On the Maintenance of the Rolling Stock on the Cologne-Minden and Other Prussian Railways.” by THEODORE ANTHOXYROCHUSSEN, Assoc

430 IAINTEXASCE OF RAILWAY ROLLIXG STOCK. April 24, 1866. JOHN FOWLER, President, in the Chair. No. 1,162.-“ On the Maintenance of the Rolling Stock on the Cologne-Minden and other Prussian Railways.” By THEODORE ANTHOXYROCHUSSEN, Assoc. Inst. C.E. IN the course of the previous session, duringthe discussion on t,he cost of maintainingthe rolling stock of theNorth Eastern Railway,‘ it occurred to theAuthor, that a statement of the comparativeresults experienced upon sotne continental lines, on which a similarmineral and passenger traffic was conveyed, might prove of general interest,, and, at the same time, afford the means of eliciting from the Members of the Institution informa- tion of a valuablekind. Withthat view he has selected for examination the following railways, which are probably well known to most English Engineers,the Cologne-Minden, the Bergish- Maerkish, and the Rhenish ; and hc has illustrated his remarks by a series of tables. The Cologne-Minden Railway forms, in its northern section, the main artery of traffic to the north and north-east of Europe, by connecting the French, the Belgian, and the Dutch systems with Hamburgh, Bremen,Berlin, theBaltic ports,Russia, andthe north of Saxony and Bohemia ; while on the southern section, it bringsto the Rhine a portion of the south German passenger traffic, and the rich minerals and pig-iron from the Yiegen district. The former section passes through soil alternately sandy or loamy, and has neither steep gradientsnor sharp curves ; but the southern section, to Siegen and Giessen, encounters not only these difficulties, butthe obstacle of tunnelling throughrock; hence the cost of working this part of the line reduces the 1JrOfit of thc 1vholc under- taking to the lowcst limit allowed by theCharter, a dividend of 20 per cent. The Bergish-MaerkishRailway runs in an easterly direction from Dusseldorf on the Rhine to Elberfeld and Barmen, and thence traverses that great hive of iron and coal industry, Westphalia ; with a branch southto the Yiegen district,and two northerly branches to connect the coalfields of IVestphalia with the Rhine, Holland,and the northern parts of Europe. On the principal 1 Vide IIinutes of Proceedings Inst. C.E., vol. xxiv., p. 459. Downloaded by [ UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES] on [13/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. MAINTENAXCE OF RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK. 431 portion of its main line, and on the southerly section from Hagen to Siegen, this railway meet.s with all the difficulties of the southern section of the Cologne-Minden line, and may be said to traverse solid rock for more than two-thirds of its length. The RhenishRailway, from the Belgianfrontier to Aix-la- Chapelleand Cologne,thence south to Bingen, is the principal means of communication with the south and south-east of Europe. On the left bank of the Rhine it extends to Holland and the north of Germany, crossing the river at two points by means of pontoon bridges, remarkable for simplicity, efficiency, and cheapness of construction. The soil near the junction with the Belgian line, and for a large portion of the southern section is strong, andnear Aix-la-Chapelle there is a heavy gradient; but the northern section is over a soft loam, similar to that of the Cologne-Minden line. The general circumstances of thethree railways under con- siderationare thereforenot unlike. Each has its especially favourable and unfavourable features. The rails at present in use are essentially similar, being single-headed, 5 inches high, with a fine-grain iron, or steeltable, and fibrous iron inthe bottom. The weight is 74 lbs. to the yard, and the joints are supported. Originally double-headed rails were used, but they are now dis- carded. The sleepers, which are 8 feet long, and of rectangular section, 11 inches by 6 inches, are of oak creosoted, and 'are bedded in gravel from 9 inches to 18 inches deep, according to the soft, or hard nature of the ground. Onthe Bergish-MaerkishRailway the sleepers arelaid on broken slag from blast-furnaces, andthe result, as regardsthe wear of the sleepers, has been favourable, as may be seen by reference to Table H, column 10. In explanation of the Tables, it is necessary to observe that A, which gives the data of the general circumstances of the lines, B, the description of engines in use, K, the commercial results, and L, the reserve fund for renewals, are intended only to illustrate the general working state and resources of the different railways ; both of which conditions exercise indirectly an important influence upon the material in use. In TableC, which gives the mileage of all the engines, column 2 shows theaverage number of miles which each engine has run when doing work and earning money, or the so-called profit mile. Column 4 shows the number of' miles run in the service of trains while actually on their way to their destination, but during a portion of which theengine was running without load. Column 6, the station-work, estimated at five miles' run, for every hour in steam ; and Column 7, the ultimate mileage per engine. But in [1865-66. N.S.] 2s Downloaded by [ UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES] on [13/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. 432 MAINTENASCIC OV RAILWAY ROLLTKG STOCK. all the calculations, the engine is only credited for the performance of profit miles; and this system is also applied to the work done by carriages and wagons ; the figures in Table G only applying to the miles run in loaded trains. In Table D, all the expenses connected with the several depart- ments are included under their respective headings, with 5 per cent. interest perannum, on capital invested in buildings, travelling expenses, &c. Tables E and H embrace all the expenses of the workshops, interest of capital invested in buildings, machinery, and tools, with proper allowance for depreciation. Table G gives the cost of the principal portion of the carriage and wagon stock, together with the work done in the year 1864, further illustrated in its actual result by Table K. Table L has been addedto complete the elucidation of the financial method of administration ; while the moreimportant Table, H? generalizes the cost of the maintenance of the rolling stock during the year 1864. Tables M, N, and 0 are compiled from the records of the Cologne-Minden Railway for the twenty years from 1845 to 1864 inclusive, and give, in detail, theresults of observations upon about twenty thousand tires, of different makers and of different materials. It isthis branch of the subject which theAuthor wishes to bring prominently before the Institution. The Prussian Railway Company, soon after its formation, under- took a series of experiments, in order to improve the construction of the carriage-wheels, with a view both to the comfort of the pas- sengersand to the economy of material, The first aim was to preserve the circular shape of the wheel. A number of axles were experimentally fitted with a wooden disc, first brought forward by Mr. Daelen, principal Engineer of theHoerder Works. This wheel answered so well in every particular, in the easy oscillation of the carriage, in the absence of dust, and in the due support of thetire, that the replacing of the old spoke-wheels by discs became simply a matter of time. As the transition from the practice of the ordinary road to that of the railway was gradual, it was natural that the form of wheel in use on the mail-coaches and other large vehicles of that period should be adopted for railway carriages, substituting iron for wood, in orderto meet thegreater weight on t,he axle;and as the wooden spoke preceded the iron spoke wheel, so the experimental wooden disc gave rise to the iron disc. The first form of iron disc, adoptedin 1848, was that of a bulged star. A wrought-iron plate, Banged to form the periphery of the wheel, was indenkd with five triangular bulges from the boss, which was cast on the plate forming the disc. This description Downloaded by [ UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES] on [13/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. MAINTENANCE OF RAILWAY BOCT,ING STOCK. 433 of wheel has proved very durable, most of those first made being still in use, though transferred from passenger carriages towagons ; but, owing to the combination of wrought and cast iron, it is noisy, and the boss having a diameter of 114 inches, makes the structure heavy. It however supported the tire evenly and well, and there is now in London a pair of these wheels, with iron tires, which have run 116,000 miles without yet requiring turning ; and which promise, being still 1Qinch thick, to last up to 250,000 miles. In order to obviate the before-named defect, of combining wrought iron and cast iron, the dished wrought-iron disc was introduced, in 1852. Withthe progress then made in rolling and forging, the manufacture of this wheel was bothcheap and expeditious. In practice it proved less noisy than its predecessor ; but the fine- grain iron necessary to insnre a sound flanging for the periphery of the wheel made it too rigid. Henceforth, attention was directed to the means of obtaining elasticity both in the form of the disc and in the material used. As a first step, fibrous iron was employed instead of fine-grain iron, and the flat, or dished, disc was corru- gated. The fibrous iron not admitting of sound flanging, the periphery of the wheel was formed by a rim of fine-grain angle iron, riveted to the disc plate.

Load more