Railways of different ranks--Progressive improvements--Growing
tendency for increased speeds, with corresponding increase in
weight of permanent way and rolling-stock--Electricity as a
motive-power.
Looking at railways in their present stage of development, they appear
to be divided into three ranks, each one distinct from the other as
regards its importance, capability, and prospects.
In the first rank are the great trunk lines, which, at home or abroad,
pass through thickly populated districts, rich in manufactures,
minerals, or shipping industries, with their enormous movement of
materials and people, and consequently requiring the most ample works,
equipment, and appliances for security.
In the second rank may be classed those railways which run through
ranges of country where the population is moderate, or where the
manufacturing industries are few in number and of minor importance.
Although of the utmost value to the community of the long series of
small towns and agricultural districts through which they pass, and
forming the only great commercial highway, or connecting link, with
some distant seaport, or leading business centre, the traffic returns
upon such lines are too small to permit of the introduction of the
more complete appliances and luxuries to be met with on the richer
railways. In newly opened-out countries, and in distant colonies, such
lines have often to struggle on for years against financial returns so
small as to barely enable them to maintain a condition of efficiency;
but where there are natural advantages in soil and climate, combined
with a judicious development of all the available resources, the
result will be the raising of the standard of the railway itself, and
the enrichment of the entire district through which it passes. When
laying out lines of this description, it may be necessary to curtail
as much as possible the expenditure on works and equipment, but there
should be no hesitation in obtaining liberal quantities of land for
future enlargement of stations, or for constructing additional 349
stations on promising sites. The value of the land may be small in the
outset, but will be enhanced enormously as the benefits of the
undertaking become appreciated.
In the third rank may be grouped those branch lines which, starting
from a main passenger or goods line, are laid down to some outlying
town, seaport, or mining centre, which, although small, is considered
of sufficient importance to be brought into railway communication. In
general, these lines are laid to the same gauge as the line with which
they connect, and the transfer of merchandise waggons is readily
effected at the point of junction. Others, from motives of economy,
have been laid down to a narrow gauge, involving the transhipment of
all goods and cattle at the station where the break of gauge takes
place. Most of these branch lines are laid out through the open
country, like an ordinary standard railway, but with a minimum of
works and appliances. Others are laid down partly on level public
roads, and partly through the fields, and are in consequence subject
to a statutory low rate of speed when travelling over those portions
on the public roads.
In many cases the construction of second and third rank railways, both
at home and abroad, has been largely assisted by state or provincial
aid. Such assistance must always be valuable to poor or undeveloped
districts, but judgment should be exercised so as not to encourage the
introduction of any scheme which would interfere or become competitive
with any existing undertaking constructed by public enterprise. So
long as capitalists invest their money more from commercial motives
than from feelings of philanthropy, it would, to say the least, be
unjust and impolitic for any country to adopt a course of competition
by national funds, and so check the flow of public money into public
undertakings. Ordinary public commercial competition may be business,
as each party can value and compare their own prospects; but the
competition of a scheme enjoying national aid and free money grants is
very apt to become one-sided.
There is every indication that even what may be termed a fourth-rank
type of railway is destined to play a very important part in the
industrial enterprises of many countries, and that in the form of
little lines, made to any convenient gauge, and laid either along
public roads or open country, or both, the produce from isolated
manufactories, forests, quarries, and large farms will be conveyed to 350
the nearest railway stations with greater facility and at much less
expense than by carting along the public highway. Such little lines
are available in places where the most sanguine promoter would
hesitate to suggest an ordinary railway, and may be found to supply
what is felt to be the missing link in the economical transport of a
long list of materials of everyday use. As they would be almost
exclusively intended for merchandise purposes, the statutory
requirements would be on the most moderate scale, and as they would be
generally constructed at the cost of the parties who had to operate
them, the outlay would be restricted to the actual works necessary for
convenience and efficiency. Similar little lines have been in use for
many years in the busy yards of large ironworks, shipbuilders, and
many other localities, where weighty masses of materials have to be
moved from place to place in the course of manufacture, and it would
be merely carrying out the same idea to a more extended range. The
principal inducement for their introduction is the great advantage,
both in convenience and cost, that is obtained by hauling a ton of
materials over a pair of rails as compared with carting the same
weight along an ordinary road; and as the fact becomes more and more
proved by experience, these little fourth-rank lines will become more
general. Numbers of them are in use at the present time, and some of
them, even of only 2-feet gauge, are doing good service, the little
trucks conveying manufactured goods to the nearest railway station and
returning loaded with coals and other materials. By making suitable
arrangements for passing places and junctions, the system could be
carried out to considerable distances in thinly populated districts,
and be made available by means of local sidings, to several places
along the route. With a narrow-gauge type there would, of course,
always be the time and expense of transhipment to or from the ordinary
railway trucks in the same way as with the road carts, but the time
and expense may be lessened by so constructing the little narrow-gauge
trucks that the bodies may be readily lifted off the frames and
wheels, and be placed like packing-cases in the railway waggons.
It is natural to look to the railways of the first rank for the latest
advances in construction, appliances, and equipment, and it is
generally there they are found. Great trunk lines, crowded with
traffic of all kinds, have not only the opportunity and means, but all
the strong inducements to try or adopt any arrangement which promises 351
greater facilities for dealing with the ever-increasing demands made
on their carrying powers.
Passenger and goods traffic are so dissimilar in their requirements
that when both of them are steadily increasing it becomes difficult,
if not impossible, to work the two classes over an ordinary double
line. In some cases much assistance has been obtained by shortening
the lengths of the working sections and introducing intermediate
electric telegraph block stations between the ordinary stations. Long
refuge-sidings have also been introduced at many of the signal-cabins
or stations, into which goods trains can be shunted out of the way to
allow fast passenger trains to pass through without stopping. Up to a
certain extent this arrangement works fairly well, but where there is
a very frequent service of fast and slow passenger trains, combined
with a heavy and constant service of goods and mineral trains, the two
lines of way are practically incapable of accommodating such a number
of mixed trains without causing serious detentions. The goods trains
must shunt out of the way some time before a passenger train is due,
and this frequent shunting into sidings results in hours of delay in
the transit of the goods and cattle traffic; and when one of such
trains is allowed to proceed again on its way up to another station,
dove-tailed as it may be between two fast passenger trains, there is
always the tendency to run at a much higher rate of speed than is
prudent for the class of rolling-stock of which the goods train is
composed. To overcome this difficulty some railways have introduced
additional UP and DOWN lines on the busiest part of their system,
making four lines of way in all, two of these being reserved for the
fast passenger and through trains, and the other two for slow trains,
goods, and mineral trains. This arrangement of the four lines has
afforded great relief to the traffic of all kinds, and has enabled the
service to be worked with much greater facility and punctuality. The
goods trains being restricted to their own separate lines, can proceed
regularly in their order, at their uniform working speed, without
having to resort to the spasmodic fast running too often expected from
them when passing over some parts of an ordinary double line.
Doubtless this four-line system, or rather the principle of laying
down two additional lines of way, will go on extending, and will be
accelerated in its accomplishment by the growing demand for still
higher speed of our fast passenger trains, and still longer distances
to be traversed without stopping. High-speed long-distance through 352
trains can only perform their journeys with punctuality, when the
route is kept clear of all other trains or obstructions which might
interfere with their free running. Any check or stoppage in their
course would cause loss of time and prestige.
It is to be regretted that in so many of the cases where two
additional lines of way have been laid down, more space was not left
between the sets of rails for the fast traffic and those for the slow.
In many instances the dividing space is not more than 7 or 8 feet. It
would have been better and safer if it could have been made 20 feet.
An ordinary goods train is made up of several kinds of trucks, some
empty, some loaded, many of them unequally loaded, all of them subject
to heavy work and rough handling, and more likely to give trouble than
the higher class vehicle, the passenger carriage. The breaking down or
derailment of one or two goods trucks on a line of rails close
alongside the fast passenger rails, would in all probability so foul
and obstruct the passenger line as to cause a very serious accident to
an express train which could not be stopped in time. The greater width
would not only provide more clearance in case of breakdowns, but would
afford increased safety to the platelayers and other workmen engaged
on the line. The permanent-way men have to be very watchful to keep
out of danger on an ordinary busy double line, but they must be very
much more on the alert where there are four lines of way close
together side by side.
In the neighbourhood of large cities and important manufacturing
centres, railways have created a distinct traffic for themselves by
providing means for a large portion of the population to reside in
convenient suburbs. Local trains running at suitable business hours
have induced people of all classes to select homes a few miles away
from town, and the gradual growth of this suburban traffic has
produced its own advantages and requirements. At the large terminal
stations platform after platform has been added to accommodate the
increased number of trains which arrive in the busy parts of the
morning or depart in the evening. Every facility has to be provided to
permit of the expeditious ingress and egress of the large crowds
forming the respective trains--ample platforms, over-line
foot-bridges, subways, convenient booking-offices, waiting-rooms, and
left-luggage rooms.
The enormous train service on some of these first-rank lines demands 353
the highest efficiency in the signalling and interlocking
arrangements, and the use of any devices which will ensure increased
facility and safety in the working of the traffic. With a crowd of
trains passing a signal-cabin in both directions, and often over four
lines of way, it is quite possible for a signalman to make a mistake
which cannot be rectified in time to prevent an accident. To obtain
increased security many railways have adopted the lock and block
system previously described, or some adaptation of the same principle,
and this method of working will go on extending as the traffic
increases. These additional appliances entail additional care and
inspection, for although automatical machinery may be exempt from the
human frailty of preoccupation of mind or forgetfulness, it is
somewhat delicate in its organization, and requires constant
supervision to maintain its efficiency.
On many of the large lines, much has been done to give improved
carriage accommodation. Carriages have been made longer, easier on the
road, loftier, better furnished, and better lighted; but there is
still a very great deficiency in those conveniences so essentially
necessary, especially on trains running long distances without
stopping. Drawing-room cars and dining-room cars are no doubt
attractive, and may contribute considerably to the popularity of
certain routes; but it is questionable whether many of the lines at
home and abroad which have adopted such luxuries, have not in doing so
commenced at the wrong end, and whether it would not have been more to
the public satisfaction to have begun by first providing those
conveniences which are found in every carriage on every line in the
United States. It is satisfactory to find that there is a steadily
growing tendency to so construct passenger carriages that their
occupants may, by passages or corridors, communicate with all parts of
the same carriage or with the adjoining carriages; and there is every
reason to assume that the carriage of the future, either by
legislation or consent, will combine both the items of conveniences
and intercommunication, and will confer not only greater comfort to
the passengers, but also increased protection against those outrages
which, unfortunately, too frequently occur under the system of
isolated compartments.
It will be instructive to watch the results of the passenger receipts 354
on those lines where only first and third-class carriages are used.
The elimination of the second class may at first sight appear an
innovation; but if there is not any pecuniary loss sustained, there
must be a gain in the reduction of unoccupied seats to be hauled. It
is customary to provide in every train a liberal number of spare seats
of each class to meet contingencies; and the omission of one class may
mean the saving of two or three carriages--a very important item in
locomotive power.
On important through lines high-speed running has become a leading
feature, and compels a very efficient standard of perfection in works
and rolling-stock to effect its attainment. There is no indication of
remaining contented with what has been already accomplished; on the
contrary, the spirit of restlessness is always urging to do something
more. The travelling public speak as calmly now of a speed of seventy
miles an hour as they did of thirty-five a few years ago; they
thoroughly recognize the value of railways, and they merely desire to
travel still faster. The incentives of emulation and competition are
ever present to encourage further and further reduction of the running
time, and the railway that offers a special fast through service for
some of its passenger and mail trains, reasonably expects its
popularity and patronage to be in the ascendant. Much has been done in
permanent way and equipment to make the present high speeds possible,
but more will be required if the speeds are to go on increasing. The
passenger carriages for such work must be very substantial, and
naturally heavy. The locomotives to haul a long train must have
increased power and weight, and will necessitate stronger rails to
carry the greater rolling loads. With the present system of
motive-power, the heaviest item is the locomotive, and its weight must
always determine and regulate the character of the works and permanent
way. Rails weighing 90 pounds per yard are becoming common, and there
is clear indication that before very long sections weighing from 100
to 120 pounds, or more, per yard will be brought into use on many
lines. There will be no difficulty in making a permanent way strong
enough for rolling loads very far in excess of anything in the present
practice; but it will be costly, and the extra expense per mile,
extended over a few hundred miles, will represent a sum so large as to
raise the question in many cases whether the probable advantages and
additional remuneration to be obtained will warrant the outlay.
To some extent the increased speed may be attained by dividing the 355
present long trains into two shorter trains, with a fair interval of
time between them. There are many splendid locomotives now running,
which on a fairly level line can reach a speed of considerably over
seventy miles an hour with a short train, but would be quite incapable
of doing so with a long train. At the same time it is possible that if
passengers increase in the same proportion as the inducements
provided, the short train might not be sufficient for the numbers
presented, and there would be no other alternative but to resort to
still greater rolling loads and stronger hauling power.
Perhaps electricity, which has already achieved so many marvels, is
destined to take a still more prominent part as a motive-power in the
working of ordinary railways, and may help out of the difficulty by
inaugurating still higher speeds without the necessity of incurring
stronger works or heavier permanent way. In addition to its success in
the telegraph, in the telephone, and in its brilliant light,
electricity is every day coming more and more to the front as a
motive-power. At present many tramways and short lines, some of them
in tunnel, some above ground, and many of them with very steep
gradients, are successfully worked by electricity; but these, being of
modern construction, were specially designed and equipped for that
method of working, and none of them as yet resort to high speeds. Such
rapid strides have, however, been already made in the progress of this
system of haulage, as to promise that both increased power and speed
will be forthcoming when the demand for them is made manifest. Various
modes of application are being tried: overhead wires, underground
wires, conductors on the level with the rails, storage batteries or
accumulators, and self-contained electric motors, each and all of them
being carefully tested to ascertain the comparative cost and
efficiency. Much will depend upon the localities and advantages to be
obtained for the respective generating stations. In places where a
large, constant, and unutilized water supply is available, a great
saving may be effected in the most expensive item of electric working,
but in the greater number of cases steam-power will have to be adopted
for driving the generating machinery. The main question will be
whether electricity in its most approved form of application can haul
a ton of paying load for one mile at a less average cost, and at as
great or greater speed than the ordinary locomotive. Until there is 356
very clear evidence that electricity is cheaper, there will not be any
great inducement for its general use as a motive-power on ordinary
railways.
Experiments have been made on some existing railways to ascertain how
far this new motive-power can be made serviceable under special
circumstances. In one case, a powerful electric motor-car has been
introduced for working frequent and heavy trains through a long
tunnel, where the atmosphere with ordinary steam locomotives became
foul almost to suffocation, and the result has shown that the traffic
can be hauled efficiently by electricity, and the air in the tunnel
maintained pure and clear. In this instance, the question of cost was
of secondary importance, the primary object being to avoid the
asphyxiating gases emitted from the ordinary locomotives.
In other cases, specially designed electric motor-cars have been
constructed with a view to obtain a higher speed for passenger trains
than is at present attained with the locomotives, and the trials made
have proved that these cars could reach a high speed, but so far only
with limited loads. Experiments are still going on with larger and
improved machines, from which it is expected to obtain both high speed
and much increased hauling power.
It is more than probable that amongst the earliest practical
applications of electric motive-power on existing railways will be its
introduction as an auxiliary on the steep gradients of some of the
mountain railways abroad. In many of these regions there are millions
of gallons of water running to waste down the ravines, a portion of
which could be utilized in working powerful generating plant, to drive
strong electric motor-cars for assisting the ordinary locomotives up
the steep inclines. In such localities, with free water-power, the
cost of the electricity would be at a minimum, while the cost of the
ordinary locomotive would be at a maximum.
In whatever form the electric motor-car may be designed, we are
brought face to face with the old axiom, that there must be a certain
amount of weight to obtain a certain amount of adhesion; but there
will be one important point in favour of the motor-car, that whereas
in the ordinary locomotive the weight for traction can only be
distributed over a few working wheels, the electric arrangement may
distribute it over a much greater number, and so diminish the
insistent weight of each wheel upon the rails. There would also be the 357
saving of the dead weight of the tender, the fuel, water, and other
minor accessories, as well as the advantage that the active power
would be applied in a rotary form instead of reciprocating.
There are important interests at stake in the perfecting of this new
system of haulage, and day by day new developments are being made to
add to its efficiency and reduce its cost. Existing railways will,
however, naturally require some very convincing proof of the all-round
superiority of electricity before adopting that power generally
in place of their present locomotives. The latter, with their
corresponding workshops and appliances, represent so large an amount
of invested capital, as to demand most thorough trials and
investigation of the new power before they are superseded;
nevertheless, if further experience proves that electrical power is
better and cheaper than the ordinary steam locomotives, then the
change will undoubtedly be made.
Under whatever system of haulage the acceleration of trains be
obtained, the increased speed will call for increased precautions in
the selection and proving of the materials to be used in such service.
Rails must be made more uniform in quality, and must be free from the
imputation of fracture under regular wear. Notwithstanding the great
improvements made in the preparation of the steel, and in the rolling,
there are still far too many steel rails which break under traffic to
allow rail-makers to rest satisfied with their work. Something is
still wanting in the manufacture to effectually remove this
disposition to fracture. The safe rail, the rail of the future, must
be one that may bend and may wear, but will never break under ordinary
use in the road. Axles must be stronger and tougher, as they will have
to bear greater torsional strains than are now imposed upon them; and
the wheels, of whatever type they are made, must be incapable of
collapsing or falling to pieces upon the sudden and severe application
of the brake-blocks. A train, rushing along at a speed of 70 or 80
miles an hour, may on an emergency have to be brought to a stand in
the shortest distance possible, and the failure of either axles or
wheels in the endeavour to avert one form of accident would inevitably
initiate another.
To permit of unchecked high-speed running, many sharp curves will have
to be flattened, bridges will have to be built at busy level
crossings; and points, crossings, and junctions on the main lines will 358
have to be reduced to the smallest possible number.
It would be difficult to form an opinion as to how far passenger
traffic will go on expanding, but if it continues to increase at the
same rate as at present, some railways may find it expedient, and even
absolutely necessary, to construct new lines altogether separate and
apart from the existing routes, and for the sole use of their fast
through traffic. As roadside or intermediate traffic would not form
any part of the scheme, such lines could be laid out so as to keep
away from the populous districts, where property would be costly, and
pass instead through those parts of the open country where the most
direct course and easiest gradients could be obtained. Stations would
only be required at the very large and important places, and at long
distances from each other. Lines of this description, reserved for
through traffic only, taken alone, might not pay, but taken in
conjunction with the existing lines, of which they would form a part,
they might prove to be the best solution of the problem of dealing
with a crowded train service, the remunerative earnings of which,
placed together, might yield a rich return over the entire system. A
project for a separate through line might at first appear a little
startling, but we have well-known precedents in the vast expenditure
already incurred in the constructing of enormous viaducts and
connecting lines to avoid long detours on certain through routes. The
widening out of an ordinary double line into a four-line road was at
first considered as a rather venturesome departure; and it must always
be costly because, in addition to the earthworks and permanent way,
there is the doubling of all the over and under bridges and waterways,
besides the great and expensive alterations at stations. Practically
it is almost like making a second railway, and yet the constant
extension of the principle is an admission that the working results
have proved satisfactory, in spite of the large outlay. A little later
the question will force itself more prominently into notice, whether
the four-line track or the separate fast through traffic lines, will
best answer the purpose. The former possesses certain advantages, but
the latter would give more freedom for high-speed running.
Engineers have brought railways to their present stage of perfection,
and the public will expect them to devise and carry out still further
improvements as the march of development moves onward. It is a simple 359
matter to arrange the traffic on a railway when all the works and
appliances are appropriate for the service to be performed; but the
advances which are made follow one another so rapidly as to
necessitate constant study and organization to effect the structural
alterations and additions requisite to maintain an up-to-date standard
of efficiency. The traffic manager on a railway receives his
instructions from the directors or controllers of the company as to
the working out of the train service, rates, charges, and other items
of his department, but the engineer has to stand alone, and his
technical knowledge and professional skill must enable him not only to
design and construct works suitable in character, extent, and strength
to the duty for which they are intended, but also to decide when
structures are no longer capable of properly sustaining the increasing
loads brought upon them, and must be taken down and replaced with
others of a stronger description. For this reason the engineer must
carefully consider every circumstance and local feature which may
influence the design to be prepared; he must thoroughly investigate
the nature of the ground for foundations, as the description when
ascertained will frequently determine the class of work to be erected,
whether in viaducts, bridges, or buildings; and in his selection of
materials and calculations for strength, he must allow ample margin to
meet further increased weights, as well as for natural deterioration.
He should, indeed, go a little further, and as his perceptive ability
and training will always enable him the more readily to foreshadow the
direction in which improvements or changes are tending, he should
study out and be prepared with his schemes to meet the new departures
as the requirements gradually arise.
Strength and efficiency are the leading points which must be always
kept in view, and the engineer must never forget that he is solely
responsible for the safety of the line and works, and of the public
passing over the same.
INDEX 361
A
Accommodation works, 12
Air-lock, 119
Air-pump, 120
Allowances for sinkage on embankments, 70
Alteration of gradients, 12
---- of roads, 6, 10
American hand-brake, 46
Analysis of steel rails, 193
Approach roads to stations, 249
Arch culverts, 76
Automatical gate-alarm, 336
B
Ballast, 225
Bascule bridge, 85
Battering-rule, 72
Bearing-weights of various materials, 129
Beater, 239
Bench marks, 66
Bissell truck, 58
Block crossing, cast steel, 235
---- telegraph signalling, 18, 338
Board of Trade requirements, 18
Bog-cutting, 65
Bogie carriage, 54
---- engine, 56, 306
Booking-hall, 249, 260
Book of reference, 8
Borings for foundations, 129
---- for tunnel work, 164
Borrowed earthwork, 61
Bottom-pitching, 225
Bracket signals, 20, 322
Brake-power on gradients, 45
Brakes for goods waggons, 46
Brick-well foundations, 123
Bridges, 79
---- over public roads, 10
Broken stone ballast, 225
Buffer-stops, 282
Bull-head rail, 191
C
Cab-rank, 251
Caisson foundations, 121
Cant of rail, 230
Carriage accommodation, 353
---- bogie, 54
---- dock, 282
---- traverser, 292
Cast-iron column piers, 97
---- in bridges, 27
---- saddles, 224
---- sleepers, 214
---- tram-plates, 184
---- tube tunnels, 179
---- water-tanks, 299
Catch-siding, 26
Centre line of railway, 32
Chairs, 206
Channelling ballast, 231
Check-rails on sharp curves, 29, 51
Cinder ballast, 227
Circular running-shed, 289
Clay puddle, 127
Clocks at stations, 26
Coal-drops, 282
Coffer-dams, 127
Comparison of bull-head and flange rails, 199
Compound rails, 190
Concrete foundations, 114
Continuous brakes, 30
Cost of permanent way, 241, 242 362
Covered-way tunnels, 178
Crab bolts, 223
Cranes, 280, 294
Creosoted sleepers, 211
Cross-over road, 233
Crossings made of rails, 237
Cross-sections, 33
Culverts and drains, 74
Curve alterations, 12
Curves, 49
Cutting rails on curves, 229
Cylinder foundations, 116
D
Datum line, 8
Deck or floor of girder bridges, 133
Deposited plans, 4, 6
Depths of cuttings, 10
Derrick crane, 299
Detached lock, 332
Detonator or fog signals, 334
Detours on mountain-sides, 3
Deviation, limits of, 6
---- of centre line, 12
---- of levels, 12
Diagram sketches of bridges, 149
Diamond crossing, 237
Disc or ground signals, 322
---- wheels, 48
Distant signal, 18, 314, 322
Diversion of roads, etc., 6
Dobbin-cart, 67
Dock platforms, 251
Double-line junction, 231
---- slip points, 233
Dry stone backing, 162
E
Earthworks, 60
Edge rails, 185
Electric motive-power, 355
---- repeater, 22, 334
---- train-staff instrument, 344
Embankment on bog, 71
Engine bogie, 53, 56, 304
---- triangle, 290
Engine turntables, 27, 289
Enlargements on parliamentary plans, 16
Entrances to tunnels, 176
Estimate, 14
Expansion of rails, 228
Extract from Government Standing Orders and Regulations, 6
F
Facing-bolt lock, 315
---- points, 20
---- ---- distance, 20
---- point locks, 22
Fang clips, 224
Fastenings, 218
Fences enclosing line, 14, 73
---- on bridges, 10
---- on road approaches, 10
Fish bolts, 203, 220
---- plates, 188, 203
---- plate liners, 206
Flag signals, 313
Flag-top culverts, 76
Flange rail, 191
Floor or deck of girder bridges, 133
Floors for goods-sheds, 280
Flying junction, 231
Fog or detonator signals, 334
Footbridges, 26, 147, 149
Footings of foundations, 111
Foundations, 111
Four-line system, 351
G
Gantry crane, 294
Gate-alarm, 336
Gates for level crossings, 74
Gauge of railways, 37, 38
Girder bridges, 110
Glazed roofs over platforms, 272
Goliath crane, 297
Goods-sheds, 273
Government grants to railways, 349
---- Standing Orders, 4, 6
Gradient alterations, 12
Gradients, 42
---- influencing loads, 43
---- in tunnels, 166
Gravel ballast, 225
---- foundations, 113
Guard-rails, 51
Guide-piles, 127
H 363
Half-round sleepers, 211
Hand-brakes on trucks, 46
Headings in tunnels, 169
Headway and span of public-road bridges, 10
Height of platforms, 24
Heights of embankments, 10
High-level viaduct, 81, 83
High-speed running, 354
Home signals, 18, 314
Houses of labouring classes, 10
I
Inclination of ramps, 26
Inside keys for chairs, 207
Inspection of new line, 18
---- of tunnel work, 176
Interlocking of signals, 22, 314, 330
Iron-tube tunnels, 179
Island-platform station, 258
J
Jack-arches of brickwork, 145
---- of concrete, 139
Jib crane, 296
Jim Crow, 239
Junction signals, 20, 323
---- with existing line, 6
K
Keys for chairs, 207
Kinsua Viaduct, 97
L
Lavatories and conveniences, 260
Laying permanent way, 225
Level crossings, 10
Life of steel rails, 193
Lift-bridge, 87
Light railways standard gauge, 41
Limits of deviation, 6, 16
Loa Viaduct, 102
Loads of locomotive engines, 44
Location of railway, 1
Lock and block signals, 342, 353
Longitudinal sleepers, 210
Low viaduct arching, 129
Low-level viaduct, 81, 83
M
Made ground, 111
Marking steel rails, 195
Mechanical drills, 172
---- gates, 335
Mile-posts, 30
N
Names of stations, 24
Narrow-gauge railways, 40
Natural features of country, 1
---- ground, 111
Navigable rivers, 81
O
Occupation bridges, 110
Ordinary crossing, 235
Ordnance maps, 3
Outside guard-rails, 53
---- keys for chairs, 207
Over-line arch bridges, 103
P
Parapets on viaducts, 28
Parliamentary estimate, 14
---- plan and section, 6, 8
Pedestal water-tanks, 302
Piers of cast iron, 97
---- of masonry, 95
---- of timber, 102
---- of wrought-iron and steel, 97
Pile foundations, 114
Plate-iron troughing, 143
Platform roofs, 264
Platforms (requirements of), 24
Plenum system of sinking, 119
Pneumatic process of sinking, 129
Points, or switches, 235
Portage viaduct, 102
Power to purchase land, 6
Preservation of timber, 211
Private-road bridges, 110
Provincial grants to railways, 349
Public-road bridges, 10, 103
---- level crossing, 8
R 364
Radial axle-boxes, 58
Rails, 182
Railway bills, 16
---- Clauses Act, 6
---- fences, 14
---- slope, 61, 66, 72
Railways of different ranks, 348
Ramps to platforms, 24
Recommendations as to working of railways, 30
Rectangular running-sheds, 289
Reduced speed on curves, 50
Refuge sidings, 31, 351
Relative costs of narrow-gauge and light railways, 41
Renewal of under-line bridges, 151
Repeater signal, 22, 334
Requirements of Board of Trade, 18
Retaining walls, 159
Reverse curves, 51
Roadside station, 253
Rock foundations, 113
Rocking-bar, 316
Roof-principals, 264
Roofs over roadside platforms, 272
Rope-haulage, 49
Route of railway, 1
Royal assent, 16
Runaway points, 233
S
Safety-points, 24, 319
Sandy foundations, 113
Scales for Parliamentary plans, 6, 16
Scissors cross-over, 233
Screw piles, 114
Semaphore signals, 313
Semi-circular running-sheds, 289
Separate lines for through traffic, 358
Service roads, 69
Shafts in tunnels, 167
Sheeting-piles, 127
Side-cutting, 61
Side recesses in tunnels, 176
Sidings, 24
Signal-cabins, 328
Signal-detector, 315, 318
Signals, 313
---- at junctions, 20, 323
Signals (requirements of), 20
Six-wheeled carriage, 54
Sleepers, 209
Slip-points, 233
Slope of cutting, 61
---- of embankment, 66
Slotted signals, 326
Snake-heads, 184
Soft deep bog, 70
Soiling earthwork, 66
Sorting-sidings, 285
Span and headway of P. R. bridges, 10
Spans of large railway bridges, 158
Spikes, 222
Spirals, 35
Spoil-bank, 60
Sprags, 46
Square crossing, 233
Standing orders, 4, 6
Starting-signal, 18, 314
Station buildings, 260
---- roofs, 264
Stations, 248
---- near viaducts, 24
---- on gradients, 26
Steel and wrought-iron sleepers, 217
---- rails, 190
Steps for side-lying ground, 70
---- of staircases, 26
Stone sleepers, 210
Strain on steel, 27
---- on wrought-iron, 27
Suburban traffic, 352
Subways, 26
Super-elevation of rail, 230
Supervision of tunnel-work, 176
Swing-bridges, 83, 87
Switches or points, 235
Syphon culverts, 79
T
Tamping-bar, 239
Terminal station, 253
Tests for steel rails, 194
Three-throw switches, 233
Thrust-girders for retaining walls, 161
Tie-bars, 224
Timber bridges, 95
Timbering of tunnels, 170
Timber-pile foundations, 114
Time for construction, 18
Tip head, 67 365
Tip-waggon, 69
Tools for permanent way, 239
---- for tunnel-work, 172
Trailing-points, 20
Train-staff on single line, 342
Train-tickets, 343
Tramplates of cast-iron, 184
Tramway rails, 199
Trap-points, 319
Travelling-crane, 296
Traversing bridge, 85
Trimming slopes, 72
Trough girders, 135
Tunnel faces, or entrance, 176
---- headings, 169
---- sections, 176
---- shafts, 167
Tunnels, 6, 10, 162
---- composed of cast-iron segments, 179
---- drainage of, 166
---- through cities, 178
---- under rivers, 181
Turn-out, 233
Turntables, 287
U
Under-line arch bridges, 103, 129
V
Vacuum system of sinking, 119
Verandah on platform, 261
Viaduct parapets, 28
Viaducts of timber, 95
---- over rivers, 83
Viaducts over valleys, 91
---- to be shown on section, 10
W
Waggon turn-table, 292
Waiting-rooms, 251
Warehouse crane, 294
Water-column, 302
Water-jet piles, 116
Water-tables, 227
Water-tanks, 299
Wear of fish-plates, 205
Wear of steel rails, 193
Weeping-holes, 161, 174
Weights of locomotive engines, 304
Well foundations, 123
Wheel-base of engine bogie, 59
Wheel-guards on viaducts, 28
Widths of public-road bridges, 10
Winding engines, 185
Wind-pressure, 28
Wooden-centre wheels, 48
Wooden culverts, 76
---- screws, 223
---- tramway, 182
---- water-tanks, 301
Working plans and sections, 32
Wrought-iron column piers, 97
---- and steel sleepers, 217
---- piles, 116
---- rails, 186
---- water-tanks, 301
Z
Zigzags, 35
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Transcriber’s Note:
Unprinted punctuation was added, where appropriate. The illustrations
identified as numbered figures are all full-page without captions. When
illustrations interrupt the text of a paragraph, they were moved to
precede that paragraph. For ease of use of the index, page numbers are
displayed in the right margin for only pages that contain text.
Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like
this_. Superscripted letters and numbers are preceded by a carat, e.g.
C^o. Use of hyphens was made consistent. Obsolete and alternative
spellings were left unchanged. Spelling corrections are noted below:
‘transhipment’ to ‘transshipment’ ... delay in transshipment... pg 41
‘steepier’ to ‘steeper’ ... introduce steeper gradients ... pg 45
‘guage’ to ‘gauge’ ... 8½ inch gauge,... pg 48
‘guage’ to ‘gauge’ ... on 3-foot narrow-gauge railways ... pg 193
‘breaks’ to ‘brakes’ ... the working of the brakes.... pg 193
‘petition’ to ‘partition’ ... plate partition across ... pg 301
‘close’ to ‘closed’ ... is kept closed by the pressure ... pg 302
End of Project Gutenberg's Railway Construction, by William Hemmingway Mills