American watchman and Delaware advertiser. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1822-1828, 1827-09-07
RAlI. ROAD CARRIAGE.

~
5v Mr.. Morgan, Of rail road carriage, Of such a
construction ss greatly to diminish the friction al
Inc axles Of the car iage. A model Of this nyen
lion i now in town. hnd has been viewed by a
number Of gcntlrucn. The in, entor has given US
he following, statement Of the advantages. which he
cnnceiyes may be gained bv means Of this nsen-
t.on.-Doston Daily .ddrertiser.
In explaining the nature and uses of this ma
chine it is necessary TO enter, briefly, upon some q
the principles, on which depend the best methods
Of constructing Railway carriages in general anc
as the benefits which the author thinks it may b.
productive Of. are somewhat extraordinary, he re
quests the careful attention of the public to few
Fading points. The principal cause of resistance
70 the movements of a load on Railway. is fric
tion, part of which exists at the surface of the rails
and the remainder at the axle. Inc proportion a
the surface Of the best Railways is very triling,
being ascertained By experiment to be little mor'
than an eighteenth part Of that found at the axle
Friction varies nearly in the proportion ofthe axl'
10 the diameter of the wheel and since one reyo
ution Of the wheel produces the same velocity 0
the rubbing parts at the axle, whatever may be thu
size Of the wheel. the resistance has to be en-
counterea when Wagon, the wheels OF which
are two feet moves six feet as when waggoI
whose wheels are six feet, moves eighteen feet.
On the Quincy Railway the wheels are six fee
now used. Consequently, the friction in passing
given space, with given weight. is less than in an,
other instance. The axes are two inches three
fourihs in diameter: the velocity OF the rubbing
parts, therefore compared with the velocity OF the
load, is nearly as to %. On Railways in sener
al wheels seldom exceed four feet, their weight
as we'll as the height Of the load, would be incon
senlent, and productive OF danger. When OF this
SIZE the proportion Of the friction at the axle is as
A. Al
y invented carriage, the velocity Of the rubbing
parts. with three feet wheels, need not be to thai
i the load more than to ass or l6 times less
than that of the Quincy wheels, and 81 times less
han with four feet wheels. The improved carriage
has. however, more friction Of another kind, produ
ceti by the rolling action Of some Of its parts. II
- supposed from some experiments tried with the
model, that an actual saving Of to NAV be made
in practice-But this will be, it is hoped, long
fully ascertained on the large scale. In the mean
time the inventor begs to be INDUCED in view o
the benefits to be derived from its successful opcr
oton, and Of the best method Of applying its pow
ers.
He does not consider the best way of profiting BY
this gain, is to be attributed by substituting sever
al such machines for those wagons now in use,
and employing horses to draw them. For though
] horse might on a level road draw the enormous
load Of sixty tons at the rate Of three miles an
hour such immense loads would not only be in.
commodious for the general purposes Of commerce,
but il would imply that the rail road was 80 con
structed to have no variation from a level; and
the machinery to transfer this loading from one lie
vel to another, would require to be Of very grca
powers. This is fortunately an opening in which
this carriage may produce its utmost effect. and the
wants Of the public in reference to the great Yves
tern RAILWAY. be completely answered. 1t being
admitted that "a saving Of six to one is within reach
and the power Of a horse is equivalent to draw
ten tons at the rate Of three miles an hour. aud
that the strength OF six men at cranks is equal Il
that Of horse, the Improvement will bring thu
power OF a man, equal TO that of horse on com
mon carriages II is needless here to discuss the
precise accuracy OF these data, though probabl,
correct. because considerable variation from their
would not effect general results. There are ma
ny reasons for preferring manual labor to that Of
horse; but 1t the carriage il propelled at high We
.ocitY there is remarkable difference becaus.
lie Ia urer applying his strength while the weigh
Of his oody is carried forward BY the carriage, pro
iuces as much useful effect when moving at Nv civ,
miles, at three that is, he could transport will
.he new carriage 81 tons, four times the dstanc
hat the horse could move ten tons in the sam,
.lme, with common Railway cars and since mar
mustbe employed to drive the horse the whole 10
Dor OF the horse is saved
A horse would be ten days travelling from Al
tany to Boston, on rail road. If we estimate til,
expense OF horse at SO cents per day., savin:
Of so cents per ton would be made BY the appca
zion OF manual labor. 1t u.s. however, in anothe
point of view that the value Of this invention be
comes most apparent and in reference to the Yves
tern Railway it comes with peculiar force, viz tn
facility OF travelling rapidly, and the despatch witt
which business could be accomplished. At pres
ent there is an evident difficulty in mixing slo,
and rapid travelling on the same track. Ii Their
were four tracks the plan recommended in lat
publication could be adopted; and its value AM
Importance is more striking, when we reflect tina
it is recommended, though with loss Of seve
parts out of eight Of the effective performance of