The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-24 00:00:00

RAILWAY GAUGE.

Copy of Major- General Parley's Report on Captain Powell's
Patent Sectional Transferable Railway Carriages for car-

rying Goods, either on the Broad or Narrow Gauge.
TO THE RIGHT HONOURAILE THE EARL OF DALHOUSIE,
&C. &C. &C.

Railway Department, Board of Trade,
Whitehall, May 8, 1846.
My Lord,— Captain Powell, of the Grenadier Guards, called
upon me to• day with models and drawings to explain the pa-
tent sectional transferable railway carriages proposed by him
for conveying goods on railways, which consist of covered
boxes, or bodies, two of which placed longitudinally will fit
upon a truck or under-carriage, having two pairs of wheels
suited to the narrow gauge, whilst three such bodies placed
transversely, will fit upon a truck having three pairs of wheels
suited to the broad gauge of the Great Western Railway. He
proposes that these bodies shall be conveyed from the ware.houses of manufacturers and others, previously packed by the
owners themselves, on common carriage-frames with four
wheels drawn by horses, and that when they arrive at a rail-
way station they shall be transferred to the truck belonging to
whichever gauge is used thereon • and under the supposition of
their making a journey on a line commencing with one of
these gauges, and arriving at a station where there is a break
of gauge, they may be transferred from the trucks of a nar-
row gauge line to those of a broad gauge one, or vice versa,
at a crossing of the two lines made for the purpose, from
whence they can be turned into the new direction required,
by means of common turntables. This arrangement will re-
quire the owners of goods to provide themselves with car-
riage-frames and movable bodies for the purpose, and will
also require new trucks to be fitted for railway use to receive
such bodies. The latter are proposed to be moved by means
of small pulleys from one carriage, or railway truck, to
another, guided by little rails, and are kept in position by
movable ends and sides, first to be let down, and afterwards
turned up and pinned, whilst they are prevented from jump-
ing by dovetailed grooves, which in the small models exhi-
bited by the inventor, admit of those movable bodies being
turned upside down without their falling off. He considers
that it w,uld be very advantageous for the Government to
have carriages and movable bodies of this description for
gunpowder and other stores, as well as for the baggage of
troops.
_ _ _

Very great accuracy would be required in all the fitments
proposed by him, which are very ingenious, but as to bow
far they might answer in railway practice I cannot venture
to give an op►nion. I recommended him to apply to acme
railway company to give his invention a trial, which he sKvs
he has done by reference to the Great Western. He wished
me to recommend it, which I declined, as I informed him it
had been the rule of this department not to urge the adop-
tion 01 untried inventions involving expense by any railway
company; but that I would report to your Lordship upon it,
which 1 now do.

It would be difficult to explain mere than the general
principle of Captain Powell's arrangements by words, even
with the aid ot drawings; but should your Lordship wish to
form a clear idea ot them, the models prepared by him will
enable you to understand them thoroughlv.—l have, &c.
(Signed) C. W. PASLIY,
Major-General and Inspector-General of Railways.