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perceived in the increase of power. The quick trains soon attained a rate of velocity equal to twenty miles per hour, and this rate has since been increased. In the "Planet," the ninth engine built by Mr. Stephenson for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the number of tubes was 129, of about an inch and a half diameter; the surface of these tubes was 370 feet. On December 4th, 1830, this engine conveyed passengers and goods, amounting to a gross load of 80 tons, exclusive of the engine, from Liverpool to Manchester, in little more than 24 hours, with new machinery, and against an adverse wind; the maximum speed was 15 miles per hour. 3. In the "Rocket" engine, the cranks were fixed to the wheels, that is, to the two extremities of the axle, at the points of greatest distance from the centre of resistance. The inequality with which the impelling power would act upon these points, owing to the alternate motions of the connecting-rods, would necessarily produce an injurious strain upon the machinery. To obviate this difficulty, the cranks were subsequently removed from the wheels, and placed upon the axle towards its centre; and they were so adjusted, that while one of them is horizontal, the other is vertical, and vice versâ; by this means, a continual rotation of the wheels is effected, one of the cranks being continually subject to the energetic action of the cylinder and piston-rod.

117. Mr. Bury's Engines.-Mr. Edward Bury, of Liverpool, has contributed to the improvement of the locomotive engine. The principal features in his engines, are horizontal cylinders, and cranked axles. "The first engine made by Mr. Bury was the 'Dreadnought,' which was started on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, March 12, 1830. She had six wheels, and was much objected to on that account.*

* This observation, made by a writer of considerable experience and ability, previously to the present outcry upon the subject of four and six-wheeled engines, is entitled to attentive consideration. Opinions are divided upon the comparative merits of the two classes

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MR. BURY'S ENGINES.

The next was the 'Liverpool;' this was the original engine made by him with horizontal cylinders and cranked axles. She was placed on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, on July 22, 1830, and had an 18-inch stroke, two pair of six-feet coupled wheels, and 12-inch cylinders. The great danger in cranked axles is from their breaking, which, with four-wheeled engines, might occasion considerable damage. They have been repeatedly broken; but this has not happened fairly to one of Mr. Bury's manufacture; only two have been broken, and in both cases from bad welding. One of these, the engine No. 14 on the London and Birmingham Railway, was discovered to have been actually running for some time with a broken axle, without its being found out; this arises from the eccentrics being keyed on to the weakest parts of the axle, and thus forming a protection against accidents. The above axle had only two-thirds of its section soundly welded when sent from the manufactory. Mr. Bury's engines are now all made with cranked axles and four wheels, the goods' engines being coupled, and the passengers' not. We attribute the success of his axles in some measure to the mode of constructing the framing, and to his bearings being inside the wheels, as any shock from obstructions on the road is thus thrown upon the bearings, and not on the crank; the framing is made with great breadth and but little depth, in order to resist lateral shocks; whereas most other makers' have great depth and but little width, which would afford the most powerful resistance to vertical shocks, but, in conjunction with the bearings being outside the wheels, would throw all the lateral ones on the crank. Many broken axles, however, have been produced by gross neglect in their manufacture. We

of engines. While these sheets are passing through the press, Mr. Herapath, the spirited Editor of the Railway Magazine, is engaged in making researches on this point, and has already travelled over many of the lines for the purpose of gaining satisfactory information. A complete report of the results of his labours may be shortly expected.

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have seen one which had been welded together, and there was not a junction of a tenth of an inch in the iron, all round; the whole central part being perfectly black, with not the smallest sign of welding. Mr. Bury cuts his out of the solid iron, and only welds the part joining the cranks to set them at right angles. Some makers twist the axles for this purpose."-Scott Russell on Steam, &c. 1841.

118. Dr. Lardner's Experiments.-The rapid progress of improvement made at this period in the locomotive engine was abundantly testified by its increased power, and the economy of fuel. In the spring of the year 1832, some experiments were made on the Manchester Railway by Dr. Lardner; the results are thus stated by himself:-" On May 5, 1832, the engine Victory (weight 8 tons, 2 cwt., of which 5 tons, 4 cwt. are on the working wheels-cylinder 11 inches -stroke 16 inches diameter-working wheels 5 feet diameter) drew from Liverpool to Manchester (30 miles) in I hour, 34 minutes, 75 seconds, twenty loaded waggons, weighing gross 92 tons, 19 cwt. 1 quarter; consumption of coke 929 lbs. net; was assisted up Rainhill plane 1 mile by the Samson. She spent 10 minutes in watering and oiling half way. The fire-place was filled with coke at starting (not weighed), and was again filled with coke on arriving at Manchester (weighed); the coke used in getting up the steam not included in the above estimate.

"N.B.-Moderate wind direct a-head; slipped on Chat

mess, and retarded two or three minutes.

66

'On the 8th of May, the same engine drew 20 waggons, weight gross 90 tons, 7 cwt. 2 quarters, to Manchester, in 1 hour and 41 minutes; stopped to water, &c., 11 minutes half way, not included in the above; consumption of coke 1040 lbs. under the same conditions as first experiment.

"N.B.—High wind a-head; connecting-rod worked hot, being keyed too tight; on arriving at Manchester, pistons found so loose in cylinders that steam blew through.

"On the 29th of May, the engine called the Samson (weighing 10 tons, 2 cwt. with 14-inch cylinders, and 16inch stroke; wheels 4 feet 6 inches diameter, both pair being worked by the engine, steam 50 lbs. pressure, 130 tubes,) was attached to, with 50 waggons laden with merchandize, net weight 150 tons. The engine with this load travelled from Liverpool to Manchester, 30 miles, in 2 hours and 40 minutes, exclusive of delays upon the road for watering, &c., being at the rate of nearly 12 miles an hour. The speed varied according to the inclinations of the road. Upon a level it was 12 miles an hour; upon a descent of 6 feet in a mile, it was 16 miles an hour; upon a rise of 8 feet in a mile, it was about 9 miles an hour. The weather was calm, the rails very wet, but the wheels did not slip, even in the slowest speed, except at starting, the rails being at that place soiled and greasy with the slime and dirt to which they are always exposed at the stations. The coke consumed in this journey, exclusive of what was used in getting up the steam, was 1762 lbs., being at the rate of a quarter of a pound per ton per mile."

119. Most recent Locomotive Engine.-Within the few last years, numerous improvements have been introduced into the construction of the locomotive engine. The various and minute details connected with this subject are fully explained, and illustrated by a series of excellent plates, in Tredgold's work on the Steam Engine. The plates exhibit a patent locomotive engine, made by Messrs. R. Stephenson and Co., in 1836, for the London and Birmingham Railway; its original cost was about £1400; it has drawn a load up an inclined plane equivalent to 220 tons gross weight upon