must often reach a point, at which any power of draught that can be applied will be not only of no use, but Suppose this an actual obstruction to the velocity of the bntly. ss VOL.V.-NO. A-Arnrr., 1830.
Performance of Z+%rona? Cnrriuges. 258 momentum should amount to a force equal to a velocity of 13 miles,
gal is a rate of velocity at which the utmost a horse can do is to
move its own weight; so that .were he even able $0 continue gallop iog in advance of it, he would gallop to no purpose. But sLlppo*e farther that the momeut.um or velocity of gravitation should exceed the speed of the horse--w rhich as there are few horses that catl travel 19 miles an hour, is a very probable case-either the hors’e must be ruu down, or the carriage compelled to stop. Now, by transferring the horse to the inside of the carriage, he will be ‘not only removed out of the way of this momentum, but enabled to participate in the benefit of it; he will be spared all the toil of running ahead of the carriage lo no purpose, and required to exert no more potier than is just necessary to ov+rcome the .friction of ,the road, =that is, to set the carriage a-going. Any power, however, which such a carriage as CcThe Gycloped” might possess must always_ be much inferior tothat obtained through the agency of steam, both In. cheapness and elhclency. 5. THE PERSEVERANOET_M~. Burst@,
Edinburgh.
The name of’this engine may be considered as comlnemorative of, the spirit withwhich its ingeuious inventor-has persevered for sevcral years, and under many discouraging circumstances, in his. endeavours to apply steam power to the propulsion ‘of carriages on common roads. “The Perseverance” does not differ in many material respects .from the original steam carriage of Mr. Rurst&ll, which we described at length in our fourth vol. p. 4.73. The chief diKerence is, that the boiler and furnace, &stead of occupying the same carriage with the rest of the machinery, are placed on a s¶te carriage, attached to the hinder part of the other, and the object proposed to be gained by this alteration is, that they may be more out of the way of the passengers in the event of any explosion taking place. Among the most valuable of the subordinate improvements may be ranked a mode of steering the front wheels, by means pf a spur and an endless chain, instead of a wheel and a pinion, as m the o,ri_ ginal machine, and a provision for obtaining at willan increase of power in ascending hills. Compnrative Statement of tAe Performances of the Engines w&h competed for the Premium ofleered by the Directors of the Liverpool . and Manchester Rail-way. In drawing up the present, comparative statenient, we have I& altogether out of consideration the particular competition which called forth the performances here contrasted,and have looked simply to the performances themselves without reference to any conditions ,or sti ulations whatever. It by no means follows, that because the u es in this competition thought fit to require that each engine j.ig sliould run a distance of seventy miles, it is only from the performance of such a distance continuously we can form a right judgment of the capabilities of an engine, or that, because ‘6 The Rocket” was
[Exiracfor.
the tread mills of prison celebrity, and the clog mills which we have sometimes heard nf, only that horses, instcatl of men or dogs, -4 still neilrer resemblance to it ~nay be 3re the agents cmployctl. traced in the common squirrel cage, if the reader will, but for the sake,of the comparison, suppose that the squirrel drives its circular cage round by treading on ihe outside instead nf the inside. A common wagorl I’ramc rnountcd on wheels is divided longitudinally into two rompartments or stalls, and the bottom 61’.ISCII of. these stalls is occupied by an endless chain of cross bars, which work into ‘I’he Ilorses are placed nntl revolve round lhe axles of the carriage. ill the stnlls, and by treading on the entllcss chains, produce ‘the rotary motion requisite to propel themselves and the carriage furward., The experiments made on the rail-way with this~cngine, did’irot, WCbelieve, establish any gain, either in point of powei or ipeed, by this new mode of applying horse power; but the apparatus w& of rutle construction, and can scarcely bc said to have given the prinThe ,stalls, in particiilar, aere too ciple of the invention fair play. We have no Ilarrow, and greatly cramped the action of the horses. lloubt that in a well constructed carriage of this description, horses nlight be made to work on a ~rril-wry with considerably more effect eff~xt antI more ensc. One than by drawing, or, at least, wit11 quaI sf the principal elements of the velocity attainable on rail-ways, is the momentum which a body in motion acquires on a level or clown an inclined plane; and this must often reach a point, at which any power of draught that can be applied will be not only of no use, but Suppose this an actual obstruction to the velocity of the bntly. ss VOL.V.-NO. A-Arnrr., 1830.
Performance of Z+%rona? Cnrriuges. 258 momentum should amount to a force equal to a velocity of 13 miles,
gal is a rate of velocity at which the utmost a horse can do is to
move its own weight; so that .were he even able $0 continue gallop iog in advance of it, he would gallop to no purpose. But sLlppo*e farther that the momeut.um or velocity of gravitation should exceed the speed of the horse--w rhich as there are few horses that catl travel 19 miles an hour, is a very probable case-either the hors’e must be ruu down, or the carriage compelled to stop. Now, by transferring the horse to the inside of the carriage, he will be ‘not only removed out of the way of this momentum, but enabled to participate in the benefit of it; he will be spared all the toil of running ahead of the carriage lo no purpose, and required to exert no more potier than is just necessary to ov+rcome the .friction of ,the road, =that is, to set the carriage a-going. Any power, however, which such a carriage as CcThe Gycloped” might possess must always_ be much inferior tothat obtained through the agency of steam, both In. cheapness and elhclency. 5. THE PERSEVERANOET_M~. Burst@,
Edinburgh.
The name of’this engine may be considered as comlnemorative of, the spirit withwhich its ingeuious inventor-has persevered for sevcral years, and under many discouraging circumstances, in his. endeavours to apply steam power to the propulsion ‘of carriages on common roads. “The Perseverance” does not differ in many material respects .from the original steam carriage of Mr. Rurst&ll, which we described at length in our fourth vol. p. 4.73. The chief diKerence is, that the boiler and furnace, &stead of occupying the same carriage with the rest of the machinery, are placed on a s¶te carriage, attached to the hinder part of the other, and the object proposed to be gained by this alteration is, that they may be more out of the way of the passengers in the event of any explosion taking place. Among the most valuable of the subordinate improvements may be ranked a mode of steering the front wheels, by means pf a spur and an endless chain, instead of a wheel and a pinion, as m the o,ri_ ginal machine, and a provision for obtaining at willan increase of power in ascending hills. Compnrative Statement of tAe Performances of the Engines w&h competed for the Premium ofleered by the Directors of the Liverpool . and Manchester Rail-way. In drawing up the present, comparative statenient, we have I& altogether out of consideration the particular competition which called forth the performances here contrasted,and have looked simply to the performances themselves without reference to any conditions ,or sti ulations whatever. It by no means follows, that because the u es in this competition thought fit to require that each engine j.ig sliould run a distance of seventy miles, it is only from the performance of such a distance continuously we can form a right judgment of the capabilities of an engine, or that, because ‘6 The Rocket” was