propel the boats upon them, and other expedients have been adopted, to increase their activity, as a mode of traffic, and especially for the conveyance of passengers. So far as we are able, and with the information which a restricted inquiry has enabled us to acquire, upon the subject of so important a question; it will be our duty, to place those modes in competition with each other, before the public fairly and impartially.

CHAPTER II.

DESCRIPTION OF RAILS AND PROGRESS OF
RAILROADS.

§ 1.-Wooden Rails.

THE kind of railroad first introduced into England, was the wooden railway. Figs. 1 and 2, Plate I., represent an elevation, and plan, of the wooden railway as originally constructed, or what was called the "single way;" aa, aa, are wooden rails, about four inches square, laid parallel to each other, upon the sleepers or transverse bearing rails, bb, bb. The mode of fastening them together, was by means of pins or pegs of wood, shewn at cc, holes being bored through the rail and sleeper, and the pins driven through the rail, and about half way through the sleeper.

The rails are generally six feet long, and the sleepers laid two feet apart; the ends of the two rails meet together upon the same sleeper, as at c'e'; and the two pins being driven into the same sleeper, while they fasten the ends of the rail down, they likewise prevent them separating from each other. The surface of the road being levelled, to as nearly an uniform level, or slope as practicable, the rails were laid down, and the road material levelled, to the height of the upper surface of the sleeper, or to the lower surface of the rail.

To secure the free passage of the flanch of the wheels, along the sides of the rails, little or no road material could be laid above the level of the top of the sleepers; the action of the horses' feet soon, therefore, wore the sleepers through: added to this, the frequent perforation and insertion of the pins, through the same part of the sleepers, rendered them unserviceable. These

defects led to the adoption of what is termed the "double way."

Figs. 3 and 4, Plate I., are representations of this form of rail; a a are the rails fastened down upon the cross sleepers, bb bb, as in the "single way;" a' a', rails laid upon those, and firmly secured to them by wooden pins, in the same manner as the rails of the single way are fastened to the sleepers. In the "single way "the joinings of the rails are, necessarily, upon a sleeper, as shown at cc, Figs. 1 and 2; but in the double way the upper surface of the under rail being quite level, the joining of the upper rail can be made in any part of its length, and not upon a sleeper. c"c", Fig. 3, shows the joinings of the upper rail, midway between the sleepers; but this can be varied at pleasure, and consequently, prevents the under rail from being destroyed, by the frequent perforation of the pinholes in the same place, which was the great defect of the single way.

The sleepers of this, as well as of the single way, were generally formed from the young sapling or strong branches of the oak, obtained by thinning the plantations; and were six feet long, by four to five or six inches in thickness, and about the same breadth. At their first introduction, the under rail of the double way was generally of oak, but afterwards fir was substituted; they were generally six feet long, reaching across three sleepers, each two feet apart, and about five inches broad on the surface, by four or five inches in depth. The upper rail was of the same dimensions, and was almost always made of beech, or sycamore.

The surface of the ground being formed into the required level, or inclination, for about six feet in width from the pits to the staiths, or the whole length of the intended railroad, or " waggon-way," as it was termed; the sleepers were then laid down, two feet distant, and

the under rail properly secured to them. The ashes or material, forming the surface of the ground, were then beat firmly against the under surface of the rail, for the purpose of strengthening it, and making it more rigid; the upper rail was then placed upon the other, and firmly bound down by the pins or pegs of wood, and the road material filled up to the height of the upper surface of the under rail.

This combination, had many obvious advantages over the single rail; for, independently of the waste of timber before described, by the frequent perforation of the pins, the destruction of the sleepers, in the single rail by the feet of the draught horses, was very considerable.

The double rail, likewise, by allowing the inside of the road, to be filled up with ashes or broken stones, to the under side of the upper rail; and consequently raising the path of the horses, four or five inches above the level of the sleepers, thus effectually secured the sleepers, from the action of the feet of the horses.

The use of wooden railways, has not been much extended in England, beyond that of the early stage of railway communication; as before stated, it was mostly used on the colliery railways, in the north of England, before the introduction of cast iron; and as it could not compete with that material, either in durability, or with the quantity of work which could be done upon it, the latter, or wrought iron, has almost entirely superseded its application, as a railway.

As previously stated, in some parts of the colliery railways, where the draught was heavy, a plate or bar of malleable iron, was laid along the upper surface of the rail, on which the wheels rolled; this plate was generally about two inches broad, and half an inch in thickness; and was fastened to the wooden rail, by nails counter-sunk into the iron bar.

This contrivance was adopted, however, more with a view of equalising the draught, upon the undulating surface of the railway, than as a distinct kind of railway; for we cannot find that, any entire line of railway was ever constructed of this description, but only those portions where any occasional increased inclination of the road existed and although the addition of the plate of iron, tended in a great degree to form a rigid and smooth surface, and consequently diminished the resistance to a certain extent; yet the bar not being of sufficient thickness, a considerable bending took place, when the carriages were loaded, and the resistance was consequently very little reduced, below that of a well constructed double wooden railway.

1855

In the United States of America, where iron is costly, and timber plentiful and cheap, a greater temptation exists for railways of this description, and we accordingly find that, a great proportion of the railways in that country, consist of timber plated with iron. The abundance and cheapness of timber has, however, enabled the Americans to improve this description of railroad, far beyond what it existed originally, or what the capabilities of England afforded. The sleepers of the American railroads, are generally made of white oak, from eight to ten inches broad, and ten inches deep; two parallel trenches are cut along the line of railway, and of a distance from each other, equal to the width between the rails; these trenches are filled with broken stones or gravel, on which the wooden rails are laid; similar trenches are cut across, and filled with broken stone, for the sleepers to rest upon. This foundation, for the rails and sleepers effects two objects; it not only acts as a drain, to keep the rails and sleepers dry, but the stones and gravel, being spread and levelled down to a firm and level surface, it forms a very con