The Sun.
London, England, 1853-11-09 00:00:00

beyond its own length after the signal was given to put
on the breaks.

Third Experiment.—On a descending gradient of 1 in
38, down the first part of the Accrington-bank, 21 miles
north of Manchester, Speed 40 miles per hour. Train
pulled up in,450 yards.
Fourth Experiment.—On lower portion of Accrington-
bank, with a, descending gradient. of I in 40, speed 48
miles per hour. Train brought up in 371 yards. This
experiment was regarded as highly satisfactory. The
rails were rather slippery, and the weight of the engine
was unfavourable to the experiment, the locomotive
being a ponderous one, made for a goods train, and not
haring breakage power to the tender sufficient to stop
itself on such an incline, a fact showing how much the
had engine e
exerted
er thade dragged
dforceat
en
on
enough
hhe t trainnha v
have
after
stoppedt he
it,pa twenast
sbreaks
in
the draw-bars of most of the foremost carriages being
drawn out from 10 to 20 inches. It was a matter of
surprise to some of the old servants accustomed to work
trains down this bank, that a train at such a speed could
be stopped by any possible means.
Fifth Experiment. —On the straight and level run at
the Blackburn station. Speed 48 miles per hour ; rails
dry. Train stopped in 172 yards.
t train
t
in
was a
order
the
dfee
rw n
thatomt
iic miles ees
To witness the last and following experiments the
company had alighted and stood on the station plat-
form. Thedadr ld e
sof he was
Accrington,speed might be attained. A fog signal on the rails
at theitmew
m n i
breaks. ato b veryaa
epkp apply 1 eachitgh high

-1-t.sS_peelideed4o
56
6er
miles
es
per
rr hour.heur.
Stopped in 138 yards, or about 14 seconds of time.
Sixth Seventh E xEP :pi n Experiment.—Speed innte.l-
Stopped in 310 yards. (The actual distance run by this
train was 328 yards ; but, as the last 128 yards were on
a decline of 1 in 110, the 18 yards were deducted for the
sake of a comparison with the previous experiments to
allow for extra gravitation.)
Eighth Experiment.—For this experiment two of the
patent break carriages were taken off, and two other
carriages were substituted with the old or ordinary
breaks. The train then came into the station at a speed
of 42 miles per hour. There were two guards, and each
applying a break, and the driver applying the break to
the tender,
r,e the
Thetrain en
stoppage thewofta distance
train was
of 6
intrusted63to
theseyards
before a stoppage could be effected. Allowing 43 yards
for the disadvantage of the slight incline over the last
463 yards, the distance was agreed to be taken at 620.
By a calculation made on the spot, it was held that,
comparing the speed of this train with the previous one,
it ought to have been stopped in 182 yards instead of
683. In other wards, the balance in favour of the new
break train, as compared with a train having ordinary
breaks was the difference between 180 and 620.

Ninth Experiment.—This was the lastirial made, and
it was agreed to try the train with one ordinary break
in addition to the enginedriver's break. Speed 40 miles
per hour. Stopped in 861 yards ; or, allowing 61 yards
for extra gravitation after reaching the incline, the dis-
tance was taken at 800 yards.
Taking this last experiment in comparison with the
sixth, we have two trains at equal speed (40 miles), and
the one is brought to a stand by a single person with the
new apparatus in 138 yards, while the other runs 800
yards before it is stopped by the exertion of two persons
the guard and driver. The scientific and practical men
present, without exception, expressed themselves highly
gratified with the results. Mr. Fairbairn said, without
pledging himself after an inspection such as he bad now
been afforded to an approval of every detail of the in-
vention, he would say that, so far as he could see, it
was a very successful one, and he thought it was likely
to lead to a change that was not important to this com-
pany alone, but to the locomotion of the whole king-
dom. It had one important feature ; that it could
throw the whole weight of compression by the breaks
on every carriage and every wheel of the train at once.
He did not know if any slight change might be neces-
sary to prevent the breaking of axles, or torsion (be-
cause a good deal of careful observation was necessary
to determine that) ' • but he looked upon the experiment
on the Accrington bank, where a train was brought up
on a descending incline of 1 iu 40, in such a very short
distance, as an extraordinary result. He believed with
the ordinary breaks that train could not have been
materially arrested, and must have run through the
station (a mile below) at a speed of 35 miles per hour.
He believed it was an improvement worthy of the atten-
tion not only of this company, but of every other railway
company in the kingdom. The experiments at Blackburn
were equally satisfactory, for it was of great importance
that they had now an instrument by which they could
bring a train to a state of rest, at the entrance of a
station, from a speed of 40 or 50 miles in 300 yards, or
in little more than one-third of the space that would be
required by the ordinary means. He believed it would
be an instrument of great economy, because, to say
nothing of preventing loss of life and limb, it would
save the destruction of much property, which always
took place when there was a collision. Mr. Trevithick
spoke very highly of the invention, observing that he
had never seen a train brought up in less than double
the distance he had to-day, or even in that.
The other gentlemen all added their approving testi-
mony.

It was stated that a train with the new apparatus had
been on this line from the 15th Sept., travelling a total
of 5,874 miles, and making 2,856 stoppages, without
the machinery once getting deranged or requiring re-
pair, and that the wheels of the carriages in the time
were little worn, while those with the ordinary breaks
would have been worn flat in places to an extent re-
quiring 3-Bths of an inch turning off by the lathe, in
diameter to bring them round, or into shape again. The
power of the breaks has been known on level line to
bring the train to a stand, in spite of the tractile power
of the engine with full steam on. Another advantage
observed was, that the new apparatus gives perfect com-
munication between guard and driver, as the break need
only be applied in a modified degree to attract the notice
of either ; or, if this was not enough, a bell attached
would render the communication more complete. It
has been suggested that, as there are periodical meetings
of all the great railway authorities in London, their at-
tention should be called to the new agent, and that the
train might be sent up the London and North-Western
line to enable them to test it.