The industrial world has reason to feel considerable interest in any
economical method of traction on railways, owing to the influence which
cost of transportation has upon the price of produce. We give a description
of the gas engine invented by Mr. Emmanuel Stevens. Many experiments have
been made both at Berlin and Liege during the past few years. They all
failed, owing to the impossibility the builders encountered in securing
sufficient speed.
The Stevens engine does not present this defect, as will be seen. It has
the appearance of an ordinary street car entirely inclosed, showing none of
the machinery from without. On the interior is a Koerting gas motor of six
horse power, which is a sufficiently well known type not to require a
description. In the experiment which we saw, the motor was supplied with a
mixture of gas and air, obtained by the evaporation of naphtha. On the
shaft of the motor are fixed two pulleys of different sizes, which give the
engine two rates of speed, one of three miles and the other of 8½ miles an
hour. Between these two pulleys is a friction socket, by which either rate
of speed may be secured.
The power is transmitted from one of the pulleys by a rubber belt to an
intermediate shaft, which carries a toothed wheel that transmits the power
to the axle by means of an endless chain. On this axle are three conical
gear wheels, two of which are furnished with hooked teeth, and the third
with wooden projections and fixed permanently in place. This arrangement
enables the engine to be moved forward or backward according as it is
thrown in right or left gear. When the conical pinions are thrown out of
gear, the motive force is no longer applied to the axle, and by the aid of
the brakes the engine may be instantly stopped. The movement of the pinions
is effected by two sets of wheels on each of the platforms of the engine,
and near the door for the conductor. By turning one of the wheels to the
right or left on either platform, the conductor imparts either the less or
the greater speed to the engine. In case he has caused the engine to move
forward by turning the second wheel, he will not have to touch it again
until the end of the trip. The brake, which is also operated from the two
platforms, is applied to all four wheels at the same time. From this
arrangement it is seen that the movement is continuous. Nevertheless, the
conductor has access to the regulator by a small chain connected with the
outside by a wheel near at hand, but the action is sufficiently regular not
to require much attention to this feature.
[Illustration: GAS ENGINE FOR USE ON RAILROADS.]
The gas is produced by the Wilford apparatus, which regularly furnishes the
requisite quantity necessary for an explosion, which is produced by a
particular kind of light placed near the piston. The vapor is produced by
passing hot water from the envelope of the cylinder of the motor through
the Wilford apparatus. The water is cooled again in a reservoir (system
Koerting) placed in direct communication with the cylinder. Any permanent
heating is therefore impossible.
The noise of the explosions is prevented by a device invented by Mr.
Stevens himself. It consists of a drum covered with asbestos or any other
material which absorbs noise.
According to the inventor, the saving over the use of horses for traction
is considerable. This system is soon to be tried practically at Antwerp in
Belgium, and then it will be possible to arrive at the actual cost of
traction.--_Industrie Moderne, Brussels_.
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