No. 5.-Ironstone and Iron Traffic. The rates charged for the conveyance of ironstone and iron ore are as follows: Ballochney Newcastle and Carlisle Taff Vale Whitehaven Wishaw and Coltness The iron carried is mostly pig iron. The rates for the carriage of iron are as follows: Bar Iron. Pig Iron. The traffic of the Glasgow iron district in coals, limestone, ironstone, iron dross, and slag, carried by railway was, in 1846 and 1847, as follows: 1846. 2,500,000 1847. 2,900,000 The traffic of the Welsh iron district in coals, limestone, ironstone, and iron, stands as follows: 1844. Tons, 242,000 1845. 323,000 1846. 396,000 1847. 441,000 The traffic of the Furness iron district consists solely in the shipment of ironstone to South Wales, to the extent of 106,301 tons in 1847. No. 7.-Limestone and Lime. The quantity of limestone carried for agricultural purposes may be reckoned thus: The rates for the carriage of a ton of limestone and lime per mile is as No. 8.-Stone Traffic. The total quantity of building and paving stones, limestones, and lime, carried on railways in 1847 was as follows, according to the enumerated returns: The enumerated traffic gives the enormous amount of 550,000 tons of stones carried, but the whole quantity carried must be nearer 1,000,000 Civ. Eng. & Arch. Jour., Sept. 1848. tons. (To be Continued.) Railways through Europe. The communication by rail is now either complete, or will soon be, via Calais, right through the heart of Europe, including Paris, Brussels, Cologne, Antwerp, the Rhine, Berlin, Warsaw, Leipsic, Vienna, Switzerland, and Venice. Arrangements are already in progress for a grand continuous tour, or route, through most of the places here named. Paris itself will thus be approximated to London by a time distance of only eleven hours, or a run actually shorter than that to either of its own provincial capitals, Edinburgh or Dublin. Lond. Build. Feb. 17. Report upon the Use of Anthracite Coal in Locomotive Engines on the Reading Railroad, made to the President of the Reading Railroad Company, by GEORGE W. WHISTLER, JR., April 20, 1849. (Continued from page 12.) The Comparison of Engines in their Cost for Repairs. The most satisfactory comparison of the cost of maintaining Locomotive Engines, is that shown by a statement of the miles run during a certain period of time; but when Engines under comparison differ in their construction, for the purpose of developing some new mode of action, or, as in the case on the Reading Railroad, for the use of a new fuel, then a fair difference in their cost for repairs would be that excess caused by the use of one fuel as compared with the other, and also any excess in repairs caused by a mode of construction differing from that which is common, but necessary to the use of the new fuel. The Reading Railroad has two distinct classes of Engines in the coal trade; the first and most numerous are the Engines burning wood, and of these there are several varieties, some on eight and others on six wheels, but all essentially alike, and the principal part of them were built at Philadelphia by Mr. M. W. Baldwin. The second class, burning anthracite coal, are few in number, and, with the exception of the Engine Novelty, were built at Baltimore by Mr. Ross Winans. A description of these two classes of Engines has been given in the first part of this report, and it is only necessary to explain in what manner the Baltimore Coal Engines differ from the eight wheeled wood Engines built at the same time and under the same specification, with a clause in the contract for the former, having reference to the burning of coal. The essential point in which the Baltimore Engines differ from the wood Engines, is their having a much larger fire-place and area of grate for the combustion of coal; this increase of fire-grate was gotten by an addition made to the ordinary fire-box, and projecting back from that part of the fire-box immediately under the foot-board; this mode of construction threw the engine out of balance, for it was found that, of the twenty-seven tons weight (with coal and water) on eight driving wheels, 16.5 tons were on the four back drivers, and 10.5 tons on the four front drivers; to correct this disproportion of weight on the driving wheels, as well as to relieve the Engine of a portion of its adhesion, a small pair of trailing wheels were placed behind the fire-box, which bore two tons weight of the Engine, and also transferred two tons to the four forward drivers, thus balancing the Engine on its eight driving wheels, with twenty-five tons of adhesion. Of the Engines proper, cylinders, pistons, cross-heads, connecting rods, crankpins, frame, boxes, springs, wheels, valves, &c., there is no part of their construction which has any connexion with the burning of coal, and these parts differ from similar parts of wood Engines, as one builder differs from another, for reasons wholly independent of the boiler and its purposes; therefore the increased expenditure for repairs on account of the peculiar construction which is necessary to the use of coal, is confined in these Engines to the increased size of the fire place, and the small pair of trailing wheels for the support of its overhanging weight. The principal item of excess in the cost for repairs of Engines burning coal over those burning wood, is caused by the destructive effects of a coal fire upon the inside sheets of the fire box; and when iron (the soundness of which is always uncertain from the manner in which it is at present made) has been used entirely for fire-boxes, this intense local heat has very soon blistered and burned away the sheets in the immediate vicinity of the coal fire. Another destructive effect from the use of coal is its severity on the laps or joinings of sheets in the fire place. To obviate this difficulty much larger sheets were used, but this again was found to increase the first evil, and finally, the uncertainty of procuring perfectly sound sheets of boiler iron of large size, (the difficulty of making them sound increasing with their size,) led to the abandonment of iron fire sheets for a distance of two feet above the grate, and the substitution of copper as a more certainly sound material. The experience on the Reading Railroad with anthracite coal has developed a rapid and unexpected destruction to the copper fire sheets, from the mechanical action of the sharp particles of coal which flake off from the fresh coal when suddenly heated, and impinge upon and cut away the copper sheets forming the sides to the fire place. The occasional melting of grate bars, the increased liability to leakage, the wear and destruction to the ends of tubes by caulking, &c., and the accumulation and igniting of fine coal in the smoke box, all produce their share of extra expense for repairs, over wood-burning Engines. In order to judge with some degree of accuracy of the use of anthracite coal in Locomotive Engines, when compared with the use of wood, as well as in its effects upon the Engines, as the business of the road, I have given the date at which each coal Engine made its first trip upon the Reading Road, the number of trips made to the first of October last, and the miles run by each Engine during one year, estimated from the recorded trips; also the average number of miles run by the eight and six-wheeled wood Engines as shown by the report for 1847. Of the Baltimore Engines, the Delaware and Maryland had iron fire-boxes throughout, while the Baltimore and Ohio had copper sheets in their fire places, extending two feet above and one below the surface of the grate. The Novelty, during the time she has been upon the road, has had two boilers; the first boiler had an iron fire-box of very large dimensions, the second, made in the spring of 1848, also has an iron fire-box, but of smaller dimensions. Tabulated Comparison of Engines on the Reading Railroad-Miles Run. The Baltimore, which came upon the road June 18th, 1847, completed her 251 trips in August, 1848, at which time she was brought into the shop to have the copper sheets in the fire place renewed, and did not commence her trips again upon the road till October 23d. The Maryland and Delaware each had their iron fire sheets renewed with copper, after seven months use. The Ohio has still, April, 1849, the original copper sheets in her fire-box. By the foregoing statement, it will be seen that the Baltimore's copper fire place has lasted fourteen months; this is about one-third of the time experience had proved similar fire places to last in Engines burning bituminous coal upon the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and from which experience it was confidently expected that the copper fire places in Engines burning anthracite coal would last two years. The immediate cause of this speedy destruction on the Reading Railroad is the large quantity of fuel which is required to be burned in a given time, thus hastening the destructive effects of ccal, as already explained, in proportion to the quantity consumed. The extent of the destruction to fire sheets caused by the mechanical action of the particles of coal is very limited, about fourteen inches in width through the entire length of the fire place, seven inches above and the same below the surface of the coal fire. In the line of the staybolts, both vertically and horizontally, the copper retains its original thickness, and upon the copper sheet immediately below the tube or flue sheet, there is no indication of wear, and none could take place from the causes just mentioned; for the particles of coal which are carried towards the tubes, bank against and protect this sheet. The melting of grate bars consequent upon the use of coal is quite uncertain, I have known whole sets to be destroyed as often as once a month, and again, with care, a single set to last several months. The principal causes which govern this waste are, the care bestowed by the firemen in keeping clear the fire-grate and ashpan, and the nature of the coal used. If cinder is allowed to adhere and accumulate upon the grate, it will soon be destroyed; for the current of air is prevented that free access through all parts of the grate so necessary to its preservation. The neglect, however, to keep the ash-pan free from cinder and ashes, and when free, flooded with water to the depth of several inches, is the great cause of destruction to the grate bars. With bad coal, grate bars have melted by the accumulation of cinder which has taken place in a single trip; this, however, rarely occurs. The extra caulking of tubes, which is required by the use of coal, makes it necessary in time to remove the tubes, and to weld on new ends; some slight wear is also caused within a few inches of their ends by the mechanical action of the particles of coal, but producing no material injury. I have thus stated the causes which produce the principal excess of repairs in Engines burning coal, over wood-burning Engines, and submit below an estimate of the entire extra cost of the Baltimore coal Engines, (so far as this cost for repairs relates to the burning of coal,) over the Engines burning wood upon the Reading Railroad of like power. 24 days' work cutting stay-bolts, at $3, $208.00 28.60 3.90 7.50 7 weeks' work of two men removing old and renewing fire-sheets, at $10 per week, 140-00 7 weeks' work of two men, at $7 per week, at ditto, 98.00 486.00 108.00 $378.00 The Baltimore's copper fire-place was renewed after fourteen months' service, and if this be supposed the limit of durability on the Reading Road, it will involve an annual expense of Deduct for depreciation of fire-box of wood-burning Engines in this time, Remaining, $324.00 75.00 $249.00 Extra Cost per year over Wood Engines, for each Baltimore Coal Engine on the Reading Railroad, from the use of Anthracite Coal. $249.00 80.64 12.50 $342.14 |