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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. ^