Experiments with Pneumatic Tyres.

A good deal of attention has of late been devoted to the potentialities of the pneumatic tyre for railcar wheels, and in France extensive trials have been conducted with a patent pneumatic-tyred flanged wheel, the invention of the Michelin Company. In its essentials, the wheel comprises an ordinary road motor truck wheel, to which is attached on the inside a steel flange. The tyre, with a tread projecting somewhat to the outside, is fitted to the rim of the wheel in the conventional manner, and is inflated to a pressure of 851bs. per sq. in. The life of the tyre is put at about 18,000 miles. The car equipped with the patent pneumatic tyres operated by the French State Railways has a chassis supported on two trucks—six-wheeled in front and four-wheel in the rear. The engine is a 6-cylinder Panhard, rated at 24 h.p., with a four-speed gearbox. Gross weight is 6 1/2 tons, normal speed on level 56 m.p.h., maximum speed 62 m.p.h., petrol consumption 14 m.p.g., and cost approximately £1,500. The advantages claimed for the car are more rapid acceleration; more rapid braking; greater travel comfort; and reduction in noise.

In addition to the State Railways' experiments, the Eastern Railway of France has put thirty 24-seater petrol railcars with pneumatic tyres into branch-line service.