The Flaman Speed Indicator and Recorder was a device patented in 1901 by Nicolas Charles Eugène Flaman of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 for indicating the current speed of a vehicle (for example a railway locomotive) and recording it on a paper tape that could be unrolled and examined at the end of a run to provide evidence of the speeds attained on the journey.

Design features

The paper tape recording was driven directly by the wheels of the locomotive, with the paper spool moving at a fixed rate per kilometre travelled. Three graphs were recorded, the first being time elapsed (with the trace moving vertically if the train was stationary), the second being a speed curve. and the third recording the driver's attentiveness to signals ("Vigilance") by marking one tick above a line when the driver depressed a button, and another below the line when the engine went over the signal ramp.

Read together, it was possible to determine exactly what speed the locomotive had been travelling at any point in time or distance. As well as allowing study of locomotive performance, it also allowed greater scrutiny of the observance of the driver of speed restrictions along the line and attentiveness to signals. It was practice on some railways such as the Victorian Railways

Victorian Railways

The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...

 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 for the driver to sign the speed chart prior to departure.

The Flaman recorder was used in a number of countries, and in particular France on the Nord

Chemin de Fer du Nord

Chemin de Fer du Nord , often referred to simply as the Nord company, was a rail transport company created in September 1845, in Paris, France. It was owned by among others de Rothschild Frères of France, N M Rothschild & Sons of London, England, Hottinger, Laffitte and Blount...

, Est, PLM and Etat

Chemin de Fer de l'État

The Chemins de fer de l'État , often referred to in France as the réseau de l'État , was an early French railway company.-History:...

railways. By 1914 about 80% of French locomotives were equipped with a speed recorder.