Correspondence on New Zealand and Ceylon

120 DISCUSSION ON NEWZEALAND RAILWAYS. minutes of

Mr. Longridge. was satisfied the results he had given were substantially correct, and would be borne out by experience in such a country as was referred to. Mr. Barlow. Mr. W. H. BARLOW,President, said it appearedto him impossible to inculcate any general laws for the laying out of railways suchas those described inthe Papers. There weredominant Circumstances which must control them. It was so even in England. On a part of the railway with which he was most inti- mately concerned, the Midland, there was an incline of 1 in 37 which had been made for many years and had a large traffic over it, and on other parts there were gradientsof 1 in 120. The company had been spending large sums of money in improving the gradients on 1 in 120, whilethey had not felt it necessary to improve the gradient of 1 in 37. That showed that the circumstances of the traffic might regulate such matters as well as the circumstances attending theconstruction. Correspondence. Mr. Abt. Mr. R. ABT wouldcompare theconditions of theline from Wellington to Woodville with those of two similar lines, one of whichwas worked by an ordinary tank locomotive, whilethe other was a rackrailway. The first of these, theUetliberg railway, was fully described in the foreign abstracts.' The secondwas the Rorschach-Heiden railway. Rorschach was a main station of the 'United Swiss railways, on the shores of the Lake of Constance, 1,320 feet above the sea. Heiden, 2,600 feet above the sea,was a well-knownpleasure resort. The railway between the two hadto facilitate the journeyof visitors to Heiden, and at the same t.ime to serve a good many quarries situate near the middle of its length, at the Wienachten station. It had been opensince 1875. Thetrains were made up on the quay at Rorschach, and first ran for abont 1 mile over the track of the United Swiss railways. This part was nearly level, and had only a few curves, of large radius. The incline was 3 miles 188 yards long. The steepest gradient. was 1 in 11 ; the curves were generally of 600 feet radius. The gauge was 4 feet S& inches, as the goods wagons of the other Swiss and French railways hadto pass over the line as faras the quarries at Wienachten. The rails were 3$ inches high, and weighed 40 1bR. per yard. The wooden cross- sleeperswere spaced 24 feet apart. On thecentre line of the railway was a rack, exactly like that on the Rigi.

Vide Minutes of Proceedings Inst. C.E., vol. xl., p. 275, and vol. xlix., p. 307.

The railway wasworked by three rack-wheel locomotives, built Mr. Abt. at the late engine works at Aarau. At first the level part of the line, from the quay at Rorschach to the foot of the incline, was worked by adhesion-locomotives of a special type. But as the line had a very small traffic, and this arrangement greatly increased the expense, in 1878 the rack-locomotives were modified, so that, by the help of the adhesion of one pair of wheels, they could run on the ordinary rails, without a rack, to the quay. The principal dimensions of these locomotives were as under :- Diameter of cylinder, 11 -8 inches ; stroke, 20 inches ; boiler pressure, 150 lbs. ; grate surface, 10%square feet ; heating surface of fire-box, 62 square feet ; ditto of tubes, 475 square feet; total, 538 square feet : weight empty, 12%tons ; with fuel and water, 16i tons; wheel base, 10 feet; diameter of travelling wheels, 32+ inches; of the rack-wheel, 41 inches. There were sevencarriages for summer traffic, weighing 214 lbs. for each seat ; and twofor winter traffic, heated by steam, weighing 482 lbs. per seat; giving 414 places in all. All the carriages had brakes for the rack-wheel. The railway possessed only eight goods wagons of its own, weighing each about4 tons, and carrying about 79 tons. The cost of the railway, including materials, was;E90,000, or %25,664per mile; which sum, considering that the difficulties of construction were moderate,seemed extraordinarily high. The normal capacity of the engines, very seldom utilised, was to draw a train of 39 tons (exclusive of the engine) at a mean speed of 5 to 6 miles an hour in ascending, and 6 to 7: miles in descending. The expenditure of coal was 53 lbs. pertrain-mile. The whole working expense per train-mile was 4s. 2d., of which 28. was for running expenses. A comparison of the performances on these two lines with that on the Featherston incline gave the following :-

Load Drawn on Railway. llnclineof l in Is.)Averege Weight LoT&~~~~ motive Weight. 1-- exclusiveEngine. of I of Locomotive.

Tons. l Tons. Tons. Wellington and Woodville . . . 1 64 36'0 1.8 Uetliberg ...... 26 23.5 1.1 Rorschach and Heiden . . . . 1 58 15.5 3.7 The speed on the Uetliberg railway (9: miles per hour) was about twice as great as on the other two lines. The work done,

Mr. Sbt. considering that it was a simple adhesion system, was large; on the other hand, the safety was certainly less than with the Fellor rack systems. The first cost and the working cost must, however, be less with the simple system. The working cost for such small local lines was not really comparable with that on mainlines, because it depended on so manydifferent circumstances. There was a decided difference between the results of the two special systems, the Fell and the rack railway. On an incline of 1 in 15, the rack locomotive, weighing 16.5 tons, drew almost as much as the Fell locomotive, weighing 36 tons. Mr. Abt would undertake, from actual experiment, to build a locomotive of about 16 tons, which on an incline of 1 in 15 should draw, besides itself, a load of 70 to 1’75 tons, or 4$ times its own weight, at a speed of 5 miles per hour. The permanentway for rack railways consisted, besides the rack, of exactly the same pieces as for an ordinary railway. The rack and its fastenings cost at present 218. per lineal yard,or, with laying, 228. 6d. to 22s. 9d. Probably it would cost slightly more thanthe central rails and their fastenings of the Fell system. The safety, however, with the rack systom was higher than with the other, especially in bad weather and with much snow. The

rack engines of the LL mixed system,” which were built byMr. Abt at the Aarau works, possessed equally with the Fell engines the power of moving, both on the rack by the rack-wheels, and on ordinary lines by adhesion ; but the speed in the latter case was only a littlehigher than on the rack.Since this problem had been satisfactorily solved by rack engines on the mixed system, and several engines had proved thoroughly satisfactory in working, he believed thatin most cases, wherethe introduction of a steep incline was needed, its working by rack railway would be muchmore advantageous thanby the Fell system.The rack itself, after ten years’ service, showed not the slightest wear; the expense of lubrication (2 -468. per mile of track per annum) was not worthmentioning. Again, the expense of lubricatingthe specialrack-gear was small, sayone-third the average cost for ordinary working parts. The heaviest expense was that of main- tainingthe gear itself. Thelargo rack-wheel cost about 3240, and would run 30,000 miles before it needed changing. The inter- mediate wheels cost together 3280, and would run 50,000 miles. M~.Alford. Mr. R. F. ALFORDhad been engaged in designing the Fell engines, under Mr. Widmark, at theAvonside Engine Company, and, through the courtesy of the consulting engineers for New Zealand and the manufacturers- he was ableto submit the following information :-

In the first place, a slight error had crept into the Paper as to the Mr. Alford. stroke of the insideor Fell cylinders.They were not 12 inches in diameter ancl 15 inches stroke, but 12 inches in diameter and 14 inches stroke. This altered the tractive force from 96 lbs. to 89 6 lbs. per lb. of effective steam in the cylinders. The weight of the engine hadbeen also stated slightly high; the weight empty being 27%tons at Bristol ; there had been a slight alteration in the cab, but this could not add more than 2 or 3 cwt., which gave a total weight of 302 tons and 343 tons iu running order, with the tanks and coal-boxes empty and full respectively, and a calculated weight of 25 tons 8 cwt., 26 tons 6 cwt., and 27 tons 3 cwt., on tho coupled wheels, with the tanks empty, half full, and full, respectively. The calculated adhesive working pressure due to the four Fell wheels was 26 tons 6 cwt., or 13 tons 3 cwt. on each side of the rail,giving 6 tons 114 cwt. perwheel; but more or less pressure could be put on if thought desirable, and at a trial of one of the engines at Bristol the Fell wheels drew the engine back- wards with full steam on both engines ; the tanks and coal-boxes were filled, so asto give the highest possible adhesion tothe coupled wheels of the ordinary engine. The above pressure on the Fell wheels was due to a pressure of 173 tons on each of the compression springs, which were of the ordinary crescent shape, and consisted of nine plates 6 inches wide by 3 inch thick. The pressure on each pair of distance discs was 4 tons 7 cwt., being 2 tons 33 cwt. on each disc, and it was thought that this would be sufficient to keep the spur wheels in gear. The studs mentioned by Mr. Carruthers were only put in as an extra precaution ; but it appeared from actual practice that the pressure should have been greater, to prevent the wheels parting ;this could be easilyarranged in a future design byputting the springs slightly higher. With regard to the remarks of Messrs. Carruthers and Longridge on the steaming, it was very satisfactory to hear that, with the occasional use of the blower, steam could be easily kept up for the fourcylinders, notwithstanding t,hedisadvantage arising from the tunnels, when it was remembered that the heating surface of the fire-box was only 75 square feet, and of the tubes 783 square feet, whichwas arranged for apressure of 130 lbs., instead of 150 lbs., and to draw it load of 50 tons, exclusiveof its own weight, as against 63 tons, which it had actually taken. This increase in the pressure of steam by nearly 15fr per cent. accounted for the tractive force beinggreater than the adhesion. The blastwas arranged as shown in the sketch (Figs. 3, 4, 5), ihe inside nozzle

Mr. Alford. took the blast for the Fell cylinders, and the annular ring for the ordinary engines. Thearea was respectively 11 3 squareinches and 12.3 square inches, which was about one-tenth t.he area of the cylinders; and it appeared probable that by putting a new nozzle so as to give a sharper blast, the use of the blower might be dis- pensed with. It would be seen that by the above arrangement of blast the two engines worked independently of each other, and

FIG.5.

! I Section on B B.

6 FELLESGINE. BLASTNOZZLE. Scale 1 inch = 1 foot.

could not give rise to the evil results described by Mr. Longridge in the engines he had experience with, and which were certainly quite different in many points from those mentioned in the Paper. The latter were by no means blind copies of any previous engine. In these engines the sand was thrown between the rails and vertical wheels by a jet of steam, with a kind of injector: perhaps it would have been better to have used a blast of air. In reference to the cost of working 6he line, the four engines were contracted for at a cost of $3,625 each, delivered f. 0. b. London, not including duplicates. The contractwas let in theautumn of 1874, when prices were very high. Mr. Bergeron. Mr. c. BERGERONwould, at the outset, state his opinion that the working of mountain railways, although more costly than that of

ordinary lines, was capableof being effected with regularity, when Mr. Bergeron. the inclines did not exceed 1 in 40. For eight consecutive years the Franco-Suisse line between Neuchatel and Pontarlier, having a gradient of 1 in 50, had been worked at a cost not greater than 60 per cent. of the gross receipts, which reached 20,000 francs per Idornetre (51,280 per mile). In the surveys now being made by the engineers of the French Government in the departmentstraversed by mountain ranges, the limit generally imposed for curve#, was a radius of 300 metres (say 1,000 feet), with a maximum incline of 1 in 40. Mr. Bergeron could not say what,modifications weremade in the above data whennarrow-gauge lines were in question. Suchlines would evidently allow of large reductions in these figures, to the extent of 100 metresfor curves and I in 25 forgradients. In 1863-64 Messrs. Le Haitre and Mondksirmade complete surveys for the passage of the Simplon, by inclines of 1 in 25, and as they could not find the means of traversing all the small valleys inascending the Saltine, even by making reverse curves, they proposed zig- zags (rebroussements). Their project was approved by the General Council of the French Ponts et ChauesBes, and by the technical commission of the Swiss Federal Council, and by the engineers of the Canton du Valais; but the company was never ableto find the necessary capital for this railway, and soon after itself failed. Mr. Bergeron had several times traversed the line from Modane to Susa, established on one side of the high road over Mont Cenis. He hadfound in Mr. Fell’s system an excellentexpedient for reassuringthe passengers, andthe centre-rail, solidlyattached to the sleepers, afforded every security against derailment, and the deepest and most abrupt precipices were passed without exciting the leastfear. The locomotives were complicated. They frequently got out of order. He shouldalways rememberone occasion, on which Mr. Brassey,who had embarkeda largecapital in the enterprise, had assembled his friends, of whom he was one, toexhibit to them the advantages of the system, by carrying them over the wholeline, from Modane to Susa. One afteranother three new locomotives were tried, and each got incapacitated for drawing the train. By degreesimprovements had beenmade in the engines, and at length the servicewas able to becarried out regularly. The company did not, however, long enjoy the exceptionally high tariff conceded to it. A few years after it was at work, the great tunnel made by Messrs. Sommeiller and Grattoni was completed, andthe day after its formalopening, the removal of the

Mr. Bergeron. mountain line began. He believed that since then not the least attempt had been made to apply the Fell system to other mountain lines in Europe. He had been several times struck to see the four vertical driving-wheels of the engine haul the train through its entire journey over the steepest inclines, notably that encountered on leaving Modane, withoutother assistance thanthe adhesion due to its own weight. That occurred in very dry weather, when there was no slipping, and he had wondered why the horizontal driving-wheelswere not replaced byadditional vertical ones, arranged as in the Fairlie engine, or on a plan even more effica- cious, devised by Mr. Longridge, which it was to be regretted had not been tried on the Mont Cenis line. Atthe presenttime, Mr. Bergeronhad other ideasfor the establishment of mountain railways. He believed they should be made on the system of a canal in which the level reaches were interspersed with locks, represented in the case of railwaysby inclined planes. Witha railway with inclines notexceeding 1 in 100, and locomotives powerful enough to haul the trains of passengersand of merchandisehabitually circulating over the whole of its extent, he woulddesire that the trainsshould further be able to cross mountains without additionalengine power, of which the employment was alwaysonerous and the cost very high, not only on account of the greaterpower of the bank engine, which must be always very heavyto ensure adhesion, but alsoon account of the extra wear of rails and tires due to the application of the powerful brakes necessary for the safe descent of the inclines. He wouldtherefore not hesitate to adopt 1 in 100 as the limit for sections of mountain lines, adopting inclined planes at different points, like the flightsof stairs in houses. For example, supposing he had to cross a mountain range by a line having, as in the case of the Simplon, a summit level 1,000 mAtres above the station at the foot of the mountain, he would, as nearly as practicable, divide the length of say 20 kilomdtres into sections of five 4 kilomdtres each. These sections, being inclines of 1 in 100, would themselves afford a total vertical rise of 200 mhtres, and each inclined plane shouldbe surmounted by means of apparatusworked by the torrential streams alwaysat hand in greatabundance to the extent of several thousandsof HP. By fixed engines on the Agudio1 system, by atmospheric tubes as employedat SaintGermains, by apparatus of the nature tried byMr. Louis Goninat Lausanne, by cables and fixed engines as now employedat several places, notably at Lyons

Vide Xnutes of Proceedings, Inst. C.E., vol. IS., p. 310.

and at Lausanne, it would be easy to haul up an incline plane a &, Bergeron. train and engine complete, and ready, when at the top, to proceed in the usual manner. He would use the same apparatus to con- trolthe trains when descending the inclined planes. Bythis means the passage of mountains might be effected at small cost, seeing that nature would supply the additional power, and the only expense wouldbe that of installing the apparatus and of applying it when required. Where there were no waterfalls, fixed steam-engines couldbe employed withadvantage. In all cases they wouldbe worked much more economically than the bank engines, always necessary for inclines of 1 in 20 or l in 25, Bfr. G. FISHERsubmitted the following particulars of the itfr. Fisher. working of the old incline at Aberdarejunction. The gradient was 1 in 21 for 22 chains, and 1 in 18 for 17+ chains. The engines used had cylinders 16 inches in diameter, with a length of stroke of 24 inches, and wheels 4 feet 2 inches in diameter, and wereworked toa pressure of 120 lbs. persquare inch. The weight of the engine in steam was 36 tom, the consumption of fuel being about 42 lbs. per mile. The maximum load, exclusive of the engine, was 50 tons. The company altered this incline in 1868 to 1 in 40; but another incline, on the Clydach Vale branch, with a gradient of 1 in 30, was at present being worked with engines of the same type as the above, the maximum load, exclusive of the engine, being 70 tons. Mr. D. M. Fox fully concurred in all that had been said as to >fr. FOX. the futility of attempting to lay down hard and fast rules for the surmounting of steep and lofty mountain ranges by railways, or of maintaining that any one system was the best possible, and ought invariably to be adopted. It might, however, be taken as an axiom that, where the mountain range to be traversed lay at right angles to the direction of the railway, so that every mile of development on the ascent or descent lengthened the distancy by a deviation directly in proportion tothe flatness of the inclinat,ion, then short inclines with steep gradients should be adopted ; and, conversely, where the range to be crossed was parallel, or oblique to the direction of the railway, so that the development necessary to obtain flat gradients on the ascent or descent did not practically lengthen the line between fixed terminal points, then the most favourablegradients that could possiblybe obtained should be adopted.The map showing the direction of the New Zealand GovernmentRailways represented the Rimutaka range as running obliquely to the direction of the line fromWellington to Featherston and Napier, and it would appear that there had been

Mr. FOX. little or no saving in distance by the adoption of the steep incline unsuited to ordinary locomotive traction. Still, if the Rimutakae were so exceptionally rugged and precipitous, that on the descent of their eastern slope a gradient of 1 in 40 would have involved such a ‘‘ dangerous andimpracticable ” line-“ a succession of curves chiefly of 3 chainsradius, often reversing on the same point, and many embankments100 feet deep at thecentre line ”- then it must be admitted that the chief engineer acted wisely in adopting asteep gradient. In such a caseMr. Fos would have endeavoured to lay out inclines on the fixed engine and rope ” system; but, as it was stated in the Paper that this had been attempted, butwithout success, it need onlybe remarked that perhaps a suitable location for steep inclines to be worked by fixed engines was not found, because it was assumed that such inclines must necessarilybe laidout in straight lines, whereas with a gauge of 3 feet 6 inches curves of 10 chains radius would have been worked with ease with fixed engines and ropes on an incline of 1 in 10. Nearlyfourteen years of practicalexperience of the working of the Serra inclines of the Sao Paulo(Brazilian) Railway, with gradients of 1 in 10 and fixed engines and ropes, had convinced himthat, where it was impossible to obtain gradientssuited to the ordinary locomotive, the old-fashioned plan of fixed enginesand ropes was to be preferred tothe centrerail or Fell system, or to the rack and pinion or Rigi system,or toany other device bywhich it wassought to force the locomotive to do work for which it was not adapted. In a Paper which he had written, On the Line and Works of the Sno Paulo Railway, Brazil,” a full description of the inclined planes on the Serra do Mar, and the mode of working the inclines, had beengiven. It wassatisfactory to be able to record that these inclines, surmounting a height of 2,560 feet in 5 miles, and worked by fixed engines and ropes, had been open and working for nearly fourteen years, both for passengers and goods, without, an accident attributable to the system of traction employed, and to note that the anticipations of the engineer-in-chief, Mr. James Brunlees, Vice-President Inst. C.E., had been more than realised. Such was the simplicity and durability of the stationary engines, that thetraffic had never been delayed an hour by repairs, and the original brasses were still in use. The steel wire ropes had been made to last three to four years, running from 20,000 to 30,000 miles before being taken off. The safety or clip brake had been

Vide Minutes of ProceeJings Inst. C.E., vol. xxx., pp. 36,41.

efficient in working. Although the line was originally laid out Mr. POX. wit'h no curves of a sharper radius than 30 chains, a serlons land- slipwhich occurred in 1872rendered it neccssary todivert it, and reversecurves of 15 chains radius were employed in orderto avoid the reconstruction of an enormous embankment that had ,been carriedaway. These curves had ever sincebeen worked with ease and safety, so that no attempt had been made to reconstruct the embankment. Anelectrical signal had been devised by which communication could be made with the driver in theengine-house by the men on the safety brake-wagon without their leaving the brake. The trains were limited to three wagons or carsand the special brake-wagon to which the rope was attached ; and it was the great advantageof this system of t,raction that notonly wasthe dead weightto be lifted reducedto a minimum, but thata train was raised and lowered simultaneously,thus econo- mising power and time. As from four to five trips could be easily made in the hour, it followed t,hat twelve to fifteen wagons (each carrTing, say, 7 tons of paying load) wereraised and the same number lowered per hour. Thus, 80 to 100 tons of paying loadcould be raised and thesame weight lowered per hour, making a total of 600 to 800 tons each way, or 1,200 to 1,600 tons of paying load of up and down traffic per day of eight hours. And in fact as many as 8,500 bags or 500 tons of coffee alone had descended the Serra inclines and been placed in Santos with ease. But it must not be supposed that thepreponderance of the traffic was down or export traffic. He was enabled to give the following Table showing the tonnage carried over the Sao Paulo railway for the week ending the 31st of October, 1880, taken from official returns :-

Down. UP. Description. - Tons. Tons. coffe .... 1,694 .. Cotton. ... 18 Sall, ...... 4% Sugar ...... 317 General ... 43 t ... .. 1,263 Bricks, lime, &c. . 144 200 Coal .... --. -547 1,899 2,- SO5

Giving an average dailytraffic for the six working daysof 316 tons downor export, and 467 tonsup or import traffic. On the Sao Paulo railway therewaB no throttling of the traffic by theinclines, whatever might be the case by the employment of the Fell or any [THE IXST. C.E. VOL. LXIII.] 1c

Mr. pox. other abnormal locomotive system. On the contrary, the inclines were capable of accommodating up and down the Serra as much traffic as could be carried on the single line of railway of which they formed part. The annexed Table showed the average daily cost of working the ordinary traffic over the Serra inclines. The averages, both of traffic and of expenses, had been compiled by him from official sources, and were taken over a period of two and a half years. It would be interesting to calculate what would be the approximate cost of working such traffic with a gradient of 1 in 15, and with the centre rail system. He ventured to affirm that the cost would be considerably in excess of that showed. In the discussionon the Paper read by him on the Sao Paulo railway, in March 1870, Mr. Brunlees observed that, “ had a similar work to be undertaken now, he wouldprobably try to get a gradient of 1 in 14, and employ thecentre rail system.”1 Mr. Fox, however,considered that thefourteen years’ experienceof the working of these inclined planes proved that it would have been a mistake, under the special circumstances and conditions of the case, to haveadopted any othersystem than that of fixedengines and ropes for the surmounting of the Serra on the 820 Paulo railway.

SX.0 PAUL0 BRAZILIAN RAILWAY. - AVERAGE DAILYCOSTof WORKINGthe SERRA INCLINESof 1 in 10 (FIXED ENGINES and ROPES).Also AVERAGE DAILY TRAFFICCARRIED UP and DOWN.

Gradient 1in 10. Number of inclines, 4. Length of inclines, 5 miles. Height surmounted, 2,560 feet.

Averagenumber of trainsper day . passenger up 3 79 9, 9, ,, down 3 -6 1, 9. . goods up 13.5 9, 3, . ,, down 13‘5 -27 Totalaverage number of trainsper day . . . . 33 - Average numberof cars andwagons per train (withoutbrakes) 3 X 7 ,, passenger carsdayper . 6 3 = 18 1, ,, goods wagons 27 X 3 = 81 ,, . - Total average numberof cars andwagons per day -99

Vide Minutes of Proceedings Inst. C.E., vol. XSX., p. 57.

Tons. Mr. Fox. Average weight of trains, gross, 3 passenger cars with load . . . .] say 20 ,, 7, ,, 1 special brake . . . -G Total average weight of passenger trains . . . -26 Average weight of trains, gross, B goods wagons with load, of 5 tons . . . . ,t 9) ,, 1 special brake. . . . -6 Totalaverage weight of goods trains . . . . 33- Trains. Tons. Tons. Total average gross weight, raised Passengers 6 X 26 = 156 and lowered 2,560 feet . per day{Goods 27 X 33 = 891 -1,047 Trains. Tons. Or, deducting special brake 33 X 6 = l98 tons, 1,047 tons less 198 tons = 849 tons gross weight per day. Train-miles. Averagenumber of train-miles per day . . 33 X 5 = 165 €. S. a. Average coal consumed perday, 5.75 tons . . . 10 7 0 ,, oil, tallow, snd other stores . . . . . 1 5 0 ,, salaries and wages for running. . . . 116 4 Totalaverage daily cost, running . . . 2218 4 Average repairs, including engines, ropes, pulleys, 617 4 &c. ; wages, and stores, perday . . . . .} 29 158 Average proportion of cost of carriage and wagon repairs, per day ...... }l70 Average proportion of cost of maintenance way and ] 510 0 works, 5 miles, per day. , . I , . . . Total average daily cost, over a period of 13612 8 two and a half years . . . . .

Mr. A. GOTTSCIIALK,President of the Society of Civil Engineers Mr.Gottschalk. of France, wouldconfine hi8observations tothe gradients of 1 in 15 and 1 in 44. In the first case he remarked that the usual working load of the Fell engine, weighing 36 tons, was 56 tons gross, or a proportion of 1 to say 1.55. The Riggenbach engines hauledabout the sameweight, or rather more upon the same gradient of 1 in 15 with an 18-ton engine, the proportion being thus 1 to 3 * 11. For such gradients hewas in favour of the Riggen- bachsystem. The rack, no doubt, rendered the first cost rather greater than thesimple rail of the lie11 system, but theRiggenbach engine was much simpler, the brake much more powerful, and the safety was absolute. For gradients less steep than 1 in 20 or 1in K2

,fr.Gottschnlk. 22, he thought the best and cheapest way was to use ordinary engines. In the case of the Kadugannawaincline, 1 in 44, he was of opinion that the ordinary goods engine, with €our-coupled wheels, 5 feet in diameterand a bogie, wasnot the best. The weightwas 35 tons. Such an engine, placed at the rear of the train, pushed six loaded wagons of about 11 tons each and a brake- van, say 76 tons. Under the same conditions, but for an incline of 1 in 40, his last six-coupled engines hauled 160 tons, the weight of theengine in workingtrim being from 413 to 42 tons. A description of this engine would be found in the ‘‘ Memoires ” of the Society of Engineers of Paris, 1878, p. 440 (abstracted in Ilinutes of Proceedings Inst. C.E., vol. h., p, 315). It would be noted that this engine was much more in accordance with that described in Mr. Mosse’s Paperas a bankengine, weighing 35 tons, andhauling twelve wagons and a brzke-van. He believed that for such gradients (l in 40 to l in 44) it was better to have only one type of engine for both passenger and freight trains, especiallywhen t,he line wasfirst opened. The enginc should have six-coupled wheels, not more than 4 feet in diameter, without any bogie. The weight would vary with the nature of the traffic, but might reach 7 tons per wheel. Such engines, being of the latest type introduced by him on the Brenner incline, could haul passenger trains of from 120 to 130 tons at 14 miles an hour, and of 150-ton goods trainsat 9 miles an hour. Thiswas his experience of twelre years in working the Semmering and the Brenner inclines on the Southern Railway of Austria. Mr. &c- Mr. ALAX MACDOUGALLconsidered the circumstaooesunder dougnl’* which the Government railways under discussion had been constructed were peculiar, and not likely to occur on many trunk lines. For the opening up and colonization of a new country, he considered the excessive gradients on the New Zealand railways wouldprove rather adrawback. The subject of steep gradients had been anxiously considered in Canada on many colonization andprivate railways, and muchadverse criticism had been directed against Mr. Wragge, M. Inst. C.E., when he introduced a gradient of 1 in 50 on the Toronto, Grey, and Bruce railway. Still tbis gradient, whichwas only for about3 miles in length, had not provedobstructive to that company’s traffic, At the top of this incline, known as the Caledon incline, were two semicircular curves of 500 feet radius, joined by a short straight portionform- ing an s, the gradient here being about 1 in 70. Severe as i;he strain was to pass round these curves on the ascent,the difficulties were not so greatas in passing round the succession of sharp

reverse curves in the valley of the river Humber, about 18 miles Mr. Mac- from Toronto, where the gradients mere 1 in 60 and 1 in ‘70, the douglll* radii of the curvesbeing from 462 feet to 500 feet. Thiswas found to tax thelocomotire power so severely, that he understood it was contemplated to amend the location of this portion of the systemwhen thegauge was widened.Mr. SandfordFleming, C.M.G., M. Inst. C.E., had given the subject of sharp curves and steep gradients his careful attention in laying out various lines of railway.On the Canada Pacific thegradients would notbe steeper than 1 in 100, except only in a few places on the Rocky Mountain range, where gradients of 1in 50 would be permitted, with curves of about 1,400 feetradius. Curves andgradients, similar to those used on the Ceylon railways even, would render a line passing through a snowy region inoperative for the whole winter season. He thought it was a great pity that the Authors of the Papers under discussion had not attempted to give some statistics of thegrowth of the colonies in question, andthe increased value of assessments in consequence of the construction of these railways. He was keenly alivo to the difficulty of obtain- ing statistics in a young count,ry; still, he thought persons in the prominent positions of the Authors of the present Papers, and of several others which had latelybeen before the Institution, could have obtained some figures bearing on the subject. He had much pleasure ingiving a few facts connected withthe progress of some of the western counties of the province of Ontario, Canada, since the introduction of railwaysinto them. The counties of Greyand Bruce were withoutrailway accommodation, and Wellington and Simcoe were partially accommodated by railways in 1869.

Value of Assessments (Real Estate). 1 Increase Name of Counties and Cities. between 1869-1879. --1859. 1 1869. 1879, S’S S Per cent. Connty of Grey. . . . 10,320,000 11,670,000 13,706,876 17 ,, Bruce . . . 3,506,811 7,891,217 24,485,336 210 ,, Simcoe . . . 5,831,888 11,702,285 16,975,371 45 Wellington, in-’ 6,601,170 9,863,687 35,330,568 258 clhng City of Guelph ., City of Toronto...... 19,162,205 41,212,757 115 ,, Hamilton . . . 700,937 6,781,161 15,223,269 124 ,, London . . . . 3,916,266 5,245,780 8,928,365 70

Mr. Mac- TheCity of Torontowas included inthe assessment of the dougall. County of York in 1859. TheCity of Guelphhere included in the County of Wellington, was separated from it in 1879, as no figures could be obtained for 1869. Yr. Manning. Mr. J. R. MANNIXG,in regard to the system of conducting the traffic over the Bhore and Thul Ghbt inclines of the great Indian Peninsula railway, explained briefly the circumstances which, at the time,necessitated the adoption of the presentsystem of working. It had been stated that the traffic on the Ceylon and other short railways was safely and more economically worked by independent brakes attached t,o each vehicle, without the aid cif special brake vans, and that there was no apparent reason why a similar system should not be adopted on the Bhore and Thul Ghbt inclines, and theuse of special heavy brake vans abandoned. The theory that eachvehicle should be provided with independent brake power was no doubt sound, and for short lines of railway in mountainousdistricts, likethe Ceylon and others, which consisted of steep gradients almost hhroughout their entire length, the system of working adopted was doubtless economical and safe ; but, on the Great Indian Peninsula railway, Bhorethe and Thul Ghbt inclines were respectively only about 14 and 10 miles long, or less than 2 per cent. of the total length of the railway, which was 1,300 miles in length. Shortly before the opening of the railway, numerous discussions had taken place between the heads of departments of the railway and the Government officials, as to the best method of working the ghat inclines, and it was ulti- mately decided, that it was more advisable to employ separate special brake power than to fit upand maintain, in efficient working order, the rolling stock of the whole system with inde- pendentbrakes sufficiently powerfulto be safe on the ghbts. Owingto the length of the railway, it was notunusual for numbers of vehicles to be employed in local traffic, and perhaps for months together they would not be required to pass over the incline.When they wererequired to do so, the probability would be, that, owing to the nature of the work on which they had beenemployed, and to the meresuperficial examination to which they had been subjected, the brakes would be out of order, and the vehicle rendered unsafe. Under such circumstances there would be a delay while the brakes were being put right, or the contents transferred to another vehicle. Another important reason for the adoption of the present system of brake power, was the fact that a large number of vehicles, belonging to other railway companies, often passed over the ghbts, some of them unprovided

with brake-power of any description. During the late famine in lrr. Manning. India, it was not unusual to see whole trains of foreign vehicles on the ghats, without a singIe independent brake. With such a constantinterchange of rollingstock it had, upto the present time, been thought useless for the great Indian Peninsula Railway Company to fit up its ownvehicles with self-supporting,independent brakes, unless other railway companies would do so also, which they could hardly be expected to do, considering brakes of the kind were not needed on their own lines. The dead weight, .or non-paying load on the ghbts, was not very great, inasmuch as the inclinebrake vans were fitted up and utilised as carriages, intowhich fourth and, sometimes, third class passengers were transferred at the top and bottom of the ghdts. Although satisfied l.hat ‘the system of working the ghat inclines had hitherto been the best that could be adoptedunder the circumstances, he thought that, looking at the greatimprovements in brake power which had been effected during the last few years, the time had arrived when continuous brakes should beemployed ; and the adoption of which, he understood, had been already recommended by the consulting engineer. Mr. J. MORANDI&REremarked that in France the working ex- Mr.Morandi&re. penses of irregular lines, when belonging to the great companies, wereextremely difficult toget at, owing to their not being .separatedfrom the general accounts. Thus, in the case of the Western railway, there was, Ist, the St. Germains incline, from Pecq to the St.Germains terminus, of which the gradient was 1 in 28, at first worked on the atmospheric system, but for many yearspast by6-coupled locomotives weighing 39 tonseach; 2nd, The FCcamp incline, between FQcamp and Ifs. This latter, an the Beuzeville Bread6 branch, had a gradientof l in 58, but the accounts of neither section were kept separate, EO that the effect of -the inclines on the cost of working could not be ascertained. He wasable to append some particulars of the Enghien and Montmorency railway, furnished him by the company’s manager, Mr. Level. Theline was 2,872 metres(about 19 mile) long, of which 1,297 metres were straight, 320 metres curves of more than ,25 chains radius, and 1,255 metres curves of less than 25 chains !radius. Of the profile 303 metres were level, 200 metres rose l in 200, 1,331 metres 1 in 50, and 1,037 metres 1 in 24. Therails were of steel of the Vignolestype, weighing 60 lbs. peryard. Oaken sleepers were used as on the Korthern railway. The line left the Enghien station of the Northern of France railway near Paris,and used theterminus at Enghien with that railway.

Mr.Morandikre. Midway between Enghien and Montmorency was the Soisy station forpassengers only. There were five level crossings, at two of whichwere watchmen’s cottages;three were merelyprovided with safetygates. Near Soisy was a branch, 225 mitres long, to a plasterquarry. During the construction of the Domont, Montlignon and Montmorency forts, the contractor made use of an inclined plane starting from one end of the Montmorency terminus andleading to the high ground. Some particulars of the cost of working, which amounted to 67 per cent., would be found in a report tothe shareholders of the company, dated the 24th of April, 1880, a copy of which he had the pleasure to present to the library of the Institution, inMr. Level’s name. M,.. Riggen- Mr. N. RIGGERBACII,late locomotive superintendent of the bath. Centralrailway of Switzerland,furnished apamphlet descriptive of his toothed-wheel locomotives, some of them exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1878. These were of two kinds, viz., engines for working on the rack system only, and for working either by rackor by adhesion. At the Paris Exhibitiontwo kinds of the latterhad been exhibited, viz., U and b. The locomotives for working on the racksystem only, employed on the Rigi, on inclines of 1 to 4, were too well known for being exhibited ; they hauled a train of the same weight aR themselves at a speed of 4 to 6 miles an hour. In the exhibited type a the carrying wheels were con- trolled by the toothedpinion, which was from two to two and a half times smaller, the speed could not therefore be greater than 9$ miles an hour. This type, which was of very simple construction, was best adapted for mines or quarries, or to connect such places withan ordinary railway station. The gauge could be either broad or narrow; the weight of the engine, all found, would vary from 10 to 18 (metric) tons ; they would draw up inclines of 1 in 20 a train five times their own weight, and on 1 in 14 of three times their own weight, at a speed of from 4 to 6 miles an hour. The exhibited type b would runat any speed as on an ordinary railway, the driving wheels being directly attached to the connecting-rods. Each driving axle, however, wasfurnished with two loose wheels or pulleys, which acted as carrying wheels when the engine was on the rack incline, the latter beingprovided withtwo inner rails corresponding with the small wheels. By this means the train could leave the ordinary rails and enter the rackincline without stopping.1 These engines were made for

This proceeding is described in detail in theabstract on the tramway at the Laufen quarries, vol. lvii., p. 346

either broador narrow gauge. Theirweight, ready forwork, Mr. Riggen- varied from 5 to 18 tons. The 7-ton engine would haul a train of bath. 40 tons, besides its own weight, up inclines of 1 in 100 at 16 miles an hour, and 20 tons up 1 in 33, using the ordinary drivingwheels. With the rack, 20 tons could be taken up 1 in 14 at 6 miles an hour. Allthese locomotives wereprovided with compressed-air brakes of a special type devised by Mr. Riggenbach, no ordinary skidding brake being capable of controlling such weights on the inclines mentioned. Mr. Riggenbach also supplied an account of the first rack railway constructed in Prussia, a description of which will be found in the Foreign Abstracts,post p. 386. &h.JOHN ROBINSON, of East Grinstead, remarked that a railway Mr. Robinson. with excessively steepgradients for shortdistances had been recently worked in this countrysuccessfully, both from a practical adfinancial point of view. Across a valley, where the gradients were 1 in 5, 1 in 73, and 1 in 125, stationary engines, with drums and wire ropes, had been employed to haul the traffic. On the rest of the railway, having gradients in some places of 1 in 9,1 in 10,1 in 14&,1in 17, &C., locomotives alone, without the aidof a central rail or racks, were used. The railway referred to was a temporary one, laid by thecontractor, Mr. Joseph Firbank, of the Lewes and East Grinstead railway, onthe surface of the ground, along the“cess,” for the purpose of transporting plant and materials required in con-the struction of the permanent works. This line showed the feasibility of working excessively steep gradients for short distances, which might with advantage be adopted in countries where the surface of the ground was irregular, where there would not be a large amount of heavy traffic, and where the available funds would not admit of expensive works. The rails used were flat-bottomed, of various sections, mostly 56 lbs. per yard, laid on Scotch fir cross sleepers, 7 feet long by 7 inches wide and 38 inches deep, to the ordinary 4 feet 82 inches gauge, with little or no ballast. For one deep valley winding engines were used, and elsewhere tank locomotives. On the north incline of the valley was a portable 10-HP. engine, with double cylinders andoverhead winding-drum, 5 feet in diameter ; and on the south incline of the valley was one of 20-HP., but with a drum, 4 feet 8 inches in diameter, attached to the side, and onthe ground. An iron-wire rope, 1inch in diameter, weighing 49 1bs. per lineal yard, was used on both inclines ; on the north it was 290 yards in length,and on thesouth 280 yards. A horse was necessary oneach incline, for shunting purposes, and occa- sionally to drawthe shackle and rope down the incline. A

Mr. Robinson. singleline of railswas laid down each incline, and a double line inthe bottom, with self-acting balanced points, to allow of the passage of wagons. Theengine on thenorth incline was capable of drawing up a load of 12 tons; that on the south a load of 16 tons. Eighteen loaded wagonshad been passed from one side to t,he other in two hours and three-quarters, but the usualnumber in a day of tenhours was fifty, representing a weight of 250 tons from north to southalone. With theappliances, 660 tons, exclusive of the weight of the wagons, could have been, if required, transported across the valley ; that was 330 tons in each direction in a day of ten hours. The contractor’s agent calculated the cost of hauling 1 ton across the valley, including wear andtear of enginesand machinery, at 43. Thetank locomotive had six wheels coupled, with 12-inch cylinders and 20 inches length of stroke, and weighed when in steam 16 tons. The wheels were 5 feet l inch in diameter, and had a total base of 10 feet 9 inches. This engine was capable of drawing two trucks of coal weighing 24 tons up the gradient of 1 in 9 by running down the gradient of 1 in 148, but only one truck, or 12 tons, starting from the bottom, andonly one truck up the gradient of 1 in 15 at Sharp Thorn, where there was a curve of 250 feet radius over the tunnel entrance. Thetime occupied inrunning from the south incline to Sharp Thorn, a distanceof nearly 4 miles, and back again, includingshunting and changing wagons,was one hour. The enginealone performed the singlejourney in twelveminutes. The contractor’s agent calculated the cost of hauling 1 ton of net load at a fraction over Id. per mile. This engine was capable of transporting 150 tons in 1 day, exclusive of the weight of the wagons, over the 4 milesreferred toin one direction. Heavy trains werehauled in detail upthe steepestgradients where shuntingsidings wereprovided. With reference to adhesion, some experiments to determinethe coefficient of friction of the various kinds of iron and steel used in themanufacture of driving- wheels and rails, and with the locomotives and rails themselves, would be useful. According to Rennie’s experiments, the constant fractionwhich the frictionwas of theinsistent pressure,was rather more for cast iron and wrought iron than for wrought iron and wrought iron. The coefficient for cast iron and wrought iron he gave as .&, corresponding to a limiting angle of resistance of 9’ 40‘, and of wroughtiron and wrought iron as corresponding to a limiting angle of resistance of 9O 5‘, but these were undsr pressures of 36 lbs. per square inch only, and it was well known that frictionunder heavy pressures increased very con-

siderably. It might befound that Americanengine driving- Mr. Robinson. wheels, castwith chiiled faces, hadan advantage as regards adhesion overothers of adifferent description. With respect to railway curves, although they were set out in the first instance as portions of a true circle, they were, when the rails came to be laid, flattened at the two ends, and in some measure approximated to parabolic curves. Mr. A. H. ROWAYobserved that it had been statedby Mr. Mr. Rowan. Carruthers that Wellington was the only port in thewhole island ; therefore, as the country was rapidly beingdeveloped, the amount of traffic which would eventually have to be hauledup This incline would be enormous, and every available means of increasing the adhesion, whether by Fell engines or other similar arrangements, would be absolutely necessary. At present it appeared that about five passengerswere carried upthe incline for every 4 tons of goods, and it was probable that this ratio would be maintained. Thus the passenger traffic being to the goods traffic as, say, one to twelve, the adhesion required to haul the paszenger traffic would onlybe one-twelfth of that required for the goods traffic, and therefore, if the passenger traffic were separated from the goods traffic, the Fell engine would beunnecessary for the passenger traffic. He therefore wished to direct attention to the principle of a vehicle specially adapted for passenger traffic on steep gradients. These vehicles might be called ‘‘ combined cars,” and there were severaldaily at work in Germany,France, and Belgium. They hadnot, however, hitherto been called upon to workon any gradient which approached in steepness to the New Zealand one, their principal recommendation having hitherto been their com- pactnem and economy. It had been abundantly proved that any engine had in its own weight sufficient adhesion to haul up an incline of 1in 15, a load equal to the weight availablefor adhesion. Xow take a loaded combined car composed of Tons. One four-coupled eagine . . . weighing, say 10 ,, four-wheeled hind-bogie . . . ,, ,, 1 ,, car for sixty passengers . . . ,, ,, 9 An aTerage load of forty-five passengers ,, ,, 3 - Total weight ...... -23

If thecar acted as a rigid connection or girder between the engine and hind-bogie, thenthe weight available for adhesion on the driving-wheelswould be 16 tons. As the adhesion of aI6-ton four-coupled engine would takesomething more than it total

m. Rowan. weight of 32 tons up 1 in 15, B foytio?*i it would take 23 tons. In descending inclines a L‘ combined car ” had eight wheels to brake, with the whole weight of vehicle and load available for adhesion between the rails and theskidded wheels. M,.. Smythe. Mr. A. J. HAMILTONSMYTHE observed, inregard to the New Zealand Government Railways, t,hat in the comparative table of receiptsand expenditure, during the periods of twelvemonths before and after the opening of the incline of 1 in 15, the receipts and expenditure per mile of line opened appeared to be consider- ablyin excess of the quotientsobtained by dividing thetotal sums received and expended by the numbers of miles of line open. This needed explanation. If thealternative extension, with gradients of 1 in 40, and 5 miles longer than the route adopted, had been constructed, the cost permile of workingthe whole 50 miles would probably not have exceeded the cost per mile of working the first 28 miles, which included 7 miles with a gradient of 1 in 35. On this assumption thetotal cost of working the whole line would have been 520,925, showing a saving of $1,994 on the cost of working the line as construct,ed. Where competitive lines did not exist, the fares and freights were usually fixed at a price per mile measured along the railway. Hence, if the longer line had been constructed, the total receipts would probably ham been to 530,400, as 50 was to 45, or would have amountedto 533,777, being a further gain to the alternative lineof 53,377 ; and taking the S1,994saving on the expenditure,there would have been a total of 55,371 a year to set against the 55,000 a year interest payable on the additional capital required for the construction of the longer line. It could nodoubt be urged inreply to this that increased charges, due to an additional lengthof line between the same two points, were not legitimate when considered for purposes of com- paring the advantages to beconferred on a town or district by the a.doption of one or other of alternative routes, especially when the cost of the line had to be borne by those using it. It might be remarked, however, that as the proportion of weight of engine to grossload carried would be smaller on the longerline with a gradient of 1 in 40 than on the shorter line with one of 1 in 15, the train-mileon the formerwould represent a greaterpaying tonnage conveyed than a train-mile on the latter. This advantage would probably much more than compensate for the longer time occupied on the journey, though its valuecould not be exactly determined unless ton-miles were substituted for train-miles in the table of results furnished in the Paper. The Author of the Paper

had given the maximum gross load that an engine could t.ake up Mr. Smythe. thegradient of 1 in 15. Ifhe wouldalso givethe maximum gross load taken up the 7-mile gradient of 1 in 35 round 5-chain curves, a better estimate could be made of the cost of working the alternative extension, as it might beassumed that it would be aboutthe same as working up the gradients of 1 in 40 round 3-chain curves. The difference between the amountsearned by trainsworking up gradients where, asstated in the Paper, an engine could only conveya maximum load of 63 tons, and the amounts earned by trains of 300 tons running on flat gradients, was so great that theadoption of a train-mile unit for purposes of estimating the comparativeeconomy of routes, involving gradients which differ much in steepness,seemed practicallyuseless; and until returns could be obtained showingthe cost of conveying tons of goods and passengers over lines of known gradients and lengths, the question of therelative economy of lines with different gradients must remain obscure. Mr. C. E. SPOONERobserved, by the description of the country, Mr. Spooner. that that part of the north island of New Zealand traversed by the railway was of a rude character, necessitating the adoption of sharp curves asa means of reducing the cost of construction, and that curves of 5 chains radius pervaded the greater part of the line. On a gauge of 3 feet 6 inches ordinary stock would, it was true, run upon such curves, but the strain on the axles and bearings must be considerable, and hence undue friction and unneces- sary consumption of fuel. As the rolling stock on the Wellington and Featherston line had not been described, he concluded that stock of the ordinary English con’struction was in use ; but he could not refrain from remarking that rolling stock of a special character would bepreferable for theline, such as the bogie system, or the Grover or Cleminson system of radial axles, though he thought that the bogie system was practically the most desirable for safe and easy running, as also giving better capacity for traffic. From the accounts of the various routes surveyed for the Wel- lingtonline, it appeared that there waa no alternativebut to a.dopt and construct the one chosen with the incline of 1 in 15, using the Fell system for working the traffic over it, the other parts of theline being worked with ordinary locomotives. In hill countries where frequently almost insurmountable difficulties were met with, such as had been met with on the Wellington and Featherston railway, it was questionable whether another plan of ascending steep gradients with greater utility and economy could

Mr. Spooner. not be brought into use. For the same reason of adopting severe gradients for a shortpart of the line,leaving the remaining portion with easy and good working gradients, more particularly with a view to lessenheavy expenditure in constructiveworks as with this line, he considered that the power of the ordinary locomotive might be sucoessfully used jointly for steep inclines, with a self-acting incline with drum and rope arrangement, made double for up and down lines, with the drum at the head of the same, having coil and uncoil steel wire ropes. As one train and its combined weight, with a locomotive at the head of the incline, wasattached, the other train and its combined weight,with a locomotive, wasattached to the rope and coupling at the foot; the ascending engine, using its tractive power up the gradients, and when necessary the descending locomotive using its tractive power down the gradient ; hence uot only having complete control over the trains by use of steam with the locomotives when either train might by its weightpreponderate, but also making use of the gravity of one in aid of the other, and thus avoiding the costly mode of the Fell engine and its accompanying gearing. Of course there would be the cost of the extra lineof way, drum machinery, ropes and rollers. In the application of this system it would be desirable that the incline should be made in as straight a line as possible, and to choose ground for its construction to as near a catenary curve as the ground would admit, so as to avoid numerous centxal friction rollers, reducing the number of rollers to a minimum, besides as a means of savingwear and tear of the rope. In theevent of such selection of site there wouldstill be the necessity fm making the line of incline in a straight direction as one most desirable; at thesame time it might be made an undulating incline, or one of various gradients. This mode of working would not require a change or alterationin either the ordinarylocomotive or the train further than a stoppage for coupling the trains to the ropes at the foot and head of the incline, and starting on receiving the proper signals. It was to be concluded that the train was furnished with con- tinuousand specialbrakes to use at anytime, even upon the greatest emergency, such as the rope or its gearing giving way. ARa means of reducing the cost in the construction of an incline a single line of rails, instead of a double line might be made, with ahalf-way passage, whichwould requiresafety points, &C., in charge of a signalman,though the first waspreferable for the general working, and wdd save the cost of a signalman.

Thc traffic of railways with inclines of from l in 15 to 1 in 30 Mr. Spooner. couldbe well worked on this principle. Bysuch a mode the difference to be overcome was the difference of weightbetween theup and down train, for or against,plus the weight and friction of the rope over rollers. If the down load of train was much in excess of the up load of train, the brakes could be used to regulate the speed; if less, then steam could be put on the locomotive till the proper speed was attained. The speed should be slow, and limited probably to 10 or 12 miles an hour, not but that greater speed might be applied if necessary. There would also have to be a limit to the weight of the train, so as not to placetoo great a strain on therope; probably a maximum of gross weight of 120 tons; but such would be regulated by the gradients adoptedfor the incline. There would be the question whether the system here propounded could bemade applicable, say upon an incline as now worked by the Fell engine at Mun- garoa,where the curves were sharp and numerous.Such would be somewhat intricate and would involve the necessity ofcom- bined centraland vertical rollers between the rails, besides a special arrangement for central rope couplings, which, by suitable mechanism, might,he believed, be effectively and practically carried out. Another mode of working traffic over steep gradients would be by laying ropes of steel or other suitable material along the line, and fixing the ends at the top andbottom of the incline to a screw anchorcoupling, drum or other fastening. Holders would be fixed on theline for carryingand guiding the ropes where necessary. On the locomotive engine, pulleys would be fastened on the driving axles, or on axles fixed at the leading or trailing end of the locomotive, and connected withthe axles of the driving-wheelsby cranks or gearing. When an engine and train arrived at the foot of the inclined plane the ropes would be uncoupled from the fastening8 and passed round the pulleys on the locomotive engine, and the end of the ropesmade fast tothe screwanchor coupling or drum, and tightened up, the other end of the ropes being fast at the top of the incline. The locomotive with the train would then proceed up the gradient, and be ab10 toapply its fulltractive power throughthe adhesion of the ropes on the pulleys. Whenthe train reached the top of the incline the ropes wouldbe uncoupled from the fastening, taken off the pulleys on the locomotive, and recoupled to the anchorfastening. When a train wasdescending a steep gradientthe ropes could be used as a brake power withthe

)Jr. Spooner. locomotive engine.Passenger trains would besupplied with cmtinuous and automatic brakes, and also with a special arrangement of brakesfor stoppingtrains in case of accident. The operation might alsobe carried out with asingle rope and pulley. Hehad made an experiment with asmall four-wheel model engine, complete in all its parts, called “ Topsy,” constructed by Messrs. G. P. Spooner and W. Williams, with cylinders 14 inch in diameter, stroke l# inch, and withwheels 3,s inches diameter on the tread; its weight in working order was 60 lbs., and it had been tested to a pressure of 110 lbs. The experiment was made, on a line of 3& inches gauge, to show the comparison of working the engine without and also with the system of the ropes and pulleys as above described. Thissystem was an invention of Nr. J. Sylvester Hughes of the Festiniog railway. Experiment No. 1.--0n the level the engine was weighted with a saddle load of 16 lbs., making a total weight of 76 lbs. At a steam pressure of 80 lbs. per square inch it took a gross load of 989 lbs. exclusive of the weight of the engine. Experiment No. 2.-On a gradient, of 1 in 15, with the engine weighted as before, and a mean pressure of 75 lbs. of steam per squareinch, it took agross load, exclusive of the engine, of 203 lbs. Experiment No. 3.-On a gradient of 1 in 15, with tworopes passed over the two adhesion pulleys on the engine, and the ends fastened at the top and bottom of the incline, the pulleys being fixed on an axle at the trailingend of the engine and driven from the driving-wheels by a crank; at a mean pressure of 75 lbs. of steamper square inch, the grossload carried, exclusive of the weight of the engine, was 549 lbs., the tension weight on each rope being 14 lbs. Experiment No. 4.-On an incline of 1 in 6, with the engine saddle weighted as before with 16 lbs., working without ropes, at a mean pressure of 75 lbs. of steam per square inch, the gross load carried, exclusive of the weight of the engine, was 49 lbs. Experiment No. 5.-On an incline of 1 in 6, with ropes as in experiment No. 3, and the mean pressure of steam per square inch 75 lbs., the gross load conveyed, exclusive of the weight of the engine, was 155 lbs., the tension weight on each rope being 28 lbs. Mr. lvatson. Mr. J. W. MITTON WATSOX had been engaged on the construction of a port2on of the incline on the first Ceylon Government railway, gradient 1 in 45, with10-chain curves. Hehad charge of the construction of a,n incline of 1 in 13 on a branch of the T&

railway, and llad also been employed as district engineer on the Mr. Watson. GreatIndian Peninsula railway, on which were the celebrated 'l'hnll and Bhore Ghkts;but all these sank into insignificance when compared withthe Orog'a railway in Peru. He hadfre- quently travelled over it, and in connection with it he had been presented with a commemorativebronze medal. Theline left Callao at the level of the wharves, and reached a height of about 15,000 feetabove the sea, having a ruling gradient of 1 in 25, andcurves of 120 feetradius. There werenumerous reversing stations, nearly sixty tunnels, and an iron viaduct 240 feet high. This viaduct was on the American truss system, but as the piers were composed of very thin wrought-iron columns, arranged some- vhat after the plan of the cast-iron ones in the Crumlin viaduct, I10 anticipated that rust from the inside of the columns would make their durability very questionable. The line was worked by Americanlocomotives, eight wheelscoupled, with afour-wheel bogie in front, and, with the exception of those in the bogie, the trailing wheeIs alone of the engine had flanges. They appeared to work well, but with even the best American spark catchers the groundnear the line was blackened with small coal and ashes. He had known, in several instances, where American engines had been worked in conjunction with English ones, the latter had a marked superiority on the score of durability. During the time he was on the Taff Vale railway, a gradient of l in 17 on the mainline was for some time worked successfully byordinary locomotives. Mr. J. C. WILSONconsidered the Fell central railsystem of rail- ~r.Wilson. way tobe the best,safest, and most economical system yet devised for ascending and descending very steep inclines, for the following reasons :-1st. It possessed the great meritof simplicity. The special tmctive power for the inclined part of the railway was of the same character as for theordinary part, the only difference being inthe form of its application. Theordinary locomotive engine was employed on the more level portions of the railwayuntil the incline was reached, whenthe central rail cngine, which was built inside of the ordinary engine, grasped the Fell central rail and thus easily acquired the additional tractive power to enable it to ascend theincline with its load. 2nd. It had the capacity of admitting of almost any increase of power to meet the requirements of almost any incline or of any load, the adhesion of the driving-wheels to the central rail being obtained by means of springs instead of by the mere weight of the engine, and by such means of course almost any amount of adhesion could [THE INST. C.E. VOL. LXIII.] L

Mr. Wilson. beobtained. 3rd. In reference tothe descent of the incline (a matter of equalif not of greaterimportance than its ascent, especially with regard to safety), the Fell central railafforded the opportunity of a clip brake being applied to it (not to the driving- wheels), which was capable of immediately arresting the progress of any train, for it simply held fast by the whole length of the central rail; and the said rail was also a most efficient guide to the engine, tending tokeep it on the rails, in fact it almost entirelyprevented the possibility of its leaving them. 4th. The strength of the couplings throughout the train being necessarily rery great in order to drag the required load safely 1113 the incline, and the engine being, as above remarked, prevented leaving the rails, it followed that, in theevent of a carriage or wagon getting off the rails behind theengine, there would always 'se a reasonable probability of its being dragged on to them again; or, at allevents, no very serious accident could ensue.' 5th. The ordinary carriages and wagons could be freely used for this system by merely adding to the strength of the draw gear. As to the points referred to in reasons 3rd and 4th, bearing, as they did, yery strongly upon the question of 'public safety, he would rofer to the account of the recent accident. on the Nairurapa side of theRimutaka hill in Kew Zealand,where theFell centralrail line was in use. It was therein distinctly stated byone of the survivors that if it had not beea for the engine holding on to the rails as it did do, and to the strength of the couplings, a most fearful catastrophe would have ensued. It seemed to be noteworthy, in connection with that accident, that the carriages were being pushed up, instead of being dragged up the incline as usual. As the manager of the AronsideEngine Company, hehad undertakento design andmanufacture these four engines for Messrs. Hemansand Bruce. Theusual drawings could notbe supplied. Fell central-rail engines, it was known, had been manu- factured before, chietly on the continent, but they had all been inore or less failures. A few odd tracings of parts of those engines were seen, but they were put entirelyaside ; and these four engines were designed de novo. And here he might mention, as a matter of history, that'the largest share of the credit for the invention and design of these engines was due to a Swedish gentleman,Mr. H. W. Widmark, an engineer of acknowledged great ability in the construction of locomotive engines. Theengines were dulymanu- factured, and one of them wastried on the12th of February, 1676, upon a piece of railway of 3 feet 6 inches gauge, laid down for the purpose at Bristol. The trials were eminently satisfactory ;

only one tooth of the spur wheels of the internal engine gaveway. Mr. Wilsoa. These wheels were made of cast steel ; afterwards a spare set was made of the very best qualityof forged crucible steel, slotting out the teeth. At the time the tooth in question gave way, the inside engine was being driven in opposition to theoutside engine under the condition of having just sufficient pressure on its springs to render its adhesion equal to that of the outside engine ; the wheels were sticking for the moment; the driver kept turning on the

steam,when the wheelsslipped andthe engine ran away.Al- ‘ though the trial at Bristol was necessarily a limited one, it was a very severe one inregard to testing the strength and general working of the engines. It wassatisfactory tonote thatonly the trifling defect of the failure of one small bolt was found in those engines. This bolt was considered to be only a safeguard,the pressure on the top bearings of the vertical shafts resulting from the springs below amounting to upwards of 4 tons ; but as a safeguard it seemed that thebolt in question ought to have been made stronger. In the construction of these engines, there were points of novelty in, (1) the framing, especially of the inside engines ; (2) in the valve gear of the inside engines, which had no eccen- trics ; (3) in the mode of coupling the four vertical shafts of the inside engines together; (4) in theregulator apparatus, there being a separateregulator and handle for each engine, but withthe handles so arranged as to be capable of being combined, and thus to aIIow of the admission of the steam to each engine separately orunitedly, as might be required. It was necessary at first in starting with a load to regulate each engine separately until they each came to perform their proper share of duty; afterwards the two handles could be locked together, and the admission of the steam for bothengines regulated by one handle inthe usual way. Furthermore, in order to avoid a waste of power through friction in passing round the sharp curvesof the line these engines had their trailing axles fitted with Widmark’s radial axle-boxes, an invention which, from its simplicity and neatness as well as from its efficiency and cheapness wasfound to beadmirably adapted for the purpose. A bogie was found to be too cumbersome for such engines, especially for 3 feet 6 inches gauge, and it was found to have besides the serious disadvantage of prolonging the tail of the engines too far, witha consequent very prejudicial effect upon the draw gear.Such engines were required, in fact, to be made as short and compact as possible, especially when two were to be worked coupled together, as was stipulated in this instance. Finally, new combined central buffing and draw gear apparatus L2

Mr. Wilson. was specially designed for these engines. He had purposely dwelt upon the construction of these engines because they were truly marvellous, and the success of this Fell central railway system in truth mainly dependedupon them. Theseengines were entirely novel;and they were the firstreally successful engines of the kind. In one of thetrials at Bristol, the insideengine was set in forwardand the outside in backwardgear, and full steamwas turned on to both of the engines, the result being thut the inside or Fell central-rail engine skidded the wheels of the outside engine and dragged them along. The special piece of line on which the trials were made was laid with a sharp reversecurve, in order to completely test the central-railsystem in colnbination with the outsideengine withits radial axle-boxeson such acurve. Both acted perfectly. The Avonside Engine Company had unc?er- taken to fulfil the following requirements, viz., that two of the engines coupled together should be ableto draw 100 tons, exclusive of their own weight,up an incline of 1 in 15, the working pressure of the steam being the same as in the other New Zealand engines, viz., 130 lbs. per square inch.

30 November, 1880. JAMES BRUNLEES, F.R.S.E., Vice-President, in the Chair. The discussionupon the twoPapers, “New ZealandGovern- ment Railways ” and “ Ceylon Government Railways,” occupied the whole evening.