504

Improved Upper Works for Railroads.
We ﬁnd the following description of a new form of mil and upper works for railroads in the London
Mining Journal of 23d. May, and give it, with the engraving, for the consideration of our readers.

“Having for many years
taken much interest in the
introduction and progress of
railways, permit me, through
your Journal, to lay before
your readers and the public,
some suggestions, which, I
humbly conceive, may be
deemedimprovementsin what
is termed the upper works of
railways. It has often oc-

curred to me, that it would
be desirable, for the preser-
vation of the timber bearers,
to contrive some method of
keeping a free circulation of
air as entirely around it as
possible, so as to prevent the
tendency which moisture and
continualdampness has to pro-
duce decay. The annexed
engraving will enable your
readers better to understand

the improvements I propose.

No. 1 represents the axle of
the carriage; 2, guard or

fender; 3, spoke of the wheel;

4, tire and ﬂange of wheel;

5, section of rail; 6, timber
longitudinal bearers; 7, cast
iron, or timber bearer, or

sleeper ; 8, surface of the bal-
lasting. I now proceed to
show wherein consists the
advantages likely to be de-
rived by the several plans, as
above represented. 1 and 2
represents the axle, to which
is ﬁrmly attached the guards
or fenders to each pair of 3
wheels, connected to each
other by horizontal tie bars
in the centre, and at the ex-
treme points; and as these

points will he 4 or 5 inches lower than the
surface of the rail, should the wheel by any
accident he lifted higher than the ﬂange, the
guard would come in contact with the rail,
and, therefore, prevent the possibility of run-
ning off the line. 3 and 4 represents the
spoke of the wheel tire and ﬂange, which,
owing to the peculiar form of the rail, may
be made at leastl inch deeper than is usual,
and, therefore, give increased security against
the wheel running off. 5 represents a sec-
tion,-of what may be properly termed a sad-
dle rail, in contradistinction to the bridge rail.
6 represents a section of the longitudinal
bearer, which I propose to be of a triangular
form, viz: by cutting a 16 inch square balk
from angle to angle, so as to produce
four bearers of pyramidal form, on the
top of which the saddle rail is fastened by
screw or nut bolts, 7 represents cast iron
chairs, or sleepers, made as light as consis-
tent with required strength, about 3 feet by
18 to ‘.24 inches wide, and about 12 inches
deep in the middle, the centre part of the
sides to be about 3 inches higher than the ex-

AMERICAN RAILROAD JOURNAL.

greater securzltg/. 4. Greater durability to
timber. 5. A saving of at least one-half the
labor required for keeping the 1‘81lS in work-

I mg order, on account of the peculiar form of

the sleeper, affording a ready means of_pack-
ing, without disturbing the ballast1ng.-—-
THOMAS MOTLEY, C. E.——-Bristol, May 22.

PS. I was informed, at the Ddwlais iron
works, thata 40 lb. rail ol the saddle form
would be equal for ﬁrmness to a 60 lb. bridge

trail, and I am fully pursuaded that the from

of timber bearers would aﬂbct an equally

' proportionate saving of material.

C'oal.—-—'I‘l1c quantity of coalbrought to mar-
ket during the past week by the Lchlgh canal
and the Reading railroad, amounts to 54,419
tons. being the largest week’s business eyer
done upon these great improvements. lhe
quantity transported upon the railroad was
39,075 tons, and by the canal 19,344 tons.‘ At
the present wholesale prices the cost of thls
coal would be about §fB220,OOO.—Plz.tlcL. North
/lmericcm.

Eastern RaiZ'roacZ.—-Tlie experiment ol're—
ducing the fares on the Eastern railroad does
not seem to have resulted quite so much to
the advantage of’ the company as of the pas-
sengers, The annual report of the directors
reminds the stockholders that, in comparing
results with the year previous, it should be
borne in mind that during the 9 months of the

ear ending June 30, the fares have been near-

y 20 per cent. lower than during the corres-
ponding months of the previous year.

The receipts have been, $348,384 68—1845—6

against, 351,328 61--1844-5

]23,614 O4——184-5-6

113,014 48-1844-5

 

The expenses havebeen,
against,

treme ends, in which is a recess, into which
the timber is inserted, and secured to the
sleeper by one or more bolts through the bot-
tom ; the inside of the chair to be ﬁlled with
broken stone or gravel, and concrete, so as to
form a uniform bearing for the timber; it
will be perceived that the peculiar form ofthe
chair, or sleeper, will keep the timber from
2 to 3 or more inches above the surface of
the ballasting. If, however, timber sleepers
be adopted, it would be needful, in order to
obtain that object, to ﬁx a 3 or 411; inch block
or plank in the middle of the sleeper, on
which to ﬁx the timber bearer; I propose
these sleepers to be ﬁxed about two yards
apart. 8 represents the surface of the bal-
lasting, which is supposed to be 2 or more
inches under the timber bearer, and thereby
keeping a free circulation of air around it.
The advantages may, I think, he thus
brieﬂy stated: 1. A saving of at least one-
fourth, or 25 per cent. in timber. 2. A like
saving in iron, 3. The peculiar form of
bearer and rail, aﬁbrding the opportunity of

735,452—1845—6

Number of passengers, _
602,’715——1844-5

against,

Number of miles run, 240,07"/——~l845—6
against, 207,881—1844-5
It will be seen therefore, that the company
have run 20 per cent. more distance, and car-
ried 20 per cent. more passengers for some-
what less money, and at about 8 per cent. more
expense, to say nothing of the additional risk.
Salem Gazette.
Receipts of the Housatonic railroad for the
month of June, 1846:

For freight, — - — — - $8.575 15
Passage and mail, ~ - - 3,227 29
Total, — - - — — 11,803 44
Same month last year, - - 10,780 89
Increase, — — - — - $1,022 55

Ohio River and Lake Erie.—5Tl1e lVlad_Ri—
ver and Sandusky railroad will be opened in a
few days from Tiliin, on Sandusky, river, to
Canton, in Hardin county, on the Scioto river.
Thence to the northern termination of‘ the Lit-
tle Miami railroad at Xenia, is 56 miles. In
about two weeks, this will be the whole
amount of stage travel between Cincinnati and
lake Erie——all the rest being railroad or navi-
gable water. By the 1st of October, it is ex-
pected the Mad River railroad will be comple-
ted to Bellefontaine, Logan county; after which
the amount of stage travel between Cincin-
nati and the lake will be reduced to 25 miles.
By mid—winter, it is thought, the line Wlll be
completed to the lake, thus opening a route

a deeper ﬂange to the Wheel, and, thereby,

from Cincinnati to Boston and New York, that