Discussion. On the Efficiency of Various Kinds of Railway Breaks; With Experimental Researches on Their Retarding Powers.

Abstract

Mr. SINCLAIR said, that some years ago, he had seen the apparatus of Mr. Newall, and from the experiments with it which he then witnessed, he thought it an improvement. But he was not able to enter into a comparison of the respective merits of that, and the system introduced by Mr. Fay, as he had never seen the latter ; but he understood from the Paper, that the principle of the two was so nearly alike, that the results might, naturally, be supposed to be similar. It should, however, be observed, that both systems were tried under conditions peculiarly favourable, and were not put to the test of the ordinary working of a train. It appeared to him, that to obt,ain their full effect, they required to be very nicely adjusted, so that the breaks might bear equally. From the little he had seen of Mr. Newall's break, he thought that when it was applied under the ordinary conditions of railway service, particularly when it was used on lines where the train was habitually composed of various descriptions of carriages, it was not calculated to supersede the ordinary break. He would qualify that statement, however, by adding, that it was a long time since he had seen it in operation, and he had not had proper means of making accurate observations. If these breaks, after having been tried under the ordinary conditions in which they must be worked in the service of a railway, exhibited advantages over the ordinary break, he had no doubt, that a fair trial would be given them by the various railway companies. Mr. HEMANS remarked, that both these breaks must be good and very efficient, to be able to stop a train, running with velocity down an incline of 1 in 27, which was, probably, the steepest gradient that could be found on any railway. I t was stated in the Paper, that the train was stopped in twenty seconds, but the distance within which the stoppage was effected was not given in that particular instance. Those distances appeared to have varied from 153 to 575 yards. Mr. BAMBOROUGH believed the distance, in that case, was 300 yards, and that the velocity of the train was 58 miles an hour, the rails being dry at the time. The velocity of the train on which the experiments were made, was, generally, between 36 miles and 40 miles per hour. Mr. VIGNOLES said, the remarks he should offer would be of a