18

l~emarks by the .Editor of tlerapath's Journal on .Ellwood Morris" -~ish STliee for Itailway Joints.--April 1Oth, 1858, ~o. 983.

We offer no objection to this modification of the usual mode of fish jointing; but it appears to us, if it be found in practice to have any advantage, it will lie chiefly in the length of the chair ; and any defect will probably be found tollie in the possible want of a close fit of the foot of the rail to the bottom of the chair, through, in part, the thrust- ing upwards of the rails by the method of keying the chair to them.

0~ a new Water Connexion between Locomotive ~Zngine~ and Tender$. By Mr. JAMES FENTO~.

Since the first introduction of the locomotive engine, now more than a quarter of a century ago, several plans have been adopted for con- necting the feed-pipes of the engine and tender, capable of resisting for a time, without leakage~ the great wear that takes place in the ordinary course of running, which is accelerated by blowing steam from the boiler of the engine into the tender tank. All these plans how- ever have been expensive either in first cost, or to keep in repair, or both. Those most generally in use are the ball and socket pipes, and the flexible tubes or hose-pipes. Other and more recent inventions have been tried, but the author believes they have not been attended with an amount of success sufficient to ensure their general adoption.

With thelview of meeting an acknowledged want, the author's atten- tion was directed to the subject, and the water connexion described in the present paper is the result.

Two cylinders of brass or iron, bored out smooth and parallel, are bolted in the usual manner, the one to the feed-pipe of the engine, and the other to that of the tender. These cylinders are connected together by a tube of brass or iron, having the ends turned, and fitted with two collars, between which elastic rings of vulcanized india-rubber are placed. These rings, when at work, roll between the cylindel;s and the connecting tube. Light chains passing from the cylinders to the con- necting tube~ are used for keeping the tube in its proper position; they are each left slack to an extent of one-half the greatest amount of travel required between the engine and tender.

The advantages which this arrangement appears to possess are its extreme simplicity, and consequent cheapness, both in first cost and current repair, and the great durability of the only wearing parts; the motion of the elastic rings, when at work, being a rolling instead of a rubbing action.

The india rubber rings are made slightly larger than the space into which they fit, for the purpose of ensuring a thoroughly water-tight joint. The cylinders are 3il ~ inches inside diameter, and the tube 2 inches outside diameter: the ring is made 3~ inches outside diameter, and 1~ inches inside diameter,--the section of the ring being a circle ~-inch diameter.

On a Valve Guard against ~Exeess of Steam _Pressure, ~e. 19

Should either of the tender valves get out of order on the journey, and it becomes necessary to stop the fee4 by other means, it is only requisite to slack back the bolts of the coupling fianches, and intro- duce a piece of sheet iron or zinc between them, of sufficient width to cover the orifice of the feed pipe. This simple and effectual mode of stopping the feed was suggested and adopted by Mr. Ramsbottom, of the London and North Western Railway, on which, as well as on several other lines of railway, this water connexion has been in successful operation for several months.

Mr. F~TON showed a specimen of the new coupling pipe, partly cut open, in order to show the action of the india rubber rings ; also sepa- rate specimens of the rings.

Mr. RAMSBOTTOM said he had had one of these coupling pipes in use rather more than two months on a lbcomotive, and it had worked so far very satisfactorily; the india rubber rings showed no signs of wearing out at present. He thought it decidedly a good plan, and likely to prove advantageous in use.

Mr. CRAIG had had one of them at work about three months, applied to a stationary force pump, working under 300 lbs. per inch pressure, and it had proved quite successful. He had now applied them to seve- ral locomotives, and was well satisfied with the results; he considered th.ey would be much less expense to keep in order than either the hose pipes or the ball and socket couplings, and the economy of first cost was also in their favor.

Mr. W. B. JOH~SON had found india rubber valves last many years in steam engine air pumps, where they were exposed to a considerable temperature, sometimes 150 ° , but the material was subjected only to simple bending. .

In answer to an inquiry of the Chairman, Mr. Fenton said, the cost of the coupling was £ 2 per set as compared with about .£ 12 12s. for the brass ball and socket couplings,--being only about one-sixth in first cost ; and there was also a considerable saving in the cost of main- tenance. The rolling action to which the packing rings were subjected did not appear to be injurious to their material, as they had already run upwards of 8000 miles without any sign of injury, although exposed to the heat of blowing steam into the tender in the ordinary manner.

Proc. Insti . Mech. Engineers, London.

Description of a Valve Guard against .Excess of Steam .Pressure and .Deficiency of Water.* By JAMnS CLARKSO~ KAY.

[Extracted from a Paper read at the Inst i tut ion of Mechanical Engineers, Birmingham.]

A is a pipe fixed to the boiler, upon which the valve case B is placed. In the valve case B, is the valve seating c, constructed in the form of a cup, at the bottom of which the valve D is seated ; the seating por- tion of the valve is of a spherical form, and above the valve and form-

•.From the Lond. Cir. Eng. and Arch. Journ., April, 1858.