Atmospheric Railway
In our brief report of the doinjïa of Congrefs la.-t week, v noticed a proposal for a construction of. un u'.moEpheric railway in South Cnroütia, ns an experiment, enci tobe one rnile in lengih. A mcasure of this Itind ought et once to be cnrried into effect óy this governrrient, eiib'er in Soiilh Cnroüna or eUevvhere. Great BritaÃn and Frunce are aiready in advanceof us, tho fermer especial ly. hoving had an atmofpli.eric railway iusaccessful operation for öome lirne. The idea of employinff otmospheric pressure in land carriageÃi, first oceurred to a Mr. Taylor of Manchester, EnglancJ, in 1305. - Bnt lie only contemplated the conveyance of letters nnd packages through a tube of suitable diiuneter; extcwJing from one town to au othcr. The tube being eihaiisted by an ongine at one end, the parccls placed in the óthrend would bc driven with immense veloci'y. Mr. George Medhurst. in 1C1C, proposed o similar mensure on a large cale, wbtch, however, he say.s, Met [wïtii that indifference vvhich usnally atlends all atleoïpts to deviate so widely from eslablished csloms." Theprincipie, however, conÃinued lo be invesiigaLedtill, sorrie lwo yonrs elncp, an atm -spheric -ailway was constrncted Ãn Ãreland, by the Dublin and Kingston coirtpsny. ït runs ('rom Kingstown to JhH-.ey , diaÃtmee of-oae mile ind three fourihs. Thegreat difficulty lo be overeóme was, hat of renderiDg a U'be sufficintiy air-tight, nd at. the same time aliowing a pistón, wliich :hould connect the motive power within the ube witià 5 he bodies to be propelled on its out-' ide, to pass freely along an opening in Ihis Tlilf difficiilty vv8s at lenght surmount;d Dy nu invention of Mr. CIcÃjj, wÃiicli s 'iilly oxplainpd irtnn niticle nn LlÃ3 ÃU'bjéet Ãn he Electric Magnèuie fot Julv, 13-H. The libe or pipéis iaid Ãn he middlo ofthe track, ind the tr.-iveüing piston, made air-tight by enlher packin?, is cnr.ested to thu leading: :arriage by an iron pia;e or coulter - which tnovos tlm-ugli an pperture forroed in the top nidalong the whole length of tle pipe. The method of rendermg the pipe practieally airtight, consists of a set of vertical rollers attached to the piston rod at sume Hule disÃance bliind the piston, proyresL-ively lifting up, nnd anot!i?r eet of roliere otlachod to the carrinpe closingà davin ngiun, a pnrtion of a continuous ñpxibie valve or flnpof peculiar construction, covering the apert ure. The advantaffes of the atmospheric 'rai'waj over tho.se nnw in use are represented as being very giëbU I') the fitst place tiie eost of constrVictibn an.i the minimi cust of working, is reduced more thnn one half. The speed aL-o is (ibout three times ns grnat as on tho present raÃroadÃ, ït bei? trom sixty to eighty miles an hnur. The atmospheric raiKvay also admits of very short curves, and can therefore.be laid where' it -woiild be impossible to run a locomotive. The Kingstown a:id Dalkoy road rei'arred tn, passes over a section where a serios of pharp and difricnlt curves was lüiavoidüble, and where no locomotivo eigine could run without the utmost danger and at a tlow _race,and yet Ãhià road is now p.iffsed with the utmoát ease and sir.ootliness at sixlv miles an hour. Tliere is anotiier puint of stiil greaier imporlancc, and tbat is the safety of the passengers, This is ncreused, as the reports show, to ae great a degree as is attain iible by nhy humaro eontrivonce. Collision is inrpossible, as the principie is such that two traïns cannot possibly run at oi-ccon the same section of pipe. Neilher can a train get off the rail, as the leading carriage is firrniy attached to"ihe piston which tra veis ia the pipe beltveen he rails; und the danger from firo as well as the inconvetiiencr from einders is avoide(!, as tho ergines are staiionary instead of travelling witli the trains. O'.her arÃvarÃtages are stated, os the result of actual experiment, but we cannot go farlher into detaiis.
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