Further, we have continuous brakes of various kinds, competent in
practice to absorb three miles of speed in every second of time; that
is to say, if a train were going 60 miles an hour, it can be pulled up
in 20 seconds; or, if at the rate of 30 miles, in 10 seconds. With a
train running at 50 miles an hour, it can be pulled up in from 15 to
20 seconds, and in a distance of from 180 to 240 yards. Moreover, in
the event of the train separating into two or more sections, the
brakes are automatically applied to each section, thereby bringing
them to rest in a short time. Another cause of safety is undoubtedly
the use of weldless tires. I was fortunate enough to attend the
British Association meeting many years ago at Birmingham, and I then
read a paper upon weldless tires, in which I ventured to prophesy
that, in ten years' time, there would not be a welded tire made; that
is one of the few prophecies that, being made before the event, have
been fulfilled. I may perhaps be permitted to mention, that at the
same time I laid before the section plans and suggestions for the
making of the cylindrical parts of boilers equally without seam, or
even welding. This is rarely done at the present time, but I am sure
that, in twenty years' time, such a thing as a longitudinal seam of
rivets in a boiler will be unknown. There is no reason why the
successive rings of boiler shells should not be made weldless, as
tires are now made weldless.