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 (!) 
 
 DESCRIPTION 
 
 Q 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 OF 
 
 THE VARIOUS SYSTE31S OF 
 
 WOODEN RAILWAYS 
 
 IN CONNECTION WITH THE REPORT OF THE SPECIAL 
 COMMITTEE NAMED BY" THE 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 n 
 
 I) 
 
 
 I 
 
 TORONTO LEGISLATURE, 
 
 TO INVESTIGATE AND ENQUIRE INTO 
 
 Their usefulness and cost for Colonization purposes. 
 
 WITH WOODCUTS. 
 
 BY JOHN FOSTER, 0. E. 
 
 'n 
 
 ci) 
 
 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, ST. NICHOLAS STREET. 
 
 1870. 
 
 Price 20 Cents. 
 
 ( 
 
\ 
 
 W( 
 
 IN C 
 
 T( 
 
 Their 
 
 PI 
 
DE?CRirTION 
 
 OF 
 
 I 
 
 THE VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF 
 
 WOODEN RAILWAYS , 
 
 IN CONNECTION WITH THE REPORT OF THE SPECIAL 
 COMMITTEE NAMED BV THE 
 
 TORONTO LEGISLATURE, 
 
 TO INVESTIGATE AND ENQUIRE INTO 
 
 Their usefulness and cost for Colonization purposes. 
 
 WITH WOODCUTS. 
 
 BY JOHN FOSTER, C. E. 
 
 Illonlrcal : 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, ST. NICHOLAS STREET. 
 
 1870. 
 
 Price 20 Cents. 
 
 "9 
 
L 
 
WOODExN RAILWAYS. 
 
 The Select Coramittco appointed hy the Legislative A.<r 
 scinl)ly of Ontario, " to enquire into and report upon the 
 " UHif Illness and cost of Wooden Railways as a means of 
 *■'■ furthering the settlement of the couniri/,^^ concliule.s its 
 examination of that question with the following words : 
 
 " Your Committee are convinced that no more important sub- 
 '* ject has been brought under the consideration of the Legisla- 
 " ture of this Province, than that of Wooden Railways ; and 
 " would earnestly recommend them to your favourable con- 
 «' sideration, as by far the best and cheapest means yet devised 
 " for developing the resources of the country, and securing its 
 " speedy settlement with an industrious and happy population." 
 
 An opinion so deliberately formed and given by a body of 
 representatives, including among their number several mem- 
 bers well qualified to judge of and report upon the advantages 
 of railway communication, must have a strong influence 
 in establishing the usefulness of a principle which, up to 
 the present time, has only been advocated by private indivi- 
 duals, but which a Committee of the Legislature now declares 
 " will tend more than any other means which can be adopted 
 " to the rapid settlement of our wild lands, and so keep 
 " the native population in the country and incite immigration." 
 
 The point left to be examined is, which is the best system 
 to be adopted in order that the public may benefit by the 
 advantages of Cheap Railroads ? On this subject the 
 Committee is silent. I therefore propose to give a des- 
 
 tzizso 
 
cription of and examine into the various systems of Wooden 
 Railroads in operation or jtropoeed, at least as far as I am 
 acqnainted with them. Of the systems in operation, I know 
 but of two, one called jMr. Ilulhcrt's rail, and an invention of 
 my own, but this latter only upon a short experimental length. 
 The system called Mr. Ilulbert's, consists in making the rail 
 of a plain piece of majjle or other hard wood laid horizontally in 
 lengths of 12 or 14 feet, 4 inches wide and 7 inches deep. 
 The ends of these rails butt against each other in a notch cut 
 in the cross- ties, and are secured by means of double or 
 folding wedges, the rail further rests on and is secured in 
 other cross-ties by the same means at suitable distances 
 between the joints . 
 
 J 
 
 
8 
 
 of Wooden 
 'ar as I am 
 ion, I know 
 nvention of 
 iital length, 
 ing tlic rail 
 rizontally in 
 iches deep, 
 a notch cut 
 f double or 
 
 secured in 
 e distances 
 
 \/ 
 
 
 The rail Section Fig. 1. submitted by myself to the Com- 
 mittee, presented the novelty of being constructed with the 
 grain of the wood endways, which system, I maintain, com- 
 bines far greater durability and greater economy in the con- 
 struction of a railroad than any system presenting the wood 
 horizontally to tbe grinding and adhesive action of the 
 driving wheel of a locomotive. The evidence taken by the 
 Committee consisted of a written communication from Mr. 
 Mobei'ly, cngineer-in-eliief of the Northern Railway of Canada, 
 a written opinion from Mr. Moleswortb, C.E., of the Public 
 Works, and the oral evidence of Mr. Tully, also of the Depart- 
 ment of the Public Works. There is one point of the very 
 greatest importance in the evidence given on this question of 
 Wooden Railways, to which I must beg leave to differ in toto, 
 that is with reference to the opinion advanced, that the grading 
 for a wooden line should be made suitable for receiving an 
 iron one at any future period . This appears to me to be des- 
 troying the very base and principle of their own recommen- 
 dation of Wooden Railways, as a desirable and cheap means 
 of opening up new districts . 
 
 The small comparative c . /; of the first establishment 
 of a Wooden Railway places this national necessity within 
 the reach of every really industrious community, but this 
 boon will be very much restricted if the most expensive 
 part of the iron system is to be imposed upon the wooden 
 one. The report of the Committee in reference to this 
 says, "it will be observed," from the estimates of Messrs. 
 Moberly and Molesworth, " that railways of this description 
 can be built for one-third of the cost of the iron road," but 
 this one-third in the estimates of these gentlemen refers only 
 
to the permanent way, and if all other parts of the lino are to 
 bo maintained upon an cfiually expensive scale with an iron one, 
 tho ultimate comjtarativc savin;^ will be very much reduced, as 
 the gradinrr ig the most e.\[)onsive part in the construction of 
 an iron road, and is unnecessary for a wooden one, and i)arti- 
 cularly for a wooden one with the <;rain endways, as will bo 
 shewn further on. I therefore contest tho projiricty of sad- 
 dling a poor district seeking and willing to pay for a cheap rail- 
 road, with the most exjicnsivc item of an iron one, because 
 10 or 35 years hence the country maybe rich enough to 
 abandon wood for iron ; it hardly seems serious that such a 
 contingency should bo j.rovided for by raising this largo 
 additional capital to lay idle for years, when the result 
 may bo that it is not wanted at all, or tho mere attempt 
 to raise such a much larger capital than necessary might pre- 
 vent the railway from being made at all. The more reasonable 
 and commercial course seems to be to provide for the wants of 
 to-day in a suitable manner, and to leave the heavy expenses of 
 the future to be paid for by those who would benefit by them ; 
 nor is there any practical difficulty in the question, as the 
 alteration of grades on lines of railway in operation is of fre- 
 quent occurrence. But beyond and for more important than 
 all this, would be the evil of commencing a system of coloniza- 
 tion lines so expensive that they would not pay : shew them 
 to be a financial success as well as a local convenience, and the 
 country will be covered with these signs of industry, energy and 
 development, but spend too much money in their construction, 
 and the first and the last will not be very distant. It is, how- 
 ever, no doubt, in conse(iuence of this view of wooden railways, 
 that both Mr. Moberly and Mr. ;Molesworth ignore altogether 
 
 
6 
 
 the claim wliich I sot up to greater economy in the construction 
 of a line, in consequence of being able to ascend with the same 
 expense of power, steeper grades than by any other system. I 
 stated that with the wood endways, the adhesion of the wheel of 
 the locomotive was 20 per cent, better than with the wood laid 
 horizontally, or, in other words, that the same locomotive engine 
 would draw one-fifth greater load up an inchne, on a rail with 
 the wood endways, than it would up the same incline on a rail 
 with the wood laid horizontally ; or, it would draw the same 
 load, with the same expenditure of power, up an incline one-fifth 
 steeper, and, in so doing, would save all the difference of 
 expense attending the grading of the steeper incline. A most 
 careful series of experiments has more than confirmed this 
 statement,* and proves beyond a question that, l)y making 
 use of all the advantages which my system presents, I can con- 
 
 • Tho re.'^alt of a careful aeries of experiments gives the following, as 
 the comparative adhesion afiforded by iron and wood : 
 
 Iron ^ 15 
 
 Maple horizontally 28 
 
 " endways 35 
 
 Advantages of wood endivayn over iron 133 per cent. 
 Advantages of wood endways over wood liorizonlally 25 per cent. 
 Some observations made relative to the sufliciency of the wooden pins 
 and flanges at the bottom of the longitudinals in my system caused 
 me to make an experiment with the view of ascertaining what effect 
 would be produced by the direct pressure of the weight of a locomotive 
 weighing 15 tons and having six wheels equally loaded, or 2J tons on 
 each wheel. The hydraulic press used was only made for 10 tons, but 
 we worked it up to 12 tons, and neither in the middle of the block nor 
 when ]>laced on the joint did this weight produce the sliglitest movement 
 or visible impression. This would be eciual to 72 tous upon tbo six 
 wheels. 
 
struct a line cheaper than upon any other plan ; and if all 
 the advantages presented by the wooden system are not worked 
 upon, and the object sought, cheap and substantial railway com • 
 munication, is .- t kept prominently in view, why the less that 
 is said about wooden railways the better, and the whole report 
 of the Committee becomes a misconception, as it is based only 
 on the cost of the permanent way, whereas the consideration 
 of total cost, and not the cost of a part, appears to me the 
 chief object referred to in the instructions to the Committee. 
 The two engineers to whom I have before referred, give their 
 preference to the plain rail, as being simpler and cheaper. 
 Undoubtedly it is both, nor will any one dispute that a straight 
 piece of wood is about as economical as regards first cost 
 and as simple a way ot making a rail as is likely to be dis- 
 covered. But between this and complication there is a wide 
 diiference, and as well might the fish pieces of an iron rail be 
 declared complicated, and the whole system have been 
 rejected because it adds about 3,600 additional pieces to 
 every mile, of which about 2,400 are bolts, and whicli do 
 very frequently get loose from vibration. The whole of my 
 system is of wood and free from that objection, and from the 
 simple way in which the parts are brought and held together, 
 there is not one piece so likely to get loose as the ends of the 
 plain rail, and which liability, from Mr. Hulbert's own evi- 
 dence, it appears he is seeking to rectify. 
 
 Mr. Legge, engineer-in-chief to the proposed Northern 
 Colonisation Railway, visited the Clifton and Lanorae lines 
 for the purpose of forming his opinion on the two systems, 
 and after having inspected them in operation, reported in 
 exactly the same sense on the weak points of the plain rail, 
 
 as 
 woi 
 
 thu 
 
 (I 
 
 syst 
 of 
 
 mg 
 
■ 
 
 as the remedy suggested by Mr. Ilulbert in his evidence, 
 would shew he was perfectly aware of. Mr. Legge reports' 
 thus upon Mr. Hulbert's plan : 
 
 " Two serious objections, in my opinion, exist to the Clifton 
 system of wooden track, and arc as follow : 
 
 " 1st. The rails arc laid longitudinally, exposing the fibre 
 of the timber, in the weakest condition to the traction, caus- 
 ing it to crush or ' broom up.' 
 
 " 2nd. The joints in the rails occurring at short intervals 
 of 12 to 14 feet, without assistance of the chairs or fish 
 plates of the ordinary iron rail, cause an uneven surface to 
 the road. The engines and rolling stock, in passing over the 
 line, at each inequality, impinge on the rails to a greater 
 extent than if they were uniform and continuous, and thus 
 increase the destroying agencies ; while, at the same time 
 acting prejudicially on the rolling stock itself. 
 
 " These two leading objections have been surmounted in 
 the < Foster system.' " * 
 
 To remedy these damaging points Mr. Ilulbert suggests a 
 compound rail to prevent " the wearing at the ends" and 
 to keep " the rails more smooth." It appears, therefore, 
 that, in the opinion of both these practical men, who spoke 
 from observation, the plain rail is not what is rc.iuired 
 to constitute a good wooden road. Mr. Moberly suggested "^i 
 wooden fish plate notched and bolted at each joint," and Mr. 
 Tully proposed " fish plates at the joints, and instead of fasten- 
 ing them with bolts to fasten them with wedges. " The mode 
 
 •Mr. Legge was not called before the Committee, but of the thre 
 gentlemen who were, or who gave evidence, I believe not one of them 
 had ever seen either of the plans in operation. 
 
8 
 
 of carrying out this idea I tlo not exactly understand, although 
 Mr. llulbert replied that the plan had been tried but 
 " found impracticable." I am very much of opinion that any 
 thing like afishpiecc would be perfectly useless in wood. Mr. 
 Mok'sworth approved Mr. llulbcrt's plain rail in all its sim- 
 plicity. INIr. Tully considered the " compound rail of j\Ir. 
 llulbert the cheapest and best." At any rate, according to 
 all the foregoing opinions save one, something better than a 
 simple straiglit rail with butt joints fastened with wedges at 
 the enils has to be provided. 
 
 For reasons which I have before given and which are now 
 further confirmed by additional experiments on adhesion, I 
 believe that the rail with the wood endways will prove the 
 " cheapest and best," nor can the simple way in which each 
 block is secured in its seat upon the notched longitudinals be 
 in any way tortured into a complicated machine ; I have con- 
 setptcntly never referred to other modes of making wooden 
 rails, which I bad first schemed in order to avoid the evils of 
 the plain rail system, either of which may be called compound 
 rails, but which I call "vertical-joint rails." The sketch, fig. 2, 
 shews one of these rails. It is simply the plain rail 4 inches 
 by 7 inches, cat down the middle. This rail is held together 
 witn wooden pins at every two feet, and keys in the sleepers ; 
 between the two pieces of rail I insert a thickness of 
 paper dijipcd in tar or marine glue ; the two rails 
 overlap each other one-half their whole length. In put- 
 ting tlie rails togc'^er I reverse the direction of the 
 fibre by turning one of the pieces end for end, and thus 
 get a mor^ ecjual adhesion for the wheel which ever way the 
 engine may be travelling ; but what is of far greater impor- 
 
 Th 
 
 5 shri 
 
T 
 
 9 
 
 tancl, although 
 )een tried but 
 nion that any 
 in wood. Mr. 
 
 in all its sim- 
 id rail of jNIr. 
 !, according to 
 
 better than a 
 'ith wedges at 
 
 ivhich are now 
 an adhesion, I 
 will prove the 
 
 in which each 
 )ngitudinals be 
 e ; I have con- 
 laking wooden 
 lid the evils of 
 [led compound 
 1 sketch, fig. 2, 
 1 rail 4 inches 
 
 held together 
 1 the sleepers ; 
 
 thickness of 
 ;he two rails 
 igth. In put- 
 oction of the 
 end, and thus 
 L ever way the 
 greater impor- 
 
 taice, I provide against the want of uniformity in strength 
 and soundness which exists in every piece of wood 12 orll 
 
 I-Uj. 2. 
 
 feet long, for by this method two weak points arc hardly ever 
 hkely to come together, and close observation of the plain 
 horizontal system shews that every one of these rails bc'^in to 
 " broom up" at some weak point, which weak point would be 
 enormously strengthened by a.lopting the plan proposed. 
 The way of putting them together so as to secure a close 
 jomt ni the middle may also be well to explain here, altiiouc^h 
 of course the practical man will recpdre no such information. 
 My oi)ject is, however, to make the different systems clear to 
 all who may take any interest in the matter. All timber 
 shrinks (after it is cut into planks) away from the centre of the 
 tree, that is the convex side of the plank is ahvavs next the 
 
II 
 
 10 
 
 heart, thus " a " is a tree we are about to cut into planks, as 
 shewn by the dotted lines ; " h " represents the form each of 
 
 these planks will take if left to dry thoroughly before used, 
 the planks on either side of the centre turning their convex 
 side to the centre, and the centre piece becoming taper at 
 each edge. The timber used in a railway would hardly 
 ever be dry, but the pieces forming the rail would be put 
 together, so that when they do try to change their shape 
 they will be found to be really pressing t'acmselves closer 
 together by the efforts to take this form " c." The wooden 
 
 pins and keys in the sleepers will, however, prevent 
 this deformation, the only result being closer adhesion 
 
to planks, as 
 form each of 
 
 11 
 
 to each other. Another plan of rail is shewn at fi. 3 
 the two side pieces overlap the joint of the middle raiTby 
 half their whole length, and being secured with transverse 
 pins and keys at the cross ties thus afford a continuous 
 rail. Both these systems are without any iron work what- 
 ever. 
 
 ng. 3. 
 
 before used, 
 their convex 
 iug taper at 
 ould hardly 
 ould be put 
 their shape 
 selves closer 
 The wooden 
 
 The compound rail, proposed by Mr. Ilulbert, is repre- 
 sented at fig. 4 ; the bottom piece is 2 inches thick and 4 
 inches wide ; the upper or running rail 5 inches deep and 4 
 inches wide ; the ends of each of them overlap the other by 
 half Its length, the two being bolted together at their ends by 
 vertical wrought iron bolts. Objections were taken before 
 the committee to the bolts being driven down through the 
 f rail, as leaving the tops of them liable to be broken or 
 er, prevent | loosened by the passage of the locomotive, but Mr. Ilulbert 
 er adhesion | considered there was no danger of the top of the bolt bein. 
 
12 
 
 broken off. " It would he driven down hy the loeight of the 
 trains passing over it." 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 At some public meetings opinions adverse to tlie adoption of 
 wooden railways have been expressed, but generally by persons 
 who have had very little knowledge of the subject, and still 
 less experience of the working of any system. Surely wooden 
 railways, which in their most primitive form have rendered 
 good service, are capable of improvement as well as iron ones, 
 it being admitted beyond dispute, and acknowledged by 
 men of position and experience, that they arc most suitable 
 for and peculiarly applicable to the fulfilment of a great want 
 in this country. 
 
 Iron roads are beyond the reach of many districts ; wooden 
 ones, answering all the purposes of iron ones, are within the 
 reach of all, and improvements will take place in their construc- 
 tion as the weak points shew tliemselves. It must, however, 
 
13 
 
 bo borne in mind tl.at in the development of „l,„ost every 
 meel,an.ea nnprovement, tl.ore is an increase in the „„n,I,er of 
 part,, an. sueh e„m„licati„n aa is consequent „,,„n that 
 
 crease -IheattentionanJohject of thei^proveris lo render 
 then,achme more complete and better able to fulfil the pur- 
 poses of the invention, and that which appears complicated to 
 some, ,s reallj, very often only a repetition of parts held in their 
 rcspect,ve positions by the simplest possible means. The 
 breech-loader is a more eomplieated weapon than the old 
 musket; and the spinning-wheel of our grandmothers was a 
 ;2';;-.no than that Which the Whole world now use. 
 
 I believe I have given a fair description of the different 
 systems of wooden railways proposed. It is for those who are 
 about to use them to select that which shall appear, under all 
 
 arcun,stanoes, the most advantageous for colonization pur- 
 poses. ^