The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-10-28 00:00:00

CROP DE` ATMOSJ!U ERIC RAILWAY.

A series of three exhibitions of the working of this line took
place last week.
The atmospheric line appears to the eye to differ from what must
now be content to be termed the old line merely in the circumstance
that there lies along the entire road, midway between the rails, so
as to be under the carriages, a cast-iron pipe 15 inches in diameter,
made in lengths of 10 feet each, which are carefully joined toge-
ther to make a continuous tube. It is emptied of air by an engine
at the nearest station in advance of the train which is to travel.
Beneath the first carriage of the train is suspended a strong arm,
or arm-plate, in a slanting direction, which grasps a piston or
cylinder made to fit the pipe upon the road, and meant to run
through it, the arm being admitted into the pipe by a longitudinal
valve three or four inches wide, extending along the top of the pipe ;
the valve is made of leather covered with iron plates, the leather
being kept flexible and air-proof by saturating it with a composition
of beeswax and tallow. ,The piston enters the pipe very easily
through a conical enlargement, and, as the air has been exhausted,
it is of course sucked up the pipe, or rather the pressure of the
air behind forces it through the vacuum in front: as it proceeds
along, the arm by which the first carriage grasps it lifts the longi-
tudinal continuous valve, and the whole train thus glides along;
whilst as fast as the arm or connecting-rod passes on the valve falls
down again behind it firmly, and is shut still more securely by a
wheel which is made to press upon it, a beater also following to
affect the greasy composition, and the better to secure the pipe being
left air-proof, ready to be again exhausted for the next train. The
first thing that strikes the traveller is the absence of the engine and
its tender; and, as most persons look on it pretty much as on a tiger
in his cage, ready to do them a mischief, this seems little recom-
mendatim. This gain, however, is anything but a mere matter of
fancy; for nearly one-third of the railway mishaps have been ac-
cidents to engines. Nearly another third have been collisions on
the road ; and on an atmospheric railway it is physically impossi-
ble for two trains to be moving in the same section of pipe at the
same time ; one must leave the section (which will be from three to
five miles long) to let it be again exhausted of its air, before there
is any motive power to propel another train through it. All the
passing, and on single lines the meeting, must take place at the
stations by means of sidings which, we may observe, are to be
about 1000 feet long. Thereis also some additional security gained
the directing influence exerted on the train by the piston inside
the tube ; and in consequence of the carriages not being so much
dependent on the bite or hold taken of the rails by the wheels,
there is less danger from sharp curves, and want of control over

the line in greasy weather, steep inclines also presenting no serious •
difficulty. Less time is wasted in stopping, because there is not the
immense engine and tender to be stopped and put in motion.
Even the superior chance which the weight of these give, that
cattle or other impediments may be flung oft the rails, will perhaps
be met by constructing the piston carriage with a special view to
throwing any obstruction on one side. The chief difficulty has
been expected to arise from loss of power by leakage of air in the
exhausted tube; but Mr Samuda states that this does not, in fact,
occasion aloss of more than 1 to la-horse power per mile, causing
an expense of not above Id per train for 20 miles.
The experiments of this week have been successful, and encourage
the hope that the advantages to which we have referred are within
reach. The motion was more equable and smooth than usual ; the
noise was much the same as with a locomotive engine, but there
was, of course, no coke dust for the eyes. The trains certainly
attained full speed in less time than usual after starting. On one
part of the journey we went a mile in 62 seconds, in an open car-
riage. without feeling any inconvenience; on Friday a speed of
75 miles an hour was attained. The Brighton Railway is crossed
by a viaduct, the ascent being with a gradient of 1 in 50, and in
the middle of a curve of half-a-mile radius ; up this incline (pro-
bably inaccessible to a locomotive engine from want of bite upon
the rails) the trains went at full speed, the length of it being too
short to affect the rate very sensibly, or make it necessary to apply
extra power by a larger tube there, with an expansive piston.
There is a curve•also of only a quarter of a mile radius, which was
passed at full speed. The barometer ranged 26 to 27 inches, but
the vacuum required for the ordinary working of the trains will
not exceed 16 to 18. On descending the viaduct towirds Croydon,
it appeared that the train would not be stopped in time by the mere
application of breaks, and a valve in the piston was opened, which,
allowing the air behind to rush into the vacuum in front, reduced
the mercury in a moment from 27 inches to 12, and soon moderated
the speed. The trains were 50 ton trains; when stopped at a sta-
tion, two pairs of breaks were applied for about five-eighth's of a
mile, and rather more than two minutes were lost by every stop-
page, the train being at rest for a quarter of a minute. At each
station, Forest-hill, and Norwood, and Croyden, there are a pair of
50. horse power engines to exhaust the air, but at present it is not
found necessary to work an engine at the middle station. An at-
mospheric line requires a station at every third or fifth mile to
work the apparatus, but a single line of rails suffices for a moderate
traffic, the cost is less than on a double locomotive line,

FICTITIOUS TITLES ON PROVISIONAL CONI

MITTEES.

A few weeks ago an advertisement appeared in the
London Times, which we dare say was generally received
as a hoax, purporting to come from a gentleman seeking
the honour of appearing in some of the provisional com-
mittees (lolly paraded before the public. The writer
stated that he could attach the letters of F.R.S., F.A.S.,
and A .S.S. (no doubt the last with perfect propriety !) to
his name ; and in exchange for the patronage of so dis-
tinguished an individual, he modestly imposed the condi-
ton that he should be secured " a certain number of dis-
posable shares. at a premium of not less than five per cent,
without any risk to himself." lie could, in addition, re-
commend a re;ative to fill the situation of solicitor or se-
ctetarv, and had a friend who—kind soul!—would " ac-
cept the office of engmeer." Macy of us, by the bye,
have such relatives and friends.

The advertisement in question, and the frequency of
the appearance of gentlemen with some of these three
magical initials after their names, has prompted a mem-
ber
of the Royal Society to institute an inquiry into their
genuineness ; and the following is its result, communicat-
ed in a letter to the Marquis of Northampton, president
of that society. In the advertisements contained in ele-
ven numbers of the London Times, he finds twenty-eight
names with F.R.S. appended to them, of which nine
were not members of the society at the dates of the ad ver-
tiseinents styling them so. There are 13 only in the list
who have confined themselves to one line. The remain-
der possess increased ambition and übiquity ; and one is
announced as director of thirteen, managing committee-
man of two, acting committee-man of one, provisional
committee-man of 30—total only 46.—ONLY 46!
We should not wonder if a similar enquiry would not
discover, in the same capacity, colonels who never figured
in the army list, generals not to be found, and captains
and lieutenants in the R.N. without count. What won-
der, when such is the constitution of the heads of some of
our new projections, if the body should not be found a
little unsound If the master of an establishment aspires
to rank and title, the office-boy, the 'prentice, or the cook,
may, with perfect consistency, figure in Parliamentary
deeds.