The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

6i8 THE MECHANICAL HANDLING OF MATERIAL the-coal, lift it over the side of the wagon, and deposit it into boxes of 10 cwt. capacity. These boxes or tubs are provided with castors so that they can be pushed about the deck at will and brought within the radius of any one of three hydraulic cranes by which they are picked up for emptying the contents on to the tender. The increasing consumption of coal at the Crewe depot, and other causes, make the cost of transferring the coal from wagon to tender work out at 3-69d. per ton. This high price, and the fact that the tonnage dealt with annually at this coaling stage is the largest on the London and North-Western system, were two of the principal factors leading to consideration of the adoption of a mechanical coaling plant, which is fully described later. Improvements have been made in coaling methods at Swindon and other railway centres where the coal wagon is raised and side door wagons are used. Coaling Railway Engines on the South-Eastern and Chatham Railway —Some noteworthy improvements were carried out at Slades Green by Mr S. Wainwright, chief mechanical engineer of the South-Eastern and Chatham Railway. For coaling the engines the coal stage is fitted, as shown in Fig. 872, with a bucket elevator which, after having undergone several modifications, has been given an extended trial with consider- able success. The elevator consists of twenty buckets, each capable of containing about I cwt. of coal loosely filled. These are secured to an endless chain which runs over two sprocket wheels, one mounted on the upper end of the frame under the roof of the stage, the other at the lower end in a pit some 7 ft. below the floor of the coal stage, into which pit the coal is shovelled direct from the wagons on the inside road. An electro-motor is placed on a bracket on the engine-house wall about 20 ft. away ; it makes about 500 revs, per minute, and drives (by means of covered-in belting) a countershaft on the elevator frame, while a pinion on this shaft gears into a large spur wheel, which drives the top terminal, the latter making about 25 revs, per minute. Working at this speed the buckets deliver coal down the shoot to the tender at the rate