y 
 
 SOME REMARKS 
 
 ADVANTAGES 
 
 OF 
 
 PROSSERS PATENT RAILWAY 
 
 GUIDE WHEELS 
 
 IRON OR WOODEN RAILS. 
 
 LONDON; 
 
 1. KING, PRINTEB, COLLEGE HILL, CITY. 
 
 1845. 
 
PROSSER’S PATENT RAILWAY 
 
 GUIDE WHEELS. 
 
 Many improvements have been made in the construction of Rail¬ 
 ways since their first introduction, and experience daily suggests 
 some mode of overcoming difficulties and impediments that still exist. 
 The chief attention of engineers has been to improve the mode of 
 locomotion, and accelerate the speed of trains of carriages; very 
 little attention was paid to the advantages of improving the mode 
 of guiding carriages along the rails, and diminishing the friction 
 and wear and tear of machinery, until Mr. Prosser’s patent for 
 guide wheels came out. The first idea of the Patentee was cer¬ 
 tainly to invent such a mode of guiding carriages along the rails as 
 should enable him to construct cheap lines, by the substitution of 
 a cheaper material for rails than iron.; but the advantages derived 
 from the substitution of a guide wheel for the flange on the bearing 
 wheels is equally applicable to iron rails as to any other material. 
 The invention being simple, a short description of the guide wheel 
 will suffice to give the public some idea of their construction. 
 
 The four principal wheels which support the carriage are without 
 flanges, and present a perfectly flat surface to the rail. It is 
 evident that, upon encountering the slightest curve in the rails, 
 these wheels would be quite inadequate to keep the carriage upon 
 its destined route; the remedy provided is in four extra or anti¬ 
 friction wheels; these are placed, two in front and two behind the 
 carriage, upon axles, at an angle of 45 degrees: a deep groove 
 formed by two flanges is made in their circumference, exactly 
 corresponding to the inner and upper angle of the rail, and 
 thus they serve as the guiding wheels to the whole machine. 
 
 When the Railway is in the direction of a right line, only one of 
 each pair of bevel wheels can be in action at the same time, accord¬ 
 ing to the tendency which the carriage may have to move on either 
 side from the centre of the rail. On a curve, the difference is 
 simply that the outside bevel wheel of the front pair, and- the 
 inside one of the back pair, come into play, and counteract the dis- 
 
4 
 
 position there is in the carriage to fly off at a tangent with the curve. 
 
 Another very important function performed by the bevel wheels 
 is, that in case of an accident occuring to the running wheels, they 
 would act as supporters to the carriage, and carry it on in safety. 
 
 The truth of this assertion was. clearly demonstrated by experi¬ 
 ments made in the presence of a number of scientific gentlemen, on 
 the trial line at Vauxhall. When the fore-wheels of the steam 
 carriage were removed, it ran without them at full speed, throwing 
 the whole weight of the front portion of the carriage and its pas¬ 
 sengers on the bevel or guide wheels. 
 
 The length of the experimental line laid down near Vauxhall- 
 bridge was 174 yards, with gradients of 1 in 95, 1 in 22, and 1 in 
 9, and a curve of 720 feet radius. 
 
 The speed attainable on so short a line was of course limited, but 
 the power given to the engineer by the bite of the wheel on the 
 wood (for this line was laid with wooden rails) enabled him to drive 
 it at the rate of 24 miles an hour, and to stop the carriage in a 
 distance of 24 yards. In the presence of several engineers, the 
 carriage laden with passengers ascended an incline of 1 in 9, the 
 rails being in a very bad state at the time from wet. 
 
 The curve was near the centre of the line, where the carriage 
 necessarily passed over it when going at its greatest speed, thus 
 testing the safety of the bevel wheels. 
 
 A curve of 600 feet radius may be traversed with safety at a speed 
 of 25 to 30 miles per hour by means of the bevel wheels; and a 
 model of a locomotive engine and train, constructed to a scale of 
 1| inch to the foot, travelled round a curve of 9 feet radius, at a 
 speed equally to 40 miles per hour, and traversed over upwards of 
 50,000 miles without the slightest accident. 
 
 By the adoption of these guide wheels the annual expense of 
 working a line will be materially diminished, the wear and tear of 
 engines and carriages, resulting from the continual abrasion and 
 oscillation, which is caused by the flange wheel is obviated. In 
 using the flange wheel, a great loss of power is also sustained con¬ 
 sequent on the continual friction, produced by the flanges against 
 the edge of the rail; an experiment to test the difference in power 
 required to propel a carriage fitted with the guide wheels, and one 
 with the usual flange wheel, was made last autumn, on the Hayle 
 Railway in Cornwall. A loaded truck fitted with tlie guide wheels, 
 and divested of the flanges on the bearing wheels was found to be 
 propelled with me fourth less power than a similar truck equally 
 laden, but with the usual flange wheel, thus clearly demonstrating 
 the advantages of the guide wheel in saving of power. The only 
 obstruction to running carriages with the guide wheel upon the 
 Railways already constructed, are the form of the chairs, which, 
 coming within 1£ inch of the top of the rail, do not give sufficient 
 depth for the groove of the guide wheel; in Railways about to be 
 made, the substitution of a chair with the inner cheek lower will 
 enable the managers to run their trains with either the guide wheels 
 or the flange, so that it would not prevent trains from other Rail- 
 
5 
 
 ways unprovided With the guide wheels from- travelling over their 
 line, although they for economy may themselves adopt the guide 
 wheel. 
 
 In traversing curves the advantage is still more apparent. In 
 the present arrangement the flanches of the wheels grind with 
 great force against the edge of the outer rail, and produce an 
 increased strain on the axles and other portions of the carriage, and 
 each concussion acts with more or less injury on the machinery of 
 the engine, the flange wheels being of necessity connected with it; 
 here, by the substitution of the bevel wheels, the line of direction is 
 altered with greater ease, and without affecting the driving or 
 running wheels of the engines or carriages. 
 
 Another great advantage by the adoption of the patent guide 
 wheel, is their enabling carriages to travel over a line of Railway 
 with rails of less cost than iron, such as wood, also to reduce the 
 expences of making the line. 
 
 The cost which hitherto has attended the formation of Railroads, 
 averages £25,000 per mile, being 2,600 miles at a cost of 63J 
 millions. A few of these (where the traffic is great) work at a 
 profit; there are others that pay common interest; while there are 
 some that make no return whatever to the Shareholders. Under 
 these circumstances it is obvious that branch or shorter lines of 
 Railways cannot be laid down on the present system without, in 
 many instances, a great sacrifice of capital. It follows therefore 
 that the introduction of an economical plan would enable all 
 provincial towns to have an expeditious means of access to the 
 metropolis, or to the existing lines of Railway, and thus place them 
 on an equality with other rival districts. 
 
 Since the introduction of wood paving, it may be calculated that 
 a saving of one-half has been effected in the wear and tear of 
 carriages, horses, and harness, in those districts where it has been 
 adopted; a saving equally great can be made in the construction 
 of Railroads by the substitution of wood for iron rails. 
 
 The rails may be made of beech, or other hard English timber, six 
 to eight inches square, let into wooden sleepers, and secured by 
 wooden wedges, forming one great frame or wooden grating of 
 longitudinal and cross sleepers. 
 
 The bite of the wheel upon an iron rail depends much on the 
 weight of the engine. It is generally made to weigh from 16 to 18 
 tons, which, on moderate gradients, and at a speed of 20 or 30 
 miles per hour, enables it to draw from 80 to 100 tons. The car¬ 
 riages are built to weigh about three tons; this strength is found 
 necessary to withstand the concussion, abrasion, and oscillation. 
 
 An engine weighing 10 tons, running on wood, will have more 
 tractive power than one weighing 18 tons running on iron ; and as 
 the concussion and abrasion on wood is so trifling, carriages built 
 to weigh one and a half tons will be as strong as those having to 
 run on iron weighing three tons. 
 
 An important question connected with this subject is the dura¬ 
 bility of the material of which the rails are composed. 
 
The engine employed for the experiment weighed about six tons: 
 it passed over the rails during the two months it ran 8 ,000 times, 
 in every variety of weather, which is equal to nearly seven years’ 
 traffic of 12 engines per day. The rails consisted of Scotch fir, 
 about nine feet long and six inches square; and yet, upon exa¬ 
 mining them after the severe test to which they had been subjected, 
 they exhibited no appearance of wear from the friction of the wheels 
 on the upper surface, as the saw marks were not even effaced, nor 
 had the bevel wheels exercised any abrasing effect on the edges, 
 
 ■ which remained as sharp and well defined as they were when first 
 laid down. 
 
 The capability of wood to sustain the strain to which it must 
 necessarily be exposed, especially when moving over it at high 
 velocities, has been satisfactorily proved by the experience of the 
 Great Western and other Railways, where continuous longitudinal 
 sleepers of wood have been employed, and experience has shewn 
 that the solidity of the road is much greater than when the iron 
 rails were attached either to stone blocks, or transverse wooden 
 sleepers. In proof that wooden rails cut from beech will bear 
 the wear and tear of trains passing over it, it is well known that 
 beech cogs have been known to last 18 to 20 years, when working 
 in gear with an iron wheel. 
 
 The rails on the Vauxhall line were prepared by Payne’s patented 
 process for preventing dry-rot and decay of timber. 
 
 Scotch fir, if subjected to pressure, will crush at 10 tons, while 
 beech, (the wood recommended for Railways,) will bear a pressure 
 of 82 tons before it begins to yield. 
 
 Experience having confirmed the capability of Scotch fir to with¬ 
 stand the traffic of 12 engines per day for seven years, without 
 any visible wear,—it would be difficult to say how long rails cut 
 from beech, sustaining 82 tons pressure, would last. 
 
 It will be quite needless to dwell longer on this subject, when it 
 is stated that the cost of renewing the beech rails, including the 
 preservation of them from dry-rot, will not exceed £400 per mile 
 for a single line of road. 
 
 Some of the impediments with which Railroads have to contend, 
 are, the undulations of the country, and the necessity of diverging 
 from a right line, in order to obtain the traffic of important towns. 
 
 These obstacles can only be overcome by an enormous outlay of 
 capital, in making the required excavations and embankments, or 
 by the oftentimes ruinous system of tunnelling,—and, after all, 
 inclines of greater or less gradients are unavoidable, and prevent 
 the line being worked economically. Curves on iron Railroads are 
 highly prejudicial, especially if the radius be small, as the wear 
 and tear becomes proportionably increased. 
 
 Now, by the introduction of the proposed plan, the evils a;ising 
 from the obstacles alluded to would be very materially diminished; 
 for, in the first place, the surface resistance obtained by the elastic 
 character of wooden rails, enables a train to be propelled up in¬ 
 clines, with much greater facility and ease than on rails constructed 
 
7 
 
 of iron; and the peculiar construction and arrangement of these 
 patent guide wheels give a train the power to traverse curves with 
 comparative ease, which would not be attempted on the present 
 system. 
 
 The cost of making Railroads depends much on the quantity of 
 ground to be removed; it is obvious, that if embankments can 
 to any extent be avoided, a great saving would be effected,—the 
 subsequent expense of the keeping them in repair reduced, delays 
 in the traffic from slips, and from sinking of sleepers avoided, and 
 the danger to passengers lessened, as from the latter cause many 
 lives have been sacrificed. 
 
 The advantages of wooden Railways thus constructed, in point 
 of economy, comfort, durability, and as feeders to the great and 
 central lines already formed, must be apparent to every one who 
 has given the subject any consideration. 
 
 Thus long lines of Railway may be laid down with iron rails, 
 whilst the feeders from different towns within their reach may be 
 accommodated with Railway communication at expense that their 
 more limited traffic will warrant the Proprietors to incur. 
 
 These branch Railways will pour into the main lines a great acces¬ 
 sion of traffic, and yield to the enterprising promoters of them a 
 large and certain profit on the money expended in their formation; 
 it is therefore to the interest of Railway Proprietors to be among the 
 great supporters of this plan. 
 
 On Railways thus constructed the fares will not exceed, if pro¬ 
 perly managed, for first class passengers, two-pence, and for 
 second class, one penny per mile. These prices ought to insure 
 ample profit to the Shareholders, and give Directors the pleasing 
 duty of providing for the accommodation of the poorer class of 
 Railway traveller's, carriages that will shelter them from the 
 inclemency of all weathers: such protection is of paramount im¬ 
 portance to a class of society who depend on the vigour of their 
 constitution and their health for subsistence. 
 
 The result of a series of experiments, made to ascertain the 
 proportionate power of the bite of wood over iron, has fully borne 
 out the assertion of the Patentee, that the bite of the driving wheel 
 on wood is nearly double that on iron. 
 
 On the surface of an iron wheel four feet diameter, a lever eight 
 feet long was placed, with a weight of seven lbs. attached to the 
 lever three feet from the centre of the. axis of the wheel; the surface 
 of' the lever being iron at the tangent of the wheel, it required a 
 weight of 281bs. attached to the crank to make it revolve. On sub¬ 
 stituting a wood surface for the iron one, it required a weight of 
 421bs. 
 
 Another experiment confirmed the result with the iron surface; 
 a weight of 281bs attached to the spoke of the wheel, at a distance 
 of six and three quarter inches from the centre, made it revolve; 
 whilst, with a wood surface, it required the same weight to be attached 
 to the spoke at a distance of llj inches from its centre, thus clearly 
 demonstrating the power obtained by the bite of the wood is nearly 
 double the bite of iron. 
 
The Proprietors of the patent have just completed a line of 
 Railway near two miles in length on Wimbledon Common, expressly 
 to shew the advantages their guide wheels possess over the flange; 
 and in this short line, part of which is laid with wooden and part 
 •with iron rails, they have all the difficulties they profess to overcome, 
 viz. various gradients, say 1 in 50,1 in 75, and 1 in 100, a circle, the 
 radius of which is 10 chains; and they are running a train of carriages 
 which will continue the next six months : thus practically testing 
 the durability and efficacy of wooden rails as compared with iron, 
 also proving that carriages fitted with their guide wheels can 
 travel on either iron or wood with equal effect, thus enabling main 
 trunk lines of iron to construct their branches with wood where 
 the traffic will not admit of the expense of iron rails. 
 
 The difference between the superstructure of iron and of wood, 
 at the present price of iron is upwards of £2,500 per mile:—viz. 
 
 Mr. Brunell, in his evidence before a Committee of the 
 House of Commons, lately stated that a single line of iron 
 rails, could be laid down for £2000 per mile : consequently 
 
 a double line would be.£4000 
 
 The cost of laying down a double line of wooden rails 
 would be. 1687 
 
 Leaving a balance in favor of wood £2313 
 This saving is in the superstructure alone, without calculating 
 the advantages as before mentioned, of avoiding expensive property, 
 deep cuttings, and embankments, which may be estimated at £1200 
 to £1500 more. 
 
 (COPY.) - 
 
 We hereby certify, that a piece of beech wood prepared by 
 Payne’s process, was laid down at the entrance of our wharf on the 15th 
 of August, 1843, in such a position that every cart or waggon that 
 enters or leaves the wharf must necessarily pass over it, from that time 
 to the present, an average of 120 tons of goods have been carted over it 
 per day, exclusive of empty waggons and carts not weighed. 
 
 AY. & J. DALTON, 
 
 Union Wharf, Millbank-street, 
 
 May 6th, 1845. Westminster. 
 
 (COPY.) 
 
 I hereby certify, that the piece of beech laid at the entrance 
 of Mr. Dalton’s yard, referred to in their certificate, was laid by me on 
 the 15th of August, 1843, and taken up May 6th, 1845, the wear on 
 which averaged three-eighths of an inch. 1 beg to state it is laid in 
 the angle of the curb, so that every wheel has a grinding as well as a 
 rolling motion over it. 
 
 T. BUBSTALL, 
 
 May 8th, 1845. Civil Engineer.