“Mr. Marsden of Leeds … we illustrate a machine which has special interest for a large class of our readers. The machine is designed especially for ballasting railways, and it has long been known that stone or slag properly broken and screened is a most excellent material for such purposes, giving a close road free from dust, whilst the material is left in the best possible form for binding together. The illustrations show the most modern adaptation of the Blake stone breaker for this purpose. The machine was ordered by Mr. Webb, of the London and North Western Railway Company, Crewe, and is capable of breaking down for ballasting about 120 tons of slag per day. The size of the machine is that known as 14in. by 12in., its total weight about 26 tons.

...

Mr Webb constructed the framing and boiler, which is of the vertical type, at Crewe. The elevators radiate around the bottom shaft and the angle of delivery can be altered by the windlass attached to the side of the machine. The buckets are of wrought iron and are mounted on 4-ply india-rubber belting 13in. wide. A hood is placed over the top to shade the delivery from the wind. The ladder delivers the material into trucks on the opposite rails. The boiler is fed by an injector. We understand that the machine has answered its purpose perfectly.”