A Practical Treatise on Rail-roads, and Interior Communication in General: With Original Experiments, and Tables of the Comparative Value of Canals and Rail-roads ...

Front Cover
Knight and Lacey, 1825 - Canals - 314 pages

From inside the book

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 36 - The manner of the carriage is by laying rails of timber, from the colliery, down to the river, exactly straight and parallel ; and bulky carts are made with four rowlets fitting these rails ; whereby the carriage is so easy that one horse will draw down four or five chaldron of coals, and is an immense benefit to the coal merchants.
Page 124 - My attention was first directed in the year 1759 to the subject of steam-engines, by the late Dr Robison, then a student in the University of Glasgow, and nearly of my own age. He at that time threw out an idea of applying the power of the steam-engine to the moving of wheel-carriages, and to other purposes, but the scheme was not matured, and was soon abandoned on his going abroad.
Page 290 - It is far from my wish to promulgate to the world that the ridiculous expectations, or rather professions, of the enthusiastic speculist will be realised, and that we shall see engines travelling at the rate of twelve, sixteen, eighteen, or twenty miles an hour. Nothing could do more harm towards their general adoption and improvement than the promulgation of such nonsense.
Page 69 - ... to any important extent. I am inclined to think that this effect is prevented on the bearing surfaces of much used railways, by the pressure upon them. To account for their extraordinary freedom from rust, it is almost necessary to suppose, that some diminution takes place in the chemical affinity of the iron for the oxygen or carbonic acid. The continual smoothness in which they are kept, by the contact of the wheels, has the usual effect of polish, in presenting to the destroying influence...
Page 7 - ... shows very plainly that the spirits, or some of them at least, know just where the proofs of the truth of their testimony may be found by mortals, and gives us reason to hope, if not to expect, that some day the truth in relation to all these ancient matters will become known to the world generally. In order that the reader may be able to judge of the probable correctness of this very positive statement of the spirit of Chrysostom, I cite the following in relation to the Ambrosian library from...
Page 141 - This endless chain, which is now solely used upon these kind of engines, consisted at first of one broad and two narrow links, alternately, fastened together at the ends with bolts ; the two narrow links were always on the outside of the broad link ; consequently, the distance they were separated laterally would be equal to the breadth of the broad link, which was generally about two inches, and their length three inches. The periphery of the wheels, fixed upon the axles of the engine...
Page 35 - As the art to boore with, iron rodds to try the deepnesse and thicknesse of the Coale ; rare engines to draw water out of the Pits : Waggons with one horse to carry down Coales, from the Pits, to the Stathes, to the River, &c. Within few years, he consumed all his money, and rode home upon his light horse.
Page 142 - When the wheel turned round, these projecting cogs entered between the two narrow links, having a broad link between every two cogs, resting on the rim of the wheel; these cogs, or projections, caused the chain to move round with the wheel, and completely prevented it from slipping round upon the rim. When, therefore, this chain was laid upon the two toothed wheels, one wheel could not be moved round without the other moving round with it; and thus secured the proper angles to the two cranks.
Page 35 - Master Beaumont, a gentleman of great ingenuity, and rare parts, adventured into our mines with his thirty thousand pounds ; who brought with him many rare engines...
Page 132 - Upon the reciprocating line ac is fixed at 1, a rod, 1, 2, 3, sliding horizontally backwards and forwards upon the top of the boiler; from 2 to 3 it is furnished with teeth, which work into a cog-wheel, lying horizontally; on the opposite side of this cog-wheel a sliding rack is fixed, similar to 1, 2, 3, which, as the cog-wheel is turned round by the sliding rack, 2, 3 is also moved backwards and forwards. The end of this sliding rod is fixed upon the reciprocating lever d c, of the leg d «, at...

Bibliographic information