The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1844-11-10
By DION. RDNER,
Doctor Of Civil L0W-Feuov Of the ROYAL Socistv of
London Consulting CipI Engineer, re &c
REPORT.

/ Having been applied Tn by Messrs Norris Rro-
tners, ,ocomo I've engine builders, Of Philadelphia,
70 investigate the circumstances attending the re-
| cent destruction of the engine " Richmond .
which caused the loss OF four lives and property
amounting IN value to nearly ten thousand dollars,
and to ascertain, It possible the causes OF the Ca
| tastrophe, repaired 10 Philadelphia on the 10Th.
and Reading on the 2lst Sept visiting the spot on
which the event occurred, and collecting the ne.
| cessary information conne cted with It. The mi.
nutes OF the Information obtained are given in full
| in the appendix to this report.
/ The engine Richmond" was built for the
Reading Railway Company by contract, and placed
specification OF this machine given in Append
| A. Its form, structure and material were of the
usual kind, and similar in all essential particulars
| 10 other engines working on the same line. Ii
| vas, however, supplied with two safety valves,
| each two inches in diameter, one being as usual
placed on the dome OF the fire-box, lmmed in
front OF the ensine-man, and the other on the
cylindrical part Of the boiler in front Of the fire.
| box, and not within reach OF the engine. man.
while standing Iii his customary position
| 1t was agreed between Messrs Norris and the
company. that The engine should be run for sixty
| days on the railway. under the care Of an engine.
| man appointed by Messrs. Norris, after which il
was to be put in the hands of the company's eng,-
aeer; but in order the better 10 prepare the latter
for its efficient management, it was arranged that
the comPany's englne-man, Joseph Ward, into
whose charge the engine finally To pass,
should attend at Messrs. Norris works, and assist
| IN putting the engine together, and that he should
1
driving The engine during the above mentioned
| period Of sixty days. When the engine was pul
on the road, on the l4th August, Joseph Ward &C.
companed Messrs Norris agent, but, after the Sc
sfactory, that il was not considered necessary L.
contiaue the employment Of the engineer OF Messrs
Norris, and the engine was placed, without turtle,
trial in the charge ofJos-ph Ward, who continued
10 drive 1t from that time, until the epoch oil the
| catastrophe by which il was destroyed
Up TO Saturday, the 3lst August, inclusive, the
engine had run between louisville and the depot,
| At Richmond. A return Of It's performance has
,een supplied by the agents Of the company, ana
will be found in appendix b. so h#a
| On Monday, the I'd Sept, the engine started
rom the companys coal depot at Richmond, Al
eleven O'Clock in the forenoon, taking a train OF
| 80 wagons, the engine being driven by Joseph
Ward, attended by franklin Tye and Peter Ma
| hon, as fireman, accompanied by James M'Cabe,
l is conductor, and Matthew Smith and Patrick
Nugent, as brakesDen. At Norrlstonn, about IL
miles from Philadelphia, two additional brakes
men, Thomas Cowden and John Webster Powell,
we're taken up The tram arrived at Re adng at a
quarter past seven o'clock The same evening i
| vas detained there until ten minutes past eight
o'clock. when il started for Potsvllle, but before
leaving the town, was again stopped and DELAYED
tbou, quarter Of an hour, and finally left the
ing OF the main street, Reading, al twenty hive
minutes past eight precisely.
storm ot thunder, lightning and rain had cenl.
menced about sunset, and continued with uRusua
violence till late hour at night The lightning
gag lightning The peals OF thunder were loud and
nard, the sound being observed to follow the flash
almost immediately. The danger was conside ri red
so great, that individuals who had been accnstom-
ed to the climate, feared venture out, and il was
said that such thundeT burst had not been wit.
messed Al Reading tor twelve months past Ii was
IN the midst OF this storm that the train started
| from Reading. On arriving at point Of ths road
| situated on a low embankment, two miles from
Reading, q terrific explosion was heard from the
head OF the train the cars were suddenly stopped
and the brakesmen on proceeding to the place OF
he engine, found the working part Of the machine
scattered in fragments about the road and on the
slopes OF the embankment; the tender was thrown
over upon the wheels and broken carriage Of the
engine, and the boiler and Its appendages had
iotally. disappeared. The bodies Of the bremen,
Franklyn Tye and Peter Mahon, were found un.
der the wagons killed by fractures OF the head and
body, and after further search, the body OF the en-.
slneer was found IN an adjacent field, about
yards to the right Of the place vi the tender with
head across the forehead and the leg crushed
ing quite dead. The body Of Mr.. Meade, the con.
ductor, was found, also dead, on the embankment,
APPOINT three hundred and thirty feet ahead Of the
tender; and the boiler, with the box, smoke
box, chimney, and the two cylinders and plstons,
was discovered lying in held to the left Of the
road at distance of $50 feet from the place where
the wheels and carriage Of the engine lay. At a
point in the field, about thirty feet nearer TO the
engine. deep cavity was left produced by the end
OF the boiler striking there, and reboundlng from
It to the place where II was found. The mas, which
was thus projected to the distance of $50 feet from
the spot where the explosion took place, weighed
about ten tons.
The cylindrical part Of the boiler and the smoke
box were uninjured The funnel was lying near
the boiler, and partly beneath il. The round end
Of tine fire-box next the stand Of the engine. man
was f4ttened, SO as to be crushed In and brought
the fiuc plate; the roof crown piece OF the
| 6re-box was torn from the walls, the rent beng
generally above the angle, bat In some places upon
the angle at which JOINS tile walls upright sides
of the fire box. The crown piece was found jam
~ ttA tVA-t hats k~u
the fue plate. The crate bars and ash pan were
driven down upon the road with such force, that
the latter took very distinct print Of the transverse
wooden sleeper upon which 1t fell. The proper
form OF the crown piece IL slightly concavc at the
lower surface, and II Is secured by series Of strong
iron stays bolted ~ the upper surface 90 as to
aid ia resisting the downward pressure Of the stenm
Its form, when found after the catastrophe, was al
three OF Its foursld concave al the top, but al
the fourth side concave al the bottom. the edge be-
Ing curled downwards IN considerable degree.
la the steam-casing surrounding the fire box were
found three holes, about three inches diameter the
edges OF which were turned inwards, /. e. towards
the steam.
Ths working parts Of the boiler, except the steam
cylinders and pistons which still remained attach
ed to II, were broken into extraordinary num-
Der OF small fragments. The rods and other paris
which had any considerable length, were twisted
in the most irregular and capncIous manner, and
we're scattered IN every direction around the place
where the event occurred.
The rails on which the engine was moving were
forced from their support outwards The adjacent
line OF rails, beside that which the train moved
represented to have b. en- both cutihrough M
by the ncision Of cold chlsel. These rails, how
ever, were none OF them preserved by The agents
VI the company, and could not obtain them Tor
my own examination.
II appears that the engine started from the main
street al twenty-five inmates past eIght,~ and the
vaich OF James M abe, The conductor, was stop
jed by the conclusion al twenty minutes before
line. The interval, therefore, between the depar
ure OF the engine from Reading and the explosion
II the boiler. was fifteen minutes.
Such being the general outline Of the history Of
his catastrophe, II remains to consider what are
the several modes which II u possible to account
tor II; and II appears to ms, that except one