Report from the Select Committee on Steam Carriages/Stone
Jovis, 25° die Augusti, 1831.
Mr. James Stone, called in; and examined.
What are you?—An Engineer.
Have you had the superintendence of Sir Charles Dance's Steam Carriage?—Yes, I have.
On what road does it run, and how long has it ran on that road?—It was running regularly from the 21st of February to the 22d of June inclusive.
During that period has any accident occurred?—Yes, by the breaking of the axletree.
Mention the nature of the accident?—We supposed it broke, in consequence of an unusual quantity of stones laid down upon that part of the road that was always the most difficult to pass over; but no accident as to the bursting of the boiler, or any other thing took place, that occasioned any unpleasantness, or any think like a serious accident as to injuring any persons. We had several little stoppages from defective tubes, of which the boiler is constructed; but nothing accrued from that, except merely stopping the progress of the Carriage.
Was the Carriage able to work with the axletree broken across?—It broke about a mile and a half from Cheltenham, and it came back all the way to Gloucester, notwithstanding the axletree being broken; one of the Engines was able to work during that time, and, of course, having only one Engine, when it came to a hill the men were obliged to assist it over the centre, as there was no momentum.
Can you state, accurately, the weight of the Carriage?—I cannot.
As far as you have observed, is the injury done to the roads by the passing of the Carriage, greater or less than that by a Carriage drawn by horses?—I think, taking the horses into the account, the injury must be much less; the tire of the wheels is three and a half inches wide, whereas many of the Stage Coaches are as heavy as the Steam Carriage, and with narrower wheels; and I think it is only fair to take the weight of the horses into the account, which I have found to be from eight to ten hundred weight each horse, consequently, four horses would weigh from a ton and a half to two tons.
You are answering now from theory; you were directed to answer from observation?—From observation. I do not think that the Steam Carriages: injure the road so much from the wheels being wider.
How frequently do you clean the tubes of the boiler?—It would be necessary to clean them once a month; I should recommend that, but if they were actually cleaned once in three months they would not give way; it depends upon the quality of the water made use of.
Is there great facility in cleaning them?—Very great; it is merely removing opposite the end of the orifice of the tube the screw-bolt; is only to withdraw the screw-bolt and introduce the cleaning rod. We are in the habit of blowing out the tubes every two or three days, to cleanse them.
What is the greatest number of passengers you have taken on that Carriage?—Thirty-six.
Thirty-six passengers and their luggage?—Yes, but being a short stage, there is never much luggage.
What do you suppose is the greatest weight you could draw by that Carriage, at the rate of ten miles an hour?—From forty to fifty hundred weight; it is found to be drawn much easier by dividing the weight into two Carriages than taking it in one only.
Do you work, on an average, at half your utmost power of working with safety to the Engine?—I should think we did.
Full half?—Yes.
Do think more than that?—It depends so much upon the state of the fire.
The question was. Do you work, on an average, at half your full power?—Yes. I should think we did. The greatest weight we ever drew on the common read, at a rate of from five to six miles an hour, was eleven tons.
Is that merely by guess, or did you actually weigh?—By weight; we made the experiment or the Bristol road.
What should you suppose to be the weight of the drawing.Carriage?—The weight of that was upwards of two tons.
Then it drew five times its own weight?—Yes, it did; the eleven tons I have stated, included the weight of the drawing Carriage; and I did not consider that the maximum power at all.
Did you ever try it at a less velocity?—No, because, in applying the greatest power, we confine both the wheels to the Engine.
Did you draw the nine tons with only the power of one wheel?—Yes.
Are you able, from the two circumstances you have mentioned, to say, that at three miles an hour you could draw considerably more weight?—Yes. I have no doubt of it whatever.
On what breadth of tire was that weight drawn?—I think the tire was five inches of the propelling Carriage.
For what distance did you continue to draw that pine tons?—A mile and a quarter.
Did the road vary.in its inclination?—Yes, a little; the greatest elevation could not be more than one in twenty-five.
Did you ascend an inclination of one in twenty-five with that weight?—Yes, we did.
For what distance?—From twenty to thirty yards.
And on the average of the mile and half, was it an ascending or a descending road?—It was both; there were little undulations in the road.
Can you measure accurately the power you are employing at any particular time; have you any guage?—No, we have never applied one; I have conceived: one, and am going to apply it.
A barometer tube?—Yes, that is the one. I think it right to state, that the wheels were taken off that measured five feet diameter, and others were substituted, measuring only three feet diameter.
Do you wish to have it inferred from that, that you employed in both cases the same amount of power?—There must have been a little more power with wheels of three feet diameter.
Do you think you exerted your utmost power when you were drawing nine tons?—No, and for the reasons stated, that there was only one wheel affixed to the Engine.
May you not exert your utmost power upon one wheel, taking into consideration that the strain is greater?—No, the wheel would slip round.
Was the surface of the road on which you tried that heavy weight broken up, or in any way rough, to give a greater amount of friction?—No, it was a good hard road.
What proportionate charge do you make for conveying passengers between Cheltenham and Gloucester?—One Shilling.
What do the Coaches charge?—Half-a-crown the four-horse Coaches, and two-horse Coaches 2s.
Travelling at the same speed do you think you could charge in the same proportion?—Yes.
There would be a saving to the public of more than one-half?—Yes.
Have you taken many passengers?—Yes, a great number, from February to June, between three and, four thousand passengers. I have a book containing an account of the number of minutes that each journey took.
The Committee have received a letter from the Surveyor of the Gloucester and Cheltenham road, stating that there is a very great noise proceeding from this Carriage?—I have not heard that observation generally; there is a little noise, but not much.
With red hot burning coals falling on the road continually, or whenever the fire was moved?—That has taken place when the ash pit has been burnt out, but that is not necessary; the Carriage I have recently fitted up will not be subject to that.
You are of course aware that the letting coals drop is desirable to be obviated?—Yes, and that I have guarded against.
He also states few animals will pass it without being frightened; and often the traveller was obliged to take his horses into the fields adjoining the road; and very many who did not use that precaution had been placed in the most perilous situations; and that a gentleman's Carriage, in the neighbourhood, was overturned from the horses taking fright at it?—Yes. I have understood that; but that Carriage has been overturned once or twice owing to the carelessness of the driver. I have seen the gentleman, and he did not think any thing of the accident, the Coach turned round, and the coachman jumped off, but I never saw any thing bordering upon an accident during the time I was with it.
He states, that persons have completely deserted that road?—I have never known but one individual that has been against it at Gloucester; but I have seen horses take fright at a Stage Coach and not at our Carriage. In one instance, going out of Gloucester, we were just behind the Stage Coach, and a horse in a chaise coming past took fright at a Stage Coach, and when he came up to us he took no notice of us, and therefore, I am fully persuaded, that horses do not take more fright at us than at a loaded Stage Coach, from the observations I have made upon a number of experiments.
Were there 14 inches of stone laid on the road at the time the accident happened of the breaking the axletree?—Yes, it was; when the stones were levelled they measured seven inches, but at that time they were merely laid across the road, so that the Carriage could not pass them without going through them.
Do you know that the passengers on the common Stage Coach got out and helped the Couch along?—No, I do not know it, I only heard it; I do not know it.