Railway History - Brunel's atmospheric adventure
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
- A look at Brunel's atmospheric adventure - the short-lived experiment on the South Devon railway, and the Trainz models of mine you can download to recreate it.
Игры
Игры
What a wild design. The literal definition of ahead of the time.
Thankyou very much indeed for this comprehensive and clear description of Brunel's Atmospheric Railway. I have embedded your video into The Starcross History Society's blog and also shared it on the Starcross News Facebook page
You're welcome. It's good to know that Brunel's great experiment is still remembered locally.
Thank you for doing this video
I have subscriped to your channel based the quality of this output
Thank your for your comment and subscription. I don't post very often, but I have several planned for the future on the history of railways and especially those built by Brunel. More frequently, I post about my model making for Trainz railway simulator where I specialize in the Irish narrow gauge, the broad gauge GWR and anything out of the ordinary. My current project is Blenkinsop's cog-wheel loco of 1812.
It's called a hyperloop now, they say it's new but it's 170 years old!
Exactly!
The atmospheric portion of the South Devon Railway only ran for about 18 months before being abandoned from Feb 1847 to Sept 1848; the atmospheric system was abandoned before the railway got to its terminus in Plymouth.
It also suffered if the weather was too cold as frost prevented the leather flap from making the required seal.
You're right. It was a case of the existing technology not being adequate for the concept i.e. the usual of natural materials, especially the leather flap and the sealing compound, which couldn't withstand the salt from the sea spray, and the cold. Classic IKB pushing beyonf the boundaries of the possible.
I've always found Brunel's atmospheric systems interesting, although a real shame it never took off.
Yes, a fascinating system that basically used partial vacuum to transmit the energy from the pumping stations to the train. Electric locos today are somewhat similar although unlike the atmospheric principle they do carry traction motors on board using energy created in generating stations.
The South Devon Railway piston carriages were very lightweight and, with the small 4-wheel carriages of the time meant a very low all-up weight. Consequently, they achieved high speeds for the period and were quiet. So quiet in fact that they had to sound their horn regularly to warn gangers working on the track. An amazing system!
It seems it could have worked a lot better if they had modern, strong magnets to connect the moving parts inside and outside the pipe without actually making a slit in the pipe.
INTERESTING!!
A VERSION OF BRUNELS POWER TUBE IS BEING USED THESE DAYS IN MUCH SMALLER FORM!
ON LARGE TRUCKS IN THE USA
POWER WINDOWS ARE USED TO RAISE AND LOWER THE DOOR GLASS, USING COMPRESSED AIR
FOR POWER!!
IF BRUNEL HAD ACCESS TO OUR MODERN PLASTICS AND RUBBER
SEALING MATERIALS, NO DOUBT THIS TROLLEY DRIVING SYSTEM WOULD HAVE HAD A GREATER SUCCESS!!
HOWEVER, THE POWER WINDOW PISTONS LONGITUDAL SEALS CAN BE A BIT TROUBLESOME!!
Also, isn't the train-in-a-tube concept much the same? There was an experimental line at the Crystal Palace in Sydenham where a single carriage was blown or sucked down a tube, sometime in the 1880s I think. The carriage had a baffle at one end which sealed against the tunnel wall. All very odd.
ing4trainz
YES THERE WAS SOME WORK DONE ON THAT SORT BUT I HAVENT RESEARCHED ANY THING!
AGAIN THIS SORT OF SYSTEM ALSO IS HARD TO SEAL IN THE AREA OF THE WHEELS / RAILS AREA.
IN BOTH TYPES OF ATMOSPHERIC
COACHES , THEY BOTH DEPEND ON A LARGE VOLUME OF LOW PRESSURE AIR , WITH A LOT OF LEAKAGE OF THE PROPULSION
AIR , END TO END OF EACH COACH!
WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRICAL TRACTION TECHNOLOGY IN THE 1850s AND BEYOND THE THROUGH TUBE
SYSTEM BECAME UNVIABLE!
WITH BRUNEL PASSING AWAY
AT AGE 53 IN 1859 WAS QUITE UNFORTUNATE!!
HAD HE SURVIVED ANOTHER
25 YEARS NO TELLING WHAT HE COULD HAVE ACCOMPLISHED!
IF THERE IS AN AFTERLIFE FOR US MORTALS ON EARTH , I WISH TO SIT DOWN WITH BRUNEL AND SPEND AN AFTERNOON WITH A FEW BEERS AND MUCH CONVERSATION!
KEEP THEM ROLLING BROTHERS!!
👍👍
And don't forget to bring along plenty of cigars :-)
How do use switches with pipes?
The pipe stops before the switch/turnout and recommences after it. There was a rubber flange to close off the ends either side of the switch.
@@ing4trainz Could this rubber flange be constructed of steel and form a airtight lock instead building constructed out of a loose worn or practical non workable leather gasket?
The problem at the time (1840s) was that the range of materials was limited. Primarily, natural substances were used: rubber and tallow for example, together with cast iron. I suppose with modern materials it would be possible to recreate the atmospheric system, but electric traction rather makes it a dead end. Placing the entire train in a sealed tube and evacuating the air in front would improve performace, but Clegg & Samuda's slotted tube system was fundamentally flawed.
The original aim was to get the weight of the steam power off the train and to transmit the driving force via the low-pressure tube i.e. evacuate air in front of the special piston. However, with rapid loco development in the 1840s and 1850s this became unnecessary as steam engines could easily haul their own weight and a commercially-viable load. Electric traction from the 1890s then increased this efficiency so that, by today, the proportion of weight of traction motors to a whole train is considerably lower than ever.
Unfortunately, that means the atmospheric system has become just 'hot air'! :-)
Hyperloop. 🤣