i^ \<^A ^- V. ^o..\^^^.^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 7 // V C?. .^ *^^. ^'' :/- f/, fc ^ 1.0 I.I 11.25 1^128 Hi IS4 US 2.5 1^ 20 1.8 U 1 1.6 ^. 7] ^;. > '^:> ^>' '/ M u:\''^ .- .'^ % ^^ <^ J CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical Notes / Notes techniques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available v ^r filming. Physical features of this copy which may alter any of the Images in the reproduction are checked below. L'Institut a microfilm^ le mellleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Certains d6fauts susceptibles de nuire d la quality de la reproduction sent not6s ci-dessous. Q Coloured covers/ Couvertures de couleur n Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur D D Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqudes Tight binding (may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin)/ Reliure serr6 (peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intdrieure) n D Coloured plates/ Planches en couleur Show through/ Transparence Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes D Additional comments/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires Bibliographic Notes / Notes bibliographiques n Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Bound with other material/ Relid avec d'autres documents Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque D D D Pagination incorrect/ Erreurs de pagination Pages missing/ Des pages manquent Maps missing/ Des cartes gdographiques manquent D Plates missing/ Des planches manquent D Additional comments/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet6 de I'exemplaire filmd, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —►(meaning CONTINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaltra sur la der- nidre image de cheque microfiche, selon '« cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols y signifie "FIN". The original copy was borrowed from, and filmed with, the kind consent of the following institution: Library of the Public Archives of Canada Maps or plates too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grdce A la g6n6rosit6 de l'6tablissement prdteur suivant : La bibliothdque des Archives publiques du Canada Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre reproduites en un seul clich6 sont film6es d partir de Tangle supdrieure gauche, de gauche A droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la m6thode : 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 6 6 A r ^. •i: iS«^-^J iNEW SYSTEM OF WOODEN RAIL, ve '■■f JOHN FOSTER Civil Enoinbbr. r . " : : :J\ •%■ '■_ 6- ::^-- ry^ -• Jk- ■fittk NEW SYSTEM OF WOODEN KAIL. The great commercial question which occupies the public attention at the present moment, is the mode of developing those immense districts in Canada at present without cultivation, and although many of these enormous tracts are not very distant, still they are beyond reach. Take as an example the country north of the city of Montreal, where it has been lately shewn that tens of thousands of acres of wood and unculti- vated land lie waiting occupation. The few settlers who have advanced into these districts have made but very little progress, the cost in time and labor of clearing the land has met with no suitable return, and their prospects at present are any thing but encouraging. And why is this ? From the simple fact that the colonisation or occu- pation of a country generally begins at the wrong end. In a perfectly un- populated state necessarily a few must commence, and make the best pro- gress they can by their own unassisted labor, but where an immense success has already been realized as in this country, a more logical and practical system ought to be organized and acted upon. This can only be done by establishing, he/ore occupation, a good means of communication with the consumers of whatever the country will produce ; so that from the commencement a re' -n may be met with for the labor and capital expended. It is viz< 3 and wasteful to cut down timber, which can only be got rid of by being burnt, and that to clear land for agricultural purposes the produce of which cannot be got to market. Instead therefore of colonising first and making your roads many years afterwards, make your roads first, although they may end in the middle of a desert, and then proceed with certainty to a successful colonisation. Take any map of any new country, and you will find the banks of the rivers to be invariably the first points occupied, and this without reference to any other considera- tion than the facility of communication. The kind of road however now universally acknowledged and accepted as the most convenient and prac- i ^-f ticnWo is n roilroad, and pnrticularly in countries where water carriage is for a coriHidorablo {.ortion of the year impossible. The description of rail- road will he considered later. But how are railways to be constructed into regio.18 where you have neither population nor production ? The necessary c"pital for making the lines can only be raised with a fair prospe>it of their becoming fair commercial specuhitions. No one is philantbropic or patriotic enough to make a railway " pour la gloire." I am quite aware that in a great many districts railway communicsition is waited for, where the elements of population and production already exist, but which require greater facilities of ^^ exit " for advancement and prosper.i+v ; bo much the better as in such instances the financial diffi- culties of construction will necessarily be less. At the outset the question asked is, what will the government do ? and no doubt the government and the provinces will make every effort to advance this spread of certain improvement, and subventions in the shape of money may be under particular circumstances granted, but mate- rial and important aid in the shape of cash cannot be expected from either of those quarters, or they might just as well make the lines themselves. Can they therefore give anything else which will offer a sufficient inducement to the public to find the money for these things ? My opinion is they can, by a fair and well-arranged partnership in the sale of lands. I say partnership as distinct from the system adopted in the States on some of their lines, of giving to the company alternate lots of land and reserving the intermediate ones. This partnership, however, would merely extend tc a simple division of the net proceeds of the sale of lands, the whole control and direction of which would naturally and fairly belong to the company, who find the money for the speculntion, and who would have the right to sell, upon whatever terms and conditions it pleased, being only answerable to the Government or Province for an honest division of the net proceeds realized. The company would also have the right of appropriating sufficient land for the " assiette " of the line and stations, and the right also to all timber required for its construction. The moment the company com- mence the sale of either timber or land, then the Government would enter into and participate to the extent of one-half of the net amount of all receipts from sales. The line itself would remain the property of the company, with all the benefits and charges incident to its exploita- tion, and should in no way be mixed up with the lumber and land sales. In this way it would matter very little whether one, two or five miles on each side of the line was granted, as success would immediately suggest branches and extensions which would always prove as advanta- geous to the Governracnt or Province, that is the public, as the corn- pany. In fact, upon this system of partnership with the State, any amount of land would be wisely and profitably disposed of, which would induce the public to construct the line, and at the same time the emi- grant would find the quickest and safest investment for his means and industry. The man who had only a hatchet and cut down a tree, would find a market open to him for the sale of it. The question of emigration is at the present moment occupying the attention of some of the most practical men in England, but the great stumbling block to most of those in the old country, having a little means, is the dread of getting separated from civilization and spending their little capital in a district where the produce must be consumed or wasted. The impression of this class of emigrants is that in these back woods they are foi ^ver shut out fiom all communication with the world ; and those mere laborers who don't think anything about it, nevertheless when they are there only seek the means or opportunity of escaping from it. Prepare the way of communication, and you change all this. The emigrant would seek what he now flies from, and every class of the com- munity would benefit by the introduction of these lines of vitality into the heart of the country. But now comes the question as to how these lines are to b§ made, that is, upon what plan, so as to be sufficient for their purpose and cheap in their construction. Opinions on this point are at variance ; some advo- cate the construction of substantial lines with iron rails as being in the end more economical and advantageous, others go into the other extreme and propose simple wooden lines, which undoubtedly can be constructed exceedingly cheap, but which require constant repairs, constant super- vision^ and withal are most prolific in accident and delays, which two words, without reference at all to the danger connecting with them, necessarily imply heavy and continued expense. The question so presented led me to consider the feasibility of con- structing a wooden pernianent way on a more substantial systen than any hitherto adopted, at the same time that the great question o, eco- nomy should be considered paramount. If capital was abundant and shareholders would wait a generation for returns, the expensive system of iron rails might receive consideration, but in my opinion it ought never to be adopted, as nothing can justify the expenditure of a capital at the pre- sent moment in the construction of a railway fit for an old and developed country, requiring great speed and having a large goods traffic, to be used simply for the conveyance of timber or produce or people, who require above all things cheap transport at a very limited velocity. These can -'B^^^' 6 bo given by a well-constructed wooden railway, aflfbrding all the security and usefulness which the emigrant could demand for the development of his resources, an early return of interest to the constructing shareholders, and a lino free from the objections made as to the short durability and constant want of repairs which all wooden lines as at present constructed are subject to. I will endeavor to give a description of the construc- tion and cost per yard run of the road which I propose both as an economical and efficient system for colonizing railways. About twenty years ago, I was engaged in England in making some experiments with wooden wheels, the tyre or periphery of the wheel I mean being made of wood; the segments composing the wheel were arranged in a cast iron nave with the grain endings, as shewn in the accompanying sketch A. A. — the segments being supported laterally by a hoop of iron on either side near the periphery. These wheels ran many hundred miles without apparent wear, but when the brake came to be applied, and the wheel had to slide down an incline for a mile or two on one point of its ciroum- ferenoe, a flat place became inevitable and the wheel was rendered use- less. Permanent wooden rails never entered the heads of people when iron was so cheap and capital abundant, but after considering the ques- tion since my arrival in this country, I believe a rail with most sub- stantial and durable qualities may be made upon this principle, as the only single cause of destruction to the wheel, namely great unequal pres- sure as in the case referred to, cannot exist upon a rail. ■'^- ■'.\'"r ■=•'*• fW^W The annexed sketch Fig. 1 represents across section of the rail proposed, Fig. 2 an elevation of the same ; the outside longitudinal pieces, are Pig. 1. <- -^^ Fip. 2. > iiiiiiiiiihiiiiiiiiii|iiiiiiiaijiiiiiiiiiii|iiiiiiiiiiAii fm[m)jiiiii^ >•••»••« •«!.» a. a. represent the blocks in both sketches, the Section Fig, 1, being to a much larger scale, of red pine, the upright blocks a a, are of any hard wood arranged with the grain endways, and are adjusted and secured firmly between the lon- gitudinals by iron bolts and wooden pins ; each end of these longitudinals rests on a cross tie, which serves to support the joints and preserve the guage of the line. Every piece of wood is arranged in the manner most »♦ '!f ■ !'■ 8 advantageous to resist the strain that comes upon it, and the whole scheme I think becomes clear by these few words of explanation and the Bketohes accompanying them. The cost, however, is a matter of great interest ; what is this going to cost per lineal yard delivered on the line of railway in say 21 foot lengths ready for laying down ? The cost of labour and preparation will in all situations be practically the same, as nearly the whole will be done by machinery of the cheapest and simplest contrivance ; the cost of the iron work I have based upon the cost in England, the transport out, adding 25 per cent for duty and contingen- cies ; it ought to be made in this country for less money. The dimensions marked on the parts are those which I consider necessary for a line suitable for locomotives of 12 and 14 tons on six wheels, at a speed of 16 miles an hour. The cost of preparation and iron work being quantities which can be fixed, the value of the timber must be assumed, as that will depend upon locality, and I have supposed that the red pine can be cut and sawn into longitudinal rectangular pieces at 18 cents per cubic foot, and the hard wood into 3^ planks at 25 cents per cubic foot. With these materials, I arrive at the following conclu- sions : Cost of one complete length ofl yards or 21 feet of permanent way. -4r Red pine — 22 cubic feet at 18 cents , $3.96 -s^ Hardwood — 8 cubic feet at 25 cents 2.00 i^^^ j^^^j^^ »/;;yyro ught i r og-bolta— 28 tea »t-5 cents 1.40 y t^ 24 wooden pins at 2 cents . 48 Labour in preparing blocks, grooving longitudinals, assembling, wedging and bolting the same together, and shaping and finishing the upper surface of the two rails under a circular plane at 63 cents per rail 1.26 Superintendence and machinery 0. 63 "/t^ 1 cross tie at joint 0.26 $9.98 Say 10.00 25 per cent, contractor's profit and contingencies 2 . 60 For seven yards $12.60 or $1 . 80 per yard. N^ I would here remark upon the great applicability of this system to a line carried on trussels, and although there is the objection that the piles supporting this system are subject to decay, still there are many examples of colossal viaducts and other works entirely constructed of wood, and which after twenty years service are still in a good state of prejcrvation, and carrying a traffic with engines of 30 tons weight. I therefore think it worth while to call attention to the pile system in oonncotion with tho rail proposed. The addition would merely bo the trussel work necessary for carrying the road, as tho road, that is the rail, would re<^iuire no further bracing beyond the diagonals which would be wanted to steady the line longitudinally. The following is my estimate of the road com- plete, including rails, timber supports, and fixing, ready for traffic on thid trussel system : For a line with rail raised 6 feet high $5.36 per yard. «« " 10 '« 9,00 " " " 16 '« 12.28 » I consider the average height of 5 feet for tho rail to be abundantly sufficient for forming an estimate for a line in this country, which is ' equal to an embankment containing 13 cubic yards per yard run ; the * 10 and 15 feet heights would only be required for short lengths, and on the other hard for considerable distances the rail would be laid on the natural level of the soil, or at least only raised some 18 inches to admit of ditches and drainage, any thing above 18 inches to be carried on timber, as of course the idea is only to use timber where embankments would exist. No line with rails of the same permanent description could be made according to my experience at any thing like this price. Tho cost of the timber, which is of course tho principal element of expense in tho trussel system, I have calculated as before at 18 cents the cubic foot, as squared from the saw. Any considerable variation from this would necessarily diminish or increase the cost. Many engineers have, however, a great objection to roads on timber framing ; to these I submit that the wooden rail proposed will enable them to construct a line at a very moderate cost, and on a durable and substantial system. ^ Montreal, Feb. 17th, 1869. *• ' ,- — ■/■ ' /y ir^/i ivu t^x--_> ^ A^ /^tu^ij // ^« » , / ^^ ^ii_ \\ •■• <" ^-Z ^/i.L. V ^-tKJl^ y -c ^1. ••.f-