Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1880-03-25
A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE MULE
A Consignment of English Road Engines
and Wagons for Uso In the West.

A Consignment of English Road Engine
and Wagons for Uso In the West.
From the New York Times
The steamship Erin, which has Just ar
rived, brought with her number of roat
locomotives and trains of wagons destined
for the far west, where they will be EN-
ploYed in the transportation of mineral.
and general merchandise. They are in
tended, as far as possible, to replace mule
power-the slow and expensive tractilt
force at present in use-and will form q
connecting link with railroads now con.
pIeted and with others which are being
con'tructed. The vehicles, which were
built in Rochester, England, will be ship.
Iped by the representative Of the manufatt
urers in this city. to whom they we're con.
signed, by rail to Wadsworth, New. On
their arrival there they will at once be put
TO work on certain central routes in that
state as follows: From Austin down the
Reece river valley to San Antonio, Monte
yuma, Aleda valley and Gold mountain;
from Austin, through the Big Smoky val.
ley, by Hot Springs, Jefferson, jeff, and
Pea Vine, to Rallston valley; from Wads-
worth, through by Walker Lake to the
Virginia Salt Marsh, BelevilIe, Columbus,
Candelaria, and Silver Peak; from Eureka
through the Little Smoky valley to Tybo,
Hot creek, and Reveillc, and from Eureka
to White Pine, Ward and Phoebe. With
these pioneer road engines, experienced
englne-drlvers have been sent from Eng.
land for the purpose OF acting as instruc-
tors to the western engineers in manipu-
lating the engines. But little instruction
will, 1t is believed, be required, as ordi-
nary mechanics and smiths soon become
proficient. Large numbers of these en-
gines are constantly in use in the British.
Italian, French and Russian Armies, and
it is found that the simple esoldier-smith"
quoting from an official report of Gen.
Victor Demianowtch, Of the Russian
army, to his govenment-"wh when well in.
structed, becomes the hest driver ofroad
engines" :"
The engines adopted by the Nevada
steam transportation company, which is
the title Of the corporation of capitalists
who have bought them, and who intend
to work them in the West, are very simi
lar to those used by the Governments
above mentioned, differing only in the
TACT that they are unprovlded with n
crane, which is fitted on occasion to the en-.
gines in the European armies, and is used
for placing large ordnance in position and
the lifting OF other heavy weights. The
leading characteristics of the engines
brought by the Erin are simplicity, with
great power and strength. They weigh
about seven tons each, and are rated Mt
II to IA horse power They have hori-
zontal boilers, which are fitted with large
tire.boxes for burning almost any descrip-
ton OF fuel, and water tanks are affixed
capable of holding supply for three Oh
four hours. The engines are so arranged
that they can be used for turning fixed
machinery. The driving-wheels are feet
IN diameter, and u inches in width, and
the steering or front wheels are 4 feet in
diameter and inches wide. An import
ant advantage in the road locomotive i,
that in case of need the road wheels can
be replaced by the ordinary fange wheels
for running on rails Those brought by
the Erin have an important addition, in
the shape cfa winding drum, fitted to the
driving axle. capable of holding from 50
to 100 yards Of coiled rope, which can be
employed in hosting heavy weights and
in hauling the loaded wagons up other
wise impracticable grades. A trial of this
novel addition was made before the loco
motives left England The engine used
for the experiment was one of 20horse
ppuar nnl - hoI l,,,1,I ........
manner, on roadway varying in grade
from one foot in twenty to one foot
IN ten, and with a steam pressure ofl
leo pounds, load of 32 tons of IRON
on four wagons, the aggregate weight
of the wagon and their loads heing |
40 tons. When certain hill having n
grade of one foot in ten had been reached,
the engine was brought to stand still by
the load. The brakes were applied to the
wagons, and the engine was detached and
steamed higher up the hill to grade of
one foot in eight. 1t was made fast to the
load, which was futhcr increased by the
addition Of an extra engine weighing 10
tons, The whole train aggregating 50
tons, was then pulled up by the winding
drum, without snatch.block, to and on
tHC Rldut VI OHc lOOJ III tlGll WDtGt tllp
stood
One engineer and two laborers are all
the manual force necessary for the manage.
ment OF each train, and on moderate roads,
with grades not exceeding / foot in II,
each engine of the samesize sent to Wads-
worth will haYl from Toto II tons of pay.
ing load and travel at an average speed
of three and one-half miles per hour. Two
Or three wagons each capable of contain.
ing from FIVE to six tons weight, and the
engine from the train. The wagons are
sOupled together and to the locomotive by
,trong coupling-bars, and the whole train
follows exactly in the track of the engines,
even when turning sharp curves. The
total cost of hauling by the road locomo-
lives. it is estimated, will range from to
10 cents per ton per mile, varying with the
of road and load. This is prob.
ably not one-fourth the cost of doing SINH
lar work with mules. The ordinary mule
.eam, consisting of l6 mules, with heavy
wagons capable of holding 6 to 10 tons,
will not average more than two miles an
hour. The first cost of the locomotive,
with its train of wagons, compares favor
IDLY with the first cost of the mule.team
and wagons.