The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-02 00:00:00

Wear and Tear of Railway Working.

At the meeting on Wednesday night of the So'
eiety of Arts, W. Budges Adams read a paper
.011
the " Mechanical Conditions of Railway Working
to Prevent Destructive Wear and Risk." Captain
Calton, R.E., occupied the chair. Going first into
the elementary mechanical condition of vehicular_
transport, Mr Adams came to the commencement of
the railway system, and condemned at the outset
what is still the common practice with regard t°
rolling stock—viz., ignoring wheels running jade:
pendently on their axles, and adopting the old closer°
ch
car system of rollers fixed on a shaft or axle, whi
revolves with them in bole pins, or what are Licyr
termed horn plates. Pointing out the difference
between tramways and railways, he showed that
vehicles with fixed wheels and parallel axles Were
only adapted to move in straight lines. Adverting
next to the modifications of rails and wheels to meet
the curves and gradients of our iron roads he
showed how much frictional and percussional de4
struction still went on. This rapid wear of tires
and rails had led to greatly increased weight of
rails, and now to harder and heavier, and Will/
to Bessemer metal and Krupp's solid steel. I.!e
next showed the ill effect of extreme rigidity
ro
railway wheels and axles in causing wear and tear'
and explained an invention of his own by vihreh
springs were placed beneath the tires of wheels. The
result of this method was that some-Staffordshire
tires ran 106,000 miles on the North London Railol.,
without turning up, while some Low Moor rig'
tires fixed on a similar principle only ran 50•00°
miles before they had to be taken off and turned oP
to restore their surface. Explaining how the 810136
elastic principles had been applied to rails with the
most satisfactory result—for after three years' Wear
they had not disintegrated at all, except where One
netted rigidly to the ordinary line, and there the
.
ends of the rails were split—he explained the beet
means of applying this elastic principle by 11B:
proved systems of sleepers and fishes. He OP
pointed out the importance of true mechanical aottcn
in the movement of wheels and axles, and the ad'
vantage of radial movement in the axles. ExPialr
ing the first attempts to secure these advantages
the " bogey," the lecturer explained how he he,
abandoned the bogey form altogether, and adopted
axle boxes to slide in curved lines laterally thro4l„
the horn plates of a rigid engine frame beneath tuy
spring bearings. This plan in practice had hlr?:,
found to give good results. As a means of eecuries,
greater adhesion between wheels and rails, he 841
gested converting the rounded flanges of the Whe°.
tires into two fiats, at an angle of 45 deg., and OA
larging them to take a corresponding groove Wine:
in the surface of the rail. The improvements, there
fore, may be summed up by spring tires, ang,e
flanges, and elastic permanent way.—ln the rite,
cession which followed, a foreign engineer Beg,
gested that elasticity might be given to rails br
making them of puddled steel, and of flat-bare:
form, and of rails with paddled steel tops and 111"°
base. Another speaker explained an improved 07;
of fixing rails, the invention of the Wen. t •
deceased Mr Jowett, by which they are set 1.13
groove in the sleeper, and partly supported 11101,
plate running through the rail. Mr Zerah
borne endorsed the soundness of Mr Adams Pr,l4
ciples, and explained the form of rails and roll re
in America, which had been adopted to Beetlii.
those advantages. The Chairman said that
important subject which Mr Adams had introdl374 ;
was nothing less than a radical change in the °II,
struction of our railways, both as to road and rat,
ing stock. As experience had shown the corre°o
ness of Mr Adams' principles he thought lie
would object to giving them a trial, without Nrtil
it was impossible to express a decided opinion ond
new proposal in regard to railways. A vote
thanks to Mr Adams concluded the proceedings'