The Hanscotte system was a design for railway locomotives and track using, in addition to the conventional load-bearing driving wheels, pairs of horizontal driving wheels mounted underneath the locomotive and pressing inwards upon a central rail, to improve
adhesion
Adhesion is the tendency of dissimilar particles or interface (matter), surfaces to cling to one another. (Cohesion (chemistry), Cohesion refers to the tendency of similar or identical particles and surfaces to cling to one another.)
The ...
and traction. The engineer developed the system while working for
Société de construction des Batignolles
The Société de Construction des Batignolles was a civil engineering company of France created in 1871 as a public limited company from the 1846 limited partnership of ''Ernest Gouin et Cie.''. Initially founded to construct locomotives, the com ...
(SCB), Paris, in about 1904.
SCB intended to use the system for braking very heavy trains, but the most notable deployment was on the Chemin de Fer du Puy-de-Dôme, a tourist light railway between
Mont Cenis Pass Railway
The Mont Cenis Pass Railway operated from 1868 to 1871 (with some interruptions) during the construction of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps between Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, southeast France and Susa, Piedmont, northwest Italy. It was ...
in 1867). In 1904 he started work on a design for a similar system, which he perfected in 1906. The main difference from John Fell's earlier system was that Hanscotte's horizontal wheels were held in place on the centre rail by compressed air pistons operating through levers, rather than steel springs, thus allowing more flexibility and placing less strain on the locomotive through imperfections in the track. By placing the opposed pairs of horizontal wheels at the ends of the locomotive, rather than close together, Hanscotte ensured that they were less likely to drop contact at small gaps in the central rail and so fail to maintain traction—on the Chemin de Fer du Puy-de-Dôme line narrow gaps in the centre rail were permitted at level crossings. Power transmission was through a
chain drive
Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles. It is also used in a wide variety of machines besides vehicles.
...
and, in their first deployment in a transport application,
André Citroën
André-Gustave Citroën (; 5 February 1878 – 3 July 1935) was a French industrialist and the founder of French automaker Citroën. He is also remembered for his application of double helical gears.
Life and career
Born in Paris in 1878, A ...
's chevron gears. Three sets of brakes operated: on the vertical driving wheels; on the horizontal wheels; and directly onto the centre rail with a horizontally opposed pair of brake shoes.
SCB's main interest was reliability in braking heavy trains and keeping vehicles on the track in mountainous routes prone to high winds; the company declined to extend development for traction on steep gradients. However, Hanscotte's centre-rail brakes remained a feature of the company's designs for rail-mounted heavy artillery and support wagons.
Chemin de Fer du Puy-de-Dôme
In 1904 the company
Fives-Lille
Fives-Lille was a French engineering company located at Fives, Nord, Fives, a suburb of Lille. It is now part of the Fives Group.
History
The company began as in 1861. The founders and were of Belgian origin.
The company later entered into a ...
of
Lille
Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
, northern France, took an interest in the Hanscotte system. Their first customer was the promoter , who bought a single electric tramcar and some other rolling stock for his short, steep line of the , which ran from the town centre of
La Bourboule
La Bourboule (; Auvergnat: ''La Borbola'') is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in central France.
La Bourboule is situated on the right bank of the Dordogne at an average elevation . It was known for its mineral ...
to the lower end of the . The enterprise was successful, and Claret used Hanscotte-equipped Fives-Lille steam locomotives for his ambitious project of a tourist light railway from the centre of
Clermont Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 census.Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme (; or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2021, it had a population of 662,285.Chamalières
Chamalières (; Auvergnat: ) is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, central France.
With 17,276 inhabitants (2019), Chamalières is the fourth-largest town in the department. It lies adjacent to the west of Clermo ...
, conventional two-rail track, (electrified in 1911) was used.
The line never made money and it closed in 1925 because of competition from a new autobus route.
Furka Oberalp Railway
In 1910 the
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works (German Schweizerische Lokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik; French Société Suisse pour la Construction de Locomotives et de Machines; or for both, SLM) was a railway equipment manufacturer based in Winterthur in Swi ...
,
Winterthur
Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...
, prepared designs for Hanscotte system locomotives to operate the
Furka Oberalp Railway
The Furka Oberalp Railway () is a Narrow-gauge railway, narrow gauge mountain railway in Switzerland with a gauge of . It runs in the Canton of Graubünden, Graubünden, Canton of Uri, Uri and Canton of Valais. Since January 1, 2003, it is par ...