LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Isambard Kingdom Brunel: New York
built 626 days ago
[One] of Brunel's interesting though ultimately unsuccessful technical innovations was the atmospheric railway, the extension of the GWR southward from Exeter towards Plymouth (technically the South Devon Railway (SDR), though supported by the GWR). Instead of using locomotives, the trains were moved by Clegg and Samuda's patent system of atmospheric (vacuum) traction, whereby pistons sucked air from the tunnel. The section from Exeter to Newton (now Newton Abbot) was completed on this principle, with pistons spaced every two miles, and trains ran at approximately 20 miles per hour (32 km/h)[6]. Fifteen-inch (381 mm) pipes were used on the level portions, and 22-inch (559 mm) pipes were intended for the steeper gradients. Unfortunately, the technology required the use of leather flaps to seal the vacuum pipes. The leather had to be kept supple by the use of tallow, and tallow is attractive to rats; the result was inevitable – the flaps were eaten, and air-powered vacuum service lasted less than a year, from 1847 (experimental services began in September; operationally from February 1848) to September 10 1848[19].
Source:
Striving to go beyond the limits of 19th-century technology, Brunel had earlier attempted to develop the idea of an “atmospheric railway”. In this design, a pipe was laid between the tracks, in which ran a series of pistons attached to the carriages through a flanged slit in the pipe. Steam pumps at regular intervals would extract the air from the pipe in front of the train and the resulting vacuum would pull it forward. In 1848 this system was installed on the line between Exeter and Newton Abbot, and for several months trains ran along it at an average speed of 103 km/h (64 mph). However, the leather flanges used to seal the pipe began to rot, and the prohibitive cost of replacing them led to the abandonment of the scheme.
Source:
Not all Brunel's projects were as successful – in particular, the ‘atmospheric railway’ that he built between Exeter and Newton Abbot in the 1840s. The idea was to eliminate the locomotive. A continuous pipe was laid between the rails and attached to the carriages by a suspended piston. Air was evacuated from the pipe by pumping engines located along the route. In practice, it proved too difficult to maintain the leather seal through which the connecting rod emerged; it was either eaten by rats, or made brittle by the sea air, or it froze in winter. The line was opened in November 1847 and closed the following year, having incurred enormous losses.
Source:
By this time Brunel was very ill with Bright's disease and travelled to Africa. He returned to take charge of the project but suffered a stroke just before the ship left for trials. Paralysed at his home in Duke Street, Westminster he heard news of an on-board explosion. He died within a week aged 53 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetary. There is a statue of him on Victoria Embankment at the west end of Temple Place (see header).
Source:
The new display has been arranged to mark the bicentenary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and to recognise him as the designer of Balmoral Bridge. The owner of Balmoral Bridge, Aberdeenshire Council, is ... to unveil a plaque, presented by the Institution of Civil Engineers, on the bridge later in the year.
Source:
Brunel was injured seriously when the tunnel was flooded. While he was recuperating from his injuries, Brunel entered a design competition for a new bridge over the Avon Gorge. The judge of the competition was the Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. Telford rejected all designs in favour of his own.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
New York