Sectioned display sample of Allen's patent paper-centred railway carriage wheel, 1875-8
Object No. B45
This sectioned paper-centred railway carriage wheel was made by the ironworks company, John Brown and Co. (Limited), of the Atlas Works, Sheffield, England. It is significant in that it was displayed at the Sydney International Exhibition of 1879. From 1875, Browns manufactured their paper-centred railway wheels for the European market by arrangement with an American inventor and locomotive engineer, Richard N. Allen (1827-1890), who had patented designs from 1869 for composite railway carriage wheel with compressed paper at their centres to dampen vibrations and noise made by the fully cast-iron ones then in use. The Pullman Palace Car Company of Chicago was an enthusiastic customer of the American company (and its principal client) and adopted the paper-centred wheels for their luxury dining and sleeping cars, extolling the advantages of the quieter wheel in their advertising. Paper-centred wheels were in use for over a quarter of a century but as railway cars grew heavier, safety concerns arose about composite wheels. Metal composite wheels had been breaking on freight trains and in 1915 composite wheels were condemned in the USA as unsafe by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Although paper-centred wheels had an excellent safety record and were used on passenger carriages, there was by that time a preference for solid steel wheels. References Wright, Helena E. George Pullman and the Allen Paper Car Wheel. Technology and Culture Vol. 33, No. 4 (Oct 1992), p757-768. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/161873871 https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im18800102E-JohnBrown.jpg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_car_wheel Judith Campbell, MAAS volunteer, under the supervision of Margaret Simpson, Curator, May 2019
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Summary
Object Statement
Allen's patent paper-centred railway carriage wheel, sectioned, paper / metal, invented by Richard N. Allen, made by John Brown and Co (Limited), Atlas Works, Sheffield, England, 1875-1878, displayed at Sydney International Exhibition, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1879
Physical Description
Railway carriage wheel wheel made from crucible cast steel. A section cutaway at the top to reveals layers of papier-mâché inside, axle through centre. Claimed to have been through Garden Palace fire. Painted on one side, "papier-mâché wheel / with steel tire and iron plates / passed through the Garden Palace fire"
PRODUCTION
Notes
The wheel was made at the ironworks of John Brown and Co. (Limited), Atlas Works, Sheffield, in England, during the late1870s. In the 1840s Browns were well known for producing track for the expanding railways and were renowned in 1848 for their invention of conical steel spring buffers for railway carriages. In the 1850s the company diversified, adding the construction and cladding of maritime vessels to their production list. The laminated paper-centred wheels were made from sets of three circular sheets of paper bonded together using flour-based glue. These were placed in a 4-foot (1.2 m) stack which was compressed in a 650-ton hydraulic press for three hours. The compound discs were then dried and cured for 6 to 8 weeks to remove any moisture. The discs were trimmed to the required size and bolt holes drilled into them. These discs formed the centre of each wheel to which was added a cast-iron hub and steel rim bolted to ¼ inch (6.4 mm) thick protective metal plates on each side.
HISTORY
Notes
Doubt has been cast on the story that the wheel passed through the Garden Palace fire. However, it is recorded that the donor, Samuel Osborne & Company of Sheffield, UK, exhibited steel objects at the Sydney International Exhibition. Thus it is possible that, when the company donated a group of steel objects to the Museum in 1890, it included the wheel as a known survivor of the fire. The wheel could have been sectioned after the fire, which would explain the lack of charring of the papier mache inside it. Debbie Rudder, Curator This paper-centred railway wheel especially sectioned for display purposes was shown at the Sydney International Exhibition of 1879 through D. & W. Robertson, importers and iron and machinery merchants in Sydney at the time. It was part of a collection of iron and steel pieces including a boiler-end plate and tyres made by John Brown & Co. displayed in the Exhibition's gallery entitled 'Mining, Metallurgy and their products', said to have been the "largest and most varied in the exhibition". Located in an area within the Sydney Botanic Gardens, the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition building became known as the 'Garden Palace'. The exhibition was the first Australia had hosted on any international stage, attracting over 1.1 million visitors at a time when the population of New South Wales was only 739,385. It is uncertain what became of the wheel after 1879 but it ended up returned to Sydney in 1890 on board the S.S. 'Parramatta' with a consignment of exhibits for the Museum from Sheffield, arranged by J. Lee Osborn, a Sydney merchant.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Samuel Osborne & Company, 1890
Acquisition Date
10 June 1890
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