The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-09 00:00:00

Cutting*.

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The cuttings on the Great Western Railway are about 10,000,000
wale yards, the proportion of cutting for the Southampton Rail_
leray about ::.(.0,000 yards per mile, for the London and Birmingham
110,000, for the Liverpool and Manchester 100,000, and for the
Great Western 80,000 per mile. The slopes of the side of a euttinv
must be so inclined that the top of the cutting, by the action of
the weather, or any ocher cause, will not fall to the bottom. In
hard or stony soils the cutting may be almost perpendicular, but
.one of height to one of breadth is the common slope, and if the
: soil is very light, then three to one. In keeping the level, if it is
ineeessary to Rise above the surtace, or to cross valleys, a viaduct,
bvidge, or embankment is made.

Section of an Embankment.

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A skilful engineer, Choosing the direction of the Railway,
always endeavours to make the quantity of the cuttings, and the
amount of earth required for
he embankments equal. According
t.
to the nature of the soil, so is thi: inclination of the slopes of the
embankment. Upon the South N7estern Railway there is an
embankment formed of chalk, SO to 100 high.
The earthworks being completed, the rail; are laid down. The
mAnner of laying the rai:s differs according td the nature of the
works or soil, on excavations and small embanknf,nts. Where
there is a greater tenacity of the soil, blocks of stone, .2 feet square
and I foot deep, are sunk, into which iron chairs ate fastened
by oaken wedges or plugs, driven into two holes drilled into the
block.
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The cuts are sections of three kinds of rails, and their fastening
in large and light embankments. Where an equality of resistance
must be obtained, the line is laid upon bearers of wood called dela
The
-
ers. These sleepers are general:y prepared by Kyan's process.
iron chair is a pyramidical. block with a flat bottom, and a hole at
each side to fit it to the block or sleeper, in the upper part is a cleft
to receive the rail, and hold it by means of a wedge upon the chairs.
The rails are placed generally at every four feet ; upon some lines
of railway, pies are driven to strengthen the way. The annexed
cut shows a section of railway with sleepers and OW.

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33

A A Piles, B sleeper.
The rails having been laid, the line is ballasted up to the proper
height.

The way being now completed, we come to

The Locomotive.

High pressure engines were one of the earliest forms of the
steam engine. This engine is obscurely mentioned In the Mar-
quis of \Worcester's " Century of Inventions." Newcomers, in
1705, applied the working beam, cylinders, and piston, to the at.
mospheric engine; and Leopold, in 1721, combined the working
beam and cylinder with the high pressure principle, and produced
the earliest high pressure eng;ne worked by a cylinder and piston.
James Watt reconstructed, and it may be said almost re-invented the
steam engine. In 1803 Messrs. Trevethick and Vivian constructed
the first non-condensing engine, applied to a machine fur moving
enniages on railroads, and the experiment was successfully tried
upon the Merthyr Tydvi tramroad in 1811. Mr. Blenkiniop, of
Middleton Colliery, near Leeds, obtained a patent for an improve-
ment In locomotive engines, applied to a rail with a rack, into
which the teeth of the wheels of she engine fitted like those of a
cog-wheel. In 1812 Messrs. Chipman obtained a patent for work-
ing a locomotive engine bg a chain extending along the middle of
the line of railroad. an addition was made to the engine,
consisting of a pair otmechanicA legs and ceet, which were made
to walk and propel in a manner resembling the feet of an animal.
In 1814 Mr. Stephenson built an engine at Kiliingsworth, which
was a great advance in the manufacture. From that period until
the year 1830—although the locOmotive was much improved—yet
theehlef careof the engineers was to construct their engines so as
to heavy goods at the rae of four or five miles per hour, and
eillrectors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway did not an-
,. tiacirifte.... a.,
_speedy
moftimmoorre than
~ ten miles an hour—but the competi-
stavez„,n7 i
liaool., produced the Rocket of Re. Robert
the samparen
byNoveltyMr Messrs. Braithwaite and Ecrissa, and
hit:e.t.et:nwahtireohm.wtahsi4pir,7.,pnce
uarkworth theprize was gained by the
at the rate of twenty nine miles per
era in the construction of loco-
motive engines has commenced. The The engines generally, are upon
the high pressure principle, they inn U t." four or SIT, wheels,
and weigh about 12 lens, and
with a tender carrying fuel, and

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weighing abciut five tons; cost 1,7001., and the annual repairs.
about 8001.: their consumption of ceke is 6001bs. per hour, and
they uit I carry upon a level tine.frorn 100 to '2.40 tons at ia•elve
mites per hour, with a steam pressnre of'SOlbs. td the square inch.
To prevent danger a small apparatus is attached to the locomotives
to announce their approach to the station. A whistling is caused
by the opening of a valve at E, and the steam rushing out at
A makes a screeching noise.

Steam Whistle.

A )

Rate of Travelling.

The average speed of the four-horse mail.coach is 10 miles per
hour. A ship cannot sail above 15 miles per hour. The best
built steamboat has newer been propelled more than 15 miles per
hour, but upon railways the trains are dragged by locomotion at an
average speed of 25 miles per hour. Upon some of the best con
structed lines a speed of 45 miles per hour has been obtained, but
this is the present limit, and unless some very great improvement
be made, that seems to be the ne plus ultra of railway speed, for
at great velocities a counteracting power Is evolved, which is not
felt at the lower rates of impulsion, viz., the " pressure of the
atmosphere;" for each square foot exposed to the operation of the
atmosphere adds to the load of a train going at the rate of 30
miles an hour nearly one ton, so that an engine of ten tons, which
can draw about 234 tons at 10 miles per hour, can barely urge for-
ward its own weight at a velocity of 60 miles per hour.