The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-02-04
RAILWAY CAR WHEELS.

, Referring to the railroad accident which
occurred near Oxford, England, on Christmas
Eve, correspondent Of the London Times
says: among other parts of the world as ia.
mlllar to me as my own country, is America,
particularly that portion of it known as the
United States. Many, good things, and better
things even than we have in railway matters
alone, met with there Among these are:
l. Cast If n, tireless wheels for railway car
rlages; 2. system Of continuous brakes for
trains, the brakes being handled by the engine
driver, who is able thereby to stop his train
In few seconds, while running at the rate of
forty miles an hour; and 3, commodious and
comfortable drawingroom and sleeping car
| riages"
Of these American "peculiarities' the cor
respondent mentions the air or vacuum"
brake, as already partially introduced, and
| Parliament is invoked to compel the use of
continuous brake on every railway The
Pullman sleeping carriage has been put upon
some OF the lines recently. He might have
noted another American peculiarly, which
seems to have escaped his observation. Ame-
| rlcan cars have eight wheels, SO arranged that
! the breaking of one wheel involves much less
danger than when the trucks have but four
wheels, all told. The carriage which broke
| down at Shipton had only four wheels, the
breaking Of either of which Was sure to be
ly destroy the equilibrium of the carriage.
The cast-iron wheel Of the American rail
way is objected to on account of frequent and
sudden changes of temperature. But the
changes in the United States are greater in
their range, and more frequent and sudden
than in England. A description of the wheel,
from the breaking Of the tire Of which the
Oxford disaster occurred, is as follows The
'boss, or ''hub, is Of cast-iron. The spokes
and rim are of wrought iron, and over the
wrought iron rim the tire is put on and fas-
were broken, and the fourth was drawn from
the rim, and is still in the tire The tire
broke only in two pieces, and became detach- |
ed from the wheel. The hub still remains on |
the axle, and parts Of the spokes and rim are |
broken
The theory of making the wheels of so many |
parts is to give space for expansion and con-
traction. The fact seems to be that the fric-
ton cut off or weakened the rivets, and the
cause of the accident appears to have been
the detachment of the tire from the wheel.
On an American railway there is no more as
surfing sound to habitual traveller than the
ring of the testers hammer on the wheels
when train stops at the terminus of rail
way section. That simple test discovers
whether the wheel is sound or not, whereas
long examination would be required to deter
mine the soundness of all the parts, hub
spokes, rim, rivets and tire of an English car
wheel. 1t is to be hoped that the public will
insist upon reform. Bat car door swinging
outward was the cause Of the death of William
duskisson, NJ. p. at the opening trip of the
Liverpool and Manchester railway, in 1880.
And nearly half century afterwards some
If the English railway car doors swing out
IT'LL, and it they were not locked by the guard
would distribute passengers along the route.