Page:Inland Transit - Cundy - 1834.djvu/73



"8th May, same engine drew 20 waggons; weight, gross, 90 tons, 7 cwt. 2 quarters, to Manchester, in 1 hour and 41 minutes; stopped to water, &c. 11 minutes, half way, not included in the above; consumption of coke, 1,040 lbs., under the same conditions as first experiment.

"N.B.—High wind a-head; connecting rod worked hot, being keyed too tight; on arriving at Manchester, pistons found so loose in cylinders that steam blew through, owing to the extra strain up hill.

"On the 29th of May, the engine called the Samson (weighing 10 tons 2 cwt., with 14 inch cylinders, and 16 inch stroke; wheels, 4 feet 6 inches diameter, both pair being worked by the engine; steam, 50 lbs, pressure on the square inch of the piston 130 tubes), was attached to, with 50 waggons, laden with merchandise, net weight 150 tons. The engine, with this load, travelled from Liverpool to Manchester, 30 miles in 2 hours and 40 minutes, exclusive of delays for oiling and watering, &c., being at the rate of nearly 12 miles an hour. The speed varied according to the inclinations of the road. Upon a level it was 12 miles an hour; upon a descent of 6 feet in a mile, it was 16 miles an hour; upon a rise of 8 feet in a mile, it was about 9 miles an hour. The weather was calm, the rails very wet, but the wheels did not slip, even in the slowest speed,—except at starting, the rails being at that place soiled and greasy with the slime and dirt to which they are always exposed at the stations. The coke consumed in this journey, exclusive of what was used in getting up the steam, was 1762 lbs., being at the rate of a quarter of a pound per ton per mile."

From these experiments, compared with former results, it must be apparent in how progressive a state the art is, of manufacturing and working locomotive engines; and how difficult it is in such circumstances to make any estimate which may form a fair ground of calculation in future undertakings. When the advancement of this art is so rapidly proceeding a major limit, beyond which the expenses cannot pass; and this limit may be readily deduced