Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

Fig. 1 —THE NORTH-EASTERN RAILWAY DYNAMOMETER CAE. S, end of cross springs through which the tractive pull is transmitted to the car. W, wheel for measuring speed and imparting motion to certain apparatus in the car. A RAILWAY DYNAMOMETER CAR. 1 THE ever-increasing need for efficiency and economy in railway working de- mands the collection and co-ordina- tion of facts and figures whereby the behaviour of locomotives and rolling-stock under varying conditions may be recorded scientifically. Hence the introduction of the dynamometer, or power-measuring, car, equipped with a whole battery of apparatus, which shows, by means of gauges and lines drawn on paper, the degree of forces, speeds, and other matters under consideration. By the courtesy of Mr. Wilson Worsdell, chief mechanical engineer of the North-Eastern Railway, we are enabled to give some inter- esting views and details of the dynamometer car used on that railway system. The body of the vehicle is built on a steel under-frame, shaped to take a special spring extending right across the middle of the carriage. This spring is made up of thirty- very carefully selected and tested steel plates, separated by rollers, which minimize fric- tion. The buckle which encompasses them all at the centre is attached to the draw- bar, whereby motion is imparted to the car by the locomotive. To the top of the buckle is affixed a large bracket projecting upwards through an opening in the floor of the car. This bracket is marked B in Fig. 2, which also shows the stylographic pen P, moved by a horizontal arm attached to the upper end of the bracket. The paper roll over which the pen works is caused to travel by drums