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RISE AND PROGRESS
OF
STEAM L000MOTION ON COMMON ROADS
BY
JOHN HEAD,
Ol' THE FIRM OF
R A N S O M E S, SIM S & H E A D,
IPSWICH, ENGLAND.
AWARDED
THE WATT GOLD MEDAL & TELFORD PREMIUM IN B00KS,
BY
THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS,
1873.
ON THE
RISE AND PROGRESS
OF
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
BY JOHN JEAD, ASSOC. INST. C.E.
2'
WITH AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISCUSSION UPON THE PAPERS.
EDITED BY
JAMES FORREST, ASSOC. INST. C.E.,
SECRETARY,
By permission of the Council.
Excerpt Minutes of Proceedings of The Institution of Civil Engineers,
Vol. xxxvi. Session 1872-73.
*...*.****-**-*** * * * * *.*.*.*.* * * * * * * * * * *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.***
LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,
STAMEORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
1873.
[The right of Publication and of Translation is reserved.]
AIDWERTISEMENT.
THE Institution is not, as a body, responsible for the facts and
opinions advanced in the following pages.
i
Jºaº 3-6% +,
THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERs.
| ransportation
library
-ry- 5
7 o
..}+ +3
April 8, 1873.
T. HAWKSLEY, President,
in the Chair.
No. 1,370.-‘‘On the Rise and Progress of Steam Locomotion on
Common Roads.” By JoHN HEAD, Assoc. Inst. C.E."
THE object of this Paper is to give a history of the rise and pro-
gress of steam locomotion on common roads, coupled with a
description of the locomotives,” or traction engines, made for that
purpose up to the present time. The Author does not propose to
advocate any special system of construction.
The locomotives referred to may be classified as follows:—
1. Road locomotives for the conveyance of passengers; also
locomotives for use on tramways.
2. Road locomotives for the conveyance of goods, heavy
weights, &c.; also steam road-rollers.”
3. Locomotives for use in agricultural operations, steam
ploughing, &c.
4. Road locomotives for military purposes.
About the year 1825, after peace had been established on a firm
basis, it was found that Great Britain was in a prosperous con-
dition ; and it became apparent that a more rapid communication
must be organised between the principal towns than could be per-
formed by horses, except at an enormous Outlay, and to the danger
of the passengers. The road locomotive was introduced, in an
approximately practical form, about the year 1827. Many experi-
ments had been made with steam coaches on turnpike roads by
* The discussion upon this Paper extended over portions of two evenings, but
an abstract of the whole is given consecutively.
* The word “locomotive' is understood to mean a machine propelled by steam,
used for the purpose of hauling other vehicles containing passengers or goods,
though in some cases the locomotive and carriage are self-contained.
* The Author classifies under this division engines used for the purpose of
hauling heavy loads, coals, stone, and general goods, at a speed of from 2 miles
per hour to 4 miles per hour; and he includes road-rollors, as approaching more
nearly to this species than to any other.
B 2
4. - STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
Gurney, Ogle, Summer, Maceroni, Hancock, Scott Russell, and
others, between the years 1825 and 1834. These carriages were
chiefly intended for the conveyance of passengers. Many of them
succeeded in traveling at the rate of 20 miles per hour for short
distances on good roads; but great hostility was exhibited against
them on the part of the British public, partly from a natural
distaste for any kind of innovation, and partly because it was found
practically impossible to make a law, which should work with equal
fairness on common roads for the use of a steam carriage and of a
horse coach. Consequently the proprietors of the horse coaches,
being in possession, threw such obstacles in the way of the intro-
duction of steam that, after large sums of money had been sunk
in endeavouring to make a perfect passenger road locomotive, the
problem was abandoned for the time.
During this period, although railways were proposed and in
progress, many persons were still in favour of making use of steam
on common roads. Some interesting evidence was given on this
subject before a committee of the House of Commons in 1831.
In “Gordon's Treatise on Road Locomotives” the following
paragraph occurs:–“It will be found that with the exception
of the Liverpool and Manchester line, and of those lines formed
solely for the purpose of carrying heavy materials on a descending
road, railways are at least of a questionable character when there is
the possibility of having a good turnpike road and steam carriages.”
The working of the Liverpool and Manchester railway, however,
showed that although the first outlay of capital for a railway
between two towns was much greater than for a service of steam
coaches on the existing roads—on a scale commensurate with the
requirements of the time—yet the iron road, laid on a level, must
in the end prove successful, on account of the difficulties in the
latter system of dealing with increased traffic, the impossibility of
manoeuvring two carriages, or even one carriage, on a narrow, or
badly metalled road, and the common right of every inhabitant of
the country to the use of the turnpike road. Railway companies
possessed an exclusive privilege, while the proprietors of steam
carriages were unable to prevent hostile trustees from fresh
metalling the roads, or from imposing tolls, which were often more
per diem than the total cost of running the engine. Scientific
and commercial men were therefore obliged, for the time, to
* Wide “Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney’s account of the Invention of the Steam-jet
or Blast; and its application to Steamboats and Locomotive Engines.” 8vo.
London, 1859.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 5
abandon the idea of making use of the existing highways for
steam carriages, and left them to be monopolized by conveyances
drawn by animals.
Very little was heard about steam on common roads for the
next fifteen years. With the exception of two self-propelling agri-
cultural engines, exhibited by Messrs. Ransome — the first at
Bristol, in 1846, and the second at Norwich, in 1849—the subject
was not revived until about the year 1856. From that time,
until within the last two or three years, the attention of engineers,
interested in the perfection of locomotives for use on ordinary
roads, has been diverted entirely from the question of passenger
traffic, and to a great extent from that of the conveyance of heavy
goods, and has been principally devoted to the construction of
locomotives for agricultural purposes. -
Mr. T. Aveling, Assoc. Inst. C.E., Mr. Burrell, Messrs. Fowler and
Greig, and Messrs. Clayton and Shuttleworth, have done much to
bring the engine used by the farmer to its present state of perfection.
The experience of the past twenty years tends to demonstrate that
the greatest practical use of the locomotive on common roads, will be
for improving and expediting our farming operations, and conveying
light loads for short distances. It is to be feared that until the
existing laws are altered, passenger traffic by steam power must be
abandoned. When the prejudices of the present generation are over-
come, it will be found that—by the employment of light engines
running on tramways laid on existing roads, with moderate gradients
—passengers can be conveyed by steam on the highways with more
punctuality and economy, at a maximum speed of 10 miles to 12
miles per hour, than by ordinary Omnibuses, or by horse tramways.
DRIVING WHEELS.
Amongst the component parts of a traction engine, the driving
wheels perform the most important functions. They may be
classified under the heads of ‘elastic,’ ‘flexible,” and ‘rigid.’
An “elastic' wheel is one which is sufficiently resilient to answer
the purpose of bearing springs, but its circumference does not
necessarily deviate from a circular form by the pressure of the
tread. A “flexible’ wheel is one whose treading face suffers a
material change of form as it rolls along, and in addition to the
faculty it possesses of acting as a spring, it has a large portion
of its periphery continually in contact with the ground. Adams'
road wheel (Plate 11, Fig. 5) and Mackinder's road wheel are
‘ elastic,’ but their rigid tires cannot deviate from the circular form.
Thomson's india-rubber wheel (Plate 11, Fig. 3), and Bremme's steel
6 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
tire wheel (Plate 11, Fig. 6), are “flexible, as their tread yields as
they roll along. Therefore an “elastic’ wheel merely answers the
purpose of bearing springs, and does not practically increase the
bite; while a “flexible’ wheel forms a spring, and also increases
the adhesion. All other wheels are classed as ‘rigid,” because they
do not yield to the inequalities of the road. -
The adaptation of locomotives to common roads has, for the last
fifty years, been a matter of continuous experiments, accom-
panied by many failures. That it is difficult to design a loco-
motive, which shall work as well on the highway as thousands of
similar engines work on rails, is shown by the fact that during half
a century many of the best mechanical engineers have, from time
to time, made road locomotives and experimented with them; and
yet, at the present moment, with one or two exceptions, they are
unable to produce more than an approximately perfect road loco-
motive either for passenger traffic or for ordinary goods traffic.
The “farm engine’’ is the only type which has, as yet, given
any really satisfactory results.
The following table, compiled partly from data by Lieutenant
Crompton, and partly from other sources, will show the resistance
of smooth rigid wheels in lbs. per ton on different surfaces:—
On very good pavement. . . . . . . 35 lbs.
, good macadam . . . . . . . . 60 x
, Ordinary macadam . . . . . . . 90 ,
, newly-laid gravel . . . . . . . 200 ,
,, Soft grass land . . . . . . . . .300 ,
,, newly-laid metal © tº º , 440 ,,
a well-laid railway, with moderate
3? gradients . Y, & º } 8 lbs. to 10 ,
From which it appears, that even when the road is in the best
order, the rolling resistance is about 8 times that on rails.
With the road in an ordinary state, it is from 10 times to 12
times, while, on newly-laid metal, the rolling resistance becomes
nearly 50 times that on rails. As almost all roads contain inclines
of 1 in 20, or 1 in 30, and as many of them contain inclines of
1 in 10, it will be seen that the actual pull, required to move 1 ton
over many portions of macadamised roads, amounts in some cases
to more than 100 times that on a railway with moderate gradients.
The difficulty of obtaining sufficient adhesion, and the wear and
tear caused by rigid wheels without springs, have from time to
time led to the trial of various devices for overcoming these defects;
but extended experience seems to show that a rigid wheel, with
wrought-iron diagonal bars on the periphery, is the cheapest
driver, and that, in many cases, it is sufficiently reliable for the
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. ---. 7
class of work for which road locomotives are usually required. At
the same time, a great demand exists for a reliable “flexible’ wheel
for use under certain circumstances where the ‘rigid’ wheel is
almost useless.
The different types of wheels may be appropriated as follows:–
For ‘farm engines’—used for thrashing, and for hauling
light loads on an estate—“steam ploughing engines,”
‘passenger engines,' and for light loads at high speeds,
‘rigid’ wheels and, in Some instances, ‘elastic’ wheels
should be adopted. -
For engines designed to ascend very steep gradients, and
for engines used for hauling heavy loads on causeways
or stone pavements, “flexible’ wheels are required.
The following is a description of some of the principal driving
wheels which have been designed :-
Boydell's wheel.-The first wheel which came into extended use
in traction engines was termed ‘Boydell's endless railway.’ It con-
sisted of large flat segments of rails, so jointed round the wheel,
that it ran on a species of continuous tramway (Plate 11, Fig. 1).
This wheel was patented in 1846, for facilitating the draught of
ordinary carriages over soft ground by means of an extended bearing
surface, which prevented the wheels sinking. It was partially used
for that purpose for several years before it was proposed to adapt
it to a locomotive. One of the principal objects the patentee wished
to attain, was the transport, by steam, of artillery over roads im-
passable by horses or oxen. Boydell's wheel, when tried, gave
the most satisfactory results as regards the increase of adhesion ;
and it was shown that it could run with facility over soft land
upon which a horse could not move a light cart. The great surface
of the shoes in contact with the ground, enabled it to haul great
weights over bogs, and to perform many other feats which quickly
brought the engine into notice. Indeed its pulling power was
So great, that a single driving wheel gave more than sufficient
bite for all ordinary hauling work; and, consequently, several
engines were constructed with only one side of the machine
fitted with the traveling trams—a good plan to save expense, but
one calculated to destroy the general efficiency of a locomotive, as
its facility of steerage is thereby much impaired. -
Boydell's wheel clearly proved that a large surface in contact
with the ground tended to an increase of efficiency, but at a
great Outlay of wear and tear. There was no elastic medium to
8 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
deaden the concussion, and the whole apparatus went clattering
along, an extraordinary combination of inharmonious mechanism.
However, the arrangement was continued for many years; a com-
pany was formed to work the patent; about twenty engines were
made, and many improvements in detail elaborated, but gradually
the whole project came to a natural end. A further account of the
actual performances of Boydell's engine will be given under the
head of ‘Road locomotives for the conveyance of goods.”
Bray’s wheel.—Some short time after Mr. Boydell had brought his
engines into public use, and when the great advantages of increased
adhesion had become clearly known, Mr. Bray, of Kent, brought out
his spudded wheel (Plate 11, Fig. 2), by means of which he hoped to
gain sufficient adhesion, without complexity and liability to break-
age. Bray’s wheel had a rigid tire fitted with short strong spikes
to dig into the road surface as it rolled along. These spuds could,
by an eccentric, be drawn in below the wheel surface, so that it
then ran with merely a smooth tire, but when they were projected
it was a rigid spiked wheel. The bite of such a wheel on
cobble stones—between which the spuds inserted themselves—was
equal to cog-gearing, and on macadam the peculiarly shaped
spuds inserted themselves into the surface of the road, and pro-
duced a similar effect, but to a smaller extent. This plan answered
well for some roads, but it was evidently not suited for general use,
on account of the damage done to the highways, and the continued
breakages in the mechanism of the wheels, caused by the unequal
strains on the connecting rods of the Spuds.
Wheels with india-rubber tires.—Mr. R. W. Thomson, of Edin-
burgh, in 1867, constructed a wheel consisting of a very light
wrought-iron drum, 4 ft. diameter by 15 in. wide, with flanges
1 in. high on either side. Outside this drum was stretched a flat
india-rubber band or tire, 12 in. wide by 5 in. thick. The wheel
ran with the india-rubber in contact with the ground. It was
found to slip on damp roads and greasy mud. To obviate this,
Mr. Thomson covered the india-rubber tire with flat steel plates, or
‘shoes.' These were turned over at the ends and joined together
by ordinary flat links (Plate 11, Fig. 3), some of which were of
different lengths in order to compensate for the elongation of the
chain by wear. This species of armour was very troublesome,
owing to the continuous breakage of the link pins, and the difficulty
of keeping the tire in its place unless the shoes were very tight.
Messrs. Aveling and Greig took out a patent for an improved
* Wide post, p. 22.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 9
shoe (Plate 11, Fig. 4), formed of a strong plate turned over at
both ends, each side finishing in the form of a hook which was
attached to a loop at the end of a wrought plate sliding on the
edge of the rim of the driving wheel. The shoes were fixed
to the rim of the wheel instead of rotating with the tire. This
description of shoe has been attached to several engines manu-
factured by Messrs. J. Fowler and Co., and has been in work
for some time. It remains to be proved how the india-rubber tire
will wear, when rotating inside the annular space formed by the
fixed shoes and the outer surface of the wheel.
Another system of protecting the india-rubber tire was invented
by Mr. Thomson; and improved by Mr. Burrell (Plate 11, Fig. 3).
In this case the steel plates touch each other outside the tire, and
tapering at the ends, are turned down so as to lap over and clip
the angle iron rim of the wheel on both sides, thus permitting the
india-rubber to rotate, but preventing it from coming off sideways.
The shoe is kept in position, on one side, by a plate fastened with
two screws. This arrangement enables any one shoe to be discon-
nected without taking off all the rest. The system has been found
to work well in practice, but experience has not yet shown what
will be the wear between the clips at the end of the shoes and
the angle iron of the wheel.
The following figures (1 and 2) show the motion of the india-
rubber tire when moving without shoes, and also the form which
the tire assumes on a convex road :—
SS




10 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
Much difficulty was experienced in the early trials of Thomson's
wheel, owing to the convexity of the road forcing the india-rubber
tire over the angle iron (Fig. 2), thus necessitating guards to keep
it in place. The shoes just described will not allow any play in the
tire, but nevertheless a great wear and tear is continually taking
place through the outward lateral pressure of the india-rubber.
A very curious feature was discovered when working the india-
rubber tire without shoes. The tire being loose on the drum, as
the wheel revolves, a portion of the india-rubber is continually
rolled out to the leading side, where it accumulates until, when
running fast, the tire becomes several inches clear of the drum, and
as this excess of india-rubber increases, it gradually escapes, by
working its way upwards, passing backwards over the top of the
wheel. When an india-rubber tire is working without shoes, at a
speed of 8 miles per hour, there is a much greater amount of india-
rubber on the leading side than on the following side of the wheel.
On the leading side the excess of india-rubber accommodates itself
by “bagging out” (Fig. 1), while in the rear it is in a state of ten-
sion, and tightly grips the iron wheel. From this action the india-
rubber tire is continuously working round with a reverse motion to
that of the drum. The rate of this motion depends upon the tight-
ness with which it was originally stretched, its density, its thick-
ness, and the weight on the wheel. If the wheel is very lightly
loaded, the tire will scarcely move, while if it is heavily compressed,
a great portion of it is rolled out towards the front, and the amount
of the reverse action becomes very great. Under ordinary circum-
stances the tire will move once round the drum in from 30
revolutions to 40 revolutions. It is evident that friction must
take place in the india-rubber tire, from its contrary rotation
round the iron drum, and also from the continuous change of form
it undergoes. No experiments have, however, yet been made to
determine the amount.
It appears certain that if india-rubber is used as a tire for the
driving wheel of a road locomotive it must be used in the form of
a ring, and allowed to rotate. All experiments hitherto made for
attaching it in blocks with cement to the periphery of the driving
wheel, or of putting it on to the wheel in segments and fastening
it by means of slings, have failed.
The india-rubber tire has the great advantage of being a perfect
spring to the engine, and it forms a safe and a sure brake. On good
macadam its resistance is more than that of the rigid wheel, and
On a rough or newly-metalled road, owing to its great surface, it
does not sink below the tops of the stones, while the rigid wheel
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 11
consumes a great amount of power from sinking into the surface of
the road with a crushing and grinding action. Over paved roads the
india-rubber wheel, or any other equally elastic wheel, is decidedly
Superior to the rigid wheel, owing to the increased amount of
surface of adhesion; in fact, it has been found that a flexible wheel
is almost indispensable for all steam traffic on such roads even with
moderate gradients.
One of the principal drawbacks to the use of india-rubber tires
is their great prime cost, which appears likely to increase instead
of to diminish ; also, the impossibility of finding a market for
the sale of the worn-out india-rubber. The cost of the tires of
the ‘Ravee’—the passenger engine built at Ipswich for the Indian
Government—amounted to £241. Those of the ‘Sutherland, which
were smaller in diameter, but of greater width, cost £234.
With respect to their wear, much difference of opinion exists,
but it is impossible to form any correct formula for depreciation,
owing to the paucity of the experiments hitherto conducted, and
the short time which most engines constructed on this patent have
been continually at work.
The Duke of Sutherland, Hon. M. Inst. C.E., states that, after
running 1,000 miles during 90 days, the india-rubber tires of his
engine, weighing when new 1,337 lbs., were reduced to 1,202 lbs.,
or about 10 per cent.
Mr. C. F. White, of Aberdeen, who has been working with one
of R. W. Thomson's patent 10-H.P. road locomotives for more than
two years, writes, that the tires have run 4,400 miles in 309 days,
and that their weight was diminished in that time from 1,267 lbs. to
1,133 lbs., or about 10 per cent. He has had them re-lined with
thin india-rubber, and expects them to continue for some time in a
satisfactory state.
Little experience has been obtained with the performance of
india-rubber used for tires in hot countries, and the result of the
trials of the Indian engines will be looked forward to by engineers
with much interest. Up to the present time, Lieutenant Crompton
writes that the tires of the driving wheels wear well, and he hopes
to run an engine 8,000 miles with a set.
It is evident that, if the thickness of the tire is materially re-
duced, the power of the india-rubber to ‘float’ the engine is dimin-
ished, consequently a greater strain is brought upon each cubic
inch of rubber than it is calculated to bear, thereby lessening the
value of the tire as a spring to the engine.
Much may be said in favour of Thomson's patent tires, but
up to the present time the difficulties of protecting the india-
12 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
rubber in a permanently satisfactory manner, coupled with the
uncertainty of its action under peculiar circumstances, have to a
great extent arrested its employment for the driving wheels of road
locomotives. It is, therefore, to be hoped that the attention of
mechanical engineers will be directed to overcoming these diffi-
culties. -
Adams' road wheel (Plate 11, Fig. 5) is purely “elastic,’ and
consists of an ordinary centre and arms, having a heavy T-iron
rim, between which and the outer flat tire are inserted treading
blocks of india-rubber, about 2 in. thick. These blocks, along with
the T-iron rim of the inner part of the wheel, are kept in position
by means of two angle irons riveted to the outer ring. A drag
link connects the outside tire with the T-iron ring. These wheels,
of course, do not increase adhesion, but they act well as moderate
bearing springs, and give a great relief to the destructive jolting of
an ordinary rigid wheel. They have been exclusively adopted by
Messrs. Aveling and Porter up to the present time, but sufficiently
extended experience has not yet been had with them to determine
how long the india-rubber will last.
Mackinder's wheel consists of an iron drum, surrounded by a
series of transverse springs, formed like those used for a railway
truck, each fitted with an Outer treading-shoe, sliding in guides. A
set of these wheels, manufactured by Messrs. Robey, of Lincoln, has
run for some months. The arrangement is expensive and heavy,
and the sliding shoes would wear rapidly through contact with
sand and mud. *
Bremme's flexible steel-tire wheel.-In this wheel (Plate 11,
Fig. 6) the flexible tire is formed of one or more rings, each of
which is constructed of one or more bands of steel, or other similar
material.
In practice, the bands are made of steel from 4 in. to $ in.
thick, and from 2% in. to 4 in. wide. The rings are fixed side by
side, and are protected against the road by shoes or tread-pieces.
To the tire are attached an adequate number of arms or links,
which make the connection between it and the central part of the
wheel—that is to say, the arms or links projecting a given dis-
tance beyond the periphery of the central part, are able to support
the lateral thrust or pressure which the wheel may be exposed to,
and are free to adjust themselves radially to any curve the elastic
tire may assume under a dead load at the axle.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 13
In driving wheels, the central part receives rotary motion,
which by means of the arms is imparted to the tire. When the
wheel stands on its tread, the whole load, acting at the centre,
is suspended from the upper portion of the tire, while its lower
portion is perfectly free to deflect and flatten against the road,
thus fulfilling the function of a spring, and producing increased
contact surface with the road.
These wheels have been fitted to one of Aveling and Porter's
6-H.P. ‘Steam sappers,’ at Chatham, and have been found to answer
well, but sufficient time has not elapsed to allow of accurate
comparisons with other wheels.
Nairn's rope wheel was designed to have all the properties of
the india-rubber wheel, at about one-quarter the cost. It consisted
of two layers of rope, each 4 in. thick, coiled round a drum wheel,
and protected by shoes on the Outer surface. It was found in
practice that when the rope was coiled loosely enough to flatten at
the tread of the wheel, to the same extent as india-rubber, the
resistance became very great, through the tire being soft and not
elastic; and the rope was soon destroyed. If the coils were wound
round as tightly as possible, the tire became almost rigid, and the
wheel was not more efficient than one of wrought iron.
These remarks on wheels cannot be brought to a conclusion
without citing the careful experiments which were made at the
instigation of the Royal Agricultural Society at Wolverhampton,
in 1871, by Mr. F. J. Bramwell, M. Inst. C.E., and Mr. J.
Easton, M. Inst. C.E. A traction engine of 8 H.P., named
‘Sutherland,’ was fitted with two descriptions of drivers, namely,
one on Thomson's patent, 5 ft. diameter and 15 in. broad, and
the other of plain cast iron, 5 ft. diameter and 17 in. broad.
A 10-EI.P. road locomotive was also experimented upon. It
had iron driving wheels with cross-bars cast on the rim, 6 ft.
diameter and 18 in. wide. The trial took place on a hill about one-
third of a mile long, with gradients varying from 1 in 35 to 1 in 18.
After testing the wheels in a variety of ways, the co-efficient of
adhesion of the india-rubber tire was found to be, '45; of the
large cross-bar wheel of the 10 H.P. engine, 35; and of the plain
cast-iron wheel, 244. Taking the gross loads drawn by the
engines at different times, it was ascertained that the india-rubber
tire would take a gross load of 5 times the insistent weight
upon the drivers, up an incline of 1 in 18; the cast-iron tires
14 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
with cross-bars, 6.ft. diameter, 3.75 times the weight on the
drivers up the same incline; and the cast-iron solid smooth wheels,
5 ft. diameter, not more than 3 times the weight under similar
conditions. -
Other wheels have been invented for the purpose of increasing
adhesion and acting as springs to the engine, but none have
proved capable of standing the test of a long journey.
PASSENGER ENGINES.
*.
Space will not permit a description of the various steam engines
which have been designed for conveying passengers on common
roads. The Author therefore proposes to give a detailed descrip-
tion only of some of those which actually carried passengers,
and performed a certain number of journeys satisfactorily. It
would, however, scarcely be acting justly to some of the early
pioneers of steam road locomotion, if their inventions were passed
over without a short notice.
In 1784, Mr. James Watt, whose wonderful genius, it may
figuratively be said, broke in and trained the steam engine, took
out a patent for a mode of applying it to steam carriages, but no
details—so far as the Author is aware—are given of his scheme.
In 1802, Mr. Richard Trevethick invented a high-pressure steam
engine and boiler in one machine, of a very compact kind, mounted
on 4 wheels. The boiler was cylindrical, and made of cast iron,
with the fireplace in the interior of it. The cylinder was vertical
and partly inserted into the boiler; the motion being communi-
cated directly to the driving wheels by two connecting rods
attached to a cross head. It will not be a matter of surprise that,
after experimenting upon the present site of Euston Square, at a
period when turnpike roads were very badly made, he discon-
tinued his experiments upon them, and transferred his operations
to railways.
About 1812, Mr. Brunton, of Butterly, invented an arrangement
of machinery by which a motion was attained similar to that of
horses' legs; and in 1824, Mr. Gordon took out a patent, by which
an action similar to that of horses’ feet could be obtained. It
was found, however, that one of the wheels of the carriage, when
attached to the steam engine, had a sufficient hold of the ground
to give progressing motion without using propellers; and in
consequence these inventions were not carried out."
* Wide “Gordon's Treatise on Road Locomotives.” 1832.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 15
The first passenger engine, so far perfected as to be capable of com-
peting for hire with a stage coach, was constructed by Mr. Gurney,
of London; and as early as 1827, his engines were elaborately com-
pleted, with almost every required appliance. They were steam
coach locomotives, in which the passenger carriage and propelling
machinery were combined in one machine (Plate 12, Fig. 1). They
were about 22 ft. long by 6 ft. 5 in. wide; below the carriage
were a pair of cylinders of 8 in. diameter and 18 in. stroke, coupled
directly to a pair of 5-ft. drivers. The boiler consisted of a net-work
of 13-in. tubes, within which was the fire, the necessary draught
being caused by a fan blowing into a close ash-pan. In some
engines the fan was driven by a small donkey engine, so that its
speed could be regulated as required. The engine ran on 5 wheels,
and was steered by the fifth wheel. One man in front drove the
engine and steered, while another, on a small seat behind, fired,
pumped, and regulated the fan. The fuel was coke. There were 12
seats for passengers, and the general appearance of the machine was
similar to a large stage coach. -
The great defect in Gurney's engine was the cranked axle, which
was constantly breaking, notwithstanding it was latterly made
of large diameter. The boiler tubes also gave much trouble, from
continued leakage, and the passengers complained, that the coach
was rough to ride in, had a strong Smell of hot oil, and was very
close and suffocating.
Several of these conveyances were made and tried. In 1831, one
worked four months for hire between Cheltenham and Gloucester,
and in that time ran 3,500 miles. Another ran 84 miles in 10 con-
secutive hours, including all stoppages. Being directly coupled,
on good roads they easily attained speeds of 20 miles per hour and
25 miles per hour.
Of the ten or twelve builders of steam carriages between 1827 and
1834, Mr. Hancock, of Stratford, a contemporary of Mr. Gurney, was
by far the most successful. Hancock's engines were also self-contained
omnibuses, running on 4 wheels (Plate 12, Fig. 2). The cylinders
were inverted, 9 in. by 12 in., geared to the main axle by chains,
with a ratio of 2 to 1. The drivers were 4 ft. diameter, and
either of them could at pleasure be disconnected by clutches. The
boiler was about 2 ft. Square and 3 ft. high, and was made with
flat chambers, 2 in. wide and # in. thick, covered with bosses,
arranged in such a manner that the bosses of one chamber touched
the bosses of the neighbouring chamber, thus forming abutments,
and at the same time increasing the heating surface. The outer
pressure was taken by 2 strong wrought-iron plates firmly secured
16 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
together by cross bolts and girders. The draught was urged by a
fan driven from the crank shaft, and discharging into a close ash-
pan. The engine was steered by a pinion and chain working a
common lock-carriage.
IHancock's carriages were a great improvement on those of
Gurney. The main axle was straight, and thus safe from break-
age; the engine motion was also well protected from dirt, and the
passengers but little exposed to heat. Hancock's carriages were,
however, rough to ride in, made much noise, and required con-
siderable attention on the part of the steersman.
After many trials in previous years, Mr. Hancock started a
16-passenger omnibus for hire between the Bank and Paddington
in 1833, and a 14-passenger omnibus between the Bank and
King's Cross. In 1834, he ran two steam coaches for three months
between the City and Paddington, running, excluding stoppages,
about 12 miles per hour. In 1836, he had three conveyances for five
months on the Paddington road, during which time they ran 4,200
miles, and carried 10,000 passengers. In addition to these regular
journeys, many of these engines made single long trips to different
parts of the country. One ran from Stratford to Brighton, 57
miles, in 84 hours, Or, deducting 2% hours for stoppages, in a net
running time of 6 hours, making an average speed of rather less
than 10 miles per hour, the maximum being as high as 20 miles
per hour. Another ran 38 miles in 3 hours 40 seconds, which,
deducting 32 minutes for stoppages, makes an average running
speed of 12 miles per hour. Again, another ran 75 miles in 12
hours, from which, deducting 4 hours for stoppages, it appears
an average speed of 10 miles per hour was attained. Numerous
other isolated trips were more or less successfully made, but cannot
here be specially referred to. Mr. Hancock, like Mr. Gurney, met
with the strongest opposition from road trustees and others, so that
by about the year 1838, he also had abandoned his project of
conveying passengers by steam on common roads.
Amongst engineers who devoted their attention to road loco-
motion at this time was Mr. J. Scott Russell, M. Inst. C.E., then of
Edinburgh. His carriages were similar in general appearance to a
large family carriage. Two vertical 12-in. Cylinders were geared
2 to 1, to a pair of 6-ft. drivers. The boiler was rectangular, with
an internal furnace and return tubes on the same level, like a
miniature marine boiler. The plates were extremely thin, and the
flat form of the boiler was strengthened by a number of small
screwed stays. The usual exhaust blast in the funnel was employed.
The fore end of the carriage was carried by an ordinary lock fitted
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON R9ADs. 17
with steering gear. The main frame, carrying the boiler, &c., was
hung on springs. The body of the carriage, containing the passen-
gers, was suspended from supplementary “grasshopper’springs, so
that the motion was as easy as that of a private carriage. Behind
the steamer was drawn a sort of two-wheeled cart, which carried
the fuel and water, and also formed extra passenger seats. This
species of tender could be easily changed in a few minutes,
if necessary. -
These carriages were amongst the most successful ever designed.
They ran well and regularly, but at times made a great noise
from the blast. Their principal trial was in 1834, when six of
them ran for hire between Glasgow and Paisley. They were
abandoned chiefly on account of the opposition of the road trustees,
who placed every conceivable impediment in their way, at last
causing a serious accident, which resulted in the death of several
persons.
After Mr. Hancock withdrew his carriages, the conveyance of
passengers for hire by steam power on common roads remained in
abeyance until Mr. R. W. Thomson again revived the subject
during the spring of 1870. In Edinburgh, an omnibus capable of
carrying 60 passengers was drawn by one of his ordinary road
steamers fitted with india-rubber wheels. The omnibus had
two wheels with india-rubber tires, in addition to 5-ft. bearing-
springs, so that the motion was rendered extremely easy; indeed,
it was so gentle and gliding, that it was impossible to tell when
the machinery was put in motion. With a full complement of
passengers the rubber wheels became overloaded, and made the
resistance so great that it was soon found that loading these
wheels increased the resistance in a much greater ratio than was
due to the mere increase of weight. This attempt was, for a
variety of causes, likewise abandoned.
In the following year, Nairn (of Leith) brought out his self-
contained steam omnibus, the ‘Pioneer.” In general appearance
it was similar to an ordinary three-horse omnibus, with the
exception of being a few feet longer. It was 23 ft. long by 6 ft. 6 in.
wide, and 9 ft. 6 in. high—measured to the hand-rail. In the
extreme rear were 3 cylinders of 7, in diameter and 10% in. stroke,
coupled directly to a pair of 40-in. drivers. The boiler had a com-
bination of both water tubes and fire tubes ; the grate surface was
only 2 square feet, and the water surface was 130 square feet. The
funnel passed backwards under the seats of the outside passengers,
and emerged behind over the conductor's head. The exhaust was
discharged along this horizontal funnel, the opening being regu-
C
18 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
lated by a cone and screw. The single 40-in. leading wheel was
carried in a fork, and governed by a hand-wheel and worm. The
main axle was fitted with 54-in. flat bearing-springs, supplemented
by pendent volutes and india-rubber washers 4 in. thick; the
leading wheel was fitted with 4 volutes and india-rubber as before.
The weight, with water and coke, was 7 tons 8 cwts., and with
50 passengers, 10, tons. In the summer of 1871, the “Pioneer’ ran
for hire four months between Edinburgh and Portobello, a
distance of 3 miles, and from 11 runs to 12 runs were made per
diem. It had 20 seats inside and 30 seats outside, or 50 seats in all."
Several passenger engines have been built in Great Britain, within
the last two or three years, for use abroad. They have all been
constructed on R. W. Thomson's patent, and usually attached to a
separate omnibus. Of these, one by Mr. Charles Burrell, of Thet-
ford, was an excellent specimen of careful design and workmanship;
but the most worthy of notice were four 14-ton engines manu-
factured by Messrs. Ransomes, Sims, and Head for the Indian
Government. Fig. 3 (Plate 12) gives a drawing of one of these
engines, the ‘Ravee.’ They had cylinders of 8 in. diameter and
10 in. stroke, geared either 3.75 to 1, or 12 to 1, to 72-in. driving
wheels. The engines made 150 revolutions per minute, which
gave about 10 miles per hour for the fast speed, and 3 miles per
hour for the slow speed. The boilers were vertical, on Olrick's
‘Field’ system, the grate surface was 11 square feet, and the water
surface was 177 square feet. The blast-nozzle had an adjustable
cone, that the opening might be varied to suit either wood or
coal. All the road wheels had Thomson's india-rubber tires,
with linked shoes; the leading wheel had supplementary elliptical
springs, so that the fore end adapted itself easily to the inequality of
the road. The engine drew a 65-passenger two-wheeled Omnibus.
These locomotives are the most powerful passenger engines which
have yet been built, and they have a large tank, and stowage for
wood, so that they may run for 15 miles without stopping. They
are to carry mails and passengers between two stations in the Punjāb
about 70 miles apart. Two of them are already at work.
It was the ‘Ravee' which, in October, 1871, made the celebrated
double journey between Ipswich and Edinburgh—a total distance
of 850 miles—the most remarkable run ever made by any road
locomotive. The total weight of engine and carriage was about
* Hancock’s omnibus only carried about 20 passengers. During 952 runs with
the “Pioneer,’ the number of passengers averaged 21, or 42 per cent, of the total
capacity.—J. H.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 19
19 tons. By the return journey the men had ample experience in
working the engine, and the 425 miles took 9 days, giving
47 miles as the average distance per diem, and a speed of 6.9 miles
per hour for the time actually running ; but on the last day the
average speed was 9.69 miles per hour, whilst, occasionally, a speed
of from 15 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour was maintained for
short distances.
STREET TRAMWAY LOCOMOTIVES FOR PASSENGER TRAFFIC.
Horse tramways are now laid in various parts of the world,
chiefly in towns and their outskirts where roads are moderately
level, and where the gradients do not exceed about 1 in 50, or 1 in 40;
but sooner or later, steam tramways will form a more general
means for transporting passengers and light goods. In order to
make an engine which would compete successfully with the present
system of haulage by animal power, it should be as light as possible
consistently with the amount of traffic. The Author considers
that a small engine, weighing from 3% tons to 4 tons when
loaded, would be amply sufficient for drawing a tramway car of
the present construction. The outward appearance should be
sightly, and, as far as possible, similar in colour to ordinary vehicles
running in the streets. The maximum speed should not exceed
10 miles per hour.
Several motive powers have been proposed for propelling street
cars, and several of these, such as compressed air, ammonia, and
carbonic acid, have been actually tried. Although these and
other plans have been made to perform the functions for which
they were designed, and might even be useful under exceptional
circumstances, it may be taken for granted that the usual means
of working street tramways, by mechanical power, will be by ordi-
mary steam engines made and specially adapted for street traffic.
The modes in which steam power has been, heretofore, principally
applied on tramways have been :-1, by means of a car containing
the goods or passengers, as well as the engine, running upon
four, or more wheels; 2, by a detached engine drawing Ome, or
ITY OTO C3T.S.
The first of these systems has been successfully adopted on some
lines in America, but it has the objection that the passengers do
not like to be in such close proximity to the boiler; and, if generally
adopted, the existing tramway companies would have to purchase
entirely new rolling-stock. This principle of construction has,
however, the advantage that the whole weight of the car, engine,
goods and passengers, can be utilised for adhesion in ascending
(; 2
20 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
heavy inclines. The second system permits the use of all the
existing rolling-stock of the present horse tramway companies,
with but little alteration, besides being more in accordance with
the principle adopted on railways, and generally approved by the
traveling public.
With steam as a prime mover, the difficulty is not how to
supply the mere tractive force, but how to make the steam power
so suited to street traffic that it shall not cause any annoyance.
The main objection to an ordinary locomotive working in a
street is the ‘puffing blast,’ and various means have been tried
to overcome this defect. First among them may be taken the
heavy-geared “dummy’ locomotives of New York. These are
fitted with fans, blowing air into the fire-box, driven by a donkey
engine and belt. The exhaust from the main engines goes into
the tank, from which there is a pipe into the funnel. The
donkey engine, however, requires continual attention from the
fireman, who has to vary its speed as the locomotive is going up
or down inclines, or proceeding at a fast or slow rate. Again,
on the elevated railway in New York, a different plan has been
proposed to gain the desideratum of a silent engine. The exhaust,
as before, goes into the tank, from which there is a pipe into the
funnel, but the furnace has a close ash-pan, into which is fitted
‘Hancock's blower,’ consisting of a square funnel, into the wide
end of which are directed nine jets of steam, each ºr in. diameter,
regulated by the fireman as the pressure varies.
One of the best street tramway locomotives yet proposed is that
designed by Mr. Leonard J. Todd, of Leith (Plate 13). It is, how-
ever, only intended for light traffic. The driving motion is placed
in a close box on the top of the boiler, so that it may be kept
free from dirt and readily accessible. The driving wheels are
of the ‘Mansell’ construction, 6 ft. diameter. The cylinders are
doubled, each 5 in. diameter and 9 in. stroke, and the working
pressure is 150 lbs. per square inch. The wheels are fitted with
steel tires, and motion is given to them by a single pinion and
wheel confined in an air-tight case, arranged to give a maximum
speed of about 10 miles per hour. One of these locomotives
for hauling a single 40-passenger car is calculated to give an
effective power of 12 H.P., and it weighs when loaded 3, tons.
An engine of the same construction for two cars, with a maxi-
mum of 20 H.P., will weigh 5 tons. A silent blowing fan is
placed in direct communication with the close ash-pan, and one
end of its spindle carries a bucket wheel on to which the exhaust
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 21
from the cylinders is directed through an adjustable nozzle. After
thus driving the fan the exhaust enters the tank, where any water
is deposited, and the uncondensed steam escapes into the funnel.
A small steam pipe from the boiler is also attached to the fan
casing, so as to drive the fan when the engine is standing. This
apparatus, besides being silent, is self-acting, as it starts and
stops with the engine. When going up an incline the back
pressure increases and the fan runs fast ; when going downhill,
the steam being almost shut off from the engines, the speed of the
fan is very much reduced, and the blast in the fire-box diminished.
The fire-box is furnished with water grate bars to prevent clinkers.
A skid brake is attached to the engine as forming a more sure
method of slackening the speed than by a brake on to the wheels,
and the handle on the engine is connected with the brake to the
cars, so that the fireman may have the control of both engine and
carriages."
A steam tramway car has been constructed by Mr. John Gran-
tham, M. Inst. C.E. The carriage is about 1 ft. 6 in. longer than
the horse cars now in general use. It has two boilers on the
‘Field’ system ; these are placed in the centre, properly ‘lagged,’
so that the heat does not penetrate into the body of the car. The
two cylinders are fixed underneath the frame, and they are attached
to the driving wheels in the same manner as in an outside-
cylinder locomotive. The front wheels are placed on a sort of turn-
table frame, and they can be steered by the driver. The tires of
the large wheels are flat, and the car is kept in position by four
Small guide wheels, which insert themselves in the grooves of the
rails. The driver sits on the front platform, where the levers for
working the engines are placed, and at the end of the journey they
are detached and placed at the other end of the car. The boilers
are supplied with coal from a hopper at the top, and the amount
is regulated by a valve. The fire can be inspected from a door at
the outside of the car.
ROAD LOCOMOTIVES FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF GOODS.
Much may be said respecting the cost of haulage of goods
by steam on common roads, but, as no regular and continuous
Service has as yet been organized, all data on this subject must be
considered approximate. The cost of haulage by steam, as given
* Wide also Appendix III., p. 42,
22 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
in the following table, may, however, be considered as approxi-
mately correct, though, owing to the continuous fluctuations in
the price of labour and materials, it is difficult to form an accurate
estimate —
d. d.
Horses on common roads . . . . 6 to 12 per ton milo.
Steam on common roads . . . . . 3 , 4 3)
Horses on tramway, if nearly level . . 23 , 3 2 3
Steam on tramway . . . . . . 13 × 2 57
Steam on railway. . . . . . . ; , I }}
Boydell's engine.—Heavy traction engines did not come into
general use until about 1856. One of the first was Boydell's
engine (Plate 14, Fig. 1). The boiler was constructed on the
locomotive type, with the cylinders on the top, and the motion of
the engine was transmitted to the driving wheels, which were
placed behind, by a pinion working into a large spur wheel fitted
to the rim of the drum. The cylinders were double, 7 in. diameter
and 12 in. stroke; the driving wheels were 66 in. diameter, and
were geared 12 to 1. The construction of the driving wheels has
been already described."
A large number of these engines were manufactured by Mr.
Charles Burrell, of Thetford, and were found to pass easily over.
soft ground, and the great surface of the paddles on the wheels
enabled them to develop a high co-efficient of adhesion.
One of these engines made a journey from Thetford to London
in 8 days, taking a gross load of 29 tons, but in point of speed and
cost of haulage the experiment was a failure.”
Bray’s engine.—Between 1856 and 1866, a few engines were
fitted, in different parts of the country, with Bray's spudded
wheels. These engines, when running with the spuds, pulled well
on most roads, but they jolted so much that they seriously damaged
themselves, and, in addition, materially injured the surfaces of the
roads over which they ran, besides which, it was found difficult
at times to force the spuds out of their sockets when they were
required to be put in action. Some of these engines were
manufactured by Messrs. Alexander, Chaplin and Co., of Glasgow.
One of them, weighing 15 tons, readily took a gross load of 45 tons
up a causeway incline of 1 in 30; the adhesion required to attain
* Wide ante, p. 7.
2 Wide “The economy of steam power on common roads, in relation to agricul-
turists, railway companies, mine and coal owners, quarry proprietors, contractors,
&c., with its history and practice in Great Britain.” 8vo, London, page 293,
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 23
that result being 37 of the driving weight, an amount of hold
which no smooth rigid wheel would give on a paved street unless
assisted by special mechanism. .
Taylor's steam elephants.-Mr.Taylor, of Birkenhead, a contempo-
rary of Mr. Bray, brought out a novel design of road locomotive,
which he called a “steam elephant.’ The engines constructed upon
this design had double cylinders, cog-gear, and very large driving
wheels; the boiler was of the marine type, with return tubes. One
engine, of 6 H.P. nominal, with cylinders 5 in. diameter and 10 in.
stroke, having 6 ft. drivers, and weighing 6 tons, was tested against
a number of horses by first ascertaining the greatest load it could
draw, and then employing horses to accomplish the same task. It
was found to pull as much as 12 strong horses. Subsequently to
1860, several of these engines were constructed, but latterly their
manufacture has been abandoned. .
Temnant's road locomotive.—In 1869, Mr. Tennant, of Leith, de-
signed a road locomotive. It had outside cylinders, 7} in. diameter
and 10 in. stroke, two gears of 6% to 1, and 15 to 1 respectively, and
rigid drivers 68 in diameter by 18 in. wide, fitted with cross plates.
The boiler was of the locomotive type, with wing water tanks and
large bunkers for wood. The single leading wheel was 60 in.
diameter, fitted with 5-ft. bearing springs. The main axle rested
on 6-in. india-rubber blocks. The weight, in running order, was
14 tons, of which, 10 tons was supported by the drivers.
'Thomson's india-rubber wheel engines. – In 1867, it was
demonstrated that the india-rubber wheel engines constructed by
Mr. R. W. Thomson possessed great tractive power, and therefore
that they could be applied to the haulage of heavy loads. On
steep inclines of pavement and of macadam, Small engines of only
6 tons, or 7 tons, readily drew loads that a powerful rigid wheel
engine could hardly have moved. The india-rubber wheels also,
from their great bearing surface, enabled the engine to pass
easily over soft ground. One was driven for miles along the
sea-shore, and actually into the water so far as the fire-box would
allow. A 6-ton engine took a load of 10 tons up an incline of
1 in 9, 20 tons up an incline of 1 in 20, and by itself ascended
a grass slope of 1 in 4%. A 7-ton engine, with 5; toms on the
drivers, was tested by Mr. Anderson, of Woolwich, by drawing
a dead weight over a pulley. On good ground it gave a pull
of 63 cwts, with an adhesion coefficient of '576, and on a less
24 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
favourable surface, a pull of 51 cwts. with an adhesion coefficient
Of 466.
One of Thomson's engines, with double cylinders 6 in. diameter
and 10 in. stroke, with gears of 7 to 1, and 14.6 to 1 respectively,
and 60 in. drivers, carrying 5 tons, was, on many different occa-
sions, carefully tested with Tennant's road locomotive. As the
latter had twice the weight on the drivers when compared with
that on the india-rubber wheels, an excellent opportunity was
afforded for proving the coefficient of adhesion between rigid tires
and elastic tires. Tennant's engine had 10 tons, and Thomson's
engine had 5 tons, on the driving wheels. On a dry and dusty
macadam incline of 1 in 12, Tennant's engine took a gross load of
17 tons, giving a coefficient of adhesion of '32, and Thomson's engine
took the same load of 17 tons, with a coefficient of 499. Again, on
a dry macadam incline of 1 in 25, Tennant's engine took 34 tons,
with a coefficient of 3, while Thomson's engine also took 34 tons,
with a coefficient of 5. These two figures, 3 and 5, very nearly
represent the comparative value of india-rubber tires and of smooth
iron tires on ordinary macadam, as ascertained by the experiments
at Wolverhampton. In the trial, each engine took the same load,
but Tennant's engine, from its superior boiler power, readily ran
twice as fast as its little competitor, the ‘pot’ boiler of which
would only keep steam for the slowest speed."
The ‘Sutherland.’—One of the most efficient of the various
designs of india-rubber wheel engines has been that of Messrs. Head
and Thomson, embodied in the ‘Sutherland, manufactured by Messrs.
Ransomes, Sims and Head. This engine had double cylinders,
6 in. diameter and 10 in. stroke; two gears of 9-3 to 1, and 18.4 to 1
respectively, and 60 in. drivers 194 in. wide. The ‘pot’ boiler
contained 5’25 square feet of grate surface, and 140 square feet of
heating surface. The weight in running order was 10, tons, of
which, 74 tons was on the drivers. This locomotive was more
especially intended for agricultural work, but, when used as an
ordinary goods engine, proved to be the most efficient of the
smaller class of Thomson's engines, on account of the large heating
surface of its boiler, which always furnished an ample amount of
steam. At the trials conducted at the Barnhurst farm, at
Wolverhampton, in 1871, it was severely tested against several
—w
| Wide also Appendix IV., p. 42, for cost of haulage by R. W. Thomson's
road steamer.-J. H.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 25
smooth wheel engines fitted with spuds, and, owing to the extra-
ordinary state of the land, which was saturated with moisture
and very greasy, the india-rubber wheels proved a failure, but in
all engines designed in the future, the outer tires or shoes will be
fitted with spuds and spikes, so as to enable them to pass over
moist and greasy land. On the hard road, however, the india-
rubber wheels proved themselves equal to, and, in some cases, had
the advantage over, their competitors; and the ‘Sutherland’ made
the run from Wolverhampton to Stafford, a distance of 16 miles,
in 4 hours, or at the rate of 4 miles per hour, with a net load
of 12 tons behind it. The consumption of fuel was 3.75 lbs. of
coal per ton of load per mile, and of water, 2.05 gallons per ton
of load per mile. . !
The ‘Sutherland’ was also tested at Wolverhampton, on an
incline varying from 1 in 18 to 1 in 35, and about 2,000 ft. in
length. It easily took a load of 26 tons up this incline in 10%
minutes, being an average speed of 2:11 miles per hour. The load
was then increased to 38 tons, which the engine took up an incline
of 1 in 35, and when the load was reduced to 33 tons, it took it
up an incline of 1 in 20. In the latter case, the actual pull given
by the ‘Sutherland’ was calculated at 3:38 tons, giving an ad-
hesion coefficient of 45.
Aveling and Porter's engine.—The present degree of perfection,
to which road locomotive machinery has arrived, is in a great
measure due to the energy and perseverance of Mr. Aveling, of
Rochester. He has, throughout a number of years, by great
attention to the working parts, gradually eliminated the weaker
portions, until at length his firm has produced thoroughly reliable
and durable engines.
A 10-H.P. goods engine, with 10 in. cylinder and 12 in. stroke,
and with driving wheels, 6 ft. diameter by 18 in. broad, manu-
factured by Messrs. Aveling and Porter, of Rochester, made the
most successful run, in point of consumption of fuel, in the trials
of traction engines between Wolverhampton and Stafford, in 1871.
The useful load drawn amounted to 15 tons; the distance run was
16 miles; the time occupied, exclusive of stoppages, was 4 hours
48 minutes; and the amount of coal consumed was 2.85 lbs. per
useful ton of load per mile. On that occasion this engine was
awarded the first prize of £50.
Some further interesting experiments were made at Orange,
United States, in the autumn of 1872, with the object of testing
the capabilities of road locomotives, and their commercial value,
26 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
in comparison with horse traction. The engine selected for these
trials was one of 6 H.P., manufactured by Messrs. Aveling and
Porter, of which the following are the principal dimensions:—
Cylinder, 7% in. diameter; stroke, 10 in. ; diameter of driving
wheels, 5 ft. ; breadth of tire, 10 in. ; total weight of engine, 5 tons
4 cwts., of which, 4 tons 10 cwts. was upon the drivers; the
wheels were of wrought iron, and were fitted on their periphery
with strips of iron laid diagonally across the face. These
experiments were conducted by Professor Thurston, who gives
an interesting account of them in a Paper on ‘Traction Engines,’
read in January of the present year before the Polytechnic Club
of the American Institute. He sums up his remarks with the
following comparison between haulage by horses and by steam
power:— -
“The expense account when doing heavy work on the common
road, under the described conditions, by steam power, is less than
25 per cent. of the average cost of horse power, as deduced from
the total expense of such power in New York State; while, if we
take for comparison the lowest estimate that we can find data for,
in our whole country, we still find the cost of steam power to be
but 29 per cent. of the expenses of horses.
“We may state the fact in another way: A steam traction
engine, capable of doing the work of 25 horses, may be purchased
and worked at as little expense as a team of 6 or 8 horses.”
One of the most careful and elaborate experiments, ever recorded
with traction engines, was carried out in 1866, under the direction
of M. Tresca, Sub-Director of the Conservatoire Impérial des Arts
et Métiers, Paris, with one of Messrs. Aveling and Porter's 10-H.P.
traction engines of the following dimensions:—Cylinder, 11 in.
diameter; stroke, 14 in. ; diameter of the driving wheels, 6, ft.,
with cast-iron rims. The power of the engine was transmitted to
the wheel, by means of a pitched chain, in the ratio of 1 to 20 for
slow speed, and of 1 to 14 for fast speed. The total weight of the
engine, when loaded with coals and water, was 17, tons, or 14; tons
without coals and water. No pains were spared to elaborate every
detail with regard to the performance of the engine under various
circumstances; and, after nearly a week's trial, M. Tresca sums up
his report as follows:—
“The engine (La Ville de Senlis) drew in a regular manner,
upon a good road slightly undulating, a total load of 60,000 kilo-
1 Wide also Appendix V., p. 44, for a further comparison between the cost of
haulage by steam and by horscs.—J. H.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 27
grammes (59 tons). The coefficient of traction may be approxi-
mately estimated at #6, which would bring the mean strain to
nearly 2,000 kilogrammes (39; cwts.), taking into account the
weight of the locomotive. This mean effort, developed at a speed
of 1:08 millimètres (3-54 ft.) per second, brings the valuation of
effective work to 2:160 kilogrammètres (15,623 foot pounds) per
second, or to 28 chevaux vaperur (27-61 H.P.). This figure will
appear high if it be compared with the consumption of fuel,
which was 184 kilogrammes (3 cwts. 2 qrs. 13 lbs.), in 3 hours and
3 minutes, say 60 kilogrammes (132'25 lbs.) per hour of actual
travelling. -
“This consumption represents only 2 kilogrammes (4.40 lbs.) of
coal per H.P. and per hour.
“The corresponding consumption of water is not less than
600:46 litres (132'22 gallons) per hour of actual traveling. With
the present tenders, which can hold 1,800 litres (396 gallons) of
water, it is necessary to replenish them every 10 or 12 kilomètres
(6} or 7% miles). *
“The coefficient of adherence may be estimated on the road gone
over at 0-3 of the adherent weight.
“The adherence resulting therefrom was only necessary for the
working of the engine up inclines of 0.030 to 0-033 (1 in 33 to 1
in 30), and at starting.
“The load of 81.253 kilogrammes (79%; tons) which the engine
drew on level ground is not the limit of what it can draw under
these conditions.
“The speed of 4 kilomètres (2.48 miles) per hour appears suitable
for traffic of this nature, and renders the manoeuvres so easy that
the train is well-managed by a superintendent, an engine-driver,
and an assistant solely employed to guide the steering-wheel in
front.”
Fowler & Co.'s engines.—Messrs. J. Fowler and Co., of Leeds,
though they did not compete for the prize at Wolverhampton,
have long devoted their attention to road locomotives; and have
perfected an excellent engine, which can be used for either heavy
goods traffic or agricultural purposes. One of this class (Plate 14,
Fig. 3) may be taken as the type of many now in use. The
cylinder, 9 in. diameter, 12 in. stroke, is placed on the top of the
boiler, which is of the usual locomotive type, with 7:17 square feet
of grate surface, and 29 tubes of 2; in. diameter. The crank shaft
is carried on plates riveted to the sides of the fire-box. This forms
a compact arrangement. The gearing for transmitting the power
28 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
of the engine to the driving wheels, at the rate of 1% mile per hour,
and 3 miles per hour respectively, is of cast steel, and, together with
the working parts of the engine, is inclosed, so as to prevent the
noise and motion of the engine frightening horses. A compen-
Sating gear, enabling the engine to turn sharp corners, which will
be hereafter described, is inserted between the main axle and the
driving wheels. The driving wheels are 66 in. diameter and 16 in.
wide, fitted with india-rubber tires, and Greig and Aveling's patent
shoes, but the same engine may be used with wrought-iron tires if
desired.
One of Fowler & Co.'s engines fitted with india-rubber tires
has been in use for the past twelve months, in hauling coal
from Bradford to Messrs. Lister's mill at Manningham, a distance
of about 2% miles, at a cost of 11d. per ton of gross load, or 4.4d.
per ton per mile. The cost of hauling by horses would have
amounted to 2s. 6d. per ton. On the journey from the railway to
the mills, there is one gradient, mile long, of 1 in 20 ; another,
# mile long, of 1 in 12; and a third, 1 mile long, of 1 in 40; and
the rest of the road is slightly downhill. About half the distance
is over a macadamized road, the remainder being paved with cobble
stones. It should be stated that this engine, fitted with india-rubber
tires, is the first one which has been able to perform a series of
journeys, in a satisfactory manner, over the paved roads, which
are to be found to a large extent in the north of England. The
account of the performances of Fowler and Co.'s engine is worthy
of note, as it clearly shows the superiority of the india-rubber, or
flexible, tire. On level paved roads there is some adhesion when
the stones are quite dry, but in damp weather, an engine with rigid
wheels becomes perfectly unmanageable on a slight incline.
A similar engine, but fitted with wrought-iron rigid wheels, was
used by the Farnley Company for transporting iron-stone. The
accounts show that the iron-stone was carried at 6d. per ton per mile.
Another engine, the property of the Low Moor Company, transports
heavy material on a double journey at 3:2d. per ton per mile. This
small cost may be accounted for by the fact that, in the two former
instances, the engine made only one journey with loaded trucks,
returning empty; whilst the Low Moor Company's engine made
double journeys in both cases with a load."
1 Vide also Appendix VI, VII., and VIII., pp. 44–46, for details of experi-
ments made with Fowler and Co.'s engine.—J. H.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 29
STEAM ROAD ROLLERs.
These machines have only been brought into use in England
during the last few years, although they have been employed in
Paris since about the year 1864. The advantages of steam rollers,
over horse rollers, are beginning to be appreciated by the highway
boards in England. The following extract from Mr. Aveling's
pamphlet on road rolling, details some of the advantages to be
derived from their use :— -
“The economy produced by rolling may be stated in a few words.
The road being made for the traffic, and not by the traffic, material
is saved; the stones, instead of being left loosely upon the surface
to encounter the grinding lateral pressure of the wheels, are forced
by direct vertical pressure into the soft bed prepared for them,
along with a binding material that fills up the interstices, and
affording support for the stones, keeps them in position with one
surface only exposed to the abrading action of the wheels. The
whole coating is consolidated, and there remains a surface hard and
smooth enough to resist the disintegrating action of rain or frost.
“The steam roller, by reason of its weight, will consolidate and
prepare for traffic newly-laid macadam at the rate of 2,000 square
yards per diem, and by reason of its motive power, can work
this greater weight for one quarter the cost of the horse machine.
Not only at the same time are the loose stones not torm up, but the
heavier roller has the effect of turning down the sharp edges of
the stones and leaving their flat sides uppermost, bedding them
together in the road, so as to make a solid level surface.”
In the road rollers hitherto constructed by Messrs. Aveling and
Porter, and well known in many of Our principal towns, the
engine and boiler represent one of their 6-II.P. or 8-H.P. portable
engines placed upon four large rollers, instead of traveling wheels.
The two side rollers, situated a little in the rear of the smoke-box,
are driven by a pitched chain from the Crank shaft of the engine.
The centre roller, placed behind the fire-box, is made in two
portions, turning, for facility of steering, separately upon their
axle, and carried in a turn-table frame, constructed with only two
carrying wheels, allowing it to swivel vertically to a slight extent,
for the purpose of giving the rollers sufficient play to accommo-
date themselves to the convex surface of the road.
The sizes most in use are those weighing about 15 tons and 20
toms, with driving wheels respectively 5 ft. and 5% ft. diameter.
The working expenses for rolling 2,000 square yards per diem
30 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS,
may be calculated at about 158. ; but much depends upon the state
of the material to be operated upon. An average of from 10 square
yards to 12 squale yards may be rolled and consolidated for 1d.
After several years' experience with the road rollers described,
Mr. Aveling discovered that they were rather too heavy for
making new roads, and too broad for narrow, and crooked, places,
in addition to which, they were not well adapted for haulage,
an important feature in the economy of road construction by
steam power. He therefore designed a new road roller
(Plate 15, Fig. 2), which somewhat resembles one of his traction
engines, with the driving wheels converted into rollers, and the
space between them covered by a pair of front rollers, which also
act as steering wheels. These front rollers are made conical, or
dished, in order that on the ground line they may be close
together; while above their axle there is a space for a vertical
shaft, serving as a support for the front of the boiler. To
the extremities of this axle a forked, or saddle piece, is attached,
to act as a guide for the steering chains; and these chains pass
rearwards to a transverse roller, which is acted upon by a worm
and pinion connected with the steersman's wheel. By keeping
the driving wheels behind, instead of in front, as in the engines
previously described, the greatest bite is obtained in ascending
inclines and going over soft places. Besides being capable of
hauling trucks, this engine is furnished with a fly-wheel, and can
be used for driving a Blake's stone-breaker, or any other machinery
connected with road-making. Its weight is about 8 tons, and the
nominal power of the engine is 5 H.P.
In Paris the “Gellerat’ system of steam road roller has been
employed (Plate 15, Fig. 1). This engine has been manufactured
in this country by Messrs. Manning, Wardle and Co., of Leeds. It
has two cylinders, each 7 in. diameter, and 11 in. stroke, mounted
on a locomotive boiler with 285 Square feet of heating surface.
The rollers are 3 ft. 11 in. diameter, and 4 ft. 7 in. wide, and are
connected to the engine by means of pitched chains. The large-
sized engines weigh 30 tons, and the Small-sized engines weigh
15 tons. On the side of the engine where the attachment is made
with the crank shaft, the axles turn in radial boxes, fixed to horn
plates, similar to an ordinary locomotive; whilst on the other side,
the axle-boxes are free to move backwards and forwards, sliding on
the frame of the engine, and connected together by a rod with a
male and female screw worked from the foot-plate by a vertical
shaft connected by bevel wheels with the steersman's handle.
When the engine moves in a straight line the axles are kept
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 31
parallel; but when necessary to turn a corner, the centres on one
side are drawn together, and, consequently, the rollers act like a
double steering wheel, turning the engine in a very small space.
From the reports of the road surveyors in Paris, it appears
that the cost of steam road rolling is estimated at 7d. per ton per
mile; whilst horse rolling was usually contracted for at the rate
of 14d. per ton per mile.
Another road roller has been invented and manufactured by
Messrs. Morland and Sons, of London. It consists of a large
rectangular frame about 20 ft. long by 8 ft. wide. The two cylin-
ders are 11 in. diameter by 18 in. stroke, and are placed at one
end of the frame, with a single chain gear of 5 to 1 to the driving-
roller, which is 7 ft. 6 in, diameter, and 6 ft. wide. The machine
is steered by two wheels, at the opposite end of the engine
to the cylinders, each 3 ft. 6 in. diameter and 12 in. wide. The
boiler is vertical, on the “Field’ principle, 4 ft. 2 in. diameter, and
10 ft. 3 in. high, with 64 tubes, 2} in. diameter. The total weight
of the machine is 25% tons.
LOCOMOTIVES FOR USE IN AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS, STEAM
I’LOUGHING, &c.
The application of steam to agriculture is a subject too important
and extensive to be properly treated in a section of a Paper. One
thing is, however, certain—that, in spite of all the obstacles which
have been created by Acts of Parliament, local Courts, and private
individuals against the introduction of agricultural road loco-
motives into Great Britain, their number has greatly increased ;
and every year, as the price of horses augments, farmers discard
the mode of working in which they were educated, and have
recourse to steam to assist them in their difficulties.
The increasing use of steam-ploughing machinery, and the per-
fection to which the present apparatus has been brought by
Messrs. Fowler and Co., coupled with the extensive employment
of tackle on English farms—even where it is necessary to fill up
ditches, cut down time-honoured fences, and level a large tract
of land, in order to operate upon it quickly, thoroughly, and
economically—all tend to show that the use of steam in agri-
culture is daily increasing.
Although several excellent farm locomotives are in use—amongst
which we may cite those of Messrs. Aveling and Porter, Mr.
Charles Burrell, Messrs. Fowler and Co., and Messrs. Clayton
and Shuttleworth—there is not much novelty in the construction
32 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
of these engines, and they really consist of a portable engine
fitted with various methods of transmitting the power from the
crank shaft to the road wheels.
The chief difficulty, which has beset engineers in the construc-
tion of this class of machinery, has been the impossibility of theo-
retically calculating the varied strains to which the component
parts of such an engine are subjected, in the same manner as in a
railway locomotive. The principal proportions of the engines
referred to in this Paper have been the result of long and careful
experience and laborious experiment.
The first self-moving engine, used for driving a thrashing-
machine, was exhibited at Bristol by Messrs. Ransome in 1846,
and the following account is given of its performance in the
journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England:—“Messrs.
Ransome's collection contained the excellent portable disc-engine
(tried at Liverpool), now set upon a carriage with four instead
of two wheels, and having a platform of sufficient dimensions for
the conveyance of a thrashing-machine from farm to farm. A
further change had been made, by applying the power of the en-
gine to give locomotion to the carriage instead of using horses.”
The judges “consider it questionable whether the substitution of
steam for horses, as the force employed to move agricultural steam-
engines from place to place, will be found either more convenient
or economical; they cannot, however, but highly commend the
simplicity and effectiveness of the machinery applied by Messrs.
Ransome to accomplish this purpose. The engine travelled along
the road at the rate of from 4 to 6 miles an hour, and was guided
and manoeuvred so as to fix it at any particular spot with much
ease.””
The next self-moving engine, specially adapted for agricul-
tural purposes, was also designed by Messrs. Ransome, and was
exhibited by them at Norwich, in 1849 (Plate 16, Fig. 1). It
consisted of a miniature locomotive, with two cylinders, 6; in.
diameter, 10 in. stroke, placed under the smoke-box of an ordinary
locomotive boiler. The power was transmitted to the road wheels
by means of spur wheels and pinions, geared so as to produce
two speeds, namely, one for thrashing, and One for traveling
at the rate of 3% miles per hour. The engine could be steered
from the foot-plate, or by means of a horse attached to shafts
fixed to the fore carriage of the engine. When it was required
| Wide “The Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England,” vol. iii.,
page 351.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 3:
for driving a thrashing-machine the fire-box was blocked up,
and a strap taken from one of the driving wheels to the drum-pulley
of the machine; but this arrangement was not found to work well
in practice, and this type of engine was abandoned for those with
the cylinder placed on the top of the boiler working a fly-wheel
independent of the road wheels. The following extract from the
journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, will show that farmers
were in 1849, as in 1846, decidedly prejudiced against road loco-
motives:— *
“This engine, excellent in workmanship, was fitted with two
cylinders; its weight for the power very light, and strong in all
the working parts; the boiler tubular, and beautifully made ; but
we think such an engine not suitable to be put into the hands o
farmers’ engine-men generally, and should doubt its locomotive
powers being of much practical benefit as connected with agricul-
ture, entertaining a fear also that accidents might be of frequent
occurrence in steaming from farm to farm.” "
About 1856, Boydell's engine was manufactured by Charles
Burrell, of Thetford. It was thought that it could be satisfactorily
used for farming operations. Many experiments took place to show
its capabilities for traversing bad roads, farm-yards, &c., and also
for ploughing by direct traction, but this system became disused,
partly on account of the cost of the engine, and partly from the
great wear and tear of the wheels. t -
In the same year, Mr. Charles Burrell brought out a self-
moving agricultural engine, in which the power was trans-
mitted to the driving wheel by a pitched chain, and he has
successfully carried on their manufacture up to the present
time, a large number of his engines being at work in the
eastern counties and other parts of England. Fig. 2 (Plate 16)
represents Burrell's improved farm locomotive. The boiler is
multitubular, of the usual locomotive type; the cylinder is 9 in.
diameter, and 12 in. stroke, and the motion of the crank shaft is
transmitted to the driving wheels—5 ft. 6 in. diameter—by
means of two pitched chains, one on each side of the engine; thus
relieving the main axle of the undue torsion which is liable to
occur when only one wheel is coupled. Each chain pinion is
provided with a clutch, so that the driver may disconnect either
wheel when turning corners. The hinder part of the engine
is mounted upon volute springs, set at an angle, so as not to
| Wide “The Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England,” vol. x.,
page 552. *
|)
34 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
interfere with the movement of the chains, and it has been
found in practice that the use of springs diminishes, to a
great extent, the wear and tear of these engines. The driving
wheels are made with wrought-iron spokes and cast-iron naves
and rims, the latter partially covered with wrought-iron diagonal
plates. -
Mr. Aveling, well known as an agricultural locomotive manu-
facturer, exhibited his traction engine for the first time at the
Royal Agricultural Society's meeting at Canterbury in 1860, but
it was not until the year 1871, that the Society considered this
class of machinery sufficiently useful in agricultural operations
to be placed on the competitive list of prizes.
In the first engines designed by Mr. Aveling, the transmission
between the crank shaft and road wheels was effected by means of
a pitched chain, and the engine was steered by a fifth wheel in
the form of a disk, placed at the end of a wrought frame fixed to
the fore axle.
Fig. 3 (Plate 16) represents one of Aveling and Porter's most
recent 8-H.P. agricultural locomotives. The general design
outwardly resembles some of the engines already described, but
care has been taken in the manufacture to make every part
as light as possible, consistently with the work it has to perform.
The boiler is of the usual locomotive type, with 4:3 square
feet of fire-grate surface; 30 tubes, 2} in. diameter; total
heating surface, 130 square feet. The cylinder is 9 in. diameter,
and 12 in. stroke, and is placed at the forward part of the boiler
surrounded by a dome, from whence the steam is taken to the
slide valve. The motion is transmitted by gearing, the toothed
wheels being made of malleable iron to prevent breakage.
An arrangement is provided for disconnecting the crank shaft
from the train of wheels, so that the power of the engine
may be used for driving a thrashing-machine, corn-mill circular
saw, or any other machinery used on a farm, through the
medium of a fly-wheel placed on the side of the crank shaft
opposite to the wheels. The main plummer blocks are supported
on the outside plates of the fire-box, which are carried up to
the requisite height. This arrangement combines lightness with
strength, avoiding many of the breakages which used to occur
with the cast-iron saddles formerly used.* The driving wheels are
66 in. diameter, 12 in. wide, and may either be constructed
* This is “Aveling's patent.’ It avoids the necessity of heavy saddles bolted to
the boiler.—J. H.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON IROADS. 35
of cast iron, wrought iron with diagonal strips, or with india-
rubber springs on Adams' patent. - -
These engines, as well as those of Messrs. Fowler, are provided
with a compensating or differential gear (Fig. 3) for transmitting
the motion of the crank shaft to the driving wheels, thereby
enabling the engine to turn sharp corners without the use of
disengaging-clutches:—
Fig. 3.
CENTRE OF
interMEDIATESHAFT. H - - -
% $ás; º
|Pººl
- ºrsº º
tº cº- - - *
- - wº, -º-º-º-º: º
&º tº
º
º
SECTION THROUGH GENTRE.
º Zºº
Sºğº º
Nº.2×
Compensating or Differential Gear for the Driving Wheels of Traction Engines.
One wheel A turns freely on the shaft B, whilst the other on
the opposite side is keyed fast on to the axle. The bevel wheel C
is bolted to the nave of the wheel, and one of equal size D is
keyed fast to the shaft. Between these the spur gear E revolves,
driven by the pinion on the crank shaft, and it carries in two
recesses a couple of small bevel pinions FF, both gearing into
each of the larger bevel wheels C and D.
An examination of this combination will show that, resistances
being equal on both wheels, if the spur gear E is turned, it will
carry with it both driving wheels at the same time with equal
D 2










36 STEAM LOCOMOTION OM COMMON ROADS.
angular velocities, the effort exerted by the engine being equal on
both wheels at all times; but in turning a corner, the greater re-
sistance on the inside wheel retards it, while the outer wheel
necessarily moves more rapidly over its longer path, and, as
the engine exerts the same force on both wheels, the work
done is distributed unequally between them through the revolving
bevel pinions, without either wheel being necessarily slipped or
disengaged. º
Steam ploughing engines.—Fowler and Co.'s steam ploughing
engines being constructed so as to move themselves on the road,
and haul not only the implements which form a part of the tackle,
but also wagons from one part of the farm to another, come within
the range of locomotives on common roads. The description of
these engines is intimately associated with the interesting history
of the steam plough invented by the late Mr. John Fowler, assisted
by Mr. David Greig. Their united persevering energy and
thorough knowledge of the subject have completely overcome
difficulties of construction and hereditary opposition to the adoption
of an entirely new system of culture. The machinery which will
be hereafter described may be considered as the latest combination
of their practical experience and scientific research. *
The ‘double engine’ system of steam ploughing—in which each
engine is placed on the opposite headland of a field, and in which
they move themselves at intervals and alternately wind up, or pay
out, the steel rope which hauls the implements to and fro–having
been found the most economical and practical in the variety of trials
to which steam ploughs have been subjected for several years, the
Author has selected the 12-H.P. engine of Messrs. J. Fowler and Co.,
of Leeds, as the most perfect specimen of a steam ploughing engine
yet designed (Plate 17). The boiler is of the ordinary locomotive
type, the area offire grate 7-6 square feet, and the total heating sur-
face 201:24 square feet; the average pressure in the boiler is 150 lbs.
per square inch; the cylinder–10; in. diameter, and 12 in. stroke—
is steam-jacketed, and is placed in the smoke-box end of the boiler
where the steam is dryest; the crank shaft is placed at the far end
of the boiler, and the fly-wheel is within reach of the driver; so
that in case the engine stops on the centre—which rarely happens—
he can make use of it for getting the crank over the dead Centres;
the main plummer blocks are carried on plates forming an elonga-
tion of the side of the fire-box. The road gearing, which gives a
fast speed of 3 miles per hour, and a slow speed of 1% mile per
hour, is made of cast steel; and throughout, the engine is manu-
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON BOADS. 37
factured of the best material, and in the strongest form, so as to
avoid breakages even under the most extraordinary circum-
stances. The driving wheels are 66 in. diameter and 20 in. wide,
made of wrought iron and faced with diagonal plates; and the
rope drum, with the automatic coiling gear, is fixed by a strong
wrought-iron stud to the bottom of the boiler. The capacity of
the coal bunker is 8 cwts., and of the water tank, 180 gallons. These
double sets of steam ploughing tackle are manufactured of 10 H.P.,
12 H.P., 20 H.P., and 30 H.P.
At the trial of steam ploughs at Wolverhampton in 1871, the
20-H. P. engine, for working a double set of steam ploughing tackle,
manufactured by Messrs. J. Fowler and Co., with a cylinder of 13 in.
diameter, and 14 in. stroke, indicated as much as 143 H.P., and one
of the same class of engines, 12 H.P. nominal, with a cylinder of
10% in. diameter, and 12 in. Stroke, indicated 103 H.P., and another,
68 H.P. -
It may also be interesting to state that the following data, re-
specting the cost of power in steam ploughing, was deduced by the
judges at Wolverhampton in 1871 from the various experiments
and trials which were carried out at that time :-
The average consumption of coal = 161 lbs. per acre.
2 3 2) water = 115 gallons per acre.
23 }} oil and tallow = 5' 1 ozs. per acre.
• ? 3 * water per lb. of coal = 7-2 lbs.
27 } } coal per mean I.H.P. per hour = 7. I lbs.
73 weight of earth moved per lb. of coal = 9-3 tons.
ROAD LOCOMOTIVES FOR MILITARY PURPOSEs.
So little experience has been gained in the employment of road
locomotives for hauling heavy guns, siege trains, and transport
wagons in time of actual war, that no reliable data exist for
forming a practical opinion upon this subject. It has, however
for some time, been the opinion of some of our most experienced
engineer and artillery officers, that steam power may be advan-
tageously employed as an important auxiliary to an army on the
march. -
An engine can develop, at least, the power of 10 horses. It
costs nothing when not in use. It can work night and day without
fatigue or requiring rest, consequently its power is always at
hand, and can be used at any moment and to the fullest extent.
A road locomotive can be used as a fixed engine, to saw wood, or
38 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
pump water. It can be employed for transporting guns, or other
war material, and is specially useful in the neighbourhood of a
fortress, as the traction engine with its train would form a
much more rapid means of communication with detached railway
stations than ordinary carts or wagons drawn by horses or
bullocks. The Prussians at Metz constructed a line 20 kilomètres
long in order to skirt the fortress of the city, but it was not re-
quired as the garrison capitulated before its completion.
In addition to the above uses, the engine can be so constructed
that flanged railway wheels may be substituted for the ordinary
rigid wheels used on common roads, and it will then serve as a
light railway locomotive in case the enemy may have destroyed or
secured the rolling-stock on the existing railways. -
A traction engine for military purposes should be made as light
as possible, and constructed almost entirely of wrought iron or
steel, in order to diminish the chances of breakage. Its weight
should not exceed 5 tons, with about 72 cwts. on the driving
wheels, so that it may be able to pass over pontoons as at
present constructed, and also over temporary wooden bridges
hastily made to repair the arches in masonry or iron blown up by
the enemy. It should be furnished with a powerful windlass
arranged in such a manner that the engine after having ascended
a hill, or traversed a soft road or marsh, could remain stationary
and haul the guns or wagons up the incline, or through the bog by
a steel rope. Heavy loads could thus be dragged through diffi-
cult places almost inaccessible for horses.
Messrs. Aveling and Porter have constructed several traction
engines for the Royal Engineer Department, weighing not more
than about 5 tons, and they have been used with great success
for various military purposes. They have safely transported 5-ton
guns over pontoons of Ordinary construction. They are fur-
nished with a train containing all the machinery for sawing and
preparing wood for siege purposes, are adapted for pumping, and,
lastly, can be used as fixed engines for winding, or as a railway
locomotive. -
During the late autumn manoeuvres at Salisbury, one of these
engines accompanied the troops and was used for pumping water
for the supply of the army. The engine left the railway station
drawing a pump behind it, and in two days the pipes were laid to
the river, the reservoir was constructed, and water was conveyed
to various parts of the camp by troughs. In time of war this
operation might be accomplished in less than half that time.
Two of Messrs. Fowler's steam ploughing engines were employed
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 39
*º-
by the Prussians in the late Franco-Prussian war in transporting
guns and war material. The following extract from the “Chemins
de Fer pendant la Guerre de 1870-71,” par F. Jacqmin, shows that
they were successful in hauling heavy material, but were found
to be too heavy for the general purposes for which a steam engine
is required during the march of an army:-
“Deux machines de route du système Fowler, furent achetées et
envoyées à Pont-à-Mousson. -
“Un premier train de vivres et fourrages, composé de quatorze
voitures et attelé d'une machine, franchit en quinze heures la dis-
tance de Pont-à-Mousson à Commercy (quarante kilomètres), sur
une route départementale à fortes rampes et à Courbes; ce train
ramena de Commercy a Pont-à-Mousson huit wagons chargés de
pierres. -
“Sur de nouveaux ordres de M. de Moltke, les deux locomotives
de route amenèrent à Commercy ume grosse machine de chemin de
fer, système Stroussberg. Après un heureux voyage, elles furent
chargées à Commercy sur destrucks de chemins de fer et envoyées
à Nanteuil, où elles servirent au transport, parles routes, de grosses
pièces de siége prussiennes et des approvisionnements, jusqu’à
l'achèvement de la voie provisoire contournant le souterrain de
Nanteuil (23 movembre).” -
From all the data which can be collected, it may be reasonably
assumed that, if the British army should be called upon to take
the field, traction engines, specially constructed, could be success-
fully used by the transport corps; and, considering that the
requisite amount of steam power can be kept by Government in
reserve, with no further outlay than the interest of the capital
invested, the subject of employing steam, to a limited extent,
instead of animal power, is worthy of attention at the present
time, as horses are becoming yearly more Scarce and difficult to
obtain.
CONCLUSION.
The future of road locomotives must depend to a great extent
upon the state of the law with reference to their employment on
common highways. As the Act of Parliament at present stands, it
is prohibitory to the use of engines upon tramways in towns; it
compels the driver of an engine in the country to travel at a very
slow speed—not exceeding about 4 miles per hour—and to stop
at the request of almost every traveler; and lastly, it makes the
owner responsible for all the damage to old bridges, culverts, &c.,
40 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
which may result on a public highway during the passage of his
engine, even though he may have strictly carried out all the
instructions contained in the Act.
In consequence of these restrictions, the haulage of passengers
and goods by steam on common roads in England has never been
thoroughly developed; but if an equitable law should be passed,
passengers will doubtless be conveyed on Our present tramways by
steam, and the time will soon arrive when a light engine, drawing
a couple of cars, will start in the morning and convey residents in
the outskirts to their places of business in all cities and large towns,
at the rate of 9 miles, or 10 miles per hour, followed by a slower
train propelled by smaller engines, and taking up passengers on
the road as is now done by the horse cars. -
It has been clearly shown that the chief demand for road loco-
motives existing up to the present time has been for the purposes of
agriculture, and that, in spite of all difficulties and obstacles to the
use of these machines, the number employed in England has yearly
augmented. It is therefore evident that any change in the Road
Locomotive Act would benefit the farmer as much, if not more,
than any one else; that it would tend to make him more indepen-
dent in all his operations, and would cause his labourers to become
more intelligent, and that thus, by the increased introduction of
steam in rural districts, the general prosperity of the country would
be advanced. * - -
The Paper is illustrated by a series of drawings and diagrams,
from which Plates 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 have been
compiled. -
|APPENDIX.
S T E A M L O C O M OT I O N ON
I.-DETAILs of ROAD LocoMOTIVES.
C O M M O N R O A D S.
[To face page 40.
- - Water Heat- Water Heat- | Average Ratio of Gearin Advance of Engine g Yaş
Name of Patentee and Nominal || Number Length Area of Number Diameter ing Surface ing Surface f. * * * e ſº g ge per Foot of Contents | Contents | Weight §. Weight | Weight
of Manufacturer Description of Engine and Boiler. Horse of Diameter. of Fire of Of per nominal per Square of Description of Driving Wheel. Diameter. Width. Piston speed. of of Coal of Engine | * #. on OIn Length and Breadth Remarks
g Power. Cylinders. Stroke. Grate. Tubes. Tubes. Horse Power|Foot of Grate | St. Tank. Bunker. Empty. | *ś9* Driving | Leading Over all. *
* of Engine. Surface. &Ill. Fast Speed. Slow Speed. |Fast speasow Speed. Work. | Wheels. | Wheels.
- in. in. sq. feet. in. square feet. Square feet. lbs. - in. in. ſt. ſt. gallons. cwts. tons. cwts.] tons. cwts.] tons, cwts.] tons. cwt.s. ft. i & tº
Gurney . tº º Engine, boiler, and coach, mounted on 5 wheels. . . 8 2 8 18 12' 00 e 1} 6 : 00 4 : 00 100 | Rigid, smooth . . . 60 3% tº e 5' 230 60 i; yellºw, ** *|"; o X § º Passenger engine.
Hancock tº ſº. Engine, boiler, and omnibus, mounted on 4 wheels . . . 10 2 9 12 6 : 00 e tº º 10 : 00 16' 60 100 | Ditto do. . . . . . . . . . 48 3} 2 to 1 3 * 140 80 2 3 0 3 12 2 12 1 0 18 0 × 6 5 | Ditto ão.
Boydell, Horizontal engine on locomotive form of boiler. Trans- Wrought iron, forged all in one piece with 66 16. 7 0
Manufactured by } . mission to driving wheels by spur gearing. Steerage in 12 2 7} 12 5' 50 71 1; 22 - 80 49 • 00 100 tires shrunk on, Rims, fitted with Boy-Yº without over Shºes. 8 to 1 17 to I 1 - 070 || 0 - 500 315 10 9 0 || 11 10 8 0 3 10 17 0 x over }. For heavy traffic.
B Charles Burrell front . . . . . . . . . © tº e º 'º e dell's patent endless railway . . . . Shoes. on Tire Shoes
ray, - º
sº by | e Vertical boiler; horizontal cylinders . . . . . . . 10 2 7 14 7 : 00 18 - 20 26' 00 120 Wrought iron with sliding spuds 72 15 8 to 1 16 to 1 1 - 000 || 0 - 500 250 10 12 0 || 15 0 || 11 0 4 0 21 0 × 7 3 | Ditto do.
Tennant . . . ſº 'gºlº fixed to the 10 2 7} | 10 || 8-25 1% 18-20 22:00 | 130 | Wrought-iron rims, fitted with cross straps | 68 18 || 6’42 to 1 || 14-7 to 1 || 1:700 || 0:720 250 | 10 | 11 0 || 14 0 | 10 0 || 4 0 || 17 6 × 7 6 | Ditto do.
R. W. Thomson, R. W. Thomson's patent “ off boiler, with stoke-hole * Aſ a Q sº e tº a wº ſº * & º º º e
“Colonist’ & º { behind. #.nº *inº. Steering gear in front º 8 2 6 10 4 : 00 30 2} 12. I2 24 • 25 140 | Wrought iron, with india-rubber tires . 60 16 7 to 1 || 14 6 to 1 || 1 580 || 0 - 660 || 310 10 5 13 7 0 || 5 5 || 1 15 14 6 × 7 0 || For fast goods.
R. W. Thomson. “Ravee.''}(Olrick's patent “Field’ boiler, with stoke-hole in front.
Manufactured by Vertical cylinders and gearing behind. Steering gear 14 2 8 10 11 : 00 218 1; 12 35 15. 72 160 | Ditto do. . . 72 18; 3.75 to 1 12 - 1 to I 3° 069 || 0 920 370 11 13 || 14 10 | 10 5 4 5 16 9 × 8 8 || Passenger engine.
Ransomes, Sims & Head in front. * * * * * * * * * e s a e
Hº & Thomson. “Suther- R. W. Thomson's patent “pot” boiler. Vertical cylinders - F icultural d
y g is tº e tº & t s * * e e © Or 8.9 TICultur Ulrº)OSèS 9. In
º { and gearing behind. Steering gear in front . tº º 8 2 6 I0 5' 25 36 2; 16' 98 25 88 130 | Ditto do. 60 19% 9 - 3 to 1 18° 4 to 1 0 - 990 || 0 - 495 375 12 7 10 || 10 5 7 10 2 15 16 9 × 7 9 { goods traffic. purpo
Ransomes, Sims and Head º on * wn o: whe sº 8 1. 9 12 5-55 28 2% I8 - 29 26-37 || 70 | Cast-iron rims, with wrought-iron spokes . 60 10 5 * 8 to 1 || 11 6 to 1 || 1 350 || 0 - 650 | 150 4} | 8 0 || 9 15 7 5 || 2 10 | 16 0 × 8 3 || For agricultural purposes.
Horizontal engine on locomotive form of boiler, mounted † º * e e
Charles Burrell . | on springs over the hind axle; wheels driven by strong, 8 I 9 12 4 - 20 33 2 I8 50 35' 00 100 ſº rims, with wrought-iron º 66 14 12 to I 18 to 1 || 0 720 || 0 - 480 150 8 7 10 || 9 0 || 6 10 || 2 10 | 16 0 × 6 4 | Ditto do.
endless, pitched chains on either side. Steerage in É. + plates, wrought spokes and cast naves . -
& Horizontal engine on locomotive form of boiler. Trans. Wrought-iron rims, with diagonal plates . F icultural
Aveling and Porter mission by spur gearing of malleable iron, with com- 8 1 9 12 4 °30 30 2} 16-30 30' 00 80 |{Cast-iron rims and wrought-iron spokes, or 66 12 15 to 1 0-575 160 9; 7 10 || 5 0 || 2 10 16 6 × 6 7 { Or * purposes and
& pensating gear. Steerage from foot plate . Adam’s patent elastic wheel ge g tº goods traffic.
Ditto do. “Steam sapper’ Ditto do. . . . . . . . . . 6 I 7; 10 3.90 28 2} 16' 50 25° 40 80 | Ditto do. . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 10 12 to 1 tº º 0-785 110 7 5 0 3 7 I 13 13 6 × 6 () {º for
J. Fowler & C Horizontal engine on locomotive form of boiler. Trans- Wºº, y ". º "...º, F . tºm, and a * l
* - & UO. issi geari & in or g to o K * & * º e - Or gº CT1 8,
OWI er & UO mission by spur gearing of cast steel, with compensating 8 I 9 12 e 29 2} I7 - 13 * |Indiº; tires, fitted with Greig and 66 16 14 to 1 7 to 1 0 - 782 || 0 - 366 200 6% 7 10 9 10 7 0 2 10 16 0 × 7 3 { urposes." c
gear. Steerage from foot plate . * * * g º e Aveling's patent shoes purp
- sº º horizontal, engine placed on top bºx e ſº e ©
Ditt e of locomotive form of boiler. A drum placed under © * d g Wrought-iron rims, with diagonal strips e * *-** . - * in or
IULO do º º º: winding the hauling ropes of the ploughs 12 I 10% 12 7 : 60 29 2; 16.77 26 48 90 wrought-iron spokes and cast naves . º 66 20 14 to 1 7 to 1 0.732 0 - 366 180 S 11 0 I3 10 10 0 3 10 21 6 × 8 3 || For steam ploughing.
8 nGl Cultil WatorS * * * * * * * * * *
Ditto do. Ditto do. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 2 9 12 10 : 00 35 2# 12 95 25.91 90 | Ditto do. . . . . . . 72 22 14 to 1 7 to 1 0 - 732 || 0 - 366 217 9} | 13 10 | 17 0 | 12 0 5 0 23 9 × 8 8 || Ditto do.
Horizontal engine on locomotive form of boiler. Trans- Wrought-i º il ti ith diagonal F icultural l d
Clayton and Shuttleworth º by ºp. gearing º crank, with º 10 2 7% 12 5' 38 34 2} 17:01 31 60 80 { ; S -Iron arms and tires, Wl º 69 18 3' 47 to 1 5 : 5 to 1 0 - 820 || 0 517 145 10 9 4 || 10 15 6 10 4 5 19 9 × 7 9 { ‘. ... ºº *
© saving gear. Steerage in tront. $ tº e º & - © º e º º tº c - *
Ditto do. ... Ditto do. . . . . . . . . . 8 I 9 12 4 * 41 26 2; 17 ° 41 31 58 80 | Ditto e do. . . . . tº 67 15 3' 66 to I 6 to 1 0.775 | 0 - 473 120 8; 7 17 8 15 5 5 3 10 18 6 × 7 5 || For agricultural purposes.
Robey & Co. Horizontal engine on locomotive form of boiler. 8 1 9} 12 5' 24. 30 2% 17: 00 26' 00 100 {\; *ś ..) 64 15 | 12 - 2 to 1 || 17 5 to 1 || 1 : 000 || 0 - 666 100 7 7 0 || 8 12 || 6 0 || 2 12 | 16 3 × 6 10 | Ditto do.
II.-DETAILS OF ROAD ROLLERs.
Aveling. ‘Road Roller.” Horizontal engine on locomotive form of boiler. Trans- | | - º
Manufactured by mission by spur gearing of malleable iron. Steerage); 4 1 6% 10 3' 20 24 2 I5' 5 19 - 30 80 || 4 smooth rollers of cast iron 56 17 13 to 1 * * 0 - 676 73 3} 7 10 || 3 15 || 3 15 | 16 0 × 6 0 º: ºf wagºn* as well as
Aveling and Porter . from front or back . . . . . . . . . . . . U road roung. -
Gellerat. “Road Roller.” Horizontal engine on locomotive form of boiler. Trans-I | -
Manufactured by mission by double pitch chain to each roller. Steerage | 10 2 7 11 4 '84 || 51 2 28' 5 58 - 80 90 || 2 ditto do. . . . . . . . 47 55 7 to 1 0 - 960 280 8 12 0 | 15 0 | 15 0 17 0 × 6 5 For road rolling alone.
Manning, Wardle & Co., from foot plates * * * * * * * * * * |
| |




STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON IROADS. 41
A P P E N ID IX.
C O N T E N T S.’
I.—Details of Road Locomotives.
II.-Details of Road Rollers.
III.-Details respecting Street Tramway Locomotives. By Leonard J. Todd,
of Leith.
IV.-Cost of Haulage by R. W. Thomson's Road Steamer.
V.—Comparison between the Cost of Haulage by Steam and by Horses.
VI.-Account of Work done by an 8-H.P. Traction Engine on India-rubber
Wheels, manufactured by Messrs, J. Fowler and Co., Leeds, and belong-
ing to Messrs. Lister, of the Manningham Mills, near Bradford.
VII.-Account of Work done by an 8-H.P. Traction Engine fitted with Wrought-
iron Wheels, with Diagonal Strips, manufactured by Messrs. J. Fowler
and Co., Leeds, and belonging to the Farnley Iron Company.
VIII.-Account of Work done by an 8-H.P. Traction Engine fitted with Wrought-
iron Wheels, with Diagonal Strips, manufactured by Messrs. J. Fowler
and Co., Leeds, and belonging to the Low Moor Iron Company.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
**
III.-DETAILS respecting STREET TRAMWAY LOCOMOTIVEs. By LEONARD
J. ToDD, of Leith.
Engine for 1 IEngine for 2
&====º 40-passenger car 40-passenger cars
On 1 in 40. On 1 in 40.
Actual H.P. required at 8 miles on 1 in 40 II - I H.P 19 - 6 H. P.
35 , 10 , ,, 100 || 7' 0 , 13° 0 ,
* 3 22 10 , on level. 2 : 1 , 4 3 ,
Weight, full . . . . 3% tons 5% tons
Driving weight . . . . . . . . 2# , # ,
Coefficient of adhesion required on 1 in 40 • 085 • 096
Grate surface is g º is s 2% square fect 33 Square feet
Heating , • * * * * * * I25 27 I75 35
33 ,, per square foot of grate 50 * } 50 22
Working pressure e is º is 150 lbs 150 lbs,
Two cylinders . 5 in. dia, x 9 in. 6% in. dia. × 9 in.
Single gear . . . . . . . . . 2# to 1 3 to 1
... wrº an ored ‘ * c + , ,
Dºg whºle ºngºl 'Mººn' tº coin.d., 8 in cºin dia. , sin.
Leading wheels, flanged, chilled cast iron 30 in. dia. × 2% in, 30 in, dia. × 23 in.
Advance of engine per foot of piston speed 3 - 8 ft 3 - 8 ft.
Number and diameter of boiler tubes 45, 1% in. dia. 66, 1% in. dia.
Area of tube openings . . . . . 48 square inches 70 Square inches
Revolutions of crank shaft, at 10 miles 153 T 53
Water tank, holds . . tº ºr 100 gallons 160 gallons
Coke bunker, holds. 1 cwt, 2 cwts.
Diameter of fan . 10 in, 12 in.
Speed, maximum 10 miles 10 miles
Wheel base . 5% ft. 6 ft.
IV.-Cost of HAULAGE By R. W. Tuoyſson's RoAD STEAMER.
The following has been received from Mr. John F. White, of Aberdeen, respect-
ing the performance of his 10-H.P. road steamer, manufactured on R. W. Thom-
Son's patent —
“I have made careful calculation of the results of the year 1871 (which was
the most complete year when I made up my statement) as to the cost of working
the 10-H.P. road steamer.
I find that the cost per mile per ton was 5d.
This
included heavy outlays for repairs and alterations, and deduction for deterioration
of plant.
parts were found not sufficiently strong.
The repairs and changes have been considerable in my case, as some
“The amount of work done in 1871 was 5,645 tons, wheat or flour, carried 6
miles.
“About a year ago I had a new boiler fitted into my steamer, “Field's tubular
boiler, which does well.
The original boiler was what is called a “pot boiler.”
It did not do well, causing continual annoyance from leakage of the tubes, &c.
I have had no trouble with the present boiler.”
“P.S. Barring repairs, the work should be done considerably cheaper.”
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 43
W.—CoMPARISON BETWEEN THE COST OF HAULAGE BY STEAM AND BY HoRSES.
The following cost of haulage by steam in comparison with horses has been
compiled by some farmers in Kent, using Aveling and Porter’s ‘agricultural
locomotive.’ It is founded upon the comparative cost of carting 12 tons of
material 10 miles, the wagons returning empty. The figures need some rectifica-
tion to assimilate the prices to those of the present day, although the pro-
portion would probably remain the same.
BY STEAM:—
Cost of Plant.
8. d. £ s. d
10-H.P. locomotive engine . º e . 420 0 0
3 Wagons, 6-in. wheels, at £45 . , - . 135 0 0
555 0 0
Working Evpenses per Day.
Coal, 8 cwts. at 1s. 0 8 0
Oil, &c. e 0 2 ()
Engine driver 0 5 0
Steersman . 0 3 0
Tabourer . & e º º - 0 2 6
Wear and tear for 1 day, estimated at 20 per
cent. per annum for 250 working days,
on £555 . & o © & e º 0 9 ()
Interest on capital for 1 day at 5 per cent, per
annum for 250 working days . º tº 0 2 3
Total . º º 1 II 9
By HORSES :—
Cost of Plant.
£ 8, d. É 8, d.
4 teams of horses and harness s º . 560 0 0
4 wagons at £30 º o e º . 120 0 0
——— 680 0 0
Working Eagenses per Day,
Keep of 4 teams of horses, including sta-
bling, &c., with wages of 8 men -> e 2 12 0
Wagon grease . o º º e e 0 0 3
Wear and tear for 1 day, estimated at 10 per
cent. per annum for 250 Working days,
on £680 e º º & o 0 5 5
Interest on capital for 1 day at 5 per cent. per
annum for 250 working days . © tº O 2 9
Total e 3 O 5
Cost of carting 12 tons 10 miles by horse power £3 0 5 or 6d. per ton per mile.
}} ... }} 72 steam power 1 11 9 or 3d. : 3 22
Difference in favour of steam per day . #I 8 8
} } 2) ») for 250 days º . f658 6 8
44 STEAM. LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
VI.-ACCOUNT of Work done by an 8-H.P. Traction Engine on India-rubber
Wheels, manufactured by Messrs. J. Fowler and Co., Leeds, and belonging to
Messrs. Lister, of the Manningham Mills, near Bradford.
Cost of Plant.
Engine . & tº ſº º * e #651
2 Wagons § ſº tº e e e 130
#781
Description of Work performed.—The work of the engine consists in hauling
coal from the Lancashire and Yorkshire coal depôt, Bradford, to Messrs. Lister’s
mill at Manningham, a traveling distance—in and out—of 5 miles each
journey. The load is hauled half that distance—23 miles each journey—and
useful load hauled = 9% tons. On the journey with the load there is one
gradient to ascend of 1 in 20, half a mile long; another of 1 in 12, a quarter of
a mile long; and a third of 1 in 40, one mile long; the rest of the road is
slightly downhill. 13 mile of the road is macadam, the remainder pavement.
Work of one Year = 261 days at 3 journeys each te ſº 783
52. ,, at 2 25 tº ſe 104
887
Deduct for accidents, &c. o e 37
Total 850
The following statement is calculated for the whole year from one month's
actual work:—
Working Expenses.
1 man at 308, per week . tº * º #78 () 0
1 , at 258. 22 . e tº t 65 0 0
1 boy at 10s. per week . e e ë 26 0 0
Interest on capital at 5 per cent. (£781) . 39 1 0
Depreciation , 10 per cent. (£781) . 78 2 ()
Water, 850 journeys at 2d. e * ſº 7 1 8
Coke 2) at 18. Ö e {e 42 10 0
Oil, tallow, and packing . • • te 11 14 0
Boy's suit and licence © * º 4 1 0
Repairs at 2% per cent. (on £781), Say ſº 20 0 0
Total cost of carriage of 8,075 tons . . £371 9 8
== 11d. per ton with engine. Cost of haulage per ton per mile = 4:4d. With
horses, instead of the cost being 11d. per ton, it would be 2s. 6d.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 45
VII.-ACCOUNT of Work done by an 8-H.P. Traction Engine fitted with Wrought-
iron Wheels, with Diagonal Strips, manufactured by Messrs. J. Fowler
and Co., Leeds, and belonging to the Farnley Iron Company.
Cost of Plant,
Engine . gº o º ſº * de #512
2 Wagons e • e 170
#682
Description of Work performed.—The work of the engine consists in traveling
with empty wagons from Farnley Iron Works to Wellington Bridge Depôt, a
distance of 3% miles, and returning loaded with 9 tons of iron-stone. Number of
journeys each day, 2. With the load the engine has a gradient to ascend of
1 in 20, 1; miles long; the remainder of the road is level.
Working Expenses per Day.
I man at
1 , at tº tº
I , at 9. ſº
Oil and tallºw tº
Interest, depreciation, &c.
Coal tº g
:
I
.
T
O
t
8.
l
f
1
I
I
:
= 1s. 9d. per ton, or 6d. per ton per mile.
The men in charge of the train loaded their own wagons, but if arrangements
were made so that the trucks were loaded for them, three journeys per diem could
be performed instead of two, which would reduce the cost per ton to 18.3%d.
against 2s. 8d. per tom, which the work would cost if performed by horses.
VIII.-ACCOUNT of Work done by an 8-H.P. Traction Enginefitted with Wrought-
iron Wheels, with Diagonal Strips, manufactured by Messrs. J. Fowler and
Co., Leeds, and belonging to the Low Moor Iron Conlpany.
Cost of Plant.
Engine . • - tº e º e $512
4 Wagons tº © o tº º tº 340
§852
Description of Work performed.—The work of the engine consists in
traveling twice a day from Low Moor to Clifton, a distance of 5 miles, with a
load of 10 tons, and bringing back every alternate journey a load of 10 tons; the
distance traveled being 20 miles, and gross Weight hauled, 30 tons per day. On
the outward journey from Low Moor there is a gradient to ascend of 1 in 20, two
miles long; the remaining portion of the road is undulating.
46 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
Working Expenses per Day.
8, d.
1 man at 5 0
1 r at ſe 4. ()
1 , at 3 0
Oil, &c. * º g t tº g 1 0
Interest, depreciation, &c., at 25 per cent. . tº 14 0
Coal . tº e * e º • • 13 0
n . Total £2 0 0
= 1s. 4d. per ton, or 3 2d. per ton per mile.
When working to and from Shelf, a full journey of 5 miles —in and out—three
journeys a day are made with a load of 10 tons out and 10 tons in. There is a
gradient of 1 in 20 going out, 2 miles long, and another 1 in 10, 30 yards long.
The working expenses, including interest, &c., at 25 per cent, and coal, oil, &c.,
amount to 46s. per day, making the cost of haulage = 9d. per ton, or 3' 6d.
per ton per mile. \
[Mr. J. GRANTHAM
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 47
Mr. J. GRANTHAM said, as a model of the steam tramway carriage,
constructed under his direction, had been submitted to the Meeting,
some explanation in regard to it would probably be acceptable.
Several gentlemen being desirous to ascertain whether it was ad-
missible to use steam in streets for the conveyance of passengers,
had liberally determined to defray the cost of building a carriage,
with which certain experiments had been made in private. It was
a common tramway carriage, with power applied from the centre.
The experiments had hitherto been satisfactory; and the only
question now to be solved was whether it would be objectionable
in the open streets. One of the tramway companies had granted
permission for the carriage to run on a line, at present not in use,
where the public could see it. It had a boiler chamber on each
side, and the centre passage was preserved intact. There was
nothing peculiar about the engines, and they worked under the
seats of the carriage. In hot climates, the car would have a canopy
provided for the passengers on the roof. The principal fact to
which he desired to draw the attention of the Meeting was that
the passengers could pass, without any obstruction, from end to
end of the carriage, both inside and out. As was usual with
tramway cars, the carriage was not turned, but each end became
alternately the back or the front. The handles for working
the engine were transferred, the gates were opened and closed,
the steps lowered and raised, and all the operations reversed,
as usual on horse tramways. He would notice the extent
to which the experiments had been carried out. The place
in which the carriage was built was under a railway arch, and
there was sufficient space for it to run about twice its own
length; but that was too limited to give any evidence as to the
effect of the steam from the funnel. It had been ascertained that
there was no heat perceptible to the passengers inside. There were
small mirrors at the end of the chambers containing the boilers,
and after the steam had been up for 3 hours, or 4 hours, those mirrors
were quite cold. There was no annoyance to passengers from smell
or from the motion; and it was also clearly shown that the carriage
could be started and stopped with greaterease and rapidity than when
horses were employed. He hoped shortly to have an opportunity of
placing it on a tramway where it could be seen by the public.
Mr. T. AVELING said, the cast-iron wheels of the engine referred
to in the Paper as having been tried at Wolverhampton, and as
having drawn 3} times its weight, had no cross bars upon them.
The bearing surface of the wheel on the road was perfectly smooth.
If the engine had been fitted with cross bars, as wheels were fitted
48 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
for locomotive purposes, it would have nearly approached—as it
had since—the tractive power of the india-rubber tires fitted with
cross-bars. He agreed as to the great advantage derived from the
use of india-rubber tires upon paved roads. In fact, it was an
extremely difficult matter to draw a load on a pavement with a
rigid wheel, but on macadamised roads its performance was satis-
factory. There was, however, so much expense attending the use
of flexible tires, that the benefits obtained from them must be much
greater than had yet been shown before their general adoption
would be warranted.
A pair of elastic wheels on Adams' system had been made by
Messrs. Aveling and Porter for one of Mr. Neville Granville's
engines. Mr. Aveling had been told that they had run 500 miles;
but it was difficult to keep the outer tire and the inner tire coupled
together. The action of the wheel, as far as making it more com-
fortable for the driver, was no doubt an improvement. The engine
could also draw more with wheels fitted in that manner on paved
roads, because the contact was more certain at all times. The wheel
did not jump from one stone to another; but nevertheless he was not
satisfied with that description of wheel. He might add, he had
lately tried experiments with spring tires and rigid tires on good
macadamised roads, and he had never found that a wheel which flat-
tened itself on the surface of the road could draw the load with the
same pressure of steam as a rigid wheel fitted with wrought-iron
cross bars. The flexible wheel would require from 6 lbs. to 8 lbs.
more steam pressure. On the whole he considered the ‘rigid’
system to be preferable to the ‘flexible’ system.
Mr. L. J. ToDD considered that if steam tramway locomotion was
to be successfully carried on it must be done by a separate engine
drawing a car. Any combination of the boiler and machinery with
the passenger carriage — like the successive attempts made by
urney, Hancock, and Scott Russell, in Great Britain, and by
Remington, Baxter, and others, in the United States — would
prove, more or less, unsuccessful. It would be dangerous to run the
car referred to by Mr. Grantham in the streets, as it had two
boilers shut up in small spaces, in which the driver could not see
what was going on. Supposing it was running on a dark night,
and the driver happened to be a little intoxicated, an explosion
would probably take place. The passenger engine called the ‘Pio-
neer,’ tried in Edinburgh a year or two since, was similarly
constructed. It had a single boiler at One end of the car, and below
the floor three cylinders coupled to one pair of the wheels; and
from the mud and dust it was found impossible to keep the
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 49
working parts in order when running on common roads—even on
those in the best condition—so that in three months, or four months,
the whole of the joints and brasses had to be renewed. Again, if
the engines were placed below the car, and there was the slightest
escape of steam from the glands, it would rise through the floor of
the carriage and frighten the passengers, especially if they were
ladies. On one occasion the exhaust pipe of the ‘Pioneer’ burst,
when it was taking out the Town Council of Leith for a trip, who,
when they saw the steam issuing through the floor, very speedily
‘cleared out’ and ran off for some distance. That was an accident;
but even a little steam coming up from the glands through the
floor would frighten ladies in such a way that they would not
travel in the car at all. The canopy for the outside passengers
alluded to by Mr. Grantham would always be required, as with a
short funnel coming up through the roof in the midst of them it
would be impossible they could otherwise be kept free from smoke
and soot. In the ‘Pioneer, the smoke was carried off at the rear
of the carriage by an opening at an angle of 45°, so as to discharge
the dust and steam behind, and yet it was found impossible to keep
the roof seats clean, and the fireman at the end of each run had to
go up and sweep the dirt away. Then, again, in the matter of
repairs. It was better to work at an engine in a shop into which
it could be taken by itself, and where it would be apart from the
passenger car. With the ‘Pioneer,’ it was found that the fittings
of the passenger carriage were very much damaged by the smoke
and dirt of the repairing shop ; and it would have been much
better if the engine could have been repaired by itself, and the car-
riage have been left free for service. Mr. Todd would repeat that the
worst feature of the carriage described by Mr. Grantham was the
enclosure of the two boilers in places where they could not be
easily inspected, as such an arrangement must sooner or later be
the occasion of an accident.
NIr. BRAMWELL said, the subject of which the Paper treated
was one of great interest to him, and had been so ever since his
apprenticeship, when he became acquainted with the well known
Walter Hancock, the most successful maker of common road loco-
motives, and was frequently with him at his manufactory at
Stratford.
The scope of the Paper was very extensive. It included
the self-propelling passenger carriage for high speeds; the high
speed traction engine; the slow speed traction engine for goods;
the self-moving engines for ploughing, and for other agricultural
purposes; the self-moving tramway car, or the traction engine for
E
50 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
such cars; and it also included steam road rollers. It thus opened
out a wide field of discussion; but Mr. Bramwell would not
weary the Meeting by attempting even to touch upon the whole
of those matters, but would confine his remarks almost entirely .
to one division, namely, to the quick traveling, self-propelling
passenger coaches. The Author alluded to the names of Gurney
and Hancock, but there were other names which might be men-
tioned, such as Ogle, Maceroni, Dance, and Church.
With the exception of the steam ploughing locomotive, which
was worked in the field, and not upon roads, and the steam
roller commonly used on roads which were for the time closed
against horse traffic, the question whether or not locomotives
could be employed on common roads depended in a great measure
upon whether or not horses would be frightened by them. Mr.
Hancock for many months used to run his steam carriage regu-
larly from Paddington to the Bank and back, and in the other
direction from Cornhill to Whitechapel, among the ordinary omni-
buses. For the first week or two after the steam omnibus started
the horses along the road showed signs of inquietude, but after
the running had continued about a fortnight the ordinary omni-
bus horses on the road paid no attention to the steam. When
strange horses went by there was frequently some sign of rest-
lessness, but not much. Mr. Bramwell thought a great deal of this
indifference on the part of the horses to Hancock's steam coach
arose from the care which had been taken to make it in a shape that
should be “reasonably agreeable" to horses. One of Hancock's
earliest steam carriages was called the ‘Infant.” Some years after
its construction he built another and larger carriage, called the
‘Automaton,’ of the same general form; another, called the ‘Era,'
which had an ordinary coach body; and another, called the
‘Autopsy, with an omnibus body. All those were built more or
less like Ordinary coaches and omnibuses, and, being so, they did
not appear to offend the susceptibilities of the horses. Further, Mr.
Hancock took care that there should be no moving machinery visible.
With the exception of the driving wheels there was not a particle
of moving machinery to be seen; and there was no Smoke, because
coke was used; neither was there any noise. The waste steam
was blown into a box, and issued by a number of holes into the
fire, and escaped quietly, and any steam from the safety-valves
was dealt with in the same manner. In that way the steam
coaches passed along, and neither by the sight of moving ma-
chinery, nor by the sounds of waste or escaping steam, did they
cause alarm. Mr. Bramwell thought, if similar care were taken in
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 51
the present day to conceal the moving machinery, and if the noise
of exhaust steam and that of steam whistles were dispensed with,
there would be little if any trouble with regard to horses. -
Further, in his opinion, after the engineer had paid all the
attention he could, to make the construction of those engines as
little offensive as possible, the matter was one of such importance
that—if horses were still to some extent alarmed—the proper course
would be not to settle the question by forbidding the use of such
engines on common roads, but to solve it by educating horses to
pass steam carriages without being frightened by them, as they
were now educated to pass military bands and railway bridges,
or to pass other things which were sources of annoyance. It was
well known that horses about railway stations paid no more atten-
tion to a Nocomotive than to another horse alongside them. There
would be no difficulty in thus training horses if it were worth
while—and he thought it was. .
Mr. Bramwell believed that Mr. Hancock, between 1830 and 1840,
did more fo show what was practicable on common roads with steam
yves than any other person had done before or since. In each
of Hančock's carriages the engine was in one with the body of the
coach, but the objections to that mode of construction which had
been raised by Mr. Todd did not apply, inasmuch as the boiler was
placed at the hinder part of the coach. The engine was in a
separate room. The water-tanks were placed under the pas-
sengers' seats; and the blowing-fan was under the ash-pit. The
boiler, the soul of such machinery, was ingeniously constructed.
It was stated in the Paper that :—“The boiler was about 2 ft.
square and 3 ft. high, and was made with flat chambers, 2 in. wide
and # in. thick, covered with bosses, arranged in such a manner
that the bosses of one chamber touched the bosses of the neigh-
bouring chamber, thus forming abutments, and at the same time
increasing the heating surface.” It was rather an inaccurate phrase
to say that the boiler was made with chambers, for the chambers
formed the boiler. The principle on which each chamber was
made was very simple, namely, the same principle as that on which
an Ordinary biscuit-bag was made. The sheet of iron was bent
in the middle until the two portions were brought parallel, the
one to the other, in the same way that a sheet of paper was folded
to make the two sides of a bag; them the edges of the sheet of iron
were brought together, and were united by being riveted up the
two edges and along the top. Thus there were no rivets at the
* Wide ante, p, 15.
E 2


52 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
bottom of the chamber—the part which was placed immediately
over the fire. In that way there was formed a flat chamber 2 in.
wide; a number of those were put side by side, with spaces between
each ; the spaces were also about 2 in. wide, and through those
spaces the fire played. Evidently no form could be more improper
for withstanding a high pressure of steam than that of a flat
chamber, but Mr. Hancock got over the difficulty in the following
manner:-The sides of the chambers were covered with hemi-
spherical bosses, and when the chambers were put together side by
side the summits of the hemispheres—if he might use the word
summit to a hemisphere—impinged one upon the other, and thus
every chamber was the support of the chamber on each side of it.
In this way the boiler was self-supporting until the two outside
chambers were reached; those required further support. That was
given by a thick wrought-iron plate the full size of the outside
chambers which bore on their hemispheres; outside those plates
strong girders were put in three places, and bolts outside the
chambers passed through the ends of the girders and braced the
boiler together, aided by two other tie-bolts, which passed, one
along the lower part, and the other along the upper part of the
boiler. In the centre of each chamber there was a vertical plane
raised to the same height as the hemispherical bosses, so that when
the chambers were placed together those raised planes nearly
touched each other from top to bottom all the way down the
middle. Further, there were introduced into each of the chambers
two rings of gun-metal as wide as the chambers in those raised
parts were broad, namely, about 4 in. ; those rings had a number
of small holes passing radially through their circumferences, while
through the large central hole passed one of the tie-bolts; that bolt
was much smaller than the central hole, and thus there was an
annular space between the outside of the tie-bolt and the inside
of the ring. Then there was a ring of copper wire between each
chamber, and pressure being applied by the bolts, the whole was
screwed up tight. Thus not only was the boiler held together
by those bolts and ring washers, but they formed an annular
tube at the bottom and another at the top, the bottom one serving
as the feed tube to all the chambers, and the top one as a steam-
pipe from all the chambers.
Other matters worthy of notice were considered by Mr. Hancock.
One was that instead of placing the driving wheels direct upon the
crank shaft he placed them upon a separate straight axle driven
from the crank shaft by means of a chain and pitched pulley. The
relative distance between the two shafts was always, notwith-
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 53
standing any rise or fall, preserved by horizontal radius rods.
That enabled him to use perfect carriage-springs for the driving
wheels without interfering with the action of the crank shaft
of the engine. In those days neither donkey engines nor in-
jectors were known, and thus driving as a second motion afforded
great facility for working feed-pumps when the coach was not
running. All that was necessary was to throw out the clutch
from the chain pulley, and then the engine could be worked as
might be desired for the purposes of pumping, or of urging the
fire by the fan-blast. - -
The wheels were not rigidly attached to their driving axle, but
were loose upon it, and were worked by clutches. Those clutches
had a large amount of clearance; so that the carriage, when
steered on any short easy curve to pass another carriage, could
obey the steersman with facility, because the driving wheel which
was on the outer side of the curve could overrun its driving
clutch, and thus keep true pace with that of the inner wheel.
Moreover, when it was required to turn the coach in its own
length, that was effected by throwing out of gear the clutch of one
of the wheels, which then became the pivot on which the coach
turned.
There was another question which was worthy of notice—that
was, with respect to the fire bars. Two sets, coupled up, were
provided, and were so arranged that when one set were slid into
the fire the other was outside; thus when one set of bars became
clinkered they could be withdrawn, and another clear set could
be put in, and when the clinkers were scaled off the first lot of
bars they were ready to be put in again. The steering arrange-
ment also was well thought out: it consisted of a chain and wheel;
and the peculiarity was that the driver, with a pedal, could hold
the fore wheels in any required position without strain on his
hands, which were only employed when the pedal was relieved
preparatory to its being required to alter the direction of the
carriage.
Much had been said in the Paper in reference to the great
trouble of road locomotives—the driving wheels. That trouble
was no new one ; for Mr. Bramwell remembered Mr. Hancock had
said to him —“You will be surprised to hear that the point in
which I found most trouble is one that seems the most simple:
that is, in the tire of the driving wheels, owing to their great
wear.” In Hancock's carriages the wheels were made of wood.
As regards their felloes and spokes, which had radiating ends secured
into cast-iron plate bosses, although the spokes were straight, that
54 STEAM LoCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
is, were not “dished' at all, the material — wood — afforded a
certain amount of elasticity, which enabled the wheels to stand
the work for many months. It should, however, be borne in mind
that the engine was not one of those ponderous machines which
were now employed for traction on common roads, weighing
from 8 tons to 11 tons. For instance, the weight of the ‘Infant’ was
only about 3% tons, although it conveyed 16 passengers, besides the
. steersman.
Mr. Bramwell thought that, of late, sufficient attention had
not been paid, in the science of common road locomotives, to
the possibility of making light engines. With such engines of
course the power to draw heavy loads could not be obtained,
but for passenger carriages containing the motive power within
them, where there was nothing but the load of the vehicle and
of the passengers to propel, there was every inducement to make
the weight as small as possible. It must be remembered that
although greater weight gave greater adhesion it required greater
power, and greater power required greater weight, so that the
increase might go on indefinitely, as in the contest between big
guns and thick armour plates. That the great weight was not
necessary for quick passenger traffic they knew from Mr. Hancock's
experience. Neither was great weight a necessary accompaniment of
great power. On this point he would wish to instance that which
Mr. Thorneycroft had done in engines for river navigation. He
had produced 70 I.H.P., with a weight of only 4,900 lbs., including
the water in the boiler and the weight of the propeller, with its
shaft. Those who had devoted attention to the subject would
bear Mr. Bramwell out in the statement that light engines could be
made, and he was certain when that was done the great destruction
of the wheels spoken of in the Paper would not take place.
He would mention that Mr. Hancock was one of the first to dis-
cover that the way to keep the boiler from priming was to cause
the steam to come through an extremely small steam-pipe—namely,
1}-in. Steam-pipe for a pair of 10 in. Cylinders in the ‘Auto-
maton ;’ and he was one of the first to use the eccentric rod
with inclined horns and a ‘gab’ on each side to get reversal
of motion. The ability and skill showed by Mr. Hancock in the
mechanism of his common road steam coaches so long ago as 1835
would do credit to the most talented Engineer of the present day.
With respect to traction engines, the Author had shown the
*ffect of putting the load upon an india-rubber tire, namely, that it
threw out the tire in advance of the wheel, and that it caused the
tire to assume different thicknesses in different parts. On reflec-
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 55
tion it might be perceived that the action of a load upon such a
tire advancing over a surface was very much that of a rolling mill,
and that the tire was being thinned at the part below the middle
of the wheel. This of necessity forced out the accumulation in
front, and caused the tire to slip round to bring the material
again into its proper position. Mr. Bramwell must say he had
entertained a very high opinion of those india-rubber tires, first,
because they appeared to afford a spring in the place where the
spring was best situated; that was, in the nearest point to the road;
and, second, because of the great adhesion they gave on paved and
on other road surfaces. He feared, however, the elasticity of those
tires was not perfect, and that they absorbed power in the con-
tinuous change of form. He was led to that conclusion by the
fact, that, after some amount of working, there was a considerable
generation of heat within the substance of the tire, which was
indicative of work put into it, and was inconsistent with perfect
elasticity. That development of heat was accompanied by a
strong smell of sulphur. As to the great powers of traction
possessed by india-rubber tires upon ordinary roads there could be
no doubt. -
The Author had alluded to some experiments made by Mr.
J. Easton and by Mr. Bramwell, in which, fortunately, they were
able to try the very same carriage with india-rubber tires and
with plain cast-iron wheels. They also tried them in compe-
tition with another traction engine which had cast wheels, with
a sort of cellular pattern on the tread—not with ribs across, as was
stated in the Paper. On good hard road the proportions were:—
for india-rubber, a tractive force of 45 per cent. of the insistent
weight; for cast-iron wheels, with a cellular pattern on their
treads, 35 per cent. ; and for small Smooth-faced cast-iron wheels,
25 per cent. No doubt on ordinary roads the india-rubber
had great advantage in tractive force, but when those engines
were used on wet land the conditions were not so favourable for
india-rubber. The same engines had been tried over a farm after
24 hours' very heavy rain, and them the cast-iron wheels suc-
ceeded in drawing loads through most difficult places with re-
markable ease. The india-rubber wheels, unhappily, did not
succeed. The clay was spurted up from under the wheels, and
entered between the india-rubber and the iron rim round which
the india-rubber was placed, and so lubricated the parts that
there was a revolution of the iron rim within the india-rubber.
Notwithstanding this failure on wet clay soil he still had a very
high opinion of india-rubber tires for road purposes. He was
56 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
rather alarmed, however, at the statement made in the Paper
that the old india-rubber tires were of very little value. The
late Mr. Thomson, the inventor of the india-rubber wheel, used
to urge that the tires could be worked up again, and re-used, and
that a considerable sum could be allowed for old tires; but, accord-
ing to the present statements, that was not so. That, as Mr. Bram-
well had said, alarmed him, because it made the expense of those
tires very great. For instance, Lieutenant Crompton estimated
that a set of tires which cost £234 would run only 8,000 miles; thus
making the working cost of the india-rubber tires about 7d. per mile,
and such a cost as that was nearly prohibitory of their use. Allusion
was made in the Paper to the contrivance adopted by Messrs.
Aveling and Porter between their motive power and the driving
wheels, namely, that of Holdsworth’s “jack-in-the-box”—invented
to be used in cotton-spinning machinery—whereby the engine could
turn round any corner without throwing the wheels out of
gear; but there was one difficulty about that, which was, that
when one of the wheels got into a hard place, or, rather, into a slip-
pery place, the whole energy of the engine could be devoted to
turning the wheel round over that slippery place without any
forward movement at all; but he believed Mr. Aveling had lately
devised means whereby he was able to throw out the compen-
sating arrangement, and thus to make the wheels for a time as
though they were rigidly connected, so that the ill effects Mr.
Bramwell had alluded to might not take place.
Mr. G. A. C. BREMME said the past history of the traction
engine, as recorded and explained in the Paper, seemed to furnish
ample evidence that the want of suitable propellers or driving
wheels had been the primary and chief cause of the failures and
disappointments hitherto experienced. Instead, however, of
occupying time by reviewing the various propellers which had
already been before the public, he would, with the permission
of the Meeting, state a few facts relating to a class of steel tire
wheels not so well known. The pair of wheels mentioned
in the Paper as being now under trial at Chatham had
been at work, attached to one of the Royal Engineer 6-H.P. steam
sappers, since the 15th of January last, and had now run an
aggregate distance of 150 miles. They were flexible, and would,
therefore, in future, and in accordance with the Author's classifi-
cation, be called “flexible steel tire wheels.” The Royal Engineers
had not as yet reported on them, but the results of private experi-
ments confirmed Mr. Bremme's opinion that, for the sake of economy
and safety, the flexible steel tire wheel would ultimately be
, STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. - 57.
generally and exclusively used for tractive purposes on the
common road. The pair of wheels in question weighed 46 cwts.,
which was about the same as that of a pair of india-rubber wheels
of equal size and capability, and their circumference was 206 in.
The weight of the pair of rigid wheels belonging to the steam
sapper was about 16 cwts., and their circumference was 1.89 in.
From empirical data he found that a pair of steel tire wheels,
specially adapted to the 6-H.P. steam sapper used, need not
weigh more than 30 cwts. The flexible tires were made of ordi-
nary sheer steel, and were untempered. Their actual deflection
when working was not quite one-fourth of that admissible before
permanent set began, and the steel tire might therefore be
considered indestructible. The weight of steel in each tire was
4 cwts., and its cross-sectional area was 8 square inches. An equi-
valent india-rubber tire would have necessitated a cross section of
at least 60 square inches. It might be assumed that in the con-
struction of elastic tires 80 lbs. of steel was equal in efficiency to
100 lbs. of india-rubber. The wrought-iron tread pieces or shoes
were 6 in. broad, perfectly smooth, and close together. The
positive and peculiar connection between the tire and the central
part in those wheels obviated two material defects peculiar to,
and unavoidable in, the india-rubber wheels, namely:-1, loss
of power through the slip of the central part; 2, excessive
intensity of pressure and consequent friction and wear at some
point or other of the wheel. To remedy those defects in india-
rubber wheels would seriously affect their qualities of flexibility
and elasticity. In working the sapper with the steel tire wheels,
the attendant riding on it felt no vibrations. The wheels in
hauling a load on paved or macadam roads, although perfectly
smooth, did not slip; their adhesion, therefore, was purely
frictional, and—not being dependent, as in the case of rigid wheels,
on any projections entering and lacerating the face of the road—
was always reliable. In an experiment made on the 18th of January
last the steel tire wheels took a 5-ton gun up an incline of
I in 8, near Melville Hospital, Brompton, with 80 lbs. boiler
pressure, and a gross load of 11, tons. The load on the drivers was
85 cwts. ; the allowance for gravity and road friction was 34 cwts. ;
the indicated coefficient of adhesion 0°4, and the actual average
coefficient was estimated at 0'5. A pair of rigid wheels of the
same weight and circumference would have required 94 lbs. boiler
pressure, or 14 lbs. more than that required by the steel tire wheels.
This difference was due to the fact that the road friction of the
steel tire wheels was considerably less than that of the rigid
58 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
driving wheels. As regarded the saving of first cost arising from
the use of the steel tire wheel, it might be sufficient to state that
the difference of cost between an india-rubber tire and a steel
tire was also the difference of cost between the respective wheels.
This difference represented a large saving, as, for instance, in the
case of the wheels of the “Ravee,” it amounted to from £180 to £200.
Mr. R. J. QUELCH said, he concurred in the idea that horses
would soon become so familiar with steam carriages in ordinary
use on the public highways as to be driven past them without
fright or danger. That such would be the case he inferred from
the quiet behaviour of horses at work in and about railway
stations, and also from the fact that all animals grazing alongside
the lines, though at first scared by the sights and sounds of
locomotive traffic, very soon became so accustomed to it as to be
oblivious to what was going on around them.
With reference to the use of a canopy over the roof of the
steam passenger carriage alluded to by Mr. Grantham, it was
evident that unless it was imagined the question of perfect
combustion had been satisfactorily solved, or as long as the
chimney was placed just above the roof of the carriage, the
passengers must necessarily be subject to a continual shower
of unburnt carbon and ashes. Mr. Quelch, however, considered
that there was not the slightest difficulty in designing a light
wrought iron roof capable of sheltering the passengers from all
possible annoyance. It had also been alleged that passengers
would never consent to travel in such dangerous proximity
to the boiler of the engine, and would be frightened by the
slightest escape of steam through the floor of the carriage. Now
this objection was utterly meaningless, for passengers on board
river steamers could be there observed daily sitting in the closest
proximity to the boiler, without apparently noticing either the
escape of steam or even betraying the slightest fear while sitting
directly over the boiler itself.
Until the Act of Parliament was altered so as to place steam
carriages on a similar footing to other vehicles, the question
before the Meeting would not be satisfactorily solved. Practical
engineers were not likely to spend their valuable time in working
out designs which could never be carried into execution; but
when the existing absurd restrictions were rescinded, they would
be found both willing and able to deal with the mechanical
difficulties involved.
Mr. H. GoRE thought that those who had recently devoted their
attention to this question—as exemplified by the Paper and the
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 59
drawings before the Meeting—were endeavouring to follow too
closely some form, or modification of form, of the ordinary loco-
motive engine. That he considered a mistake. He had given much
consideration to the mode in which tramways were to be worked,
and he had come to the conclusion—more particularly with regard
to those abroad—that it was essential for their success that they
should be enabled to use to a certain extent locomotive power upon
them. It appeared to him that the designers of steam tramway
carriages had forgotten an essential point, namely, that they were
not dealing with railways. In dealing with tramways which had
to pass through populous streets, and to turn round corners on curves
of very short radius, with rails that did not admit of super-elevation,
engineers were restricted by the grooves of those rails to a very
peculiar mode of traction, all or most of which conditions seemed to
be lost sight of by the designers of tramway locomotives or tram-
way steam carriages. He alluded especially to the systems of
Mr. Todd and of Mr. Grantham. With regard to the former it was
evident, in the case of a curve of 30 ft. radius with an engine and
detached Carriage, the engine would probably pass round, but
the carriage would most certainly slip off the tram, and perhaps
run into the centre of the road. He had traveled behind tram-
way locomotives in America, and he knew from personal experience
the results. So long as they ran on long straight lines, or on
curves of 150 ft. radius, the steam cars did very well, but with
curves of 30 ft. or 40 ft. radius it was a different matter. In Bal-
timore, with an engine and detached carriage, the latter became
placed in the middle of the road on going round a curve. With Mr.
Grantham's steam carriage it would be impossible to pass round
short curves, owing to the distance between the bearing points of the
wheels being so great. There were, on many existing tramways,
curves of 32 ft. and 33 ft. radius laid with grooved rails on both
sides. A carriage of the description proposed by Mr. Grantham
would go off the first time it was attempted to pass it round such
curves. Knowing the difficulty of getting the ordinary horse car
on to the line again, it might be imagined what trouble and delay
would attend that operation when it had to be performed with a
heavily weighted steam tramway carriage. But there was another
great difficulty which had not been taken into consideration: how
was a steam car to be guided round such curves 2 Those connected
with tramways knew that on a curve of small radius, as a matter of
course the horses were drawn off the curve towards its inner part in
order to give a tendency to the carriage similar to that produced
with a super-elevation of the outer rail; but how could that be done
60 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
with any of those arrangements 2 Hancock's carriage—which Mr.
Gorebelieved engineers must eventually adopt, if they everattempted
to apply steam to tramway locomotion—could go round such curves.
He had traveled by it round the sharp curve at the ‘Angel’ at Isling-
ton, and another at London Wall, and it went round both with
great facility. It was most important that inventors or designers
of steam tramway carriages should adapt them as closely as pos-
sible to some existing form of carriage; and in his opinion the
engine and carriage should be self-contained. Trials in the United
States pointed in that direction; and he believed that, out of the
many experiments that had been made, the only carriage which
was feasible was that designed by Messrs. Gray and Hunt, of
Baltimore ; and that was, to all intents, a modification of the
arrangements of Hancock's steam carriage applied to tramway
purposes.” - -
Mr. DAVID GREIG said, the subject might be divided into three
heads:–1, the effect of legislative enactments; 2, the adhesion of
the wheels; 3, the capacity and durability of the roads in
reference to a heavier and more wearing character of traffic. At
present the state of legislation was such as to keep inventive minds
from studying the question of steam locomotion on common roads.
No man with capital was inclined to embark in an undertaking that
was liable to be stopped at the caprice of any nervous individual.
If the legislative enactments were satisfactory, the arrangements
might be safely left to the engineers; and therefore he did not
propose to enter very fully into that branch of the subject. The
mechanical arrangements should not be too ingenious. If an engine
was constructed as lightly as had been proposed, it would be likely
to go to pieces even if made of the best steel. His experience had
convinced him that the fewer parts that were put into a traction
engine the better.
Adhesion was a matter obviously intimately connected with the
structure of the wheel. No wheel would take a load with the same
resistance as one with an india-rubber tire, or occasion so small an
amount of destruction of the road. Although he had expended much
time and money in perfecting this class of wheels, he was still san-
guine as to their ultimate success. At present the trials had shown
that they were the most efficient, and that the locomotives mounted
upon them could traverse ground inaccessible to others. But, on
the other hand, the cost, especially as regards repairs, was so great
* Wide also “Propulsion cf Carriages on Common Roads by power other than
animal power.” 8vo. London, 1873.—H.G.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMIMON IROADS. 61
as to impede their more general adoption. The results of the trials
at Wolverhampton did not give a fair idea of the capabilities of
the india-rubber tire, as it slid round like a locomotive on greasy
rails, whereas it should have been held securely as in a rigid
wheel. The power was not, therefore, applied upon the periphery
of the wheel. 4-
The capacity and durability of the roads was limited to the
weight and adhesion which they would stand. It was not a matter
of the power which the crank shaft would give, but of the adhesion
of the periphery of the wheel, and that was limited. The result
of his experience had tended to prove that Small engines with light
loads, driven at a moderate speed, were most available. He did not
approve of the use of high speed road locomotives, as he believed
that their use would endanger the other traffic. With high speed,
the steering would be difficult and a collision might occur, and any
inequality in the road would occasion a sudden, perhaps dangerous,
shock to the engine. On a tramway, a speed might be allowed
which could not be allowed on an ordinary road, where a stone
only ; in. thick would occasion a sensible jar to a carriage tra-
veling at a high velocity.
Mr. J. GRANTHAM said, the steam engines used on common roads
were generally called “road engines,’ in contradistinction to those
on tramways, which were styled ‘tramway engines.’ Having
watched for thirty years the progress of road engines, he had come
to the conclusion that past experience indicated failure rather than
success. No doubt there were circumstances where the common
road engine might be useful; as, for instance, for military and
agricultural purposes; because the same engine which worked
machinery could be used for transporting the carriage itself. But
he felt that nothing had hitherto transpired to warrant their adop-
tion for Ordinary purposes of traffic, for passengers and the convey-
ance of goods. A hard and uniform surface was an essential element
in the use of the road steam engine. Tramways were being intro-
duced rapidly, and might be employed to a much greater extent if
steam could be applied in the place of horses. The use of steam
engines would afford an opportunity for the introduction of tram-
ways into small towns and other places where the traffic was not
sufficient to warrant the construction and working of railways at a
large cost. He considered there were three essentials in the con-
struction of steam tramway carriages, namely:—1, they should have
a short wheel base; 2, they should be so constructed as to be capable
of being driven from either end, and of being worked both ways
—backward and forward–without being turned; 3, there should
62 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
be a clear passage for passengers from one end of the carriage to
the other. -
The other question, of whether steam tramway carriages would
make such a noise as to preclude their use in crowded towns? he was
happy to say was on the verge of being tested in a full-sized carriage
built for that purpose. In a long carriage a short and narrow wheel
base was essential to turning round sharp curves. A bogie frame
with four wheels formed even a better angle with regard to the
rails than the short wheel base of the present tramways. As it was
necessary that, under any circumstances, the wheel base should be
short, it was equally essential that the weight should be disposed
as much as possible in the centre of the carriage. With regard to
passengers inside a steam carriage, experiment had shown that they
would be as comfortable as with horse traction, and perhaps more
so. It had also been ascertained that the starting and stopping of
a steam tramway carriage was more easily effected, and the vehicle
was under better control than with horses. He was not prepared
to give an opinion as to how far the anticipated annoyance in the
streets from the chimney would be overcome. Various means had
been suggested with a view to protect the outside passengers from
being powdered with dust from the chimney. He had been recom-
mended to put the chimney at the end of the carriage, and to turn
it in different directions. It had been suggested also that a traction
engine drawing an ordinary passenger car would cause less annoy-
ance; but he considered that by such arrangements the pas-
sengers would be more exposed to the smoke and dust. If the
chimney was in the centre of the carriage, in nine cases out
of ten the dust would fly clear; at any rate its annoyance would
be small. An opinion had been expressed, to the effect that
there was danger in having the boiler in the middle of the
carriage, and something had been said about its bursting. It was
well known that tubes used in boilers, like that proposed by him,
when they burst, would not blow up the carriage and the people
in it. They only made a spluttering noise and put out the fires.
He had witnessed such an occurrence in the carriage he had
referred to. A joint in the steam pipe, being badly made, burst;
but it caused no inconvenience to the people inside the carriage;
in fact, no one but the engineer was aware of it. No doubt the
objections and difficulties urged against the use of steam passenger
tramway carriages would eventually be surmounted, like those
opposed to the introduction of locomotives on railways.
Mr. R. C. RANSOME said he saw, four years or five years ago, in
Baltimore, a steam tramway carriage at work, between the city and
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS 63
the People's Park, a distance of 4 miles or 5 miles. The form of the
carriage was similar to that of an Ordinary London Omnibus or
tramway car, with an engine at the end; and it appeared to answer
well. The starting and stopping was done with great facility, and
the motion was easy; the heat was not unpleasant, and there was
none of the dust mentioned by previous speakers. The thorough
mechanical practicability of that plan of steam traction for tramway
purposes might, therefore, be considered as established; and, so far
as the engineering or mechanical part of the subject was concerned,
the steam tramway cars might at once be run in London without the
necessity for designing fresh rolling-stock. But it was a very dif-
ferent thing to run from Baltimore to the Park to what it would be
to run in narrow thoroughfares, crowded as those of London, where
the difficulties spoken of must exist. He ventured to say the Legis-
lature would never give its sanction that steam tramway carriages
should run in crowded and narrow streets mixed up with the
general traffic ; and he was sure popular opinion would be against
it. If it was desired to convey business men to and from the
suburbs by steam carriages, at a rate of 10 miles per hour, it
would be much more practicable to do so by bridging over the
present streets with a series of columns and girders—which would
carry the rails and the traffic above the heads of persons in the
street, without much obstruction of light and air—than to attempt
to do it by tramways on the level of the ground. For the hauling
of heavy loads, the engines for steam ploughing made by Mr. Fowler,
Messrs. Aveling, and other manufacturers were very perfect and
useful. But for the general carrying purposes of a farm—such for
instance as carrying crops, manure, &c., or for thrashing grain
—an engine especially adapted and strong enough for ploughing
and cultivating could not be employed to advantage. The
engine which contained power enough to break up land would
be too heavy for the purpose of conveying produce off the land,
and for the other uses for which it would be required in an
old country like England. But in a new country, such as the
American prairies, and the steppes of Russia, and in India, some-
thing forcible might be said on the opposite side of the question;
although in such countries the difficulties of providing the skilled
workmen required for the repairing shops, together with a regular
supply of coals and water, would have to be taken into consider-
ation. As far as England was concerned, he thought there was no
room for a medium between the systems of traction already adopted,
namely, by horses on Common roads and by locomotives on railroads.
He considered that in places where steam traction on common roads
64 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
was admissible, the maximum of success had been obtained; indeed,
it might be asserted that very little progress had been made in the
conveyance of passengers by steam at high speeds on common roads
since the time when Hancock's steam carriage was introduced.
Mr. E. A. CowPER said, the earliest locomotive steam engine for
common roads, he believed, had been made in 1769, by a Frenchman
of the name of Nicholas Joseph Cugnot, who was born at Void,
in Lorraine, on the 26th of July, 1729, and died at Paris in 1804.
Mr. Cowper had seen the model in the Conservatoire des Arts et
Métiers in Paris, and afterwards the engine itself, laid up in a
repository for old machines in connection with the Conservatoire."
The machine traveled on three wheels, one in front and two behind.
and was furnished with steering tackle to the front wheel. It
was composed of two parts, the fore part being supported by a
single driving wheel. They were united by a pin and a toothed
sector, fixed on the framing of the front part; the hind part was
merely a carriage on two wheels, intended to convey the load, and
was furnished in front with a seat for the conductor. The fore
part carried a copper boiler, having a furnace inside, with two
small chimneys, and two single-acting brass steam cylinders, which
were provided with four-way cocks, communicating with the boiler
by a pipe and with machinery for communicating the motion of
the pistoms to the driving wheel. The conductor could turn the
carriage at an angle of from 15° to 20°, by means of a set of cog-
wheels, the last of which worked on a toothed sector, and the first
of which was turned by -a spindle furnished at the top with a
double handle in front of the seat. Running upon three wheels
only, with the weight of the boiler and engine overhanging in
front, it was by no means a steady machine, and in passing along
a street in Paris, near where the church of the Madelaine now
stands, it overbalanced itself while turning a corner, and the
inventor was forthwith locked up in prison, and the machime as
well. A number of trials were, however, made in the presence of
the Duc de Choiseul, then Minister of War, General Gribeauval,
First Inspector-General of Artillery, and other eminent persons;
but it was found that the engine could not travel faster than
2} miles per hour when Calrying 4 persons, and the boiler not
being large enough, it could not keep going longer than 12
minutes or 15 minutes at a time. Those trials were made fifteen
years before the engine of Murdock was brought forward; and, so
* Wide also “Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Proceedings, 1853.”
Birmingham. Page 33. &
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 65
far as Mr. Cowper knew, Cugnot's engine was the first locomotive
ever made.
After Cugnot there were several persons whose names should be
mentioned as having suggested the use of steam for locomotion,
namely:-Watt, in 1784; Oliver Evans, in 1786; Professor Robin-
son, in 1795; and lastly, Trevithick and Vivian, in 1804, who not
only ran a locomotive steam-engine, but laid down rails for it to
run on, at Merthyr Tydvil, in South Wales; and from that time
the improvements introduced in locomotives and railways had
been almost incessant.
Mr. HENRY CHAPMAN said, the Author had omitted to mention in
his Paper the last improvement which had been made in applying
steam to traction on common roads; and Mr. Chapman was the more
surprised at the oversight, as the system was being applied on a
large scale, in a populous town, with steep gradients, and severe
curves, by the Lisbon Steam Tramway Company (Limited). One
of the engines was tried a short time time ago on an experimental
line near London and gave complete satisfaction. The system was
invented by Mr. Larmanjat, and consisted of a single rail laid in
the middle of the track; the driving wheels of the engine, bearing
nearly the whole weight, ran upon the Ordinary road, the guiding
wheels only running on the rail. The wagons and carriages had
4 wheels, of which 2 bore on the rail and the other 2—carrying
just weight enough on them to steady the vehicle—on the road.
The distribution of the weight of the vehicles was thus made in
the reverse way to that of the locomotives; thereby obtaining an
increased adhesion for the driving wheels of the locomotive, and a
reduction of resistance in the traction of the wagons and carriages.
The use of one rail almost entirely obviated the difficulty of going
round curves.
The engines, made by Messrs. Sharp, Stewart, and Co. for the
Lisbon Tramway Company, were from the designs of Mr. Trevi-
thick. They weighed 13% tons, and had smooth wrought-iron tires to
the driving wheels; but Mr. Chapman had seen one last year rum-
ning on an experimental line in Paris, weighing only 5% tons. It had
Thomson's india-rubber tires, and was one of a number to be used
on a canal in Burgundy, where Mr. Larmamjat had the concession
for the haulage. Mr. Chapman thought the system was especially
applicable in such cases, where the banks were not sufficiently secure
to allow of a heavy traction engine on the towing-path. The central
rail had the further advantage of preventing the engine sliding
into the canal, to which there was always a tendency in conse-
quence of the angle at which the boats were drawn.
66 STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
As to the effect on horses of steam engines on high roads, he
thought the danger had been much exaggerated. Of course no one
anticipated steam engines being used in Fleet Street or Cheapside;
but at Nantes, a town intersected by canals, the railway ran along
one side of the canal, on a level with the principal streets, and only
divided from it by a small low fence, and he had never, seen a horse
frightened, although there were trains constantly running, and no
warning of their approach, except the Ordinary screech signal with
the whistle. The experiments with Thomson's engine, in one of
the crowded and fashionable parts of Paris, had been similarly
successful.
Mr. FRANCIS TREVITHICK, through the Secretary, stated, that Mr.
Richard Trevithick designed his high-pressure steam locomotive in
1796, and during the following three years, or four years, constructed
as many working models, one of which was in the Kensington Patent
Museum. In 1800, his full-size locomotive was being constructed at
Hayle, and made its first memorable trial on Christmas Eve, 1801.
The following report appeared in the newspapers of the day —
“A carriage has been constructed containing a small steam engine,
the force of which was found sufficient, upon trial, to impel the
carriage, containing several persons, amounting at least to a ton
and a half weight, against a hill of considerable steepness, at the
rate of four miles an hour. Upon a level road it ran at the rate of
eight or nine miles an hour.”
In 1802 Trevithick fully described his inventions in his patent,
and constructed an improved locomotive, which made several runs
on common roads at Camborne. In 1803, another locomotive con-
structed by him, with larger driving wheels, ran for many days in
the streets of London, attaining a speed of 8 miles or 9 miles per
hour. In 1804, he completed a tramway locomotive at Penydarran,
of which he wrote:-"We carried ten tons of iron, five wagons, and
seventy men, the whole journey, above nine miles.” In 1805, he
took an improved tramway locomotive to the Wylam colliery, and
explained its construction to George Stephenson, then employed on
those works. A notice of it, dated 1805, might be seen at the Ken-
sington Patent Museum, which stated:—“I saw an engine this day
upon a new plan: it is to draw three wagons of coal, each weighing
about 3% tons, at an expected speed of four miles per hour.”
In 1808 Trevithick constructed a railway in London, and in
describing it wrote as follows:– “About four or five days ago I tried
the engine, which worked exceedingly well; but the ground was
very soft, and the engine (about 8 tons) sank the timbers under
the rails, and broke a great number of them. I have now taken
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 67
up the whole of the timber and iron, and have laid balks of from
12 to 14 inches square on the ground.” A well-known Engineer,
"Mr. Hawkins, in reference to this engine also wrote:–“I rode on
it, with my watch in hand, at the rate of twelve miles an hour.
The engine was exhibited at One shilling admittance, including a
ride; it ran for some weeks.” It was, therefore, evident that
Trevithick, after ten years, or twelve years of herculean single-
handed labour, was the man who first conveyed the public by
steam for hire."
Mr. W. F. BATHo, through the Secretary, said, the first self-pro-
pelling roller made in England was designed by him, in 1863, for
the municipality of Calcutta, at the suggestion of their Engineer,
Mr. W. Clark. About seventy rollers of that type were constructed,
under licences from the inventors, by Messrs. Aveling and Porter
during the last four years, or five years. . The date of the patent
of the French roller was nearly a year later than that of Messrs.
Clark and Batho. The French Engineers had, however, demon-
strated the advantage and economy of rolling by steam power,
even with an inferior machine. Mr. Batho had found it a hopeless
task to endeavour to get the road authorities in England to take
up the subject before the French had proved its utility and
efficiency. So strong was previously the prejudice against it, that
an eminent English road contractor had told him that the machine
should be called a “road destroyer,’ and not a “road roller.’
A new type of roller had been proposed for use in narrow and
crooked places and for new road making. It might be necessary to
have a narrower machine than had hitherto been made, but the
arrangement of a pair of conical wheels carried by a vertical
spindle, with the bearing at a distance from the resistance,
appeared to be most ummechanical; and could hardly be considered
an improvement on the turntable arrangement hitherto in use.
The comical wheels would both grind the metal and themselves,
on account of the varying speeds traveled by the different parts
of the cones; and the undue strain thrown on the boiler by the
leverage of the vertical spindle was very objectionable.
He found that from 2; tons to 3 tons per foot width of roller was
the weight best suited to make a good road, and that a machine 9 ft.
wide was the most economical. With it the same labour only was
required as for driving a marrower machine and less water and
fuel in proportion ; besides, it had the advantage of being able to
| Wide also “Liſc of Richard Trevithick, with an Account of his Inventions.”
London, 1872,
68 - STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS.
accomplish a larger area in a shorter time. With this class of
roller an average of 3,000 square yards per day could be rolled.
Mr. HEAD, in reply, said, he considered that it would be some
time before tramway engines would come into use in towns; but
there could be no doubt as to their applicability to suburbs and
outskirts. It must be borne in mind that the tramway companies
had a large stock of cars now running, and they would not be in
a position to use new cars with enclosed engines, however much
such a combination might come into use at some future period. As
regarded the wheel base, it was desirable that it should be narrow
for engines which ran in towns. In the outskirts the roads were
wider, and the curves might be of greater radius; and under those
conditions there would be no difficulty in making an engine capable
of passing round any moderate curve.
With respect to the employment of traction engines and road
locomotives for agricultural purposes, he did not agree with Mr.
Ransome, that the number employed must be limited, but Mr. Head
thought the demand for such machines would largely increase in
proportion as the price of labour augmented. It would probably
be found that farmers would use light engines. Engineers should
therefore devote their attention to making the machinery as light
as possible, so that engines could be used both for hauling and
tilling. The best form of wheel for such a use was Aveling's, or
Fowler's, wrought-iron wheel, with wrought-iron bands fitted with
holes for spuds. Sufficient adhesion was thus afforded for ordinary
roads. The only difficulty of using the locomotive on some farm
roads was on account of their narrowness, and the rough and Sandy
nature of their surface.
Crops would most likely be generally harvested by the use of
wire ropes on the plan adopted by Mr. David Greig; namely, the crop
would be collected in the field, and placed upon wagons which
would be hauled to the headland by a wire rope attached to a fixed
engine placed on the headland, and from thence transported by a
light traction engine to the homestead or to the place where the
crops would be stacked. -
With respect to the tramway engine for the Lisbon and Cintra
line, mentioned by Mr. Chapman, Mr. Head believed it was de-
signed that the driving wheels should run on a tramway made
of wood. He did not think it possible to make an engine which
would run with one set of wheels on a single rail in the middle of
the tram, while the driving wheels were running on an irregular
surface like a common road.
STEAM LOCOMOTION ON COMMON ROADS. 69
In pursuance of the notice on the card of the Meetings, it was
proposed, and resolved unanimously :—
“That in order to insure a fuller attendance of Members
than could be obtained on Easter Tuesday, the Meeting be
adjourned until Tuesday evening, the 22nd of April.”
April 22, 1873.
T. HAWKSLEY, President,
in the Chair.
The discussion upon the Paper, No. 1,370, “On the Rise and
Progress of Steam Locomotion on Common Roads,” by Mr. J. Head,
was continued throughout the evening to the exclusion of any other
subject. -
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