Automobile Biographies: An Account of the Lives and the Work of Those Who Have Been Identified with the Invention and Development of Self-Propelled Vehicles on the Common RoadsWeeks, Lyman Horace
History
Automobile Biographies: An Account of the Lives and the Work of Those Who Have Been Identified with the Invention and Development of Self-Propelled Vehicles on the Common Roads
Weeks, Lyman Horace
Automobiles -- History
Trial trips were made on the Windsor, Brighton, Hastings, and similar
roads, and with success. Once the carriage made a trip to Hastings and
back, a distance of one hundred and twenty-eight miles, in one day, half
the time occupied by the stage coaches. The Mechanic's Magazine said: "We
accompanied Hill, about a year ago, in a short run up and down the hills
about Blackheath, Bromley, and neighborhood; and we had again the pleasure
of accompanying him in a delightful trip, on the Hastings Road, as far as
Tunbridge and back. The manner in which his carriage took all the hills,
both in the ascent and the descent, proved how completely every difficulty
on this head had been surmounted."
In the Hill carriage, both the coach and the machinery were erected upon a
strong frame mounted upon substantial springs. In the rear were the
boiler, furnace, and water tanks, with a place for the engineer and
fireman. In front was a coach body with seats for six inside, three on the
box, and the conductor in front. The front part of the carriage was also
suspended upon springs. The carriage was propelled by a pair of ten-inch
cylinders and pistons, horizontally placed beneath the carriage. These
acted upon two nine-inch cranks, coupled to the main axle through
compensating gear; the two six-foot six-inch diameter driving wheels had
the full power of the engines passed through them. The weight of the
boiler when empty was two thousand three hundred pounds, and it had a
capacity of about sixty gallons of water, while one hundred gallons more
were contained in the tanks. The total weight of the carriage, including
water, coke, and twelve passengers, was less than four tons. On heavy and
rough roads the steam pressure was seventy pounds per square inch, but on
good roads only sixty pounds. The average speed was sixteen miles an hour,
but on a level twenty miles an hour was reached. As late as 1843, Hill's
carriages were running from London to Birmingham, having been in operation
four or five years. Smooth in motion, they carried their passengers
comfortably, but soon went out of use.
GOODMAN
Early in the forties a small road locomotive was made by Goodman, of
Southwark, London. It was worked by a pair of direct-acting engines,
coupled to the crank shaft. A chain pinion on the crank shaft transmitted
motion to the main axle through an endless pitch chain working over a
chain wheel of larger diameter on the driving shaft. The smoke from the
boiler was conducted by a flue placed beneath the carriage. The vehicle
had a speed of from ten to twelve miles an hour.
NORRGBER
A correspondent of The Mechanic's Magazine, of London, wrote in 1843:
"Norrgber, of Sweden, a locksmith and an ingenious mechanic, made a steam
carriage which ran between Copenhagen and Corsoer, carrying thirty
passengers, the engine being of eight horse-power."
J. K. FISHER
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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