Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1846-03-26
From the Rochester DernOersi.
Substitutes FOR IRON ON RAILROADS.

The difficulty of ptopslling carriages alta rapid speed
with safety on wooden rails six eight inches wdc is
now overcome by an invention ct Mr. W. Prcsscr aud the
mode by which he has effected this object may be thus
described:
The rails are made Of beech cthcs hard Iorcs, timber
eight inches square, let into wooden secpiS ana
secured 10y wondCn wedges forming one great franc OF
wooden grating longitudinal aud cross slcepctS Tue
four principal wheels which support the carriages AZ" with
nanchc and present perfectly Hat surface 10 the woo
| den rail.
II is oycn, that upon cncounirtnc the slightest curve
in the rails these wheels would e quite inadequate In Keep
the carriage upon destined route the remedy provided
IN four anIirCton wheels these are placed Two
i front and two behind the driving wheels upon aNcs,
an angle OF IS degrees deep groove formed by two
tnlchcs made their crcumirTcnc exactly cor c.
pnndng the and upper angie oi the wooden rail-
and thus they the guiding wheels to the whole
| machine.
When tho railway is in The direct OF right line,
only each pair OF beVel wheels can be an action at
the same lime ACCORDING tendency which the carriage
may have either side from tho centre nj the
rail On a curve the difference simply that the outside
bcycl wheel the front pair, and the inside one o the
back pair, play and eouneraet the disposition
icr. is IN the carriage ~ of At tangent with the curve
An ,hcr very important function performed by the bc'
81 wheels ~ hat q! accident occurring 10 the
running whccl they would act supporters to the car
| rage. aud carry safety.
Evpemncnis have been made which fuly establish thus
There mas for Tine been experimental wooden
railway VaUxhal, England; and it has hcen discovered
that when the orcwhecs vi tho cau7Ec removed II
ran without them at 'l speed, throwing the whole weight
tic front pat Of the carriage and is passengers on the
bevel eGde wheel.
On this road which has grades OF IN %, in - and
IN g. and o( 720 feet radius, speed of 81 miles
per hour attained tie bite Of the wheel on the wood
being great 10 give immense power u the engine
The power secured thus, depends a. course vciy much
upon the weight Of the engine Ono OF 10 OF IL tons would
be able da" 100 tons At speed at 81 mts PEI hour
Ii stated positively that engine weighing 10 tons run
ming on wood will have more ,ractye power than
weighing ie tons iunn ~ On NON
Bitw of the durability OF the materials On the
pcrimcnial rad Vaulh8l, engine weighing tons,
tn road 2s 600 times daring the months u
rln, which nearly equal To- years running -
,inc~ per d,y the rails composed Il Scotch Gr,
about feet onS and inches sluatc; and although lii has
hat about e'gh the surash If American beech, they
exhbii,d appearance O from friction, ana the ed
ses we're us well d, fined first
The rails used prepared by faynes patent process
for preventing dry and decay IA timber Says ~Iier
upo1 thi. subject
E1p,ru-nts havius confirmed the capabty of Scotch
tn withstand the irk "i Twelve per DAY for
years. without visible would hc difficult
saw how long rails beach, sustaining eghytwo
pre- SURE, would last
The a,c,acc oi rail roads England il fa5,OOO
per mi,e ii built with wo,cn rails Is estimated that
they would about fj,DO0 per iue In this country
the would. OF course. be less.
Another advantage claimed for wooden rails, Tins pre-
pared - that abup, could be allowed, and
greater ucnanns from the fact that te great elasticity Of
wood enacy - the wheels IN technical
parauce the bite OF wheel on wood dDuihe that
iron has be,H proved ny the following experiments:
On tire surface ui wheel I feet diameter lever
feet long placed, with weight Of lbs. attached t.,
the lever eet from the centre Of the axis Of the wheel the
surface Of the yer being iron the tangent the
II required weight of 2S lbs attached the crank make
trevolve. On substituting wood surface o! iron
| It required 4 weight nf pounds.
Another experiment confirmed the result with the iron
surface weight Of 2s lbs, attached 10 the spoke of the
wheel, at d lance o u inches from the conire made
revoye; whilst with 4 wood surface required the same
weight Ia be attached to the spoke at distance oi
r~taa ola