Railway. RAILWAY, a species of road or carriage-way, in which the track of the carriage-wheels being laid with bars, or rails, of wood, stone, or metal, the carriage is more easily drawn along this smooth surface than over an ordinary road.
Wooden Railways. Wooden railways are said to have been introduced at the Newcastle coal-mines so early as the year 1680, for transporting the coals from the mouth of the pits to the ships in the river Tyne. Even at that period, many of these mines employed each of them 400 or 500 carts in this traffic; it became, therefore, an object of manifest importance to reduce the great expence thereby incurred in the keeping up of horses, drivers, and roads; and the plan of wooden rails was the best, and, indeed, the only effectual method which could at that time have been devised for the purpose; for which also the situation was in other respects favourable, presenting in most cases an easy descent towards the river. These railways then were very generally introduced, and continued for a long period in use in this part of the kingdom. Slips of ground of the requisite breadth for the railway were marked out between the coal-pits and the river, and were either leased by the coal owners, or purchased of the different proprietors whose ground the proposed line of road intersected in its course. To obtain the most easy and regular descent, this line was varied in its direction to meet the inequalities of the ground; or, where these inequalities were inconsiderable, it was carried straight forward, and the regular slope made up by embankments and cutting. The ground being then smoothed and levelled as for an ordinary road, large logs of wood, termed sleepers, cut in lengths equal to the breadth of the road, were laid across it, and firmly bedded into it at short distances, to sustain and hold fast the rails, or slips of wood, on which the waggon-wheels were intended to run. These rails were made of beech, and were laid end to end, so as to form two continued lines of rail or wooden ridges, running parallel to each other, along each side of the road, crossing the large logs at each of their extremities, on which they rested as on so many foundations; and were also nailed, or otherwise secured, to keep each piece in its proper place. The waggons were of the usual construction, but of a large size, so as to contain several tons of coals, and set upon low wheels; the smoothness of the way rendering wheels of the ordinary size unnecessary. On these rails a single horse could readily draw three tons of coals from the pits to the river. Where any steep declivity occurred on the road, this was termed a run, or an inclined plane; and on it the descent of the waggons was retarded, and regulated by a species of brake, or crooked lever, termed a convoy, attached to the waggon and managed by the driver. The banks of the Tyne, near Newcastle, are remarkably steep on each side; but instead of forming inclined planes on them, the railway was here continued on a wooden stage, raised to the same height as the top bank of the river, and carried forward until it came perpendicularly over the river side, where a wooden platform, termed a staith, was erected for the convenience of delivering the coals; the waggons being emptied into a trough, or spout,
down which the coals descended either directly into the ships, or into the store below.
Railway. Such was the construction of the original railways, in which we evidently perceive all the parts and members of the railway as it is formed at the present day; viz. the regular formed road, the rails, the sleepers, the low waggons, and the inclined plane. Their only defect consisted in the soft and decaying nature of the wood, the wear and tear of which caused such expence for repairs, as greatly limited their application; so that it was only the shortness of the distance, and the great extent of the traffic, which rendered their application at all beneficial. It was only about the year 1738 that they were attempted in the collieries of Whitehaven; and it does not appear that they were adopted in any other part of the kingdom. The use of iron, therefore, in place of wood, was an essential improvement in the construction of railways, and caused, indeed, a complete change in this, as it has done in every other branch of practical mechanics into which it has been introduced. Flat bars of iron were at first fastened on the top of the wooden rails; but after various unsuccessful attempts, the rails themselves were at last wholly composed of iron, cast in short bars, united at their extremities, and resting on sleepers, or square blocks of stone, disposed at short distances along each side of the road; and this construction having been once fairly reduced to practice, was not only adopted universally in place of wood, but soon led to new and more extensive applications. Iron railways were quickly introduced into all the coal and mining districts of the kingdom. They were employed on canals, in place of locks, to raise the barges on an inclined plane from a lower to a higher level; in some instances they were adopted in preference to the canal itself; and, on the whole, they now form an important auxiliary to inland navigation, pushing the channels of trade and intercourse into districts otherwise inaccessible, and even into the interior of the mines.
The railways in Britain are so numerous, that it would exceed our limits to specify the particular lines. In the Newcastle coal district, on the river Wear, in the coal and mining districts of Yorkshire and Lancashire, as well as of Derbyshire and Staffordshire, there are numerous railways branching off from the navigable rivers and canals to the different mines. In Shropshire also, and in the great mining districts along the vale of the Severn, the use of railways is very general, and it was here that the inclined plane was first brought in aid of inland navigation. In Surrey, there is a railway of a considerable extent, termed the Surrey Railway, and this presents one of the few attempts that have been made to form public railways for general use. In the great mining districts on the west of the Severn, including South Wales, the rail or tram roads are very numerous; and here, owing to the steepness and impracticable nature of the ground, they have been of essential utility in supplying the place of canals. In the year 1791, there was scarcely a single railway in all South Wales, and in 1811, the completed railroads connected with canals, collieries, iron, and copper-works in the counties of Monmouth, Glamorgan, and Caer-
~ Railway. marthen, amounted to nearly 150 miles in length, exclusive of a great extent within the mines themselves; of which one company in Merthyr-Tydvil possessed 30 miles under ground. In Monmouthshire, the Sirhoway railway forms one of the first in point of magnitude which has hitherto been constructed. It extends from Pilgwelly, near Newport, to the Sirhoway and Tredgar iron-works, distant 23 miles, whence it is continued five miles farther to the Trevil lime-works, in Brecknockshire, along with a branch to the west, to the Rumney and Union Iron-works. This railway was made by the Monmouthshire Canal Company, under the authority of an act of Parliament. From Sirhoway, a branch proceeds eastwards to the Ebbwy works, and from thence down the course of the Ebbwy to Crumlin Bridge, whence it joins the canal from Newport; and from Sirhoway again, the Brinare railway is continued over the Black Mountain to the vale of the Uske at Brecon, and from thence to Hay on the river Wye. In Glamorganshire, the principal railways are the Cardiff and Merthyr-Tydvil, the Aberdare, and the Swansea railways. In Caermarthen-shire, the principal railway is that which extends from Caermarthen to the lime-works near Llandebie, a distance of 15 miles.
From this account of the chief railways in England and Wales, it will appear that this species of inland carriage is principally applicable where trade is considerable and the length of conveyance short; and is chiefly useful, therefore, in transporting the mineral produce of the kingdom from the mines to the nearest land or water communication, whether sea, river, or canal. Attempts have been made to bring it into more general use, but without success; and it is only in particular circumstances that navigation, with the aid either of locks or inclined planes to surmount the elevations, will not present a more convenient medium for an extended trade. South Wales, however, presents an example, where the trade being great, and also chiefly descending, the country rugged, and the supply of water scanty, railways have been adopted with complete success; and have been found in some cases at least equal to canals in point of economy and dispatch. The Surrey railway, not having these advantages, has scarcely answered the expectations of its projectors, more especially the southern line from Croydon to Gadstone. It was at one time proposed to continue this railway to Portsmouth, but the plan was abandoned.
In Scotland there are various railways proceeding from the different mines throughout the kingdom. The principal one in point of magnitude is the Duke of Portland's railway, extending from the town of Kilmarnock to the harbour of Troon, a distance of nearly ten miles. Its chief object is the export of coal and lime, in which articles a great trade is carried on by means of the railway. In the coal and mining districts round Glasgow, there are numerous smaller railways, and also in the coal fields of Mid Lothian and Fife. Plans have been proposed for a public railway from Edinburgh to the different coal-works in the neighbourhood. An extensive railway was also at one time projected from Glasgow to
Berwick-upon-Tweed, but none of those schemes have been carried into effect. ~ Railway.
The original wooden railways already mentioned are the model on which all the succeeding ones have been formed, and of which we shall now describe shortly the construction. In regard to the road itself, this should, in the first place, be formed in such a direction, and with such a declivity as may best suit the nature of the ground through which it passes, and of the trade to be carried on upon it. If the trade, for example, be all or chiefly in one direction, the road should obviously decline that way, so that the waggons, with their contents, may descend on this inclined plane as much as possible by their own gravity. The inclination should also be proportioned to the extent of the trade up the railway, so that the draught each way may be equal. If the exports and imports, therefore, be equal, the road should be on a level; and where the ground will not permit that declivity or level best suited to the trade, the line should be varied, and the inequalities made up, if it can be done at a moderate expence, so as to bring it as near as possible to the proper standard. If the inequalities are such as to render this impracticable, the only resource lies in inclined planes. Where the difference of level, for example, between the two extremities of the road is such as would render an equal declivity too steep, the road must then be carried, either on a level or with the due degree of slope, as far as practicable, and then lowered by an inclined plane; on which the waggons are let gently down by means of a brake, are dragged up by means of an additional power to that which draws them along the road, or at once let down and drawn up by means of a roller or pulley, the heavier preponderating over the lighter. In laying out a line of railway, therefore, as every situation presents peculiar circumstances, no general rule can be laid down, and the plan must be left to the skill and judgment of the engineer.
The line of railway being fixed on, the road is then properly formed, and of such a width as will be sufficient for containing the opposite rails, and for forming a foot-path on one side. The distance between the opposite rails varies from three feet to four and one half feet; some preferring a long and narrow waggon, and others a broad short one. Hence a breadth of from nine to twelve feet will be sufficient for a single road, and from fifteen to twenty for a double one. The next operation is the setting and firm bedding of the stone sleepers. These consist of solid blocks of stone, each of the weight of one or two cwt. Their shape is immaterial, provided their base be broad, and their upper surface present an even and solid basis for the rail. They are placed along each side of the road, about three feet distant from each other from centre to centre; the opposite ones being separated by the width between the opposite rails. The ground under them is beat down to form a firm foundation, or, if it be of a soft nature, is first laid with a coat of gravel or small metal, and this beaten under the stones; the situation of each stone being properly gauged both as to its distance from the adjoining ones, and as to the level or declivity of its upper surface, on which the rails are in-
Railway. tended to rest. The space between the sleepers is then filled up with gravel, metal, or other road materials, such as may consolidate into a hard and firm mass.
The next object is the construction of the iron rails; and on this point two very different plans have been adopted, each of which has its advocates, and is practised to a great extent. The one is termed the flat rail, or tram plate; the rails being laid on their side, and the waggon-wheels travelling over their broad and flat surface. The other is termed the edge rail; the rails being laid edgewise, and the wheels rolling on their upper surfaces. The flat rail, or tram plate, consists of a plate of cast-iron, about three feet long, from three to five inches broad, and from half an inch to an inch thick; extending from sleeper to sleeper, and having a flange turn up or crest on the inside, from two and a half to four inches high. This rail bears on the sleepers at each end at least three inches, where the rails are cast about half an inch thicker than in the middle. As there is no intermediate bearing for the rail between the sleepers, except the surface of the road, the use of the flange is not merely to prevent the waggon from being drawn off the road; it resists the transverse strain arising from the weight of the waggon; on this account it is often, and with great propriety, raised higher in the middle than at the sides, forming an arch of a circle; and, to strengthen the rail still farther, a similar flange, arched inversely, is added below, as represented in Plate CXV. figs. 1, 2, 3. The weight of each rail is from forty to fifty pounds. To unite these rails into one continued line, they are merely laid to each other, end to end, all along each side of the road; being kept in their places, and at the same time made fast to the sleepers, by an iron spike driven through the extremity of each rail into a plug of oak fitted into a hole in the centre of each sleeper. This spike is about six inches long; it has no head, but the upper end of it forms an oblong square, about one inch broad, half an inch thick; and the hole in the rails, through which it passes, is formed by a rectangular notch, half an inch square, in the middle of the extremity of each rail; the opposite notches of each rail forming, when laid together, the complete oblong square of one inch by half an inch, and slightly dovetailed from top to bottom, so as to fit exactly the tapering head of the spike, which is driven clear below the upper surface of the rail. Plate CXV. fig. 4, represents a section of a rail, with its sleeper and fastening. Wherever the rails cross any road, the space between them and on each side must be paved or causewayed to the level of the top of the flanges, that the carriages on the road may be enabled to pass clear over the rails. In single railways it is necessary to have places at certain intervals where the empty waggons, in returning, may get off the road to allow the loaded ones to pass. A place of this kind is termed a turn-out; and the waggons are directed into it by a moveable rail termed a pointer, fixed at the intersection between the principal rail and the turn-out, and turning on its extremity, so as to open the way into the turn-out, and shut that along the road. This contrivance is also used whenever one line of railway crosses an-
other. It is represented at Plate CXV. fig. 5, where, also, fig. 6 is a plan of the railway and of the turn-out. Railway.
The tram roads have been universally adopted in Wales, where they are preferred to any other species. They are also used in most parts of England. The Surrey railway is of this description, and was designed by Mr Jessop. In Scotland the Duke of Portland's railway, which, we believe, was planned by the same engineer, is of the same kind, and the rails nearly of the same dimensions. These flat railways have one advantage, in admitting waggons or carts of the ordinary construction, and this is particularly exemplified in the Troon railway. According to an account with which we have been favoured by Mr Wilson of Troon, "there are several kinds of waggons used upon the railway under certain restrictions; such as four-wheeled waggons with flat bottom and low shelms for carrying stone, limestone, grain, timber, slates, &c. from the harbour to Kilmarnock, the mills," &c. "The common make of a cart is allowed to use the railway if the wheels are cylindrical, and there be no greater load on each pair than 28 cwt. A great deal is done with these carts in carrying timber, barks, grain, &c., as, with the same cart, they can carry these articles into and through the streets of the town."
The other railways in Scotland, however, are chiefly of the edge kind. In the principal collieries of the north of England, also, the flat rail has been almost entirely superseded by the edge rails, and the latter are now generally admitted to be decidedly superior in the ease of draught which they occasion; the edge of the bar presenting less friction, and being less liable to clog up with dust and mud, or to be obstructed with stones driven off the road upon the surface of the rails. The edge rail consists merely of a rectangular bar of cast-iron, three feet long, three or four inches broad, and from one-half inch to one inch thick; set in its edge between sleeper and sleeper, and bearing on the sleepers at its extremities. The upper side of the rail is flanged out to present a broader bearing surface for the wheels, and the under side is also cast thicker than the middle, for the sake of strength. But the greatest strength is evidently attained by casting the rail not rectangular, but deeper in the middle than at the ends, to resist better the transverse strain. The ends may be safely reduced nearly to one-third of the depth in the middle, and still be equally strong. To unite the rails together, and at the same time preserve them in their places, and in their upright position, and to bind them also to the sleepers, they are set in a cast-iron socket or chair, which is attached firmly to the sleeper. This socket embracing the extremities of the adjacent rails, which are here made to overlap a little; a pin is driven at once through the rails and through the socket, and binds the whole together. This is the general method of uniting the edge rails, but the shape and dimensions of the metal chair and of the overlap of the rails are varied according to the judgment and taste of the engineer. Plate CXV. fig. 7, represents a section of an edge railway with the sleepers and waggons, &c.;
Railway. and figs. 8, 9, 10, is an enlarged section of a rail and sleepers with a plan. Since edge railways have come into more general use, an essential improvement has been made in their construction by the use of malleable iron, in place of cast-iron, in forming the rails. The advantage of malleable iron rails is, that they are less subject to breakage than cast-iron; a circumstance of importance in this case, where it is not easy to avoid those jolts and sudden shocks which cast-iron is least of all capable of withstanding, and though they should happen to give way, they are easily repaired. They can also be laid in greater lengths, and requiring therefore fewer joints; they can be bent with ease to the curvature of the road; when worn out they are of greater value; and lastly, their first cost is very little, if at all, greater than that of cast-iron rails. Malleable iron is, no doubt, less able to withstand exposure, decaying more readily under the influence of air and moisture; but hitherto this inconvenience has not been felt, and, on the whole, the malleable iron is now decidedly preferred. These rails are laid and joined in the same manner as the cast-iron, only in greater lengths. Malleable iron, we believe, was first introduced in railways by Mr George Grieve, at Sir John Hope's collieries, near Edinburgh, where it was first tried on the lighter work which is done under ground. The rails consisted of square bars one inch or one and one-fourth inch square, nine feet long, resting on one or two sleepers in the middle, and resting and made fast to sleepers at the extremities; a simple knee being formed on each end of the bar, and the two knees of each two adjacent rails jammed into one socket in the sleeper. The use of these rails was found so beneficial, that they have since entirely superseded the flat cast-iron rail in general use at the time of their invention. For heavier loads the rails are made deeper. We have been favoured with the following account of their construction by an engineer (Mr Neilson of Glasgow) who has formed several of the kind.
"One of them is on the property of the Earl of Glasgow, commencing at the Hurlet extensive coal and lime-works, and extending to the Paisley canal, a distance of about two miles. It is formed of flat bar iron two and one-fourth inches deep, by nearly three-fourths of an inch thick, and the rail in lengths of nine feet, each rail being supported at every three feet by a sleeper and cast-iron chair. The joinings are formed by a cast-iron dovetailed socket suited to receive the jointed ends of the bar, and a dovetailed glut or key, by which means the several rails are joined as if into one continued bar."
An improvement has lately been made in the construction of malleable iron rails, which promises to be of essential utility. It consists in the use of bars, not rectangular, but of a wedge form, or swelled out on the upper edge. In the rectangular bar there is evidently a waste of metal on the under surface, which, not requiring to be of the same thickness as where the waggon-wheel is to roll, may be evidently reduced with advantage, if it can be done easily. The bar may then be made deeper, and broader at the top than before, so as with the same quantity of metal to be equally strong, and present a much
broader bearing surface for the wheel. This has been accomplished by Mr Birkinshaw of the Bedlington Iron-works, who has obtained a patent for these broad topped rails. The peculiar shape is given them in the rolling of the metal, by means of grooves cut in the rollers, corresponding with the requisite breadth, and depth, and curvature of the proposed rail. Mr B. recommends his rails to be of 18 feet in length. We have seen one of these patent rails at Sir John Hope's colliery; and it certainly forms the most perfect iron rail which has hitherto been contrived; combining very simply and ingeniously in its form the qualities of lightness, strength, and durability. It is twelve feet long, two inches broad along the top, about half an inch along the bottom, and still thinner between. It rests on sleepers at every three feet, and at those places the rail is two inches deep, while in the middle point between the sleepers it is three inches deep. Fig. 11 is a longitudinal section of this rail, and figs. 12 and 13 are transverse sections at the sleepers, and at the middle point between each sleeper. All these inequalities, we believe, are produced on the metal by means of the rollers; and this circumstance is well deserving of attention, as it may obviously be applied not merely to the formation of railways, but to a variety of other purposes in the arts. The moulding and shaping of the metal in this manner is quite a new attempt in the iron manufacture, and it is not easy to say how far such an invention may yet be carried by the skill of British artists.
The waggons used on railways are of various sizes, Waggons but of nearly the same general shape, and all set on used on four wheels from two to three feet diameter. They Railways. are made to carry from 20 to 50 cwt. exclusive of the waggon itself, which weighs from 12 to 15 cwt. The axles of the fore and hind wheels are fixed three feet asunder or more, so that the rail is never loaded with more than one-fourth of the waggon at once. According to Mr Wilson, "The size of the coal waggons of Kilmarnock colliery are, on an average, mean length 80 inches, mean breadth 45 inches, and depth 30 inches. Each contains 40 bushels, equal to 32 cwt. of fine coal, and 35 cwt. of blind or malt-ing coal. The weight of the waggon, exclusive of the coal, is 13 cwt. Each waggon, including two pair of wheels and axles, costs from about L. 13 to L. 15, and are mostly lined with sheet iron." In Sir John Hope's railway the waggons are also nearly of the above dimensions. In the Sirhoway railway each waggon carries two and one-half tons.
In regard to the expence of constructing a rail-way, this will depend greatly on the ease or difficulty to be met with in forming the road, and making up the inequalities to the required slope. The above railway described by Mr Neilson cost only L. 660 per mile; but where there are considerable embankments to form, bridges to build, and deep cuttings, the expence may rise to L. 4000 and L. 5000 per mile. The usual rate of tonnage on coals, &c. conveyed on railways is 2d. per ton per mile.
An important consideration regards the work Comparative done, or capable of being performed on a railway. ease of Draught. On this point, however, the accounts from different railways are various; the performance depending on
1/2 wide
Railway. many circumstances little attended to in the general estimate of work; such as the quality of the horses, the state of the road, the greater or less declivity of the rails, and various other circumstances. More exact observations or experiments are therefore wanting to form correct notions on this subject; but in the mean time, we shall state such facts as have been noticed by different observers. The most exact experiments were made by Joseph Wilkes, Esq. of Measham in Derbyshire. The result is, that one horse, value £20, on a railway declining at the rate of one foot perpendicular to 115 in the length of the road, "drew 21 carriages or waggons, laden with coals and timber, amounting in the whole to 35 tons, overcoming the vis inertiae repeatedly with great ease." This performance appears, no doubt, enormous; but was evidently owing not so much to the diminution of friction by the railway as to the great declivity; circumstances whose effect must be distinguished in order to obtain any general rule for future works. It is well known that, on any inclined road or plane, every carriage has a tendency to descend of itself, and with a force in proportion to its own weight, exactly as the height of the plane is to its length. In the above example, therefore, the carriages, independent of any external force of traction, would have been urged by their own gravity with a force of 115th of their weight, and equal, therefore, to 680 lbs. But as it will not be too low an estimate to assume 150 lbs. as the working draught of a horse, hence the waggons would descend by their mere weight as if they had been dragged on a level way by at least four horses. If, then, to this 680 lbs. we add 150 for the action of the horse, the sum, or 830 lbs. will be equal to the power necessary to overcome the friction and inertia of these waggons, and which appears by division to amount to th of their whole weight; so that, if the railway had been level, the horse would only have drawn th tons. Carriages on an ordinary road require th or th of their actual weight to draw them along; so that, on a railway, the ease of draught is six times greater than on a common road. The same horse, Mr Wilkes observes, drew up the acclivity five tons with ease. Here the weight of the waggon, or its 115th part, would act against the horse, which would not only have to overcome their friction and inertia, but to drag also this additional load upwards. But of 5 tons = 216 lbs., the force of traction, which was evidently a strained effort. The same horse drew three tons up an acclivity of 1 in 20. Here of 3 tons, = 407 lbs., a power of traction which few horses could exert, and none could sustain for any length of time. The other experiments of Mr Wilkes agree nearly with the above. Mr Outram, Engineer, observes, that, with a declivity of 1 in 108, the waggons will almost descend of themselves, so that the horse has only to pull a little at his load. This would make the friction and inertia nearly th of the weight, and the draught of a horse nearly th tons. Mr Telford observes, that in a railway, with a declivity of 1 in 98, a horse will readily take down waggons containing from 12 to 15 tons, and bring back the same with
four tons in them. The total load, in the first case, would be about 18 tons, and in the second 8 tons. Here the waggons being urged with th of their weight; this makes the friction and inertia equal to th of the weight, and the draught of a horse on a level way only th tons. In the Troon railway, the declivity is about 1 in 660; and, according to Mr Wilson's account, some horses take down two and some three waggons each, containing 33 cwt. of coal, and weighing itself 13 cwt., travelling at the rate of three miles an hour. The total load here may be averaged at 115 cwt.; and, the waggons being used with th of their weight, this makes the friction and inertia th of the weight, very nearly equal to the last. We have been favoured by Mr Grieve with the following particulars regarding Sir John Hope's railway, which is of the edge kind. It is on a level; and one horse draws five loaded waggons, each containing 30 cwt. of coals, and weighing, unloaded, 12 cwt. equal in all to 210 cwt. or 10 tons; travelling at the rate of four miles an hour, deducting stoppages. This makes the friction 150th of the load. This performance is beyond any that we have yet stated, and shows decidedly the ease of draught of the edge rail. Previous to the formation of this railway, it required eight horses for the work which is now done with one. On the whole, then, it may be concluded, that on a level tram road, making allowance for the weight of the waggon, one horse will be required for every four tons of coals, or other articles conveyed; and on an edge railway, one horse will be required for every seven tons. On an ordinary canal, one horse, with a boat, will be sufficient for every 30 tons. But the first cost of a canal is three or four times greater than that of a railway; so that, in some cases, it may become a question, whether a railway might not be adopted with advantage.
On some of the railways near Newcastle, the waggons are drawn by means of a steam-engine working in a waggon by itself, the wheels of which are driven by the engine, and acting on a rack laid along the railway, impel forward both the engine and the attached waggons: in some cases the wheels of the waggon operate without rail work, by the mere friction between them and the railway. The steam-engines employed for this purpose are of the high pressure kind; these requiring no condensing apparatus. But this application of steam has not yet arrived at such perfection as to have brought it into general use. (R. R. R.)