The oscillation was the dangerous thing. So, what they did is, they produced the thing called a shock absorber, which damped the oscillation. In other words, it would oscillate, and then very soon, it would come back to its original position.
So, the vehicle would jump up when it hit a bump, and then it would rock back, and then come to a stop. And if it was a level road, with just one bump, after less than a second, it would be traveling normally again.
To do this, the shock absorber is constructed in this way. Basically, it's a cylinder. Here an empty cylinder, filled with oil. The piston at the bottom, when some shock hits it, the piston moves upwards, into this space, pushing oil out into a reservoir. When the, when the force is released, the oil returns to the reservoir, but quite slowly. Then, instead of suddenly going up and down, this reduces the tendency.
This stores the energy, which has been produced by hitting whatever bump you hit, and it stores that energy and releases it gradually. So, it means that the oscillation is now a damped oscillation. It in fact, stops this continuous oscillation, which was so difficult in the past. So, on all of the vehicles you will travel on, whether it's a rail, a train, whether it's a coach, or whether it's a bus or a car, there will always be a shock absorber on each wheel.
And that shock absorber will make your journey very much more pleasant and safe.
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