Petrol Mine Locomotives.
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We have, on more than one occasion, referred to the employment of in te rn al-combustion-engine d locomotives for use in fire-damp mines.
These machines have been largely employed in underground collieries in Canada and Germany for some years past, and have given very satisfactory results, but it is to be regretted that up to the present their use in this country has been neglected. There are no machines of the type at work in collieries in Great Britain, one reason, perhaps, being the steepness of some of the seams, but Messrs. Ironside, Son and Dyckerhoff, one of whose machines we illustrate lierewidi, are introducing a machine into a metalliferous mine in the North of England within tit, next month or two.
The pit pony has a very sorry existence, although he may not be so frequently subjected to acts of cruelty as one might be led to be
have by some misguided individuals. Taken as a whole, we have reason to believe that pit pony boys treat i he animals under their charge with the greatest consideration, but that does not remove the fact that the animals are called upon to endure considerable suffering, by reason of the conditions under which they work. In Germany the pit pony is rapidly being superseded by petrol or paraffin locomotives, of which class of motor there are many hundreds in use in firedamp mines in Germany alone. One of the most successful of these is a type of machine which is now being marketed in this country by Messrs. Ironside, Son and Dyckerhoff, of 16, Water Lane, Great Tower Street, E.C. This company has recently sold one of its 20 h.p. " New Century " petrol locomotives to Siemens Bros. and Ltd.. of Woolwich, and, by the courtesy of the latter company, one of our Editorial representatives was last week enabled to examine the machine while at work on the '20 in. gauge rails which connect up the wharf and the various departments of Siemens's extensive works at Woolwich The reproduction of a line drawing on the next page shows the general arrangement of this locomotive. It has a single horizontal cylinder, which is fed with either motor spirit or benzol, and is fired by a low-tension magneto. The engine speed is 300 revolutions per minute, and the bore of the cylinder, and the pistonstroke, respectively, are 180 mm. and 230 mum. in order to avoid the occurrence of a back-fire, or the emission of sparks or flame, both inlet and exhaust orifices are completely enclosed and protected by several layers of wire gauze, on the principle which governs the construction of the miner's safety lamp.
The drive is trimsmittecl from a, sprocket on the last of the countershafts to the two driving axles by an endless chain which is represented in the drawing by means of a. dash and-dot line. Two speeds forward and reverse are provided, with, of course, a metal-to-metal clutch for the purpose of disconnecting the engine as required. The metal-tometal clutch is actuated by a rocker lever, which, in turn, is controlled by a hand-wheel-operated screw thread and nut, so that it is impossible for any accidental or rapid engagement of the clutch members to occur. Either of the two sets of change-speed gears may be brought into operation by dog clutches, and they provide for sneeds of 2and 6 miles an hour. The usual locomotive type of brake and a pair of sanding boxes of usual type are provided for this machine, the control of which is remarkably simple.
The locomotive is constructed on very sturdy lines ; were it not so, its life on the uneven tracks which are to be found in coal mines, stone quarries and contractors' yards would be a very short one. The track at Siemens's yard, for example, is a particularly-trying one for any type of rolling stock. It is 20 in. in gauge, is 20 years old, and the rails when new only weighed about 18 lb. to the yard. It had been in use for many years for the horse haulage of coal from the wharf to the various boiler-houses. and for the transference of heavy goods from one department to another. There is a total of about 11 mile of track, and the curves are extremely severe, the sharpest one having a radius of about 35 ft., with a gradient. of 1 in 30. The machine is quite capable of both starting from rest and hauling its full load of six tons behind it on the 1-in-30 gradient ; in fact, on the day of its " guarantee " trial, after rain had been falling and the track was in a very greasy condition, it was repeatedly started on the 1-in-31) grade with an eight-ton load of pig lead distributed in the two box wagons, each of which wagons weighed an additional half a ton.
The rate of petrol consumption since it has been in operation ap• proxima,tes two gallons of (Akio spirit per day, the specific gravity of this spirit being .750. The cost of the fuel, allowing for petrol rebate, is between is. and is. 2d. per day. The maintenance charge so far has been nil, and with such a sturdy machine there is no reason why it should become a serious factor. Previous to the use of this locomotive, horse haulage was employed in Siemens's yard, and the daily cost for each horse was 9s.. and, at times, such as when a coal barge was being unloaded, the serviees of several horses were required on account of their limited capacity for sustained work. The capacity of a locomotive, however, is only limited by its draw-bar pull and the number of hours in the day. Siemens's machine, as an example, is started up at six o'clock in the morning, and its engine runs continuously until 5 p.m. or later. It is not even shut down during the men's dinner-hour. It is driven by an ordinary yard labourer, who had never previously driven amachine of any type. Its principal dimensions are as follow: overall length. 9 ft. ; overall width. 2 ft. Bin. ; overall height from rail level. 4 ft. 8 in. : haulage power on the level, on top gear, 19 tons, and, on low gear, 40 tons. Careful tests have shown that the efficiency of the transmission from crankshaft to draw-bar is approximately 80 per cent.