_THE ATMOSPHERIC SYSTEM._
A.D. 1840--1848. ÆTATIS 35--43.
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS--THE SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY--DESCRIPTION OF
THE ATMOSPHERIC SYSTEM--HISTORY OF ITS INTRODUCTION PRIOR TO
1844--REPORT BY MR. BRUNEL, RECOMMENDING ITS ADOPTION ON THE SOUTH
DEVON RAILWAY (AUGUST 19, 1844)--EXAMINATION OF THIS REPORT--MR.
BRUNEL’S EVIDENCE BEFORE THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON ATMOSPHERIC
RAILWAYS, 1845--HISTORY OF THE APPLICATION OF THE SYSTEM ON THE
SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY, 1844-1848--REPORT ON STATE OF WORKS (AUGUST
28, 1847)--REPORT ON CAUSES OF FAILURE (AUGUST 19,
1848)--ABANDONMENT OF THE SYSTEM, SEPTEMBER
1848--_NOTE_--COMPARISON OF STATIONARY AND LOCOMOTIVE POWER.
In the year 1844 Mr. Brunel recommended the adoption of the Atmospheric
System of propulsion on the South Devon Railway, a line of 52 miles in
length, which he was then constructing between Exeter and Plymouth. This
system had, under the management of Messrs. Clegg and Samuda, been in
operation with success on the Dalkey line for some time before Mr.
Brunel adopted their apparatus on the South Devon Railway. After it had
been in use on the South Devon for about twelve months, it was
abandoned, and the railway worked throughout by locomotives.
* * * * *
It is therefore as important as it is interesting to examine the causes
of the failure of the Atmospheric System, and to consider the reasons
which induced Mr. Brunel in the first instance to adopt it, and
afterwards to recommend its abandonment.
* * * * *
Up to about the year 1843, the cost of railways, which was in a great
measure due to the conditions imposed by the limited capabilities of the
locomotive, had prevented their construction, except in cases where they
would secure a large traffic, and at the same time traverse what was
then considered a practicable country.
A curvature of one mile radius was regarded as the maximum generally
admissible on a line where high speeds were aimed at, and auxiliary
locomotives were required to work heavy gradients.
Nevertheless, by the growing wants of the public and the growing
boldness of engineers, the railway system was gradually being forced
into districts hitherto regarded as unsuitable for it; and no country
was held to be impracticable where the gradients could be surmounted by
the inconvenient and costly expedient of auxiliary power.
* * * * *
The south of Devon had for several years demanded railway accommodation,
and at the period now under review, Mr. Brunel projected what was called
the coast line. This line, while it best accommodated the population of
the district, passed through a very difficult country. If it was to be
constructed at a moderate cost, curves of a quarter of a mile radius had
to be admitted; and above 30 miles of its entire length traversed a
district involving the adoption of gradients steeper than had been
elsewhere used for such considerable distances. The Act for this railway
was obtained in the Session of 1844.
* * * * *
The South Devon Railway, on leaving Exeter, crosses the flat country on
the right bank of the river Exe, as far as Starcross, a village nearly
opposite to Exmouth. From this point it runs down to the coast and along
the sea-shore, by Dawlish, to Teignmouth; being protected by a sea-wall
for the greater part of the distance, and passing through several
headlands by short tunnels. Beyond Teignmouth it follows the left bank
of the river Teign, which it crosses a short distance before reaching
the station at Newton Abbott. The portion of the line from Exeter to
Newton--21½ miles in length--is very nearly level, the steep inclines
for which the railway is noted being west of Newton. Between Newton and
Totness, for the first mile and a half the line is almost level, and in
the next two miles it rises 200 feet, with gradients of 1 in 100, 1 in
60, and nearly a mile of 1 in 43. At the summit is a short tunnel; and
thence the line descends 170 feet in a mile and three-quarters, with
gradients of 1 in 40 and 1 in 43 for about three-quarters of a mile, and
gradients of 1 in 57 and 1 in 88 for the rest of the incline. It then
runs with more moderate gradients and about a mile and a half of level
line to Totness.
From the valley of the Dart at Totness the line rises at once by a rapid
ascent of 350 feet in four miles and a half, with gradients varying from
1 in 48 to 1 in 90, more than a mile and a half averaging 1 in 50.
Thence it runs, with easy up and down gradients, for a distance of 12
miles along the skirts of Dartmoor, crossing by lofty viaducts the deep
valleys which penetrate the moor. It then descends to Plympton, in the
valley of the Plym, falling 273 feet in a little more than two miles,
with a gradient of 1 in 42½. From Plympton the line for two miles is
level, and then rises on an incline of 1 in 80 for a mile and a half,
and descends by a similar gradient into the Plymouth station.
The main characteristics of the railway are that, while it traverses a
very heavy country, its principal changes of level are concentrated into
four long and steep inclines. These four inclines were intended to be
worked by auxiliary power.
Hitherto on gradients of unusual steepness a stationary engine with rope
traction had been generally regarded as the only available expedient;
but the special difficulties by which this system was encumbered
rendered it unsuitable for high-speed passenger traffic, and practically
inapplicable to an extended line. It had, however, been very
successfully employed by Mr. Robert Stephenson on the Blackwall Railway,
a line of about 3¾ miles in length.
Messrs. Clegg and Samuda, the projectors of the Atmospheric System,
which was another mode of using stationary power, had, previously to
this period, laboured to attract the attention and win the favourable
opinion of engineers and the general public.
* * * * *
It is desirable, before proceeding further, to give a brief description
of this system of traction, upon the merits of which distinguished
engineers entertained widely different opinions.
Between the two rails of the line of way was laid a cast-iron tube,
which on the Croydon and Dalkey railways and the completed or level
portion of the South Devon Railway was fifteen inches in diameter. On
the inclines it was proposed to use a twenty-two inch tube.
At intervals of about three miles along the line were erected stationary
engines, working large air-pumps, by means of which air could be
exhausted from the tube, and a partial vacuum created within it. A
close-fitting piston was placed in one end of the tube, and the air
being exhausted from it, the pressure of the external air on the surface
of the piston which was towards the open end of the tube forced the
piston through the tube towards the end where the air-pumps were
working; so that if the piston were connected with a carriage running on
the rails, it would draw the carriage with it. The connection between
the piston and the carriage was arranged by Messrs. Clegg and Samuda in
the following way:[62] Along the top of the tube was a slit about 2½
inches wide; this slit was closed by a long flap of leather, which was
strengthened with iron plates, and secured to the tube at one side of
the slit. One edge of the leather thus formed a continuous hinge; the
other edge, where it closed on the tube, was sealed with a composition
of grease, to render it air-tight. This flap was known by the name of
the longitudinal valve.
When the valve was closed, the air could be exhausted from the tube in
front of the piston, and a partial vacuum formed. Behind the piston, the
air being at atmospheric pressure both within and without the tube,
there was no objection to opening the longitudinal valve; and a bar,
extending downwards from the under side of the carriage, entered the
slit obliquely under the opened valve, and was connected to the rear end
of a frame about ten feet long, the front end of which carried the
piston. To allow the bar to pass along the slit, the valve was opened on
its hinge, being pressed upwards by a series of wheels carried by the
moving piston-frame inside the tube. The valve closed again after the
passage of the train; and the tube was ready to be exhausted in
preparation for the passage of the next train.[63]
The Atmospheric System was first tried in 1840. An experimental tube was
laid down at Wormwood Scrubs on part of the short line now incorporated
into the West London Railway, and then known by the title of the
Bristol, Birmingham, and Thames Junction Railway. Its working was the
subject of eager discussion among engineers.
In 1842 Sir Frederic Smith, R.E., and Professor Barlow, under an order
from the Board of Trade, reported so favourably on the system with
reference to the proposal for its application on the Dalkey branch of
the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, that it was adopted there. In 1843 Mr.
(afterwards Sir William) Cubitt determined to employ it on the Croydon
Railway; and about the same time Mr. Robert Stephenson was desired by
the Directors of the Chester and Holyhead Railway to report on the
propriety of introducing it on that line.
Mr. Stephenson’s report was based on a series of experiments on the
working of the system at Dalkey. The view he took was adverse to its
adoption, not only on the Chester and Holyhead, but on almost every
railway whatsoever; and this on the ground that, though it was quite
capable of being developed into a practical working system, yet on lines
with ordinary gradients the atmospheric traction must be considerably
more costly than locomotive traction, and on steep gradients than rope
traction; in other words, that, as a mechanical appliance it was, though
practicable, not economical.
Mr. Stephenson’s report had no sooner appeared than the correctness of
his conclusions was disputed on his giving evidence before a Committee
of the House of Commons, in the spring of 1844, on the Croydon and
Epsom Railway Bill.
* * * * *
Mr. Brunel also was summoned as a witness. Previously to this time he
had taken a great interest in the various attempts which had been made
to introduce the Atmospheric System, and he had himself conducted
experiments at Wormwood Scrubs and at Dalkey. As early as July 1840 he
had considered its applicability to the Box Tunnel incline on the Great
Western Railway. He had also considered it in reference to various
projected lines; and in 1843 he recommended it for adoption in a long
tunnel on one of the steep inclines of the Genoa and Turin Railway, the
success of the system being then (he wrote) sufficient to justify its
use on a part of the line protected from weather. It was not, however,
applied on this railway.[64]
Mr. Brunel’s views at this time are indicated in the following letter:--
April 8, 1844.
Any part I have taken in examining into the system has been purely
from the desire which I always feel to forward good inventions; and
when I have formed a decided opinion, no fear of the consequences
ever prevents my expressing it. My great anxiety, however, is to
see a line of railway and all its appurtenances made expressly for
the Atmospheric System, and worked accordingly; until this is done
the results will be comparatively unsatisfactory.
Although unwilling to express general opinions, Mr. Brunel spoke
strongly before the Croydon and Epsom Railway Committee in favour of the
advantages of the Atmospheric System under certain circumstances, and
approved of its use on that line.
A few months later Mr. Brunel recommended the Directors of the South
Devon Railway Company to adopt the Atmospheric System, and they resolved
to act on his advice.
His report was as follows:--
August 19, 1844.
I have given much consideration to the question referred to me by
you at your last meeting--namely, that of the advantage of the
application of the Atmospheric System to the South Devon Railway.
The question is not new to me, as I have foreseen the possibility
of its arising, and have frequently considered it.
I shall assume, and I am not aware that it is disputed by anybody,
that stationary power, if freed from the weight and friction of any
medium of communication, such as a rope, must be cheaper, is more
under command, and is susceptible of producing much higher speeds
than locomotive power; and when it is considered that for high
speeds, such as sixty miles per hour, the locomotive engine with
its tender cannot weigh much less than half of the gross weight of
the train, the advantage and economy of dispensing with the
necessity of putting this great weight also in motion will be
evident.
I must assume also that as a means of applying stationary power the
Atmospheric System has been successful, and that, unless where
under some very peculiar circumstances it is inapplicable, it is a
good economical mode of applying stationary power.
I am aware that this opinion is directly opposed to that of Mr.
Robert Stephenson, who has written and published an elaborate
statement of experiments and calculations founded upon them, the
results of which support his opinion.
It does not seem to me that we can obtain the minute data required
for the mathematical investigation of such a question, and that
such calculations, dependent as they are upon an unattained
precision in experiments, are as likely to lead you very far from
the truth as not.
By the same mode M. Mallet and other French engineers have proved
the success of the system; and by the same mode of investigation
Dr. Lardner arrived at all those results regarding steam
navigation and the speed to be attained on railways, which have
since proved so erroneous.
Experience has led me to prefer what some may consider a more
superficial, but what I should call a more general and broader
view, and more capable of embracing all the conditions of the
question--a practical view.
Having considered the subject for several years past, I have
cautiously, and without any cause for a favourable bias, formed an
opinion which subsequent experiments at Dalkey have fully proved to
be correct; viz. that the mere mechanical difficulties can be
overcome, and that the full effect of the partial vacuum produced
by an air-pump can be communicated, without any loss or friction
worth taking into consideration, to a piston attached to the train.
In this point of view the experiment at Dalkey has entirely
succeeded. A system of machinery which even at the first attempt
works without interruption and constantly for many months, may be
considered practically to be free from any mechanical objection.
No locomotive line that I have been connected with has been equally
free from accidents.
That which is true for one railway of two miles in length is
equally true for a second or third, although they may be placed the
one at the end of the other; the chances of an accident are only in
the proportion of the number, or in other words, the length, a
proportion which holds equally good with locomotives, except that a
locomotive may be affected by the distance it has previously run,
while a stationary engine and its pipes cannot in like manner be
affected by the previous working of the neighbouring engine and
pipes.
In my opinion the Atmospheric System is, so far as any stationary
power can be, as applicable to a great length of line as it is to a
short one.
Upon all these points I could advance many arguments and many
proofs, but I shall content myself with saying that, as a
professional man, I express a decided opinion that, as a mechanical
contrivance, the Atmospheric apparatus has succeeded perfectly as
an effective means of working trains by stationary power, whether
on long or short lines, at higher velocity and with less chance of
interruption than is now effected by locomotives.
I will now proceed to consider the question of the advantage of its
application to the South Devon Railway.
It will simplify the discussion of the question very much if it is
considered as a comparison between a double line worked by
locomotives in the usual manner, and a single line of railway
worked by stationary power, the only peculiarity of the present
case being that upon four separate portions of the whole 52 miles
stationary assistant power would under any circumstances have been
used, these four inclines forming together one-fifth of the whole
distance.
It is necessary to consider it as a question of a single line on
account of the expense, the cost of the pipe for each line being
about 3,500_l._ per mile.
An addition of 7,000_l._ per mile, or of about 330,000_l._, in the
first construction could not be counterbalanced by any adequate
advantage in the saving in the works on the South Devon Railway,
and probably not by any subsequent economy or advantage in the
working; but the system admits of the working with a single line,
without danger of collision, certainly with less than upon a double
locomotive line. And I believe also that, considering the absence
of most of the causes of accidents, there will even be less
liability of interruption and less delay in the average resulting
from accidents than in the ordinary double locomotive railway.
By the modification of the gradients and by reducing the curves to
1,000 feet radius where any great advantage can be gained by so
doing, and by constructing the cuttings, embankments, tunnels, and
viaducts for a single line, a considerable saving may be effected
in the first cost.
In the permanent way and ballasting, the reduction will be about
one-half. I should propose to make the rails about 52 lbs. weight
and the timber 12 × 6; the quantity of ballast would probably be
rather more than half, but at the present prices of iron and timber
the saving could not be less than 2,500_l._ per mile.
From a careful revision of the works generally, I consider that a
reduction may be effected in the following items, and to the amount
specified in each, viz., ballasting gradients and curves:--
£ s. d.
Reduction in earth work 16,500 0 0
" in length of principal tunnel 14,000 0 0
--------------
30,500 0 0
_Saving by single line._
Earthwork 25,000 0 0
Tunnels 11,500 0 0
Viaducts 15,000 0 0
_Permanent way and ballast._
To allow for sidings, say 50 miles, 2,500_l._ 125,000 0 0
---------------
207,000 0 0
===============
_Per contra._
£
Pipe on 41½ miles[65] 138,500
Increase on inclined planes, 10½ miles 6,500 £ s. d.
145,000 0 0
Engines for the 41½ miles 35,000 0 0
Patent right, say 10,000 0 0
---------------
190,000 0 0
===============
The difference in first cost therefore is 17,000 0 0
To this must however be added the cost of the
locomotive power, with its attendant expenses
of engine-houses, &c., which cannot, I think,
be put at less than 50,000 0 0
--------------
Making a saving of 67,000 0 0
I have not included in the expense of the Atmospheric apparatus
that of the telegraph, because at its present reduced cost of
160_l._ per mile I am convinced its use would repay the outlay in
either case.
It would appear, then, that the line can be constructed and
furnished with the moving power, in working order, on the
Atmospheric System, for something less than the construction only
of the railway fitted for the locomotive power, but without the
engines; and that taking into consideration the cost of locomotive
power, a saving in first outlay may be effected of upwards of
60,000_l._
But it is in the subsequent working that I believe the advantages
will be most sensible.
In the first place, with the gradients and curves of the South
Devon Railway between Newton and Plymouth, a speed of thirty miles
per hour would have been, for locomotives, a high speed, and under
unfavourable circumstances of weather and of load, it would
probably have been found difficult and expensive to have maintained
even this; with the Atmospheric, and with the dimensions of pipes I
have assumed, a speed of forty to fifty miles may certainly be
depended upon, and I have no doubt that from twenty-five to
thirty-five minutes may be saved in the journey.
Secondly, the cost of running a few additional trains so far as the
power is concerned is so small, the plant of engines, the
attendance of engine-men, &c., remaining the same, that it may
almost be neglected in the calculations; so that short trains, or
extra trains with more frequent departures, adapted in every
respect to the varying demands of the public, can be worked at a
very moderate cost. I have no doubt that a considerable
augmentation of the general traffic will be thus effected, by means
which with locomotive engines would be very expensive, and
frequently unattainable, particularly as regards one class of short
trains, whether for passenger or goods, which from the
inconvenience of working them by locomotives are hardly known--I
refer to trains between the intermediate stations.
By many means, which the easy command of a motive power at any
time, at every part of a line, must afford of accommodating the
public, I believe the traffic may be increased.
It appears to me also that the quality of the travelling will be
much improved; that we shall attain greater speed, less noise and
motion, and an absence of the coke dust, which is certainly still a
great nuisance; and an inducement will thus be held out to those
(the majority of travellers) who travel either solely for pleasure,
or at least not from necessity, and who are mainly influenced by
the degree of comfort with which they can go from place to place.
Lastly, the average cost of working the trains will be much less
than by locomotives.
With the gradients of the South Devon Railway, and assuming that
not less than eight trains, including mail and goods trains,
running the whole distance, and certainly one short train running
half the distance, be the least number that would suffice, I think
an annual saving of 8,000_l._ a year in locomotive expenses,
including allowance for depreciation of plant, may very safely be
relied upon.
For all the reasons above quoted, I have no hesitation in taking
upon myself the full and entire responsibility of recommending the
adoption of the Atmospheric System on the South Devon Railway, and
of recommending as a consequence that the line and works should be
constructed for a single line only.[66]
In this report Mr. Brunel rested his recommendation principally on two
assumptions, which he held to be indisputable--(1) That stationary
power, if freed from incumbrances such as the friction and dead weight
of a rope, was superior to locomotive power; and (2) That the
Atmospheric System of traction was theoretically a good and economical
method of applying stationary power, and that it was also a practical
and working system, as had been shown in its first and somewhat crude
application at Dalkey.
The superiority of stationary as compared with locomotive power depends
on two principles--(a) That a given amount of power may be supplied by a
stationary engine at a less cost than if supplied by a locomotive. (b)
That the dead weight of a locomotive forms a large proportion of the
whole travelling load, and thus inherently involves a proportionate
waste of power--a waste which is enhanced by the steepness of the
gradients and the speed of the trains.
A detailed examination of these principles is given in the note to this
chapter.
It is there shown that at the time referred to stationary power could be
obtained for one farthing per horse-power per hour, while locomotive
power cost more than one penny per indicated horse-power per hour, the
cost of the locomotive power being more than four times that of the
stationary power. On a level line at a speed of 60 miles per hour, for
each horse-power usefully employed, a locomotive, in consequence of its
own dead weight and the friction of its machinery, is obliged to expend
more than one and a half horse-power; in this case, therefore, the
useful work done costs nearly seven times as much as if it had been
performed by a stationary engine. Again, on so moderate an ascent as one
in 75, for each horse-power usefully employed, the locomotive has to
expend at 40 miles per hour more than two horse-power, and at 60 miles
per hour three horse-power; so that the useful work done costs in the
one case nearly ten times, in the other thirteen times, as much as if
it had been performed by a stationary engine.
This great advantage of stationary over locomotive power was a
sufficient justification for introducing a system which promised to
realise it to any considerable extent; although many difficulties might
have to be encountered.
As has been already stated, Mr. Brunel had satisfied himself that the
Atmospheric System was theoretically economical, and that its trial at
Dalkey had shown that it was practically free from mechanical
objections. Mr. Stephenson, indeed, had admitted that the mechanical
details had been brought to a remarkable degree of perfection; but this
admission was not any qualification of the radical difference of opinion
which existed between him and Mr. Brunel, to which Mr. Brunel drew
attention in his report of August 1844.
The subsequent abandonment of the Atmospheric System led many to believe
that Mr. Brunel had been rash in rejecting the detailed investigations
and conclusions of Mr. Stephenson, and that the adverse conclusions
which Mr. Brunel had refused to entertain were subsequently established.
But, in fact, the failure of the Atmospheric System was due to failure
in some of its mechanical details, and was not due to those inherent
defects in its principle which Mr. Stephenson in his report considered
that his experimental data had established.
Mr. Brunel’s opinions were again brought prominently into notice in the
evidence given by him before a Select Committee of the House of Commons,
which was appointed in the Session of 1845, in consequence of the number
of projected lines which it was proposed to work by the Atmospheric
System.
The following letter, written by Mr. Brunel to one of the members of the
Committee, explains what he considered to be his position at this
time:--
April 3, 1845.
I am summoned to attend your Committee on Friday, and as it is
known that I have expressed opinions favourable to the Atmospheric
System, and that I am actually applying it upon a line of some
length, it would be considered an absurd affectation, and would,
moreover, be useless to attempt, to avoid giving evidence when so
called upon; but I am a most unwilling witness. I think it rather
hard upon a professional man, who wishes to be cautious and
prudent, that he should be called upon to express general opinions,
which, if written even in the most studied and careful language,
cannot be so worded as to be applicable to every case that may
hereafter arise, or to be proof against the unfair and unscrupulous
attack of the paid writers on these controversies. I mention these
difficulties, which I feel that you may make some allowances for,
if my feelings should appear in my evidence, or if that evidence
should appear to fall very short of the opinions I am known to
entertain, and which I must entertain to induce me to apply the
system extensively, as I am doing. I find it difficult to define
the points upon which it would be desirable to examine engineering
witnesses, and I really believe that, entering freshly upon the
subject and feeling as one of the public, you are more likely to
elicit the useful points than one who, like myself, has been
turning his whole attention (lately, at least) solely to the
mechanical construction. However, I enclose a copy of a letter I
addressed to a party interested in the patent, which refers to my
opinions on the several points--opinions, however, expressed
without that caution to which I referred as so necessary.
(_Enclosure._)
March 31, 1845.
I object very much to giving evidence upon the abstract point of
the applicability of a particular system, and thus furnishing
general opinions which others are to apply as they may choose to
particular cases; and if I could, I would refuse to give evidence
at all before the present Committee, whatever might be the
consequence to the promoters of the Atmospheric System.
Circumstances, however, render such a refusal impossible; but I am
equally anxious not to be drawn into becoming an advocate of a
system.
When I gave evidence last year,[67] although it was then very much
against my inclination, it was in support of a particular case; and
it was only incidentally that my opinion was advanced as to a
system. The evidence is now avowedly sought in support of a system,
and I do not, as I before stated, intend to become an advocate of
this or any other system. I mention these my views to prevent
disappointment. If the following facts and opinions are likely to
be of use to the Committee, I can give evidence on them.
I made experiments upon the portion of railway laid on Wormwood
Scrubs. These experiments were made for my own private
satisfaction, and not made public in any way.
They satisfied me of the mechanical practicability of the system.
In 1843 and 1844 I made several experiments upon the Dalkey
railway.
The result of my observations and of those experiments is an
opinion that the mechanical difficulties attending the application
of this system may be overcome, and the whole as a machine made to
work in a very perfect manner; that is, as a mechanical power for
locomotion it will generally, but not in every case, be more
economical than what is strictly called locomotive power, that high
speeds may be more easily attained, that, from the absence of the
locomotive engine, the rails may be constructed and maintained in
more perfect order, and as a consequence the carriages may be
constructed and worked in a more perfect manner, and so as to run
more smoothly, and that in all respects the travelling may be
rendered more rapid, more luxurious, and more safe. As regards the
last, viz. safety, collisions may be rendered altogether
impossible, or most remotely possible; while all other sources of
danger, now very small, may be almost entirely removed by the
increased perfection of the rails.
As regards first cost, a single line may be made to answer all the
purposes of a double locomotive line for most railways, except main
lines in immediate connection with the metropolis, or forming trunk
lines for others with important branches not under the same
control; and a single Atmospheric line will generally cost as
little, often less, including the working power, than a double
locomotive line without the engines. I am now constructing a line
of 52 miles in length entirely for the Atmospheric System. I
already see many advantages to be attained in the setting out and
constructing of a railway, if originally designed for this system;
the principal advantages can only be attained, and, above all, the
principal difficulties in the system can only be properly provided
against, where the line is originally designed for the system; the
choice of gradients and curves and levels, the position, and, above
all, the arrangements of stations, will generally be totally
different in the two systems, and the difficulties to be avoided
will equally differ.
It is unnecessary to give any extracts from Mr. Brunel’s evidence,[68]
as it only repeats the opinions and calculations embodied in his report
of August 1844.
The Committee, while they allowed that experience could alone determine
under what circumstances of traffic or of country the preference to the
Atmospheric or the Locomotive System should be given, reported very
strongly in favour of the general merits of the Atmospheric System.
As soon as it had been decided that the South Devon was to be
constructed as an Atmospheric line, the dimensions of the cuttings,
embankments, and tunnels were arranged for a single line, except on the
long incline west of Totness, and on that east of Plympton. In the
approaches to the principal summits the gradients were made somewhat
steeper, so as to reduce the excavations.
In December 1844, Mr. Brunel prepared a specification and drawing of a
steam-engine and vacuum pump, and a copy was sent to the most eminent
engine-builders, together with a letter inviting tenders for six pairs
of engines. The letter concluded as follows:--
Any party whose tenders may be accepted, shall, if required,
furnish forthwith a more detailed drawing and specification of the
engines as they propose to furnish them; the specification and
drawing now sent being expressly made very general, in order that
each manufacturer may, so far as is consistent with the general
requisites and conditions, adopt his own methods of construction,
or use any existing patterns.
The economical character of the engines which Mr. Brunel desired to
obtain is sufficiently indicated by the requirement that they were to be
high-pressure condensing engines, fitted with double-seated expansion
valves, and having boilers proved to 100 lbs. per square inch, and
guaranteed to work with safety valves loaded to 40 lbs. per square inch.
The tenders accepted were those of Messrs. Boulton and Watt, Messrs.
Rennie, and Messrs. Maudslay and Field.
Mr. Brunel left it to the contractors to prepare their designs without
any interference on his part, deeming it best to rely on their
unfettered judgment.
The task of manufacturing and fitting the cast-iron tube was one of some
difficulty, the longitudinal slit allowing of considerable distortion in
the casting. This work was undertaken by Mr. George Hennett, by the aid
of a set of very effective tools devised by Mr. T. R. Guppy.
The tubes were supplied at the rate of one mile per week, and by the
middle of 1846 nearly the whole line was laid to Newton, and the valve
was ready to be fixed.
In the autumn of 1846, Mr. Joseph Samuda went to Dawlish, taking with
him a staff of assistants trained in the working of the system at
Croydon; and every effort was made to advance the completion of the
engines and the other parts of the apparatus.
Owing, however, to vexatious delays in the erection of the engine-houses
and engines, it was not until the commencement of 1847 that a
piston-carriage was able to traverse the first six miles out of Exeter.
And, though repeated experimental trains continued to be run, no
passengers had been conveyed by Atmospheric trains prior to the general
meeting of the shareholders, at the end of August. Mr. Brunel’s report
on this occasion was as follows:--
August 27, 1847.
It is a subject of great regret, and to no one more than to myself,
that we have as yet been unable to open any portion of the line to
the public with the Atmospheric apparatus, although a considerable
distance has for some months been in a state to admit of frequent
experiments being made upon it. This delay has arisen principally,
if not entirely, in that part of the whole system which it might
have been expected would have been the least exposed to it--namely,
the construction and completion of the steam-engines.
It is due to Mr. Samuda that I should say that, so far as regards
the mere pipe and valve, and other details which may be said to
constitute the Atmospheric apparatus, we might long since have
commenced. But the engines, although designed without any
interference with their plans, and furnished by the best makers of
the country, and although differing so slightly from the ordinary
construction of steam-engines, have proved sources of continued and
most vexatious delays, both in the unexpected length of time
occupied originally in their erection, and in subsequent correction
of defects in minor parts. While the engines were imperfect, it
would not only have been unwise to have commenced working the line,
even had it been practicable, but the frequent interruptions to the
continuous working of all the engines rendered it impossible to
complete and test the different portions of the Atmospheric
apparatus. There are still some defects to be remedied in one or
two of the engines, and I am using every endeavour, by persuasion
and by every other means in my power, to urge on the manufacturers
in their work of completion. Within the last week or two only have
we been able to work at all continuously between Exeter and
Teignmouth, so as to have the opportunity of trying the different
parts, and getting the various details requisite for actually
working trains tested and brought to sufficient perfection to
ensure efficiency and regularity.
Since the beginning of last week, however, four trains per day have
been run regularly, stopping at the stations, and keeping their
time as if working for traffic. The tube and valve appear in good
order, and the whole has worked well, but the running in this
manner can alone show the deficiencies which may still exist in the
details necessary for stopping, and starting quickly from the
stations, and all the other minor operations incidental to working
the traffic in the ordinary course; and, until all these
arrangements are completed, and the engines in more perfect order,
I think it would be much better to defer at least the substitution
of the Atmospheric for the locomotive working. Trains, in addition
to those now running may perhaps be advantageously worked for the
public, after a further short continuance of the present
practising.
The two engines completing the number to Newton are nearly ready
for trial, and it is to be presumed that, after the experience of
the past, the makers will be enabled to put them at once into an
efficient state.
The delays and difficulties attending the bringing into operation
the Atmospheric System upon this portion of the railway have been
beyond all anticipation, and beyond what any previous experience
would have justified anybody in anticipating. The difficulties have
all been seriously aggravated by the necessity (consequent,
certainly, upon the original delays) of working the line with
locomotives during the construction and completion of the
Atmospheric apparatus. Not only has the constant occupation of the
line interfered with the progress of the work, but it has been
necessary to devise all the arrangements so as to admit stations,
sidings, and line being worked either by locomotive or by
Atmospheric in succession, or even at the same time.
These difficulties, added to those always consequent upon the
introduction of any new system, have been most wearying and
incessant, and I am not surprised that the public and the
proprietors should have been impatient. I trust the ultimate result
will remove any grounds for disappointment.
The stress of personal anxiety and personal fatigue, experienced by Mr.
Brunel and by all who were engaged in the work, was very severe, and
continued so to the end. Not only was the progress in the completion of
the work slow, but in spite of every exertion the results were
incessantly marred by unfortunate contingencies which involved further
delay, discouragement, and expenditure. Moreover, the reaction which
followed the railway mania had set in; calls were ill responded to, and
great difficulty was experienced in raising the money requisite for the
completion of the line.
Under these circumstances it was resolved, on September 1, not to incur
any new expenses in relation to the Atmospheric System beyond Totness,
and to limit any expenditure already contracted for, until its working
between Exeter and Totness had been fairly tried, except to provide
assistant power up the two inclines.
On September 8 the Atmospheric trains began to take their share in the
passenger duty of the line, four trains running each way daily; and,
except when occasional mishaps caused delay, the new mode of traction
was almost universally approved of. The motion of the train, relieved of
the impulsive action of the locomotive, was singularly smooth and
agreeable; and the passengers were freed from the annoyance of coke dust
and the sulphureous smell from the engine chimney.
In other respects the record of progress is but a chequered one, and
exhibits, in spite of great and able efforts and brightening intervals
of occasional improvement, indications of growing difficulties deepening
into ultimate defeat.
In examining the chronicle of events which correspondence and memoranda
supply, it is inevitable that references to failure and disaster should
be found relatively in far greater abundance than records of success;
and this for the simple reason that there was at that time great use in
taking note of the unfavourable incidents that occurred, almost none in
mentioning successful work.
There is therefore some danger of falling into a mood of unjust
depreciation, such as Mr. Brunel had in energetic terms urged the
Directors to guard themselves against. He protested against their
requiring (as they once intended to do)--
continuous and detailed reports--if true and honest, of course
containing nothing but accounts of mishaps--of a system which (he
says) we are struggling to render perfect. Why, a daily account of
our locomotive mishaps would ruin the locomotive system, if it were
new! I will undertake to say that the mishaps of yesterday or
to-day on the Great Western Railway were as great as that of
Tuesday on the South Devon.
The Atmospheric System was vaguely credited with every delay which a
train had experienced in any part of its journey; though, in point of
fact, a large proportion of these delays was really chargeable to that
part of the journey which was performed with locomotives. It often
happened that time thus lost was made up on the Atmospheric part of the
line, as is shown by a record of the working, which is still extant. In
the week, September 20-25, 1847, it appears that the Atmospheric trains
are chargeable with a delay of 28 minutes in all; while delays due to
the late arrival of the locomotive trains, amounting in all to 62
minutes, were made up by the extra speed attainable on the Atmospheric
part of the line.
Not unfrequently, however, casualties occurred; due indeed to remediable
causes, but yet of discouraging aspect in themselves, and deriving
additional weight from the manner in which they reacted on the cost of
working. Such, for instance, were the frequent and occasionally very
serious breakages in essential parts of the pumping-engines. Again, the
cupped leathers of the travelling-piston, which made it air-tight, were
often destroyed while it was passing the various inlet and outlet
valves. Improvements in the valves were introduced to meet this
difficulty; but the remedy could not be applied at once throughout the
line, and much inconvenience was thus experienced, and a considerable
expense incurred. Another source of inconvenience was the water which at
times accumulated within the tube.
* * * * *
In many respects the results which had been calculated on were realised,
and the new arrangements necessary to the working of the system were
successfully brought into operation.
The speed of the trains corresponded fully with the degree of vacuum
obtained; that is to say, the train resistances proved to be what had
been anticipated.[69]
After the trial of a great variety of air-pump valves, a form was
adopted which was found to answer exceedingly well.[70]
In the Atmospheric tube, the system of self-acting inlet and outlet
valves, by which the piston was enabled to leave the tube on approaching
a station and enter it again on recommencing its journey, were, on the
whole, successfully adapted to their duty.
Again, an arrangement for starting the train rapidly from the station,
without the help of horses or of locomotives, had been brought
practically into operation. This arrangement consisted of a short
auxiliary vacuum tube containing a piston which could be connected with
the train by means of a tow-rope, and thus draw it along till the
piston of the piston carriage entered the main Atmospheric tube. Some
accidents at first occurred in using this apparatus, but its defects
were after a time removed; and it is hardly to be doubted that the
various minor difficulties of the Atmospheric System could soon have
been effectually mastered.
* * * * *
It now remains to show how it was that, in spite of much that was
hopeful, a vigorously sustained contest ended in defeat, instead of
being prolonged into victory.
In working the Atmospheric System on the South Devon Railway grave
difficulties were throughout encountered, for which to the last only
imperfect remedies could be found.
As regards the power consumed, the engines of each pumping station
worked up to about 236 indicated horse-power, and their regulated duty
for each train, including the anticipatory pumping, was equivalent to
5·5 minutes of work for every mile of the length of tube they had to
exhaust. As the running speed averaged 40 miles per hour, or a mile in
1·5 minutes, the 236 horse-power during the 5·5 minutes of pumping must
be regarded as equivalent to 865 horse-power during the actual passage
of the train. Now, making full allowance for piston friction and extra
friction on curves, for the power expended in getting up speed, for the
excess of air-pump resistance due to the changes of temperature
experienced by the air under exhaustion, and even for the very large
actual amount of friction in the engines employed, the work done should
have been represented by an expenditure of 240 horse-power during the
passage of the train. If to this is added an allowance for leakage, such
as the experiments at Dalkey indicated would be amply sufficient with
the longitudinal valve in good condition, it may be said that Mr.
Brunel had a right to expect that the duty would be performed with an
expenditure of 300 horse-power; whereas it actually required 865
horse-power, or nearly three times the amount.
The explanation of this waste is simple.
Serious and unexpected causes of failure developed themselves in the
longitudinal valve, and led to an excessive amount of leakage. A great
part of the normal duty of the engines was, as has been stated, to
exhaust the tube previous to the entry of the train; and when, owing to
leakage, the amount of air to be so pumped out was greatly increased, it
became necessary that the operation should be commenced much earlier.
There was thus a longer time during which the leakage could take place,
and a still greater amount of air to be pumped out. It therefore
followed that a large increase of leakage involved waste of power in an
enormously increased proportion.
The length of time occupied by the anticipatory pumping was often
increased by the difficulty of arranging proper telegraphic
communication on the South Devon Railway, and by the absence of it on
the Bristol and Exeter Railway. The Electric Telegraph was in its
infancy, and though Mr. Brunel had been the first to apply it in
connection with railways, namely, between London and Slough on the Great
Western Railway in the year 1839, it was not brought into perfect
working order on the South Devon Railway till the Atmospheric System was
on the point of being abandoned. The result of the defects in the
telegraph was that, when a train was late, warning was not received at
the several engine-houses;[71] and thus, when this was the case, the
pumping-engines which had been started at the right interval of time
before the train was due, had to be kept at work for a needlessly long
period pumping out the air, which was all the while leaking in through
the deteriorated valve. This inefficiency of the telegraphic apparatus
would have been of trifling importance but for the defects of the valve.
Had the valve been as perfect as it was expected to be, the vacuum,
after it had been formed, could have been maintained by an expenditure
of power very moderate in comparison with that which was actually
required.
As regards the relative cost of the power consumed, it appears that,
owing to imperfections in the engines, their expenditure of fuel per
indicated horse-power was more than double that of the best of the
Cornish pumping-engines, to which they were analogous; while the cost of
working was more than three times as great.
The defects in the engines were for the most part such as might have
been remedied; and this would have been done, had not the excessive duty
imposed on them by the leakage of the longitudinal valve prevented their
being stopped for repairs and alterations. In this way the defects of
the different parts of the apparatus mutually aggravated each other.
It appears then that, chiefly owing to the defective longitudinal valve,
the engines were expending nearly three times the power which they
should have done for a given tractive duty, according to previous
experience, and the results obtained on the Dalkey line, and that they
cost per horse-power at least three times as much as was expected.
The cost of traction, nearly nine times as much as had been calculated
on, was between two and a half and three times what it would have been
with locomotive power; and this was on a level part of the line, where
the comparative advantages of the Atmospheric System were not exhibited
as they would have been in the part which had steep gradients.
The imperfections of the longitudinal valve have now to be described. By
its condition the Atmospheric System had to stand or fall. With an
efficient valve, the defects of the other parts of the apparatus would
have been of minor importance, and time would have been given for
remedying them. When the leakage became considerable, the defects of the
telegraph and the defects of the engines alike assumed a formidable
aspect.
The failure of the valve was due, partly to the composition which was
used to seal the joint where it opened, and partly to the material of
which the valve consisted. The difficulty of obtaining a suitable
composition was the first which had to be encountered. On the South
Devon a lime soap was eventually found to answer the purpose well. Its
surface, however, from exposure to light and air, formed into a hard
skin; and to remedy this a thinner and more fluid material, a compound
of cod-oil and soap, was laid on to keep it soft. This answered
satisfactorily, but it required frequent renewal, as it was apt to be
drawn into the tube by the rush of air when the valve was opened. The
renewal of the various compositions, and the careful examination and
repair which the valve constantly required, was a cause of great anxiety
and expense.
But in the materials of the valve lay the source of the more serious
difficulty.
The ready affinity of leather for oil and grease, and its suppleness and
closeness of grain when saturated with substances of that nature, had
long been known and utilised. It had not been anticipated how readily,
with air-pressure on one side and a partial vacuum on the other, the
oily matters with which the leather was charged would escape from it,
especially in the presence of water. Although, while the leather was
saturated with water, the valve was remarkably air-tight; when frost
supervened the water became frozen, and gave a fatal stubbornness of
texture, which rendered the valve incapable of closing properly. Again,
in long-continued drought the leather became intractable from its
dryness; and the stiffening, whether from frost or drought, rendered it
liable to be torn. An immediate application of seal-oil penetrated the
leather, and relaxed its stiffness; but the remedy often could not be
applied in time, and, moreover, was expensive.
A still more grave defect was all the while becoming matured, and was
undermining every hope that a suitable dressing could be discovered, and
that the longitudinal valve might be made perfect.
Under the joint action of water in the leather, and of the affinity of
iron for tannin--and on the enduring presence of tannin within its
texture the consistency of leather depends--a destructive decomposition
had long been at work; the oxide, established in the iron plates of the
valve by continued contact with damp leather, had been steadily
abstracting the tannin; thus the leather had become converted into an
ink-stained and comparatively decomposed tissue. Large portions of it
became torn, and incurably pervious to air.
It was not until early in June 1848 that Mr. Brunel discovered the
condition which the valve had assumed. He then instituted a careful
examination throughout the line, and the extent of the disorder was
realised.
The state of things which existed when this discovery was made in effect
involved the renewal of the valve the whole distance from Exeter to
Newton; so that, as the cost of the valve was 1,160_l._ per mile, an
immediate outlay of some 25,000_l._ became essential to the maintenance
of the system, and this at the time when the real difficulties of the
valve question had become most apparent. By galvanising the iron plates
of the valve the mutually destructive action of the iron and the leather
might have been prevented; but a remedy was also required for the other
serious defect which leather, as the material of the valve, was found to
exhibit, namely, its tendency to become permeable to air after
long-continued use under air-pressure, owing to the inward escape of the
material with which it had been dressed.
These difficulties were not only such as had not been anticipated, but
such as no one was justified in anticipating.
* * * * *
It now became necessary for Mr. Brunel to consider what course, under
the circumstances, it was most advisable for the Company to adopt.
A Committee of the Board was appointed to examine the whole question;
and, at their desire, Mr. Brunel made a report upon it, which was as
follows:--
August 19, 1848.
You have called upon me to report to you upon the present state of
the Atmospheric apparatus, and particularly upon the circumstances
connected with the partial destruction of the longitudinal valve
which has lately occurred, and the probability of remedying this
serious defect, and of keeping the valve in repair and in good
working order.
Such a report involves necessarily the consideration of the whole
question of our experience of the working of the Atmospheric
System; because, to arrive at any clear appreciation of the present
state of the apparatus, I must refer to the circumstances which
have affected our working up to the present time, and particularly
to the several difficulties which we have had to encounter and
their effects.
The first difficulty, and one which was as unexpected as it was
serious, was in the working of our stationary engines. Upon the
efficiency of these machines must of course ultimately depend the
economy and efficiency of the working of the whole system, however
perfect in itself might be the Atmospheric apparatus. Accordingly,
great precautions were taken--precautions which I still think such
as to justify the expectation that we should secure the best
engines that could be made.
The three first manufacturers of the day were employed--Messrs.
Maudslay (who had had some experience in this particular branch,
having made the engines for the Croydon railway), Messrs. Boulton
and Watts, and Messrs. Rennie. They prepared their own designs; and
I know that they each bestowed much thought in the preparation of
these designs, and took considerable interest in the results.
Mr. Samuda, a man of considerable mechanical abilities, having all
the experience that could be had upon the subject, and deeply
interested in the success of the engines, was also employed to
superintend their manufacture.
Notwithstanding all these precautions, notwithstanding excellent
workmanship, these engines have not, on the whole, proved
successful; none of them have as yet worked very economically, and
some are very extravagant in the consumption of fuel, burning
nearly double the quantity of others, while the average is very
considerably more than it ought to be.
The apparent causes of this excess are various in the different
engines, but all resulting more or less apparently from the want of
experience in this particular application of power, and from the
circumstance of the form of the engines being somewhat novel, and
involving slight differences in the proportion and arrangement of
the parts; and the consumption of steam being greater than was
calculated upon, it has been obtained by a more wasteful
expenditure of fuel, and the evil has been aggravated.
The difficulty of remedying this state of things has been increased
by the consequence of defects in the Atmospheric apparatus, which,
causing a much greater demand upon the working of the engines, has
delayed, or has entirely prevented, our throwing an engine out of
work, to introduce the requisite improvements.
Still, so far as this defect in the engines is concerned, there is
no doubt that it is susceptible of considerable, if not complete
remedy, and that a reduction of one-third may be effected in the
consumption of fuel.
In the Atmospheric apparatus itself our difficulties have been more
numerous.
We have suffered from extreme cold, particularly when it followed
quickly upon wet.
We have suffered from extreme heat, and also from heavy falls of
rain. These difficulties have in turn been encountered and
gradually overcome, and I think the effects of all these causes
upon a valve in good condition may now be obviated, if not
entirely, yet so much so as to render their operation unimportant.
The same remedy applies to all three--keeping the leather of the
valve oiled and varnished, and rendering it impervious to the
water, which otherwise soaks through it in wet weather, or which
freezes in it in cold, rendering it too stiff to shut down; and the
same precaution prevents the leather being dried up and shrivelled
by the heat; for this, and not the melting of the composition, is
the principal inconvenience resulting from heat. A little water
spread on the valve from a tank in the piston-carriage has also
been found to be useful in very dry weather, showing that the
dryness, and not the heat, was the cause of leakage; but a new
difficulty has arisen, and a new defect has been discovered, one
much more serious in its extent and its possible consequences, and
one which renders the operation of each of the previously mentioned
causes of difficulty much more powerful and mischievous.
Within the last few months, but more particularly during the dry
weather of last May and June, a considerable extent of longitudinal
valve failed by the tearing of the leather, at the joints between
the plates; the leather first partially cracked at these points,
which causes a considerable leakage, particularly in dry weather;
after a time it tears completely through, and that part of the
valve is destroyed, and requires to be replaced.
A considerable extent has thus been replaced, but the whole of the
valve is more or less defective from this cause; the amount of
leakage is considerable, and the working altogether inefficient. I
have examined carefully portions of the valve that have been
removed, and I find that at the part which has given way the
texture of the leather seems to be destroyed--it is black, and has
evidently been acted upon by the iron of the plates.
Upon some parts of the line the injury seems to be more general
than upon others; but it is very difficult to examine the valve in
place, so as to form any correct opinion of the extent of the evil.
As regards the cause of this defect, Mr. Samuda, who under his
contract is at present liable for the repair of the valve, urges
that the valve was kept for a length of time in cases after it was
delivered to the Company, and that, exposed to damp, and the oil
in the leather not being renewed on the surface, the iron may have
rusted, and the leather have been injured; and he refers to
instances lately observed, in which valves taken out of the top of
a case which had been exposed to wet do show similar signs of
injury.
Supposing, however, this assumption to be correct, it would not
seem to affect the question of his liability. He suggests also, as
a cause, that the valve remained for a length of time in place
without been used and even worked over by locomotive engines, which
prevented its being properly oiled and attended to; that the evil
has been aggravated by an attempt to reduce too much the use of oil
to the leather; and, lastly, that the piston-gear has been allowed
to get out of adjustment, so that the leather of the valve has been
strained.
I shall not, however, here enter into the discussion of this
question of liability, but confine myself to the consideration of
the evil, and the possibility of remedying it.
Of the extent of the evil, for the reason I have given, it is
impossible to form any accurate opinion; it is impossible,
therefore, to say that it does not extend more or less over the
whole distance, excepting, of course, that which has been already
replaced. That which is injured cannot be repaired in place, but
must be removed, and the remedy can only be applied in the new
valve.
It is quite possible that a valve made in the same manner as the
present, if properly attended to from the first, and with our
present experience, might not be subject to this destruction, and
Mr. Samuda states that such is the case at Dalkey; but I do not
think that I could rely upon this result. By painting, but, better
still, by zincing or galvanising the iron plates, and making them
overlap a short distance, both the chemical and the mechanical
action of the plate upon the leather appears to be prevented, and I
believe, therefore, that this evil may be remedied at a small
increased cost in any new or repaired valve that might be laid
down: but of the existing valve I can say no more than I have done.
It is not now in good working condition, and I see no immediate
prospect of its being rendered so.
From the foregoing observations, it will be evident that I cannot
consider the result of our experience of the working between Exeter
and Newton such as to induce one to recommend the extension of the
system.
I believe that if the longitudinal valve were restored, the working
expenses might be immensely reduced; that the quantity of fuel
consumed which is the great item of expense, may be diminished by
one-third; that the price of the fuel, which now costs 18s. per ton
at the engine-houses, ought to be reduced at least 12 per cent.;
and that the total cost may thus be brought down to a moderate
amount, such as I had originally calculated upon. But the cost of
construction has far exceeded our expectations, and the
difficulties of working a system so totally different from that to
which everybody, traveller as well as workmen, is accustomed, have
proved too great; and therefore, although, no doubt, after some
further trial, great reductions may be effected in the cost of
working the portion now laid, I cannot anticipate the possibility
of any inducement to continue the system beyond Newton.
With respect to the future working of the apparatus between Exeter
and Newton, I feel in great difficulty as to expressing any
opinion, seeing that a very large expense has been incurred, and
believing, as I do, that the cost of working may be so very much
reduced; but that reduction can only be effected by the almost
entire renewal of the valve, and by some expenditure in the
engines. And unless Mr. Samuda or the patentees undertake the
first, and extend considerably the period during which they would
maintain it in repair, and unless they can offer some guarantee for
the efficiency of that valve, I fear that the Company would not be
justified in taking that upon themselves, or incurring the expense
attending the alteration of the engines.
I believe that for the inclined planes, as an assistant power, the
apparatus will be found applicable and efficient; and as the
engines and the pipes are nearly ready at Dainton, it may be found
desirable to try it there, provided a satisfactory arrangement can
be entered into for the maintenance and efficiency of the valve.
I have not referred to our great disappointment in not obtaining
the assistance of the telegraph in the working of the engines, and
the greatly increased consumption of coal consequent upon the
working the engines unnecessarily, because this evil is now nearly
removed; but some further reductions may still be made by using the
telegraph by night as well as day, which has not yet been in our
power to do, but which I trust will be commenced this week.
The Committee to whom this report was made, and who had been also in
constant communication with Mr. Brunel, placed the result of their
investigation before the Board. The Directors, after carefully
considering the information given them, reported as follows:--
Your Directors, without pronouncing any judgment as to the ultimate
success of the Atmospheric System, and while they are prepared to
afford to the patentees and other parties interested in it the use
of their machinery for continuing their own experiments, have
arrived at the conclusion, with the entire concurrence and on the
recommendation of Mr. Brunel, that it is expedient for them to
suspend the use of the Atmospheric System until the same shall be
made efficient at the expense of the patentees and Mr. Samuda.
At the meeting in August, the proprietors adopted the Directors’ report,
and the line was worked throughout by locomotives on and after September
9.
In the following November Mr. Thomas Gill, the chairman of the Board of
Directors, published an ‘Address to the Proprietors,’ in which he
strongly deprecated the abandonment of the Atmospheric System, and
proposed that the Company should embark on a further experiment. Mr.
Gill’s pamphlet was referred to three of the Directors, Mr. Thomas
Woollcombe, Mr. Charles Russell, and Mr. James Wentworth Buller. With
Mr. Brunel’s assistance, and to a great extent from memoranda written by
him, they prepared a statement which went very fully into all the points
raised by Mr. Gill.
After combating Mr. Gill’s propositions, they observe:--
Of the two men who are most deeply concerned in the further trial
of any reasonable experiment to perfect the Atmospheric System, we
find that one, Mr. Brunel, disapproves of the proposal for the
purpose as insufficient and unsatisfactory; the other, Mr. Samuda,
had not sufficient confidence in the result, or in Mr. Gill’s
estimates for its accomplishment, to offer the only security which
would justify the Company in endeavouring to effect it.
In conclusion they express an opinion that the suspension of the
Atmospheric System in the previous September was a prudent and necessary
step, and that nothing had since occurred to justify its resumption.
The proprietors adopted the view taken by the Committee, and no further
attempt was made to work the railway on the Atmospheric System.
Under these circumstances, it cannot be a matter of surprise that Mr.
Brunel was much censured for having advised the South Devon Railway
Company to work their line on the Atmospheric System.
The reasons which led him to recommend the use of the Atmospheric System
on the South Devon, and the causes of its failure, have been very fully
described, and it has been also shown that the most important of these
were the defects of the pumping-engines, and the deterioration of the
longitudinal valve.
When the formidable character of these difficulties had fully declared
itself, the South Devon Railway Company were not in a position to spend
any more money upon a system which, as the event had proved, was, in one
of its most important details, still in the experimental stage.
There can be no doubt that the abandonment of the Atmospheric System was
the wisest step which, under the circumstances, could be adopted; and it
was recommended to the Directors by Mr. Brunel with a simple and
self-sacrificing disregard of every consideration except that which was
always paramount with him, the interests of those by whom he was
employed.[72]
NOTE (p. 143).
_Comparison of Stationary and Locomotive Power._
In order clearly to set forth the reasons which justify the statement
made by Mr. Brunel,[73] that stationary power if freed from the weight
and friction of any medium of communication, such as a rope, must be
cheaper than locomotive power, it is desirable to consider, (1) the
waste of power which arises from the locomotive having to move itself as
well as the train; and (2) the excess of cost at which a given power was
supplied by a locomotive, as compared with that at which it could have
been supplied by a stationary engine.
On the first point, the best information can be obtained from
experiments made by Mr. Daniel Gooch during the gauge controversy. The
results are very suitable for use in the present investigation, as the
South Devon was to be a broad-gauge railway. Moreover, as the
broad-gauge engine with which these experiments were tried was one of a
class more powerful for their weight not only than the contemporary
narrow-gauge engine, but also than the engines Mr. Brunel had experience
of when he wrote his report three years previously, the results may be
considered to represent very favourably the then existing case for the
locomotives.
The engine employed in the experiments weighed, with its tender, about
fifty tons. The maximum power it was capable of delivering by the
pressure of steam in its cylinders was represented as a tractive force
of 4,900 lbs. at a speed of 60 miles an hour, equivalent to 784
indicated horse-power; and at 40 miles an hour 5,200 lbs., equivalent to
555 indicated horse-power.
It is next to be considered how this power would, when running at the
speeds mentioned, be employed in overcoming the elements of resistance.
These are:--
(1) The working friction of the machinery.
(2) The rolling resistance of the engine and tender.
(3) The air resistance due to the engine frontage.
(4) The rolling resistance of the train.
(5) The air resistance on the portion of the train unprotected by
the tender.
(6) The resistance due to gradient.
The following symbols and quantities may be conveniently made
use of to denote the various terms of the equation between force
and resistance.
Total available tractive force in lbs. F
Weight of engine and tender (superfluous load) in tons 50
Weight of train (useful load) in tons W
The sum of the resistances of machinery, rolling resistance,
and air resistance of engine and tender R
Rolling resistance of train in lbs. per ton K
Gradient G
Speed in miles per hour V
Resistance of air (according to the received empirical formula)
1
= --- (frontage area) × V^{2}
400
Frontage area of train in square feet 63
Frontage area of portion of train unprotected by the tender,
in square feet 24
For a locomotive train therefore
24
F = R + WK + --- V^{2} + (50 + W) 2240 G.
400
For a system that dispenses with the locomotive
63
Tractive force = WK + --- V^{2} + W 2240 G.
400
Therefore
W (K + 2240 G) + ·1575 V^{2}
= the useful tractive force, and
R + 112000 G - ·0975 V^{2}
= the tractive force wasted by the use of the locomotive.
Therefore
F={R + 112000 G-·0975 V^{2}} + {W (K + 2240 G) +·1575 V^{2}}
and the useful load
(F- R - 112000 G - ·06 V^{2})
W = -----------------------------
K + 2240 G.
The values which Mr. Gooch’s experiments give for the two selected
speeds are as follows[74]:--
+---------------+---------+-----------------+----------+
|Miles per Hour | R (lbs.)| K (lbs. per ton)| F (lbs.) |
+---------------+---------+-----------------+----------+
| 40 | 1500 | 12·5 | 5200 |
| 60 | 2100 | 18·6 | 4900 |
+---------------+---------+-----------------+----------+
Using these values, the results in the following table are obtained,
being the conditions appropriate to the two speeds at successive
ascending gradients:--
+------+---------+-------+-------+------+-------+------+------+-----------+
|Miles |Ascending|Useful |Super- | Gross|Useful |Waste |Gross |Ratio of |
|per |Gradient |Load | fluous| |Load |Horse-|Horse-|Horse-power|
|Hour | |in tons|Load in| |in tons| power| power|Waste to |
| | | | tons | | | | |Useful |
| | | | | | | | |Horse-power|
+------+---------+-------+-------+------+-------+------+------+-----------+
| {| 0 | 288 | 50 | 338 | 411 | 144 | 555 | ·35 |
| {| 1/200 | 128 | 50 | 178 | 352 | 203 | 555 | ·58 |
| {| 1/100 | 71 | 50 | 121 | 292 | 263 | 555 | ·90 |
| 40 {| 1/75 | 50 | 50 | 100 | 252 | 303 | 555 | 1·20 |
| {| 1/50 | 23·8 | 50 | 73·8| 173 | 382 | 555 | 2·21 |
| {| 1/40 | 11·7 | 50 | 61·7| 113 | 442 | 555 | 3·91 |
| {| 1/36·3 | 7 | 50 | 57 | 82 | 473 | 555 | 5·77 |
| | | | | | | | | |
| {| 0 | 139 | 50 | 189 | 504 | 280 | 784 | ·56 |
| {| 1/200 | 68 | 50 | 118 | 415 | 369 | 784 | ·89 |
| {| 1/100 | 35·7 | 50 | 85·7| 325 | 459 | 784 | 1·41 |
|60 {| 1/75 | 22·5 | 50 | 72·5| 265 | 519 | 784 | 1·96 |
| {| 1/52·3 | 7 | 50 | 57 | 160 | 624 | 784 | 3·90 |
+------+---------+-------+-------+------+-------+------+------+-----------+
Thus, on a level line, the engine, working up to 555 horse-power, could
just draw 288 tons of train at the rate of 40 miles per hour, wasting on
its own resistance only one-third of the power usefully employed on the
train; but when the speed was increased to 60 miles per hour, it could
not, though working up to 784 horse-power, draw more than 139 tons of
train, wasting on its own resistance more than half the power usefully
employed on the train. And again, at 40 miles per hour, though, as just
stated, it could draw on the level 288 tons, it could only draw 24 tons
of useful load at that speed up 1 in 50; while at 60 miles per hour,
though it could draw, as stated, 139 tons of train on the level, it
could only draw 23 tons of useful load up 1 in 75; and at the respective
speeds of 40 and 60 miles per hour, it could only take one carriage (7
tons) up the respective gradients of 1 in 36, and 1 in 52.
Hence to maintain a minimum speed of 40 miles per hour with locomotive
power on a line with long gradients of 1 in 40 involved on those parts
of the line a wasted power of nearly 4 times that usefully employed; and
if a minimum limit of 60 miles per hour were contemplated, a locomotive
of the most powerful class in existence three years subsequent to Mr.
Brunel’s report advising the adoption of the Atmospheric System would
only have been able to take a single carriage up an incline of 1 in 52.
So heavily at high speeds on steep gradients is the performance of a
locomotive taxed by the resistance due to its own dead weight.[75]
* * * * *
A comparison has now to be made between the cost of power as developed
by a locomotive and as developed by a stationary engine.
From the well-known experiments made for the information of the Gauge
Commissioners in December 1845, taking the high speed trials as the
basis of calculation, it appears that 4·5 lbs. of coke per horse-power
per hour may be taken as the average consumption of the engine.[76]
It will be well, however, to allow for the improvement which was at the
time anticipated in locomotive working, and to assume an expenditure of
4 lbs. of coke per indicated horse-power per hour, as representing the
case then for the locomotive engine.
Coke may be taken to have at that time cost 21_s._ a ton, or ·0094_s._
per lb. Moreover, a careful analysis of the Great Western Railway
half-yearly reports, for 1844 and 1845, shows that for every shilling
expended in coke, 1·44 shillings were expended on the average in wages,
oil and waste, repairs, etc.
Putting the results together, it appears that for each single indicated
horse-power delivered by a high-speed locomotive, the cost per hour was
0·0915_s._ or 1·098_d._; that is to say, about 1-1/10_d._ per hour.
Let this now be compared with the cost per horse-power per hour at which
the best Cornish pumping engines had long been known to perform the
work. This comparison is manifestly a rational one--with reference to
the kindred employment of engine power in atmospheric pumping-engines.
The performances of nearly all the pumping-engines in Cornwall were for
many years so systematically and exactly reported, and the reports of
each were so critically scrutinised by the rival makers, that the data
they supply may be relied on without hesitation. It was well known that
the best of the engines continuously performed useful work with a
consumption of coal at the rate of 2·33 lbs. per delivered horse-power
per hour, or, counting coal at 16_s._ per ton (a fair price on the South
Devon), at the cost of ·2_d._, or one-fifth of a penny per horse-power
per hour.
But it was not in its consumption of fuel alone that stationary power
was the more economical; the expenditure in wages, oil, and tallow on
one of the pumping-engines above referred to, when doing 200 horse-power
of useful work, did not exceed 20_s._ for the twenty-four hours, or
one-twentieth of a penny per horse-power per hour, while the cost of
repairs was merely nominal.
Thus if fuel, wages, oil, and tallow be brought into one item, it is
seen that the cost of one horse-power in stationary engines such as the
then existing Cornish engines was only ·25_d._ per hour, or less than
one-fourth of its cost when developed by a locomotive, which has been
shown to have been 1·098_d._ per hour.
[Illustration: PLATE III
THE ROYAL ALBERT BRIDGE.
H. Adlard. Sc.]