Page:Report from the Select Committee on Steam Carriages.pdf/222



Mr. John Macneil. 6 September, 1831. injury which a road sustains by the wheels of Carriages and the feet of horses is proportional to the wear of iron on the wheels and on the horses, and that the statement before given as to the actual wear on each be found correct. I would say, the injury done to the road by the Steam Carriage weighing four tons with four-inch wheels, would be less than that occasioned by the Coach weighing three tons, drawn by four horses.

Would it be beneficial or otherwise to the roads, that Steam Carriages drawing heavy weights in Carriages attached to them should be substituted for Waggons drawn by horses, supposing that the weight of the drawing or propelling Carriage should not in any case exceed the weight of the number of horses that would have been used to draw a corresponding weight, e.g.

I am of opinion, that if the Steam Carriage and its accompanying Carriage be constructed with wheels of a proper width, and of the same diameter as the Waggon wheels, and travel with the same velocity, that the injury on well-made solid roads will not be more than that caused by the Waggon and horses; in fact, if the proportion of injury before stated be correct, it will be less; but it must be recollected that weak roads suffer more than solid ones from the heavy pressure of wheels, and in such cases the Steam Carriage and its tender would be more injurious.

In descending hills. Steam Carriages can regulate their velocity by reducing the action or number of revolutions of the wheels; this acts as a drag, but