File:The Civil engineer and architect's journal, scientific and railway gazette (1839-1850) (20466399120).jpg

Title: The Civil engineer and architect's journal, scientific and railway gazette
Identifier: civilengineerarc13lond (find matches)
Year: 1839-1850 (1830s)
Authors:
Subjects: Architecture; Civil engineering; Science
Publisher: London : (William Laxton)
Contributing Library: Northeastern University, Snell Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Northeastern University, Snell Library

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4t THE crVJL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. (FEBISUiRV, The heavy demimls on the invention and skill of en^neers, in the construction of railway worlds, diirin"; past years, have left but little time for the devotion of their enerj^ies to the improvement of the mechanical and commercial workinff of the lines. A wide field is, however, now ojjened for the exercise of professional skill and ability, In perfecting the applications of tractive power, and all the machinery of railway plant; and it may be reasonably expected thiit the oj)portMnities thus afforded to railway companies, of hringinif the highest engineering skill of this country to hear upon these questions, may not only produce great economy in the work- ing expenses, and greater efficiency in the general plant, hut lead to radical improvements in the construction and maintenance of the destructible parts of the f so called) " permanent vvay," and thus set at rest the question of depreciationâa desideratum which is now felt to be of almost ritaj importance to railways as an investment. I feel. Gentlemen, that, hurried and imperfect as this sketch may be, the subjects have carried me far beyond the limits 1 had â iriginally intended; and I must request your indulgence for having occupied so much valuable time. You will not, Iiowever, find me so trespass upon you again; and, with reiterated thanks for the honour you have conferred on me, I will at once enter on the duties of the office, and proceed to the regular routine of the evening meeting. MORTON'S IiMPROVED PATENT BLIP. Patent Hydraulic Purchase Machinery, applied to Morton's Patent Slip, by Mr. DANif:L Miller, C.E., St. Georges-road, Glasyow. The great advantages of "Morton's Slip" over all other modes of docking vessels for repairs, Ike, in s))eed, economy, and efficiency, have been long established by the evidence of the ablest scientilic authorities, and its jiractical operation in many ports of the United Kingdom and other countries. The present improvements on it increase these advantages in an eminent degree. They consist in the substitution of improved hydraulic purchase machinery, in- stead of the system of wheel-work at present in use, and possess the following recommendations:â )st. That the im))roved machinery can be laid down for less than one-half the cost of the present machinery; for veiy large slips mucli less. '^nd. Ships will be taken up at double the speed, as but a very small proportion of the power is absorbed by friction; and, from the machinery being self-acting, no time is lost by stopping it to take a fresh hold. 3rd. The moticm in drawing up a ship is so perfectly smooth and uniform, that no part of the carriage or ship is exposed to any undue strain. "tth. It occupies little space, is not subject to breakage or de- rangement, and the same foundation does for both purchiise ma- chinery and steam-engine. Description.âThe engraving, fig. 1, is an elevation of the pur- chase machinery, in wliich A, re)iresents a hydraulic cylinder, fas- tened securely to a firm foundation at the upper end of the slip. It is fitted with a moveable ram B, working through cup;ied lea- thers at the neck. Two side rods, </, proceed from a crosshead on the end of the ram, along the side.s of the hydraulic cylinder to another crosshead E, where the traction rods are fastened, connect- ing it with the caniage on which is the vessel to be drawn up on the inclined ))lane, as re))resented in fig. 2, on a smaller scale. The traction rods are each of the same length as the ram. F, is the cylinder of a steam-engine with its connecting-rod communicating a rotary motion, by means of a crank, to tlie shaft g. ()n the shaft are other cranks for giving a reciprocating motion to the plungers of two or more pumps H. A fly-wheel c, on the shaft regulates the motion of the whole. Fig. 1.
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Mode of Action.âThe carriage having been run down the in- clined plane or "slip," the vessel to be taken up is floated on it, and properly blocked up and secured. The lowermost traction- rod of the purchase chain is then attached to the middle or keel- beam of the carriage, and the purchase machinery at the head of the slip is then put in action. The ram of the hydraulic cylinder is sup))osed to be at the beginning of its stroke, its crosshead being down at the top of the cylinder. By the action of the piston of the steam cylinder F, the cranks on the shaft are made to revolve, putting in motion the pumps H, which abstract water from an ad-

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