Inland Transit/Experimental
Report
of
The Result of an Experimental Journey
upon the
Mail-Coach Line of the Holyhead Road,
In Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Charles Dance's Steam Carriage,
on the 1st of November, 1833.
Public attention having been attracted to the practicability of travelling with locomotive engines upon ordinary turnpike roads, by a report of a committee of the House of Commons, of the 12th of October, 1831, stating that, in the opinion of the committee, the practicability of such mode of travelling had been fully established; and more recently by a report of a journey to and from Brighton having been successfully performed by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Charles Dance's steam carriage, as well as by the fact that the same carriage was daily in use between London and Greenwich, conveying numerous passengers through the crowded suburbs of the metropolis without the slightest inconvenience to the public; we were desirous of personally making an experiment of the facility with which a carriage of that description could perform a journey of considerable length: and having selected the mail coach line of the Holyhead road for the purpose of such experiment, we made an arrangement with Sir Charles Dance for the use of his carriage, on Friday, the 1st inst.
| tons. | cwt. | |
|---|---|---|
| The weight of the carriage, with the water, coke, and three persons upon it, was about[1] | 3 | 5 |
| The weight of the omnibus coach attached to it[1] | 1 | 0 |
| The weight of the passengers, their luggage,and some additional sacks of coke, about[1] | 1 | 15 |
| Making the gross weight moved[1] | 6 | 0 |
The motive power was an engine with two cylinders, seven inches in diameter and sixteen inches stroke. The pressure of steam on the tubes constituting the boiler, or generator, was adjusted to 100lbs. per square inch.[1]
Before the carriage had proceeded six miles, one of the tubes of which Sir Charles Dance's boiler is composed, was found to leak so fast as to render repair absolutely necessary: it was also apparent, that the size of the engine was not sufficient to carry so great a weight along a heavy road at any high velocity.
The weather was by no means favourable, there having been much rain in the course of the night and morning, so as to make the road heavy, added to which the winter coating of new materials had in many places been laid upon the road. Notwithstanding these obstacles, upon our arrival at Stony Stratford, 52½ from town, it was found by Messrs. Macneill and Carpmael, who had taken accurate minutes of the loss of time occasioned by stoppages, that the average rate of travelling had been seven miles per hour.
Thus there can be no doubt, that, with a well constructed engine of greater power, a steam carriage conveyance between London and Birmingham, at a velocity unattainable by horses, and limited only by safety, might be maintained; and it is our conviction that such a project might be undertaken with great advantage to the public, more particularly if, as might obviously be the case, without interfering with the general use of the road, a portion of it were to be prepared, and kept in a state most suitable for travelling in locomotive steam carriages.
- Thomas Telford,
- John Rickman,
- C. W. Pasley,
- Bryan Donkin,
- Timothy Bramah,
- James Simpson,
- John Thomas,
- Joshua Field,
- John Macneill,
- Alexander Gordon, and
- Wm. Carpmael, Civil Engineers.
This Report confirms my foregoing opinion, that a steam carriage may be constructed to travel on common roads, with very light loads. But they cannot be made capable of transmitting goods and passengers to any public or private advantage. If the strength of the engine and carriage is increased, the weight must be increased to eight or ten tons, and eight or ten tons would break down the road, on which they are designed to travel.
London, November, 1833