LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Class 
 
Deformations of Railroad Tracks 
 and the means for remedying them 
 
 by 
 
 G. CUENOT 
 
 Chief Engineer of Bridges and Highways 
 
 Attached to the Board of Control of the Paris -Lyons -Mediterranean 
 Railroad Company. 
 
 Authorized Translation 
 
 by 
 
 W. C. GUSHING, M.A., B.S. 
 
 Chief Engineer of Maintenance of Way 
 
 Pennsylvania Lines West, South-West System. 
 
 1907. 
 
 THE RAILROAD GAZETTE 
 NEW YORK : 83 Fulton Street CHICAGO : Old Colony Building 
 
 THE RAILWAY GAZETTE 
 LONDON: Queen Anne's Chambers, Westminster, S. W. 
 
Copyright, 1907, 
 
 by 
 THE RAILROAD GAZETTE. 
 
To Mr. Noblemaire, the Eminent Director of the P. L. M. Co. 
 
 I have the honor of respectfully dedicating this study, in 
 recognition of the very courteous reception which I have met with 
 among the employees of the company, and of the kind accommoda- 
 tion which Messrs. Rascol, Chief Engineer at Lyons, and Ferry, 
 Sub-Engineer at Bourg, have always accorded to me. 
 
 174377 
 
OF THE 
 
 I UNIVERSITY ) 
 
 OF 
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 It is evident that railroad travel is about to undergo a consid- 
 erable evolution. Speeds of 100 and 120 kilometers (62.14 and 74.52 
 miles) an hour, which were considered as maxima, have been 
 exceeded, by reason of continual progress which has been realized, 
 and which permits a better utilization of energy; we actually talk of 
 engines capable of traveling at a speed of 200 kilometers (124.27 
 miles) per hour. Some experiments have been lately made in 
 Germany on this subject; a speed of 200 kilometers has been easily 
 attained, but it was necessary to reduce it, in spite of all precau- 
 tions taken, because the track was not in a condition for support- 
 ing the forces of all kinds which were developed under the influence 
 of such a speed. 
 
 The problem which is proposed is comparable to that of design- 
 ing armor-plate capable of resisting the shocks of projectiles. When 
 the armor-plate has been found, we are forced to produce a pro- 
 jectile more powerful, and then the armor-plate has to be reinforced. 
 This quasi duel between two contrary objects, the armor and the 
 projectile, will always be pursued; the advantage of one will soon 
 be balanced by the progress of the other, so that we can never know 
 which is master. The same principle holds true in the case of 
 train movement, the speed of which should necessarily increase, while 
 at the same time we must acquire more complete mastery of the 
 energy that creates speed. But progress in locomotive design is 
 restricted by the limitations of the structure which carries the load. 
 We shall only be able to fully profit by the first after we have per- 
 fected the second. 
 
 The support of the engine comprises, apart from the roadbed, 
 the ballast, the ties and the rails. It must .be made more resistant 
 by consolidating, by rendering more rigid, the elements which com- 
 pose it, for it is very evident that if these elements are susceptible 
 of rendering good service when they are submitted to given forces, 
 they will not necessarily continue to do so when these forces are 
 increased, either by weight of load carried or by speed of trains run. 
 
 The time seems to have come, therefore, for making a minute 
 study of the track, to ascertain what forces it is subject to, and how 
 
ii 
 
 it can be made stronger. These forces, however great they may be, 
 are generally created as the effect of a continuous series of slight 
 movements the creeping of rails, inward inclination of rails, bend- 
 ing of the ties, pulling of spikes, etc. movements which have not 
 always received the attention they deserve. These effects are pro- 
 .duced slowly, successively, in such manner that the final result is 
 not very apparent, and that one often neglects to observe the cause 
 and explain it. For example, it is admitted that rails creep in the 
 direction of the travel of the train, the left rail more rapidly than 
 the right one; nevertheless, certain companies maintain that this 
 movement has never been proved. Is is not rather true that the 
 time has never been taken to observe it? But this slow creeping is 
 important by its repetition; it produces a skewing of the ties, and 
 allows the rail to escape from its fastenings, and is the cause, con- 
 sequently, of high maintenance expenses. In like manner investi- 
 gation has not yet been made, at least to our knowledge, of the cause 
 of the more rapid creeping of the track to the left than to the right. 
 Numerous reasons have been given, such as the lack of symmetry 
 of the engine, the position of Giffard, etc., but they have never been 
 fully elucidated. 
 
 The problems of tie flexure of the length to be given ties in 
 order to produce the least deformation, have been the object of very 
 little research, at least in France. We are contented with con- 
 tinuing the laying and the maintenance of track with the same 
 information and the same methods. These methods are certainly 
 not bad, since they have permitted the operation of the railroads, 
 after the manner with which we are familiar, to general satisfac- 
 tion. But if traffic is going to be moved more rapidly without 
 lessening the degree of safety, these methods are going to prove 
 unsatisfactory. There is no doubt that we can have much higher 
 speeds than those to which we are accustomed, but the track as 
 now constituted is not strong enough to carry them. 
 
 I have had the good fortune, since the commencement of my 
 career, to be occupied with railroad questions, and for the five years 
 that I have been attached to the service of the Board of Control 
 of the P. L. M. Co., I have studied these questions for myself; 
 making frequent journeys on foot, watching trains pass, and noting 
 all which appeared to me interesting. I have, moreover, conversed 
 with many trackmen, and have often seen the justice in their 
 observations. 
 
 In the present study I shall summarize information obtained in 
 such conversation information difficult to obtain from any but 
 
iii 
 
 direct sources. I am inclined to mistrust general inquiry made by 
 writing; it usually produces no result, unless care is taken to dis- 
 tinguish information obtained from conscientious employees from 
 that which comes from the less careful ones, the latter having the 
 tendency to substitute their opinion for the actual facts. Both types 
 of employees are capable of being useful in practical service, but 
 ara not equally endowed with the critical spirit and the spirit of 
 observation. This sense is quite rare, and if the critic does not suc- 
 ceed in distinguishing it, he finds himself in the presence of informa- 
 tion so contradictory that he does not know how to draw from it 
 what is useful. 
 
 It is also necessary to request observations from employees 
 who have apparatus for measuring, and "who have placed bench 
 marks in their district, enabling them to fix in plan, as in eleva- 
 tion, the points which they designate. A simple estimate by an 
 employee, however intelligent he may be, is never worth as much 
 as a figure, or a fact well determined and met with a great number 
 of times. I will give an example, of which I have lately been a 
 witness. A track employee, questioned by one of his chiefs on the 
 length to be given to the tamped-bed of a tie, replied, without hesi- 
 tation: "The best length is 25 centimeters (9.84 in.) on both sides 
 of the rail." This reply, made with great authority, would seem 
 to be peremptory. After the experiments which I had had made, it 
 seemed to me, however, so badly founded that I made an investiga- 
 tion. I found out, with certainty, that in this man's district not a 
 single tie was tamped to the amount specified a fact not occasioned 
 by the ill-will of the trackman, but because this tamped-bed could 
 not be practically realized, as I will show. This employee had 
 simply expressed his personal idea, and made his chief believe, by 
 the assurance with which he gave it, that such a tamped-bed was 
 possible. Other employees present at the conversation, less positive 
 because they were more careful, spoke of 35 centimeters (13.78 in.) 
 or 40 centimeters (15% in.); they were nearer the truth. It is 
 evident that no useful opinion could be found from such contra- 
 dictory statements of fact, unsupported. Exact evidence is not hard 
 to get; but here again it is a mistake to be satisfied too soon, and it 
 must be remembered that every track foreman has his own methods, 
 founded on experience rather than on rule. It is certainly difficult 
 to make rules of universal application; the local foreman must be 
 allowed some latitude. Tamping varies with gravel and with 
 broken stone, although the limits of variation are so slight that they 
 need not be reckoned here. 
 
iv 
 
 In discussing the tamping of ties in the ballast I shall not 
 content myself with presentation of statements or opinions, but will 
 show facts developed under my own supervision, since one is best 
 qualified to speak of the things that he has seen himself. I have 
 been able to make a large number of such observations, and collect 
 a great many instances for comparison, especially as regards ties. 
 Apart from the ordinary wood tie, I have also experimented with a 
 steel and wood composite tie, and with the steel tie employed on the 
 State System of France. From comparisons thus obtained I have 
 been able to deduct precise rules which I would certainly not have 
 been able to do by working in any other manner. 
 
 It must be kept in mind that a similar study has been previously 
 made in France by engineers of the highest repute, Messrs. Coiiard 
 and Freund. The studies which I have pursued have confirmed 
 and made exact the results obtained by these engineers. If I have 
 been able to go further than they, and to present firmer conclusions, 
 it is because I have had at my disposal means of comparison which 
 they lacked, but I have entirely verified the exactness of the obser- 
 vations which they have made, and I appreciate fully the conscien- 
 tious work which they have done. 
 
 I have, therefore,- confined myself to the experimental method 
 supplemented by explanations derived by calculation from experi- 
 mental data. This is the opposite method to that employed by the 
 German engineers, Messrs. Winckler, Ast and others, who have 
 started from hypotheses not verified by experiment and have 
 deduced facts from them by calculation, which they have taken as 
 established without discussion. They have even subordinated obser- 
 vations based upon experiment to the results of such calculation, 
 and have not hesitated to conclude that these observations could not 
 be exact, since they diverged from the calculated results. I believe 
 that this method can produce nothing useful, but that, on the con- 
 trary, by rejecting conscientious experiments, it ends in false con- 
 clusions. Results based on hypotheses, however ingenious they may 
 be, can have no more value than the hypotheses from which they 
 are derived. Moreover, the study of track is an extremely complex 
 thing; the reactions of the sub-soil, ballast, ties and rails are many 
 and confusing, and they become complicated with each other and 
 distorted to such a degree that they cannot be expressed in terms of 
 simple relation. 
 
 To co-ordinate observations which I have myself gathered; to 
 see"k to derive a law not a mathematical, but physical which 
 binds them up together as well as possible; this is the end which 
 
1 have in view. To supplement this, it is only necessary to follow 
 the instructions given by Mr. Coiiard in his very interesting studies 
 of track, known to all who occupy themselves with this subject. 
 
 I wish also to state that I have been very earnestly aided by the 
 engineers and employees of the P. L. M. Company, all carefully 
 selected men, notably by Mr. Ferry, Assistant Engineer at Bourg, 
 who is endowed with unusual powers of observation. For nearly 
 forty years Mr. Ferry has accumulated facts; not merely superficial 
 observations which serve only to confuse, but careful results which 
 make it possible to supply figures and instances to the support of an 
 opinion. I have the greatest desire to continue the study of these 
 track deformations, themselves almost infinitely small, but having 
 an effect comparable to that of tiny microbes on the human organ- 
 ism. At this time, when it is imperative that track should be made 
 more rigid to respond to new traffic conditions, this branch of study 
 increases in importance, and will alone furnish a means of com- 
 bating these small movements of the track which, isolated, are of 
 small importance, but with sufficiently frequent repetition disor- 
 ganize the carrying power of railroad superstructure. 
 
 I do not pretend in the present work to have studied completely 
 these movements. I realize that there is yet much to do, and I shall 
 be extremely glad if others, still better fitted than I am, shall become 
 interested in continuing this study and in adding a new collection 
 <of observations to those which I have made. 
 
 G. CUENOT. 
 
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 The question of the proper length to be given to cross ties 
 has been before the American Railway Engineering and Main- 
 tenance of Way Association for the past two years, and, doubtless, 
 the same question ha? been presented to maintenance of way 
 officers by the managers of their companies in the hope of buying 
 at less cost an article of supply which is ever increasing in price, 
 and at the same time is such a necessary part of the construc- 
 tion of a railroad. 
 
 Up to the present time, the problem has not been very scien- 
 tifically treated in the United States, and there is some divergence 
 of opinion relative to the matter, usually based on the practice 
 under which the individual expressing it has grown up. 
 
 Upon reading the account, therefore, of Mr. Cuenot's painstaking 
 experimental work, it occurred to the translator that the descrip- 
 tion and results would be interesting to the English speaking 
 engineers who are occupied with such questions in their own work, 
 and he therefore made arrangements with the author for intro- 
 ducing the work to them. The author has been very kind and lib- 
 eral in the transaction, by reason of his truly professional and 
 scientific spirit, and the translator takes this opportunity for ex- 
 pressing his appreciation. 
 
 American engineers can learn a lesson for themselves from the 
 scientific spirit and great care with which their foreign colleagues 
 attack a problem to be solved and carry on the work of investiga- 
 tion and experiment. 
 
 W. C. GUSHING. 
 
OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 Track Deformations and Their Prevention. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NATURE AND OBJECT OF EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 The Minister of Public Works expressly charged me with ex- 
 perimenting with a composite cross tie (wood and steel), and to 
 make him a report on the result of the experiments. I did not 
 believe that it was sufficient to place a cross tie in the track and 
 to observe the manner in which it behaved. It seemed to me that, 
 in order to discuss with some competence the results of the experi- 
 ments, it was necessary to examine what takes place in the case 
 of a normal track provided with ordinary cross ties or with steel 
 cross ties employed on the State System, and to compare the results 
 obtained with those which were found in the case of the same track 
 provided with composite cross ties. 
 
 It was a question then of a collection of tests bearing on all 
 the movements to which the track is submitted, and of the study 
 of all the deformations to which it is subjected. The manner in 
 which the fastenings behaved, with the systems tried, ought also 
 to have my attention; it was interesting to give an account whether 
 or not the methods of fastening (employment of treenails) would 
 be able to render the service on which one has a right to count. 
 The outline of the study, which we have undertaken, comprises 
 nearly all the questions concerning the track, including the joint, 
 which has given occasion for numerous solutions. 
 
 It has been possible up to the present time to study the influ- 
 ence of reinforcement of the track by the enlargement of section 
 of rails, of screw fastenings, and of rail joints, but I do not believe 
 that any one has, up to the present, examined the influence of a 
 stronger section given to the cross tie. This study presented then, 
 apart from the special mission which had been intrusted to me, 
 a general interest which I immediately recognized, and which will, 
 without doubt, justify the relatively important work which I have 
 done. 
 
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 The question of the proper length to be given to cross ties 
 has been before the American Railway Engineering and Main- 
 tenance of Way Association for the past two years, and, doubtless, 
 the same question hap been presented to maintenance of way 
 officers by the managers of their companies in the hope of buying 
 at less cost an article of supply which is ever increasing in price, 
 and at the same time is such a necessary part of the construc- 
 tion of a railroad. 
 
 Up to the present time, the problem has not been very scien- 
 tifically treated in the United States, and there is some divergence 
 of opinion relative to the matter, usually based on the practice 
 under which the individual expressing it has grown up. 
 
 Upon reading the account, therefore, of Mr. Cuenot's painstaking 
 experimental work, it occurred to the translator that the descrip- 
 tion and results would be interesting to the English speaking 
 engineers who are occupied with such questions in their own work, 
 and he therefore made arrangements with the author for intro- 
 ducing the work to them. The author has been very kind and lib- 
 eral in the transaction, by reason of his truly professional and 
 scientific spirit, and the translator takes this opportunity for ex- 
 pressing his appreciation. 
 
 American engineers can learn a lesson for themselves from the 
 scientific spirit and great care with which their foreign colleagues 
 attack a problem to be solved and carry on the work of investiga- 
 tion and experiment. 
 
 W. C. GUSHING. 
 
Track Deformations and Their Prevention. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NATURE AND OBJECT OF EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 The Minister of Public Works expressly charged me with ex- 
 perimenting with a composite cross tie (wood and steel), and to 
 make him a report on the result of the experiments. I did not 
 believe that it was sufficient to place a cross tie in the track and 
 to observe the manner in which it behaved. It seemed to me that, 
 in order to discuss with some competence the results of the experi- 
 ments, it was necessary to examine what takes place in the case 
 of a normal track provided with ordinary cross ties or with steel 
 cross ties employed on the State System, and to compare the results 
 obtained with those which were found in the case of the same track 
 provided with composite cross ties. 
 
 It was a question then of a collection of tests bearing on all 
 the movements to which the track is submitted, and of the study 
 of all the deformations to which it is subjected. The manner in 
 which the fastenings behaved, with the systems tried, ought also 
 to have my attention; it was interesting to give an account whether 
 or not the methods of fastening (employment of treenails) would 
 be able to render the service on which one has a right to count. 
 The outline of the study, which we have undertaken, comprises 
 nearly all the questions concerning the track, including the joint, 
 which has given occasion for numerous solutions. 
 
 It has been possible up to the present time to study the influ- 
 ence of reinforcement of the track by the enlargement of section 
 of rails, of screw fastenings, and of rail joints, but I do not believe 
 that any one has, up to the present, examined the influence of a 
 stronger section given to the cross tie. This study presented then, 
 apart from the special mission which had been intrusted to me, 
 a general interest which I immediately recognized, and which will, 
 without doubt, justify the relatively important work which I have 
 done. 
 
TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 The rails employed were of the type used on the Paris, Lyons 
 & Mediterranean, either the P. M. type of a weight of 39 kilograms 
 per running meter (78.6 Ibs. per yd.), or the P. L. M.-A. type, of a 
 weight of 34 V2 kilograms per running meter (69.5 Ibs. per yd.). 
 
 The rail joint was made up of angle bars. The screw spikes, 
 No. 6, had a diameter of 20 millimeters ( 51 /w in.). Between the 
 rails and the cross ties are metallic plates of the type used on 
 the P. L. M. 
 
 All my experiments, during nearly three years, have been 
 made, first on a side track, then on track No. 2 of the line from 
 Mouchard to Bourg, traversed by the express and fast trains, com- 
 paratively with oak cross ties employed on the P. L. M. system, 
 and with composite cross ties (wood and steel). Finally, a special 
 track for experiments was laid at the Bourg station, and there was 
 tested, at the same time as the two types of cross ties recited, 
 the metallic cross tie in use on the State System. 
 
 But before making inese lesis Known it is essential to describe 
 the cross ties employed. 
 
 The wooden cross ties of wood were oak, creosoted, and of 
 the following dimensions: 
 
 Length 2 m. 60 (8 ft. 6.36 in.) 
 
 Width m. 22 to m. 25 (8.66 in. to 9.84 in.) 
 
 Depth m. 14 to m. 15 (5.51 in. to 5.91 in.) 
 
 Composite cross tie, system of Devaux, Michel and Richard. 
 This is composed of a metallic skeleton in the form of an inverted 
 trough, provided in .the interior with two symmetrical blocks of 
 wood solidly fixed, and leaving between them an empty central 
 space. 
 
 The upper surface of the skeleton presents, on removal of 
 the track, two rectangular openings, leaving exposed on the blocks 
 the seatings intended to receive the supporting plates for the rails. 
 It is at once seen that this plan of cross tie permits the use of 
 ordinary screw spikes as the method of fastening for the rails. 
 
 The metallic skeleton is of the type of iron section known in 
 -commerce under the name of Zores iron, as the section AB shows 
 it. The trapezoidal section is of interior dimensions: 
 
 Width at base m. 22 (8.66 in.) 
 
 Width at top m. 14 (5.51 in.) 
 
 Depth Om. 135 (5.32 in.) 
 
 The thickness of the metal ought to be 5 m/m ( 13 / 64 in.) but 
 in reality it is only 4 m/m % ( 3 / 16 in.), and the total length is 
 2 m 50 (8 ft. 2.4 in.). In later experiments the length was reduced 
 to 2 m 20 (7 ft. 2.64 in.). The side walls terminate in a flange 
 
pel 
 
 Z^TT 
 
4 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 along the lower edges. The object of this arrangement, which is 
 found in the greater number of metallic cross ties, is to render the 
 cross tie better able to resist the blows of tools during tamping, 
 to increase the moment of inertia in the vertical direction, and 
 also to permit the clamping of the cross bars. 
 
 The metallic skeleton is provided in its lower part with four 
 cross bars, two under each block. These cross bars are fixed with- 
 out bolts or rivets, their extremities are simply curved and clamped 
 on the flanges of the skeleton. Their object is to hold together 
 the side walls of the metallic envelope, and to thus insure the 
 wedging of the blocks in the interior of this envelope. The metal- 
 lic part weighs about 60 kilograms (132.28 Ibs.). 
 
 Each wooden block is composed of three wedges joined to- 
 gether, whose dimensions are given by the sections AB and CD. 
 
 The rails are fixed on the blocks through the intermediary of 
 a plate with shoulder, by means of ordinary screw spikes. The 
 supporting surface of the plate is inclined at l / m in order to give 
 the desired inclination to the rail, and the mortise is made in such 
 a way that the plate should be well supported on the exterior side 
 of the track by the corresponding edge of the notch in the metallic 
 skeleton in order to oppose, in case of need, all lateral movement. 
 The object of this arrangement is to prevent the spreading of the 
 track, to which there is a tendency on curves. 
 
 The heads of two screw spikes of each middle wedge press the 
 rail on the cross tie, and ought to act strictly as an adjusting screw 
 on the middle wedge; for this effect a play of about 10 m/m 
 ( ? y in-) is taken up between the upper face of the wood and the 
 bottom of the metallic skeleton. 
 
 This arrangement allows a strong pressure of the lateral 
 wedges against the sides of the skeleton to be obtained, a pressure 
 which the passage of trains only increases by reason of the reaction 
 of the ballast, which tends to push up the blocks and press them 
 against the lateral walls. 
 
 The three wedges as a whole form, under pressure, a true 
 block, solidly maintained by the metallic skeleton and the cross 
 bars, and under which one can tamp as under a wooden cross tie. 
 
 It has been recognized in the course of experiments that the 
 wooden part was like a monolith; that the middle wedge once in 
 place could no longer be pushed up, which, upon the whole, is an 
 advantage, and inventors have substituted for the three wedges a 
 single wedge pressed into the skeleton by means of cross bars, 
 presenting, besides the advantages of the three-wedge system, a 
 
NATURE AND- OBJECTS OF EXPERIMENTS. 5 
 
 better supporting surface for the plate, and the possibility of em- 
 ploying the chair for track with double headed rail. This latter 
 system offers, besides, easier methods of manufacture. 
 
 The length of either of the blocks is regulated by the conditions 
 under which they distribute the pressure on the ballast; it is about 
 m 70 (27.56 in.), a length which has been recognized as sufficient 
 to assure the bed of the cross tie on the ballast. 
 
 The separate wedges of the blocks are cut by saw, according to 
 patterns made with care, so as to fit exactly in the interior of the 
 skeleton. 
 
 The shoeing (adzing and fastening the plates to the ties) can 
 be done by machine by previously confining the blocks in a special 
 matrix, which will hold them under the tools of the planers in the 
 desired place and afterwards serve for drilling the holes for the 
 screw spikes, by the aid of augers driven by steam. 
 
 The blocks weigh about 32 kilog. (70.55 Ibs.), and the weight ot 
 the cross tie is nearly 78 kilog. (171.96 Ibs.). 
 
 The steel cross tie used on the State System is also shown in 
 the section herewith, to the right of Zores Iron. It is 2 m 50 (8 ft. 
 2.4 in.) long and weighs 58 kilog. (127.87 Ibs.). 
 
 The various characteristics of the cross ties experimented with 
 are summarized in the table on the following page. 
 
 The composite cross tie is from 1^ to 3 times as rigid as the 
 wood cross tie, even at the notches prepared for the seating of the 
 tie plates, varying according to whether the part notched, which 
 is the weakest section, or the armored metallic part is considered. 
 This cross tie is also 2 to 4 times as rigid as the steel cross tie 
 of the State Railroads. 
 
 It is possible to give an account in another way of the difference 
 in resistance of the beams considered. In fact, if the condition is 
 imposed that their deformation be the same for a like force, that 
 is to say, that they each take an equal elongation, it is found, by 
 designating L this elongation, by R, R', R", the stress per unit of 
 surface of these beams, E, E', E", the coefficient of elasticity of the 
 material of which they are made: 
 
 R _jy " 
 
 E ~ E' ~" E" 
 
 whence is deduced, by representing by ^ their moment of resistance, 
 
 A 
 
 which is inversely proportional to R: 
 
 EJ _ EM' _ E" I" 
 
 Z ~~ Z' ~ Z" 
 
o 
 
 So o : 1 
 
 & * i 
 
 O o_ q_ o_ 
 
 "3 5 " 
 
 o o o '" 3 
 
 ^ 5s I 
 
 BS 3 9 
 
 t-T cT T : o" 
 
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 41 "55 
 
 
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NATURE AND OBJECTS OF EXPERIMENTS. 7 
 
 To appreciate the difference of resistance of cross ties sub- 
 mitted to a like deformation, it will be sufficient to compare between 
 
 them the products such as E-=-, or else, if the resisting moment 
 
 h 
 
 of the steel beam is taken for a term of comparison, it will be 
 
 I E / 
 
 necessary to multiply -=- by the ratio -=-. The following results 
 
 Lt xL 
 
 are thus arrived at: 
 
 Comparative resisting moments of different cross ties supposed 
 of steel. 
 
 Cross-tie of wood 36 
 
 Composite cross tie : 
 
 In the armored part 87 
 
 In the middle and at the extremities 61 
 
 Right at the fastenings ' 60 
 
 Steel cross tie of the State 30 
 
 The part of the metallic skeleton cut out to permit fixing the 
 fastenings on the wooden blocks, which is necessary for the placing 
 of the plate, or the chair, is of short length, about m 15 to m 30 
 (5.91 to 11.81 in.). This weakening is compensated, and more, by 
 the plate, or chair, which forms part of the armored beam. 
 
 The above results have been obtained while seeking the mean 
 coefficient E of the armored part by the condition El = 2 ei, E 
 being the coefficient of elasticity of the two materials considered, I 
 their moment of inertia, I 2 i; and the neutral axis of the com- 
 posite beam being determined by the condition that each element is 
 stressed proportionately to its coefficient of elasticity. 
 
 The composite cross tie offers, then, in all its sections, a resist- 
 ance superior to that of the steel cross tie of the State; it will then 
 be stressed much less and will be more resistant, under much more 
 advantageous conditions. 
 
 EXPERIMENTS OX THE SIDE TRACK AT DOURO-EN-BRESSE. 
 
 The object of these first experiments was to ascertain the sta- 
 bility of composite cross ties and observe the manner in which the 
 blocks behaved. It was essential to be assured of these two points 
 before placing them in a main track. 
 
 The metallic skeleton of the composite cross ties was made of 
 soft steel coming from dephosphorized meltings, and its form ob- 
 tained by hammering. 
 
 The blocks were cut with a saw from new cross tie timber, but 
 from waste which could not be otherwise utilized. The elements of 
 50 composite cross ties were thus obtained; 46 were made of oak 
 J 
 
8 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 and 4 of beech. The wood was injected with creosote at the work 
 shop of the P. L. M. Co., at the station of Perrache 2. 
 
 These 50 composite cross ties were placed in track 5 at the 
 station of Bourg-en-Bresse. Their spacing, with three fastenings, 
 two were exterior and one interior, was one meter (39% in.), ex- 
 cept at the joints of the rails, five meters long (16.40 ft.), where the 
 spacing was reduced to m 70 (27.56 in.) and m 60 (23.62 in.). 
 
 This laying was done on February 3, 1902, at a period little 
 favorable for making track. The earth was covered with snow, and 
 it was necessary to break up the subsoil in order to proceed with 
 the laying of the experimental cross ties. In spite of these unfa- 
 vorable conditions, it was only on the 13th of March following that 
 the first repair was made, consisting of a general tamping necessi- 
 tated by the thawing, and at the same time of a raising of all the 
 track. Since then it has not been retouched. 
 
 When the cross ties were brought to their place, the plate was 
 placed above the blocks, and the two fastenings of the central 
 wedge were tightened alternately to avoid any dislodgement of 
 that piece. 
 
 The ballast in track 5 was rough gravel; one of the cross ties, 
 provided with two sections of rail, was placed apart from the tracks 
 in broken stone in order to see in what fashion the pieces of wood 
 would behave in that ballast. The metallic skeleton was left visible 
 in the interior of the track, except for 12 cross ties, which were 
 covered by ballast. 
 
 From the time of their placing, the cross ties were subjected 
 to the successive effects of heavy rains, which have lasted during 
 the greater part of the spring, and of excessive heat, which has 
 ruled during the summer. 
 
 We examined at different visits the condition of the track, and 
 found each time that the condition was excellent; that notably the 
 fastenings were always thoroughly tight, and that the passage ot 
 the heaviest engines (102.5 net tons, including the tender and the 
 load of water and coal,) did not cause any apparent deflection of 
 the metallic part binding the two lines of rails. 
 
 About 40 engines per day passed over the track, which repre- 
 sents a total passage of 1,200 per month, and of 7,200 during the 
 six months of experiments, reaching to the 3d of August. 
 
 Before proceeding with the experiments on the resistance of 
 fastenings, we took the track to pieces and removed some cross 
 ties. We found that the tamped bed under the ties was absolutely 
 intact; that the wood offered no trace of crushing, and that the 
 
NATURE AND OBJECTS OF EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 tightening of the wedges was. absolute; that the central wedge had 
 not been raised by the tightening of the screw spikes, and that the 
 allowance existing after placing was maintained without variation, 
 as is shown in the table below: 
 
 Interval included between the bottom of the 
 
 plate and the upper face of the wedge ^ 
 
 ? axis ^ /-To left of axis.-^ 
 
 Inch. Millimeters. Inch. 
 
 Vs 
 
 13 /32 
 
 18 /32 
 
 15 /sJ 
 
 10 /32 
 
 Vie 
 Vie 
 
 VJ /32 
 15 /32 
 15 /32 
 21 /32 
 
 19 /32 
 15 /32 
 27 /32 
 
 / 
 
 9 /ie 
 
 n /32 
 
 The composite cross ties which were placed at the Bourg station 
 were replaced in the month of January, 1903, (from the 5th to the 
 8th) in compliance with the ministerial decision of December 12, 
 1902, in track 2 of the line from Mouchard to Bourg* between 
 kilometers 494,417 and 494,465 in proximity to the station of Saint- 
 Etienne-du-Bois, above an embankment of argillaceous nature, about 
 1 m 50 (4.92 ft.) in height. This part of the line is located at the 
 origin of a curve of 600 meters (1,968% ft.) radius, following a 
 tangent alinement of 6,604 meters (21,666.6 ft.) long, at the extrem- 
 ity of a series of grades (4 m/m 6, 9 m/m 5, 2 m/m 8) (0.47, 0.94, 
 0.28 ft. per 100), which follows a level. It resulted from this situa- 
 tion that the cross ties were at a point where water accumulates and 
 causes the ballast and the embankment on which it rests to soften. 
 The ballast came from the Ambronay quarries (near Ambe'rieu). 
 It was composed, like the greater part of quarry gravel, of silico- 
 calcareous gravel and of loam in quite a large quantity. The char- 
 
 *This line is used by fast trains, such as the Berlin-Nice and the Indian 
 Mail ; the mean density of traffic of this line is about 20 trains a day on each 
 of the tracks. 
 
 Number 
 of 
 cross-ties. 
 26 
 
 , plat 
 r-To rij 
 
 Millimel 
 3 
 
 27 
 
 28 
 29 
 
 15 
 10 
 6 
 
 30 
 31 
 
 3 
 10 
 
 32 
 33 
 34 
 35 
 
 20 
 12 
 15 
 8 
 
 36 
 
 5 
 
 37 
 
 38 
 
 15 
 12 
 
 39 
 
 12 
 
 40 
 41 
 
 17 
 16 
 
 42 
 43 
 44 
 45 
 46 
 47 
 48 
 49 
 
 15 
 12 
 21 
 16 
 20 
 16 
 14 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 1 A 
 
 12 
 
 15 /32 
 
 10 
 
 13 /32 
 
 5 
 
 Vie 
 
 10 
 
 ' 13 /32 
 
 10 
 
 13 /32 
 
 20 
 
 25 /32 
 
 10 
 
 13 /32 
 
 5 
 
 Vie 
 
 14 
 
 Vie 
 
 8 
 
 Vie 
 
 7 
 
 %2 
 
 14 
 
 Vie 
 
 12 
 
 15 /32 
 
 16 
 
 % 
 
 22 
 
 % 
 
 13 
 
 % 
 
 17 
 
 21 /32 
 
 18 
 
 23 /32 
 
 19 
 
 % 
 
 18 
 
 23 /32 
 
 17 
 
 21 /32 
 
 18 
 
 23 /32 
 
 17 
 
 21 /32 
 
10 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 acteristic of this ballast is to form a conglomerate very hard in 
 dry weather, and in wet weather to make a sort of mud more or less 
 fluid, according to the moisture with which it is impregnated. 
 
 The cross ties were placed at the rate of 12 cross ties per 
 rail length of 8 meters (26.25 ft.) of the P. M. type, weighing 39 
 kilogs. per running meter (78.6 Ibs. per yd.), over 4 lengths of 
 rail. This type of rail was chosen because the width of its base 
 was adapted to a plate whose dimensions were precisely thooe of 
 the notch. 
 
 The rails thus employed had been taken from the track after 
 a long service*, which explains their exceptional deformation (see 
 Fig. 3) and made conspicuous by the unevenness of 3 millimeters 
 (% in.) which they present in a short length (about 1 meter) 
 (39% in.). They rested on the cross ties, as we shall see further 
 along, by means of P. M. plates; the fastenings placed unsymmet- 
 rically, and composed of screw spikes No. 6, were to the number of 
 8 per cross tie, 2 outside and 2 inside each of the rails. There was 
 placed at the beginning, and at the extremity of the track thus laid 
 on composite cross ties, a length of rail of the P. M. type on wood 
 cross ties with the same laying, in order to be able to establish a 
 comparison. 
 
 All of these cross ties were inclined toward the center of the 
 curve of 600 meters (1,968% ft.) radius turning to the right, with 
 a superelevation of m .083 (3Y 83 in.). This inclination had 
 further the disadvantage of throwing all the surface water of the 
 track in the inter-track space, where it was held by the impermea- 
 bility of the ballast. 
 
 Left under these conditions for more than a year, the cross 
 ties have been submitted to the successive effects of heavy rains, 
 which lasted during a large part of the time, and of the period of 
 warm weather. 
 
 The condition of the track was examined at different visits, 
 and it was proved each time that the condition was excellent; that 
 there was never occasion for retightening the fastenings, and that 
 the cross ties under the passage of trains (about 8,000) did not 
 undergo any apparent bending. Thus there was placed on the 
 composite cross ties, the same as on the neighboring wood cross 
 ties, *a bed of gravel over the whole surface; it was proved that not 
 a grain of gravel was detached by the passage of express train 
 682 from the edges of the composite cross ties, whilst there existed 
 
 *These rails had endured a density of traffic of 150,000 trains; we had 
 not been able to find new rails of the same length in the stock of the company. 
 
NATURE AND OBJECTS OF EXPERIMENTS. 11 
 
 cracks in the surface of over a third of the wood cross ties. This 
 difference in the stability of the gravel evidently arises from the 
 pronounced bending of the wooden ties. 
 
 As a result of the super-elevation and grade, argillaceous nature 
 of the ballast and of the subsoil, the composite cross ties, principally 
 those of the even-joint, rested on a muddy bed, and the water vis- 
 ibly churned at the passage of each train. This bed was then es- 
 sentially elastic, and this elasticity varied with the quantity of 
 water. The cross tie was not unwedged, as one would suppose, for 
 it always rested on its blocks, which were buried more or less con- 
 sidering this condition. The wood cross ties were found in nearly 
 the same situation, with this difference, however, that their bed 
 was more solid by reason of the ballast being less argillaceous. 
 
 On the other hand, the defective profile of the rails employed, 
 which has been pointed out above, produced disagreeable uneven- 
 ness in the stability of the cross ties which underwent the shocks. 
 The joints were particularly bad in consequence of the flattening 
 of the ends of the rails, to such an extent that it was necessary to 
 sustain them by wedges placed between the splices and the under 
 part of the rail head; these defects were but little corrected. The 
 experiment was therefore made under the most unfavorable con- 
 ditions, but, nevertheless, the results obtained have been excellent. 
 The fastenings have held without our having been obliged to re- 
 touch them. The tamping was maintained on a horizontal bed over 
 the whole length of the blocks, whilst it has a tendency to form 
 under the wood cross ties either a concave basin, on the edges of 
 which they rest in a state of repose, or a convex cap, on the summit 
 of which they find support. The rewedged joints no longer pre- 
 sented a sensible unevenness at the passage of vehicles; the rolling 
 was then very much improved. 
 
 Mr. Ferry, Sub-Engineer of the company, had caused a track to 
 be extended in a cul-de-sac of the Bourg station, along the loading 
 quay for animals, in order to permit experiments on the length of 
 cross ties and of their tamped bed, and to join them with the tests 
 executed up to that day, by means of loads perfectly defined, acting 
 always under the same conditions. 
 
 * 
 
 The subsoil, specially cleared away for the laying of the track, 
 consisted of an argillaceous conglomerate, enclosing small pebbles 
 of gravel; it was not therefore perfectly homogeneous. The ballast 
 was fine gravel. There were successively placed in the track thus 
 established composite cross ties, wood cross ties and cross ties 
 wholly metallic. 
 
12 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 In order to be able to better appreciate the difference of stabil- 
 ity of composite and wood cross ties, and to eliminate all influences 
 on this stability, independently of their own resistance, such as 
 inclination on the curves, the elasticity of the road bed, and the argil- 
 laceous nature of the ballast, we deemed it a duty to remove the 
 cross ties which were laid, as we have pointed out, below the sta- 
 tion of Saint-Etienne-du-Bois, and to put them above at the entrance 
 of that same station, on tangent, on a very solid road bed, and 
 finally to ballast them with gravel purged as much as possible from 
 clay. I had, in advance, the ends of the cross ties cut off, in order 
 to leave them exactly of the length of 2 m 20 (7 ft. 2.64 in.), cor- 
 responding to the minimum bending, and to the distance between 
 the extremities of the blocks. The metallic skeleton projected, in 
 fadt, beyond the wood by m 15 (5.91 in.) at each end, and this 
 excess of length was quite useless. 
 
 The wood cross ties were laid at each of the extremities of 
 the section thus selected to serve for terms of comparison. They 
 were of the ordinary dimensions and length. All these cross ties 
 were provided with P. M. rails, absolutely new, whose rolling sur- 
 face was consequently as good as possible. The ends of the rails 
 laid on composite cross ties were joined by ordinary splices; on the 
 wood cross ties, angle bars were used. 
 
 When the track had taken its bed, the curves of flexure of the 
 cross ties were determined anew; then account was taken of their 
 tamping and of their depression in the track after the passage of 
 the same number of trains. Finally the study of the joint, so inter- 
 esting and so difficult, was commenced. 
 
 These experiments, which have already been pursued for a 
 year, have not yet sufficiently advanced for me to have made known 
 the results. I can, however, already affirm that everything has 
 happened as I had foreseen, and that the composite cross ties of 
 2 m 20 (7 ft. 2.64 in.) have a stability in the track much superior 
 to that of the ordinary cross ties, other things being equal. That 
 is due to their greater rigidity and to the tamped bed which is main- 
 tained in the condition in which it was placed. 
 
 It will be interesting, after a longer period in the track, to make 
 known and explain the facts which will be found. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK IS SUBJECTED. 
 
 The tracks, made as has been explained, have permitted the 
 study of the principal movements to which they are subjected, and 
 which cause their deformations; they are produced in a longitudinal 
 direction, in the direction of the travel of the trains, and in the 
 transverse direction. 
 
 It is important to analyze them with care, in order to seek the 
 means for remedying them. 
 
 LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT. 
 
 The weight on the wheel is distributed over a certain number 
 of cross ties, and imposes on them a vertical movement, directed at 
 first from low to high, then from high to low, when the load is 
 brought near. 
 
 Mr. Coiiard has recorded these facts by means of the apparatus 
 of Marey, and has derived from the experiments which he performed 
 in June, 1903, between Melun and Bois-le-Roi, the following conclu- 
 sions: 
 
 When the first wheel of the engine is at 6 meters (19.68 ft.), 
 the movement of the cross tie, .from low to high, begins. 
 
 When the first wheel of the engine is at 3 meters (9.84 ft.), the 
 displacement is maximum. 
 
 When the first wheel of the engine is at 2 meters (6.56 ft.), the 
 movement from high to low below the initial position begins. 
 
 When the wheel is on the cross tie the depression of the tie 
 reaches its maximum. 
 
 But these figures are only averages, and the mean distance of 
 2 meters (6.56 ft), from which place the depression of the cross tie 
 in the ballast commences, goes on increasing from the advance to 
 the following end. It follows that the bending rail in its first half, 
 over shorter length, ought to curve more in that part. 
 
 Mr. Ast, Director of Ways and Cross Ties (Austria-Hungary), 
 by the use of instantaneous photography has confirmed the results 
 and shown, afterwards, that the ballast was compressible and under- 
 went movements analogous to those of the cross tie, although less. 
 
14 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 It was our desire to verify the results given by those engineers, 
 and to observe the influence of more rigid cross ties on the vertical 
 movement. We had at our disposal, aside from the wood cross ties 
 in use on the Paris, Lyons & Mediterranean System, the composite 
 cross ties laid as described in one of the main tracks of the line 
 from Mouchard to Bourg. The experiment was made by an engine 
 with three axles coupled weighing 32 tonnes (35.27 net tons) in 
 working order, a tender of 24 tonnes (26.46 net tons), and a car. 
 
 This train was moved on a bay provided with ordinary wood 
 cross ties, then on another bay with composite cross ties, each of 
 these bays being comprised between two successive joints. The wood 
 cross ties supported P. L. M.-A. rails, the composite cross ties P. M. 
 rails, having a greater weight and rigidity. 
 
 The first axle of the engine was brought as near as possible 
 to the cross tie to be tested. There were marked off, by a special 
 rule and a gage, of which a description will be given further along, 
 when we study the flexure, points on the rail at each cross tie; these 
 same points were retaken at each stoppage of the train, that is to 
 say, each time it advanced a length corresponding to the spacing 
 of the cross ties. The points thus marked off on each rail were 
 joined, for each position of the train, by a full line where it refers 
 to the movement on the track composed of ordinary cross ties, and 
 by a dotted line where it refers to the track with composite cross 
 ties. Each of these lines, represented in Figs. 4 and 5, gives the 
 undulatory movement of the track in each of the positions of the 
 train, when the latter is stopped successively right at each of the 
 cross ties. This movement is quite like that which has been de- 
 scribed by Mr. Coiiard; when the first wheel of the engine is found 
 at a certain distance (about 6 m.) (19.68 ft.) from a cross tie, 
 the movement from low to high commences; the latter is maximum 
 .at 3 meters (9.84 ft.), then it reverses and the cross tie sinks, the 
 maximum corresponding with the passage of the first axle. 
 
 The part of the track in which the composite cross ties were 
 placed, was much worse, as has been explained above, than that 
 where the ordinary cross ties were located. The roadbed was less 
 hard and above all the ballast was more moist, more muddy; the 
 consequence of this was that the composite cross ties were not 
 perhaps buried more at certain points than the wood cross ties 
 placed under more favorable conditions; but, as a whole, the profile 
 with composite cross ties is much less accentuated than that with 
 wood cross ties. The rise is much less marked, that is to say, 
 \the track as a whole being more rigid, the oscillatory movement 
 
MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK IS SUBJECTED. 
 
 15 
 
 is diminished. The ramps, which the train has to surmount, are 
 less, that is to say, the traction is better and exerts a smaller effort. 
 The joint which is induced from low to high, by the oscillatory 
 movement of the track, and which by this fact is disorganized, as 
 will be seen further along, is not so to speak more affected, when 
 the track is provided with composite cross ties. 
 The table herewith exhibits the results: 
 
 Designation 
 
 Ordinary 
 
 of position 
 
 , cross 
 
 ties 
 
 .first axle of 
 
 lOths of 
 
 lOOths 
 
 engine. 
 
 millim. 
 
 an inc 
 
 1 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 >.> 
 
 18 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 26 
 
 10 
 
 i 
 
 33 
 
 13 
 
 5 
 
 43 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 34 
 
 14 
 
 7 
 
 23 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 17 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 14 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 11 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 6 
 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 1.5 
 
 18 
 
 7 
 
 16 
 
 23 
 
 9 
 
 17 
 
 23 
 
 9 
 
 18 
 
 27 
 
 11 
 
 19 
 
 24 
 
 10 
 
 20 
 
 14 
 
 5 
 
 21 
 
 13 
 
 5 
 
 22 
 
 14 
 
 5 
 
 23 
 
 1 
 
 
 24 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 Asceurs to overcome ->, 
 
 Composite 
 
 < cross ties. ^ 
 
 lOths of lOOths of 
 millim. an inch. 
 
 Movement of the 
 
 ( Joint. : .. 
 
 Ordinary Composite 
 cress ties, cross ties. 
 
 17 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 20 
 
 S 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 25 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 "Z 
 
 17 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 17 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 14 
 
 5 
 
 16 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 20 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 19 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 14 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 18 
 
 13 
 
 324 
 
 
 106 
 
 65 
 
 324 
 
 
 106 
 
 65 
 
 =13 
 
 5 
 
 = 4.4 
 
 =-2.7 
 
 24 
 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 Total 445 
 
 445 
 
 Mean =18 7 
 
 24 
 
 NOTE. The positions from 1 to 12 correspond to the track on the long 
 radius ; those from 13 to 24 to the track on the short radius. 
 
 In recapitulation, the use of rigid cross ties has diminished the 
 ^effort of traction in the proportion 13 to 18, that is to say, tnat the 
 tractive effort on rigid ties is about 30 per cent, less than on the 
 ordinary cross ties. The movement of the joint is reduced by about 
 one-half. The result was indeed what one n.ould expect. It demon- 
 strates the importance of the longitudinal movement, and the ad- 
 vantage of diminishing it by using rigid tracks. 
 
 It can be objected that the comparison made is not perhaps 
 entirely exact, since the P. L. M.-A. track, laid with ordinary cross 
 ties, is less rigid than the P. M. track with composite cross ties, 
 
16 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 and that everything in the case in hand was combined to obtain 
 a more favorable result. That objection ought to be dismissed, for 
 the influence of the subsoil and of the ballast counterbalanced, and 
 more, tne rigidity of the rail. 
 
 TRANSVERSE MOVEMENT. 
 
 The transverse movement of the track is of still greater im- 
 portance than the longitudinal movement, and produces more im- 
 portant effects. It arises from this that the cross tie is not only 
 buried in the ballast, but it bends; each of its points seems then 
 to be buried in the ballast by unequal quantities, and this unequal 
 sinking results in the greatest deformations of the track. 
 
 Mr. Couard has studied the question with all desirable care/ 
 but his measuring instruments, doubtless imperfect, have not per- 
 mitted him to draw from his study all the conclusions which should 
 nave been derived. The form of the curve of deformation which 
 he has found (Revue des Chemins de Fer, July, 1897,) is such that 
 it does not permit the deduction of a general law from the phenom- 
 ena observed. However, that engineer has found that the vertioa 7 
 displacements of cross ties hardly reach 3 millimeters (% in.), 
 and that they are not proportional to the weights supported. He 
 has concluded from it "that the cross ties fixed to the rail remain, 
 at certain points, suspended above the ballast, and that right at 
 the rail there is formed, under even the best tamped cross ties, 
 some depressions of ballast on the edges of which the cross tie 
 is supported; that under the passage of a wheel even lightly loaded, 
 the cross ties come in contact with the ballast and deflect to the 
 depth of the depressions; that from this moment only the im- 
 portance of the bending is proportional to the load." Basing their 
 study on the theoretical researches of Winckler, some notable engi- 
 neers, Shwedler, Hoffmann, Lehwald, Riese and Zimmermann, have 
 studied the manner in which cross ties behave when resting on 
 an elastic foundation. They have determined the deformations 
 which they experienced under the effect of a load in repose, and 
 estimated the magnitude of the tensions of flexure which result 
 from it. 
 
 If the cross ties were completely rigid there would result a uni- 
 form distribution of the pressure on the ballast. But it is not so; 
 the cross tie is unequally buried in the ballast, in such a way that 
 the pressure is no longer uniform, but is greater right at the rails. 
 
 The cross tie should, then, be considered^ as a continuous beam 
 resting on an elastic base unsolved for continuity, and supporting 
 
MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK IS SUBJECTED. 17 
 
 a vertical load at two points. The German engineers designate by 
 load, on rail the pressure which the rail exercises on the cross tie, 
 and that pressure depends as much on the transverse section of 
 the rail as on that of the cross ties, as well as on their spacing 
 and on their bedding. They admit, also, that the deformations ana 
 the strains experienced by the cross tie vary with the length and 
 nature of the tamped bed. 
 
 Starting from these premises, they have found that the elastic 
 curve of a cross tie was represented by Figure 1 or by Figure 2, 
 
 Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 
 
 according as the cross tie was 2 m 40 (7 ft. 10.4 in.) or 2 m 70 
 (8 ft. 10.3 in.) long. 
 
 The cross tie of 2 m 40 (7 ft. 10.4 in.) would be deformed 
 then according to a convex curve; the maximum of the sinking 
 would be produced at the extremities and would continue dimin- 
 ishing toward the middle. But, with a cross tie 2 m 70 (8 ft. 
 10.3 in.) long, the maximum sinking would be produced nearly 
 under the rail, and the permanent compression of the ballast would 
 be diminished from this point nearly uniformly on both sides, in 
 such a way that even a deeper sinking would not have as a con- 
 sequence a change in the inclination of the rails, nor in the spread- 
 ing of the track. 
 
 The theory assumes an absolutely homogeneous cross tie with 
 a tamped bed continuous and uniform over its entire length. The 
 German engineers think indeed that this hypothesis is not realized 
 in practice; they recognize also that short cross ties present in 
 reality a, curve of deformation similar to that of long cross ties; 
 imt they explain this difference between theory and practice by the 
 stronger tamping of the heads of the cross ties. 
 
 The incomplete results given by Mr. Coiiard, the very ingenious 
 theory of the German engineers, rendered necessary the study of 
 the deformation of a cross tie under a load, of the manner in 
 which the ballast behaves under the cross tie, of its more or less 
 extent of compressibility, of its more or less extent of elasticity. 
 The experiments which have been carried on during nearly two 
 years have had this object as their principal end. 
 
CO 
 D) 
 
MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK IS SUBJECTED. 19 
 
 CURVES OF DEFORMATION OF CROSS TIES. 
 
 They have taken place under the most different conditions of 
 temperature and humidity, in such a way as to have the terms of 
 comparison numerous, to be able to compare them and to deter- 
 mine an aggregation of facts which may not be controvertible. 
 They have been carried on at three different periods; from the 
 4th to the 15th of May, during a rainy period, after a prolonged 
 season of rain ; from the 19th ,to the 30th of June, after a drier 
 season, and finally at the end of the month of July, 1903, at a 
 time when the rains had just returned. (I do not give an account 
 of the last experiments, which only confirm the results of those 
 which are given.) In all the tests the ballast, composed as has 
 been pointed out above of rough gravel agglomerated with argilla- 
 ceous sand, was particularly moist, and consequently muddy. This 
 state of moisture was so great that it was maintained even in the 
 period of heat in the months of June and July. The drying of 
 the ballast was not completed, by reason of the position on a 
 curve, and of the inclination toward the interior of the track, which 
 is the consequence of it (0 m 083) (3 9 / 32 in.), the loads were car- 
 ried on the rail on the side of the short radius. The ballast was 
 therefore more compressed on that side than on the other; its per- 
 manent sinking was consequently more pronounced, and it pre- 
 served, after the passage of vehicles, the form of a plane slightly 
 inclined toward the center of the curve. The cross tie rested thus 
 toward the extremity of the inclined plane on the side of the long 
 radius; the water accumulated in the lowest part of this inclined 
 plane, that is to say on the side of the short radius. The ballast 
 was therefore particularly wet on that side; it was possible, by 
 making a trench right at the cross ties, to let the water flow off, 
 which rendered the support very elastic. The drop of the vehicles 
 from the advance-rail to the following-rail rendered this effect still 
 more sensible right at the cross ties of the following end of the 
 even-joint; the hammering of the ballast by the shocks of the wheels 
 augmented the depression between the bottom of the cross tie and 
 the upper part of the support, a depression in which the water accu- 
 mulated. Also, at the passage of vehicles, the water was projected 
 vertically; the cross tie and the rail bore traces of these ejections. 
 This fact was not isolated and peculiar to the part of the track 
 which we studied. Wherever the ballast is but little permeable, 
 and can form a cake more or less firm, the same phenomenon is 
 observed, which shows above all right at the cross ties of the even- 
 
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24 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 joint (of whatever nature they may be) by the projection of mud 
 on the rail. The hammering of the ballast produces a void under 
 the point of application of the load; this void is filled little by little 
 with the materials of the roadway, which are slowly displaced, 
 falling into the inter-track space or on the outside space, and flow- 
 ing between the two rails. The ballast is as though screened by 
 the vibration of the cross tie of the following end of the even-joint; 
 the finest materials pass under the rail and cause the coarser 
 materials to ascend in the inter-rail space. In this part of the 
 track it is also remarked that the screw spikes of the cross tie of 
 the following end of the even-joint are subjected to a wrenching, 
 because they support at their lower extremity a hydraulic pressure 
 which expels them from their holes, and that the more rapidly 
 as the insufficiently creosoted wood is submitted to the alternations 
 of dryness and wetness and deteriorates in consequence of the oxida- 
 tion of the screw spike. In order to have a good track it is very 
 important to select a gravelly ballast purged from earth and above 
 all from clay. 
 
 The experiments thus executed in a mediocre ballast, resting on 
 a compressible bed, have then taken place under unfavorable con- 
 ditions, the results obtained, and the information which will be 
 derived from them will have a bearing which we should not slight. 
 
 The most numerous experiments have been carried on in a 
 static state, because it resulted from similar tests made by Mr. Ferry. 
 Sub-Engineer, at Bourg, that the flexures in the dynamic state are 
 not superior to those which are realized in a static state. The 
 curve of deformation of cross ties can be modified in its general 
 form, but its parts preserve the same relation between themselves, 
 maintaining the same flexure as in the static state. This fact has 
 been verified on the wood cross ties provided with P. L. M.-A. rails. 
 
 The determination of the curves of deformation of cross ties 
 has been made with extreme care, taking all desirable precautions. 
 
 MEASURING APPARATUS FOR EXPERIMENTS IX THE STATIC STATE. 
 
 There were first placed in the surface of the wood cross ties 
 screws with square heads distributed over their whole length and 
 giving 15 or 16 fixed points, which were to serve as bench marks 
 for the determination of the deformation. A rigid steel rule in 
 the form of a T (Fig. 6) presented, right at the points, whose 
 spacing was the same for all cross ties, vertical rods terminated 
 by a notch, in which was brought, while resting on the screw with 
 square head, a gage in the form of an inclined plane, whose divi- 
 
UNIVERSITY j 
 
 ^AUFO^fe^ 
 MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK IS SUBJECTED. 25 
 
 sions were calculated in a manner to correspond with a tenth of 
 a millimeter. The inclination of the inclined plane had been so 
 chosen that the interval between two divisions was at least of 
 2 centimeters f'Yioo in.), which allowed estimating the tenth of 
 a millimeter with exactness. The rule was fixed in an unchange- 
 able manner to two stakes of strong dimensions, buried in the em- 
 bankment about 1 m 10 (3.61 ft.), in order to eliminate the influ- 
 ence of the load on the supports of the rule. When the rule was 
 in place, an observer introduced the wedge-shaped gage in the 
 notch, while maintaining it horizontally on the head of the screw, 
 and stopped it at the moment when it commenced to become wedged; 
 he then made a first reading on all the points of reference, pro- 
 ceeding, for example, from left to right, then a second, proceed- 
 ing in the reverse direction, from right to left. The readings made 
 were recorded by the employees of the Board of Control and those 
 of the P. 'L. M. Co., and the mean of them was taken, which thus 
 gave the actual position of the cross tie. 
 
 The vehicle, which served to load the cross tie considered, 
 was brought up, always taking care to place the same wheels at the 
 same spot, with reference to the piece submitted to the test; it 
 was allowed to remain during about 10 minutes, and the readings 
 were recommenced, which caused some difficulties, since the head 
 observer was obliged to pass under the frame of the engine and to 
 operate stretched out to his full length. In like manner two suc- 
 cessive readings were made, and the mean of them was taken, as 
 has been recited above; the difference between the inscribed means 
 gave the deformation of a cross tie under the load considered. It 
 was necessary to count on an Tiour at least for the aggregate of 
 the readings, and the necessary delays during the passage of trains 
 made the operation require a very long time. 
 
 The preparation of the working place and the establishment 
 of the measuring apparatus has been made by Mr. Ferry, Sub-Engi- 
 neer of the P. L. M. Co., who has carried on experiments of this 
 kind for more than 20 years, and who allies with a consummate 
 experience a sagacity truly remarkable. 
 
 MEASURING APPARATUS FOR* THE EXPERIMENTS IN THE DYNAMIC STATE. 
 
 Mr. Ferry employed for the experiments in a dynamic state 
 a measuring apparatus which had previously served for studying 
 the deformation of cross ties in a static state as well as In a dyna- 
 mic state. It is extremely simple and strong; it presents then 
 from this point of view an incontestable superiority over the appar- 
 
CO 
 D) 
 
MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK IS SUBJECTED. 
 
 27 
 
 atus employed for the same object, which would give perhaps more 
 precise results, but whose indications require corrections always dif- 
 ficult to make, by reason of the greater delicateness of the measure- 
 ments (apparatus of Marey). If these corrections are incomplete, 
 the indications given conduce to results which cannot be utilized. 
 The measuring apparatus (see Fig. 7) was essentially com- 
 posed of a stylus arranged in a stable manner at the face of 
 a plate of smoked glass and fixed on the points o>f the cross tie 
 under observation. The black smoke deposited on the glass plate, 
 
 Fig. A '- Section of a Cross Tie pror/cfecf 
 wifh a reference mark. 
 
 - Fbs/f/on of & reference marks /? 
 the length of a Cross Tie, /'n p/art. 
 
 Fig. 7 Flexure of Ties Under Load, Shown by Reference Marks. 
 
 which was displaced at the same time and by the same amount 
 as the points, was removed by the point of the stylus; the height 
 of the part removed gave the value of the deflection, or of the rais- 
 ing of a cross tie at the points considered. The reading of this 
 height was made by means of a magnifying glass nearly to the tenth 
 of a millimeter. 
 
 The stylus, with flat point of tempered steel, was mounted on 
 a very flexible spring, which could be approached to or removed 
 
MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK IS SUBJECTED. 29 
 
 from the glass plate at will, with the aid of a thumb screw. The 
 glass plate was fixed by screws on one of the faces of a cross tie, 
 then smoked in the flame, of a candle at the moment when it was 
 desired to put it in service. The thumb screw passed through an 
 iron rod and simply rested on the spring which, left free, moved 
 back and forth on the rod fixed by means of two bolts on a stake 
 deeply buried in the soil. 
 
 In order to make an observation, the screw is pressed against 
 the spring until the point of the stylus comes in contact with the 
 blackened plate. In this position a light blow is given to it, which 
 makes it oscillate and defines a horizontal trace of 2 or 3 milli- 
 meters (Vioo to 12 / 100 in.) length on the black smoke, a trace which 
 forms the reference mark. 
 
 At this moment one can either place the vehicle on the cross 
 tie, or allow trains at speed to pass over it. The height of the 
 part of the glass plate rubbed off by the point of the stylus gives, 
 above the reference mark, the values of the depression, and below, 
 the uplift, of the cross tie. The latter is always inferior to the 
 former; for the flexure is important in comparison with the move- 
 ment of uplift of this piece under the influence of loads at a dis- 
 tance. The successive influence of each of the axles cannot be noted, 
 but it is solely a maximum indication which is produced. 
 
 Mr. Ferry, before providing himself with the rule which we 
 have described above for the study of the deformations in a static 
 state, employed the registering apparatus just above, and determined 
 with exactness the form of that deformation by placing five of these 
 apparatus on different points of the cross tie. He was then able, 
 by comparing the results obtained with the rule and the wedge 
 on the one hand, and the stylus on the other, to appreciate the pre- 
 cision of measurements given by one or the other of these apparatus. 
 
 STOCK FOR EXPERIMENT. 
 
 The first experiments were made by an engine with three axles 
 coupled, weighing 38.58 net tons in working order, with tender of 
 26.46 net tons. 
 
 These weights were thus distributed among the axles: 
 
 Spacing. Diam. of wheels 
 
 Engine, 1st axle 12.26 net tons ) 6 ft . 5Vie in. 4 ft. 3/ia in. 
 
 2d " 13.37 " > 
 
 3d .. 13.37 " 4 ft. 7% in. 4 ft. 3 8 /ie in. 
 
 Tender 1st axle''.'.'.'.'.'.'.. 13.34 " 3ft.ll%ln. 
 
 Tender 2d axle 14.11 " Bit. 11% In. 
 
(60 
 
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MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK IS SUBJECTED. 33 
 
 The locomotive and its tender were followed by a car. After 
 having referenced the top of the tie by means of a measuring rule, 
 the train was brought to position, in such a way that the third axle 
 should be as near as possible to the cross tie. After leaving it in 
 this position for about 10 minutes, the measuring rule was intro- 
 duced right at the cross tie and the second reading was made. (See 
 Fig. 8.) 
 
 EXPERIMENTS OF THE MONTH OF MAY, 1903. 
 
 The trials took place on nine wood cross ties and on 21 com- 
 posite cross ties; the curves of deformation which have been ob- 
 served are represented with a black line on Figs. 9 and 10. The 
 figures are inscribed in tenths of millimeters. 
 
 It is remarked that all the curves of the wood cross ties present 
 a well defined figure, always similar, in the form of a basin. The 
 edges are slightly inclined up to a point near the rail, nearly at 
 23.62 in. from the axis of the track, and the bottom, which 
 unites the two edges, is nearly horizontal, tending to rise towards 
 the center and thus presenting its convexity upward. The maxi- 
 mum sinking of the cross tie is produced a little beyond the rail, 
 proceeding from the extremities towards the center, and the bend- 
 ing, which consequently gives unequal distribution of the pressure 
 on the ballast, is, so to speak, maximum near the rail, producing 
 a greater sinking than at any other point. 
 
 The trials took place on four wood cross ties provided with 
 P. L. M.-A. rails, and five others provided with P. M. rails, these 
 rails being more rigid than the first. Fig. 11, No. 1, on which 
 has been placed the mean of the figures inscribed on Nos. 1 
 2, 3 and 4 of Fig. 9 (full black line) gives the general form 
 of the deformation for the five cross ties considered, the errors of 
 reading being thus more or less compensated. This general form 
 is that pointed out above, a basin with slight swelling in the 
 center. The mean cross tie seems to be depressed only slightly at 
 first, a maximum .022 in., then to be inflected in the ballast 
 proportionately to the pressure which it transmits to it. Apart 
 from the general sinking, the piece has bends in relation to the 
 line which joins the extremities of the elastic line defined, bends 
 which are at 5.12 in. from the rail on the side of the long radius, 
 where the inclined part comes to rejoin the bottom of the basin, 
 0.093 in., at the center 0.085 in., at 5.12 in. from the rail, on the 
 side of the short radius, where the inclined part of the elastic line 
 rejoins the bottom of the basin 0.101 in. 
 
34 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 The four cross ties supporting P. M. rails furnish a mean curve 
 of deformation similar to the first, Fig. 11, - No. 2; but the 
 mean bending and sinking which results from it are inferior 
 to those stated above, because the rail is more rigid and because 
 it transmits the load over a greater number of cross ties. The 
 deformation reaches the following values at the same points: 
 
 5.12 in. from the rail on the side of the long radius . .043 in. 
 
 At the center 051 " 
 
 5.12 in. from the rail on the side of the short radius 059 " 
 
 More rigid rails, distributing the pressure on a greater number 
 of cross ties, diminish the flexure, and seem to distribute the load 
 in a more uniform manner on the ballast. 
 
 Tests were also made on 21 composite cross ties; their curve 
 of deformation is given in Nos. 1, 2 and 4 to 22 of Fig. 9 (full 
 black line). The latter presents a very characteristic form, a 
 horizontal straight line when the bed of the cross tie is equally 
 resistant, and one which inflects on the side where it is the most 
 compressible. Thus the cross ties of the even-joint, those of the 
 following end above all, which are submitted to the shocks in con- 
 sequence of the drop of vehicles from the advance one to the fol- 
 lowing one, inflect on the side of the short radius, following an 
 inclined plane, whose declivity is on the side of the center of curva- 
 ture. The curve of mean deformation, which includes the aggre- 
 gate of the curves obtained (Fig. 11, No. 2) has been recorded 
 on the curve of deformation of the wood cross ties supporting 
 P. M. rails like the composite cross ties, in order to show a com- 
 parison; but naturally we have separated from the mean the curves 
 of the cross ties of the even-joint, since they have nothing com- 
 parable with the wood cross ties. This mean curve is very close 
 to a straight line, since the maximum flexure is 0.012 in. at 5.12 in. 
 from the rail on the side of the short radius; that is to say, four 
 times less in value than with wood cross ties. The mean sinking 
 is about .063 in. less over its whole length, except at its extremity 
 on the side of the short radius, than the sinking of the wood 
 cross tie. 
 
 EXPERIMENTS IN JUNE, 1903. 
 
 These experiments took place after a relatively dry period; the 
 ballast was somewhat dried up. The same train was employed. 
 The work was carried on in the same manner, that is to say the 
 third axle was brought as closely as possible to the cross tie to be " 
 studied. The trials were made on the same cross ties as before; 
 
MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK IS SUBJECTED. 35 
 
 they were extended, however, to the wood cross tie 21 supporting 
 P. M. rails, and to composite cross tie No. 8. The results of these 
 trials are recorded in Nos. 1 to 9 of Fig. 9, so far as the wood cross 
 ties are concerned, and in Fig. 10 tor the composite cross ties; they 
 are represented by full line followed by two dots. 
 
 It will be seen that this experiment worked better; the de- 
 formation has diminished, which is natural, since the ballast was 
 dried out and the cross ties rest on a more solid and more homo- 
 geneous bed throughout its length. Between times, besides, the 
 joints were rewedged by placing hoop-iron between the splicing and 
 the bottom of the base; the effect is perceptible, together with the 
 greater solidity of the bed on the side of the short radius. The 
 flexure and the sinking have diminished considerably. 
 
 The mean curve of deformation of the wood cross ties provided 
 with P. L. M.-A. rails, obtained as has been described above 
 (Fig. 11, No. 3) is similar to that which was obtained in the month 
 of May preceding, the same form of basin with a tendency to relief 
 in the central part. The characteristic figures of this curve are 
 the following: 
 
 Bending at 5.12 in. from the rail on the side of the long radius. . . . .092 in. 
 
 At the center 091 " 
 
 At 5.12 in. from the rail on the side of the short radius Ill " 
 
 The apparent sinking of the cross tie has sensibly diminished; 
 its bending has remained nearly the same, which should be ex- 
 pected. For when the ballast is impregnated with water as in the 
 first case, the water sustains the cross tie above the ballast. This 
 water has to be driven out by the tie, spreading on both sides. The 
 void is thus more considerable than when the ballast is more 
 dry, and, in the last case, the cross tie, which is depressed in pro- 
 portion to the dryness of its support, reaches it more rapidly. In 
 a word, this ballast acts as a sponge when it is impregnated with 
 water; it swells and heaves up the track; on the contrary, when 
 it is dry it diminishes in volume and lowers the track. 
 
 The mean curve of deformation of the wood cross ties sup- 
 porting P. M. rails (Fig. 11, No. 4) presents the same minute details, 
 perhaps less accentuated. The characteristic figures are the fol- 
 lowing: 
 
 Bending at 5.12 in. from the rail on the side of the long radius 043 in. 
 
 At the center 043 " 
 
 At 5.12 in. from the rail on the side of the short radius 055 " 
 
 The mean curve of deformation of the composite cross ties is 
 still more regular than in the first case (Fig. 11, No. 4); 
 the curvature has diminished a little, and a straight line is almost 
 
36 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 obtained, since the bending is only .008 in., that is to say, five 
 times less than that of the wood cross ties. The mean sinking is 
 no more than .054 in., a little less than the value attained in the 
 month of May. 
 
 EXPERIMENTS DURING JULY. 
 
 These experiments were made during a period of rain, follow- 
 ing one of considerable heat. About the same conditions were found 
 as in the month of June. The ballast was not more dried out. The 
 same experimental train was employed and the third axle was 
 placed as near as possible to the cross tie. The experiments were 
 made with the same cross ties. The curves of deformation, repre- 
 sented on Figs. 9 and 10, present the same general form. The flexure 
 and the sinking observed in the month of June are maintained, with 
 a slight tendency to diminish. 
 
 The mean curve of deformation of wood cross ties provided 
 with P. L. M.-A. rail, obtained as above (Fig. 11, No. 5), 
 presents some irregularities besides, of little importance. Thus the 
 maximum sinking on the side of the long radius should be pro- 
 duced at 9 x /4 in. from the rail; the central part should be nearly 
 horizontal, but the maximum sinking should be maintained at 
 5.12 in. from the rail on the side of the short radius, and should 
 have attained .125 in. 
 
 The characteristics of flexure are the following: 
 
 Bending at 5.12 in. from the rail (side of long radius) 083 in. 
 
 At the center 087 " 
 
 At 5.12 in. from the rail (side of short radius) 094 " 
 
 The general sinking is a little more than in June. 
 
 The curve of deformation of the cross ties provided with P. M. 
 rails (Fig. 11, No. 6) is almost precisely the same as that in June. 
 The general sinking of the ties is about .051 in. and their flexure 
 can be thus denned: 
 
 At 5.12 in. from the rail (side of long radius) 043 in. 
 
 A t the center 043 " 
 
 At 5.12 in. from the rail (side of short radius) 051 " 
 
 The. composite cross ties are deformed as a whole, following 
 almost a right line inclined according to the superelevation. Their 
 general sinking is about .055 in. and the greatest flexure about 
 .011 in., four times less than that of the wood cross ties under the 
 same conditions. 
 
MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK IS SUBJECTED. 37 
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. 
 
 The experiments which we have just related can be summarized 
 in the following table: 
 
 (Figures in fractions of an inch.) 
 
 f Mean sinking N , Mean flexure > 
 
 Type of tie used. May. June. July. May. June. July. 
 
 Wood, with P. L. M. = A rails. . . .077 .076 .084 .090 .097 .087 
 
 Wood, with P. M. rails 066 .060 .066 .047 .043 .043 
 
 Composite, with P. M. rails 053 .059 .059 .008 .008 .008 
 
 The table shows: 
 
 (a) That the mean sinking of the wood cross tie provided with 
 P. M. rails is nearly the same as that of the composite cross tie, 
 although slightly superior. 
 
 (b) That its flexure is nearly six times greater. 
 
 But it is not necessary to depend upon these results; if it is 
 interesting to know the mean sinking and the flexure of cross ties, 
 it is still more so to know the value of that sinking and of that 
 flexure right at the rail. It is given in the table below: 
 
 Sinking and flexure right at rail. 
 
 , Month of % 
 
 Type of tie. May. June. July. Mean flexure. 
 
 Wood with P.M. rails 087 in. .083 in. .081 in. .084 in. 
 
 Composite with P.M. rails 073 " .046 " .062 " .065 " 
 
 Thus the movement of a track is reduced by 25 per cent, by 
 the employment of the composite cross tie; and this reduction would 
 be still more considerable with rails less worn and a ballast less 
 spongy. Another interesting fact brought out by these experiments 
 is that the wood tie, which is regarded as bearing over its whole 
 length, descends in the track by a greater quantity than the com- 
 posite tie, which has only a limited bed, 4.59 ft. 
 
 We have sought the cause of this anomaly, which did not, at 
 first view, appear explicable. The composite tie exercises a uniform 
 pressure on the ballast at each of its extremities over a length 
 of 27.56 in.; the cube of ballast elastically displaced by this pres- 
 sure is proportional to the hatched surface of Fig. 11, No. 6. 
 (Experiments of July, 1903). On the side of the short radius 
 this surface is .01942 sq. in., and, on the side of the long radius, is 
 .01307 sq. in.; these two numbers, 1,942 and 1,307, are respectively 
 proportional to the cube of the ballast displaced. Now this cube 
 is itself proportional to the pressure received by the ballast within 
 the limits of elasticity, which ought not to be reached in the par- 
 ticular case; it follows, then, that the wood cross tie, which exer- 
 cises on its own account an equal pressure, being submitted to 
 the same loading, ought to displace a volume of ballast equal to 
 
38 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 that which is compressed by the blocks of the composite cross tie, 
 and that its real length of support is determined by this condition. 
 Thus, in the particular case, the length of support of the wood 
 cross tie ought to be the height of the mixti-lineal trapezium com- 
 prised between the original axis of the cross tie and its curve of 
 deformation, the surface of which trapezium should be equal to 
 that of the hatched part. It is thus found, by neglecting the ex- 
 tremities of the cross tie which, being removed from the center 
 of pressure, should react feebly, that the surface of support of the 
 wood cross tie, which is indeterminate by reason of the irregularity 
 of the tamping, does not exceed the length of the blocks of the 
 composite cross tie, that is to say that it extends about 13.78 in. 
 on both sides of the axis of the rail. The central part of the cross 
 tie is, therefore, not utilized to distribute the pressure, and serves 
 only as a tie bar to unite the support of the rail. It is even 
 probable that this central bed not only does not press on the bal- 
 last, but even that it is uplifted by a kind of sub-pressure, due to 
 the elastic compression of the ballast right at the points of sup- 
 port. The ballast can be likened to an elastic matter, peat for 
 example, which is depressed at the point where the pressure is 
 exercised, only to flow back farther away. 
 
 The German engineers who have studied this question with 
 much care, Messrs. Weber, Winckler and Zimmermann, have ad- 
 mitted, without ever having demonstrated it, that the pressure, P, 
 of the ballast per unit of surface of the cross tie which it supports 
 is, at each point, in direct ratio with the sinking, Y, of the latter. 
 They thus place P = C Y, an expression in which C is a coefficient 
 depending upon the qualities of the ballast, invariable for the rest, 
 and whose numerical value is determined by experience. 
 
 For Y = 1 cm, we have P = C. Consequently, it is the pres- 
 sure in kilograms on the unit of surface (square centimeters) neces- 
 sary to produce a sinking of 1 cm, and its value introduced into the 
 calculation takes the name of coefficient of ballast. 
 
 The hypothesis of the sinking proportional to the pressure 
 can only be admitted within the limits of elastic deformations. 
 The statement of the proportionality of the sinking and of the pres- 
 sure in certain limits, the determination of the latter as well as 
 the numerical determination of the coefficient of ballast, have given 
 occasion, on the part of German engineers, for researches whose 
 results are the following: 
 
 (a) The results of experiments agree quite closely with the 
 
MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK IS SUBJECTED. 39 
 
 supposition that the pressure on the unit of surface is in direct 
 proportion with the measure of the sinking. 
 
 (b) With a subsoil supposed to be good, the magnitude of the 
 coefficient of ballast has been found, for gravel ballast (without 
 metalled bed) C 3; for gravel ballast (with metalled bed) C = 8; 
 for ballast of small stones and scoria?, C = 5. 
 
 (c) Loads, such as are found in regular operation, produced, 
 almost exclusively, elastic flexures. The permanent deflections, 
 which have been observed, probably have the effect produced by 
 repetition of dynamic actions as their cause. 
 
 (d) The sinking observed under a load in motion, at speeds 
 varying from 40 to 60 kilometers (24.85 to 37.28 miles) per hour, 
 were not much greater than the sinking observed under the same 
 load in a state of repose. 
 
 All this very ingenious theory errs in the premises, because 
 its authors have admitted, as an axiom, that a loaded cross tie 
 should have a bearing over its whole length. The experiment made 
 with composite cross ties, whose bed on the ballast is well defined, 
 and which bends little, allows us to pronounce on this point with- 
 out possible controversy. The pressure which the rail transmits 
 to the ballast by the intermediary of the cross tie is exercised 
 only on a very limited zone of support, a zone which does not exceed 
 13.78 in. on both sides of the point of application of the load. The 
 German engineers believed that this zone of influence of loads was 
 of tolerably large extent, for they have fixed the length of cross ties 
 at 8 ft. 10.3 in. and recommended the employment of pieces as 
 long as possible. It is the conclusion at which Mr. Ast, notably, 
 has arrived in the fifth section of the International Congress of 
 Railways, in a memorandum on track: 
 
 "A better means for distributing the given load on the greatest 
 possible number of cross ties, and, consequently, on the greatest 
 possible surface of ballast, consists in the reduction of the spacing 
 of the cross ties and in increasing their surface of support. These 
 two measures have, however, their limits; the first because it is 
 necessary to preserve the possibility of tamping, the second because, 
 on the one hand, the width of ties cannot be too great, if one wishes 
 to be able to tamp well underneath, and because, on the other hand, 
 the length which can be conveniently given to them depends on 
 the gage. The prolongation of ties can only bear, in fact, on the 
 parts situated at the exterior of the two lines of rails. When this 
 prolongation surpasses a certain limit, the loads on the rails, which 
 act on the interior of the gage, provoke a super-elevation of their 
 
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46 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 extremities, and the parts of that length In excess no longer haye 
 a bearing." 
 
 This last fact has been verified; Mr. Ferry, Sub-Engineer of 
 the P. L. M. Co., has obtained curves of deformation of long cross 
 ties 8 ft. 6.4 in. to 8 ft. 10.3 in. placed in resistant ballast (broken 
 stone), on which the extremities are seen raised up above the 
 axis of the part not loaded. The experiments performed show also, 
 although in a less clear manner, this fact: the more wet the bal- 
 last is, the more gentle is the slope of the extremities, for the pres- 
 sure is transmitted over a greater surface; on the contrary, when 
 the ballast is dry, the ends of the cross tie have a tendency to 
 raise up. 
 
 Therefore it is impossible to diminish the sinking of ties by 
 increasing their length; moreover, independent of its uselessness, 
 this prolongation produces a grave disadvantage, for it increases 
 the bending. It is not by this means that we should seek to re- 
 duce the deformation of the track, but by widening the cross tie, 
 by concentrating the material about the points of support, and 
 above all, by augmenting its moment of inertia. 
 
 The composite ties have an effective length of 8 ft. 2.4 in., but 
 the useful length, that is to say that comprised between the two 
 extremities of the blocks, is no more than 7 ft. 2.64 in.; it is at 
 once seen in Fig. 12, Nos. 2, 4, 6, that, reduced to 7 ft. 
 2.64 in., the cross tie would still have a less flexure. This last 
 consideration, joined with the examination of the curves of de- 
 formation of the ties of 8 ft. 6.36 in., has led to research as to 
 what ought to be the length of a tie and of its tamped bed in order 
 to reduce the flexure in the greatest measure possible. The long 
 ties affect the deformation pointed out above with concavity di- 
 rected upward; the short cross ties ought, on the contrary, to be 
 deformed according to a convex curve; between the two there 
 ought then to be such a length that the deformed curve approaches 
 a right line. We propose to make that research which appears 
 to us to present a great practical interest. 
 
 But before entering upon this new order of ideas, it would 
 have been interesting to present the theory of the cross tie which 
 results from these experiments, and which is very far removed 
 from that admitted by Winckler; it would have been established 
 that theory was in accord with experiment, that is to say, that 
 the curve found experimentally was quite like that of a beam 
 placed on an elastic support, but less elastic than it, loaded at two 
 points with loads exercising their influence on a predetermined 
 
MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK IS SUBJECTED. 47 
 
 zone of support. It would, then, be a question of determining, 
 with that hypothesis, the reactions of this support, and of demon- 
 strating that, in the central part, the cross tie was found to be 
 submitted to a counter pressure. Unfortunately, time was want- 
 ing for examining this problem of elasticity, which is long and 
 difficult; the elements acquired will doubtless permit of giving the 
 solution after a brief delay. 
 
 In the meantime, we desired to determine the coefficient of 
 ballast in the experiments carried on, this coefficient being de- 
 fined, as has been stated above. The axle loading being 26,455 Ibs., 
 the load on the rail, that is to say the load on the tie, was about 
 13,228 Ibs. (for it is admitted that on a track with rigid rails the 
 maximum load on a given cross tie is about 50 per cent, of the load 
 on the axle) ; the 13,228 Ibs. ought to be distributed between the 
 two composite blocks proportionately to their sinking. The block 
 on the side of the short radius will thus support 7,945 Ibs., and 
 that on the side of the long radius 5,282 Ibs. The mean sinking 
 of the first block being .052 in. and that of the second .048 in. 
 (Experiments of July 30, 1903, Fig. 11, No. 6) the pressure 
 of the ballast per unit of surface will be 29.15 Ibs. per sq. in. on 
 the side of the short radius, and 19.34 Ibs. per sq. in. on the side 
 of the long radius. The coefficient of ballast, that is to say, the 
 pressure per' unit of surface capable of producing a sinking of 
 "/ei in. in the ballast and the subsoil considered would be 160.14 Ibs. 
 per sq. in., that is to say three times higher than that adopted by 
 the German engineers. The ballast and subsoil considered were, 
 in fact, of mediocre quality. It is then supposable with some reason 
 that with a good ballast and a very solid roadbed the coefficient 
 of ballast will be at least 284.5 Ibs. per sq. in. The precise experi- 
 ments which we will next undertake will permit of elucidating this 
 point more completely. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 LENGTH TO GIVE TIES AND TAMPED BED. 
 
 After proving that the most advisable length for a tie for dimin- 
 ishing its flexure ought to be in the neighborhood of 7 ft. 2.64 in. 
 I desired to determine the latter experimentally with wood ties of 
 different lengths, tamped unequally, and placed on a level and on 
 straight line, in order to avoid all chance of error. 
 
 Mr. Ferry, Sub-Engineer of the P. L. M. Co., wished expressly 
 to aid me with his counsels, and to build an experimental side track. 
 This track, placed at the extremity of the cul-de-sac of the track 
 for unloading animals at the station of Bourg, P. V., was isolated 
 from the switching of that station, so that we could easily proceed 
 with all the trials without being obliged to abandon them and then 
 resume them, which causes the loss of much time and interrupts 
 their course. 
 
 The ties on trial, wood, steel and composite, were always placed 
 at the same point, about 6.56 ft. from the neighboring ties; the 
 rail was raised up on it 25 / 64 in. above them; thus the axle load, 
 13.22 net tons, rested entirely on the experimental piece. In order 
 to avoid raising of the track at the extremity of the cul-de-sac, 
 the extremity of the rails was loaded and held in place. A tent 
 was set over the working place to completely shelter the track and 
 withdraw it from atmospheric influences; in this manner, the bal- 
 last, formed of fine gravel, and the subsoil, were always found 
 in the same hygrometric conditions. A tie was placed at the pre- 
 determined site, and at the aforesaid height, with reference to the 
 neighboring cross ties; for there were buried in the roadbed in 
 excavation, on both sides of the track, two strong stakes 4.92 ft. 
 deep, and between them a rigid string was extended, in order to 
 determine the position of the axis of the piece and the height of 
 the rail. 
 
 The parts marking the surface of the tie in a free state were 
 measured by means of the rule described, as has been explained in 
 the preceding tests. Two readings were taken by means of the 
 wedge gage provided with a runner, in order to be able to esti- 
 
LENGTH TO GIVE TIES AND TAMPED BED. 49 
 
 mate the hundredths of a millimeter. The wood ties were provided, 
 as before, with screws with square heads, invariably fixing the points 
 of measurement; but in order to assure the horizontality of the 
 wedge, there was placed in front of the first screws other similar 
 screws provided with a notch for guiding it. 
 
 The vehicle, loaded with care with pieces of rails, weighing 
 26.46 net tons, was mounted on two axles; when the first reading 
 was finished, it was brought close to the cross tie, at a point of the 
 rail determined by the position of the wooden wedges. It was al- 
 lowed to stand for an hour, and two readings were made on each 
 point, as in the other tests. Each reading was controlled with care 
 and checked by other experimenters when the difference attained 
 two hundredths of a millimeter. The mean of the figures was taken, 
 which approached consequently nearly to one hundredth of a milli- 
 meter. The vehicle was removed, the beam recovered, and the new 
 position of its axis was ascertained by two new readings. The dif- 
 ference between the figures of the original position without load and 
 of the position with load, gave the total sinking; the difference 
 between the latter situation and the new position of the piece with- 
 out load, determined the elastic sinking. The permanent sinking 
 resulted from the difference between these figures. In Nos. 1 to 12 
 of Fig. 12, which displays these experiments, the full lines represent 
 the position of the original axis and of the deformed axis; the dotted 
 line, the axis after recovery of the beam. 
 
 The experiments were made with wood ties of different lengths 
 with variable tamped beds, and with the composite tie and the steel 
 tie of the state. 
 
 Wood tie 8 ft. 6.36 in. by 8.66 in. (Nos. 1 and 2, Fig. 12.) 
 We commenced with an oak cross tie well squared, 8.66 in. 
 wide, 5.51 in. thick and 8 ft. 6.36 in. long. The tamping extended 
 over its whole length. The beam was deformed under the load ac- 
 cording to the 'curves in Nos. 1 and 2 of Fig. 12. Their form is 
 convex, raised towards the center, with a tendency to uplift at the 
 extremities, the pressure being less strong at those points. The 
 sinking is more pronounced on the left side, .16 in. by .18 in., than 
 on the right side, .154 in. by .173 in., by reason of the greater 
 solidity of the subgrade. At the center it is only .10 in. and .12 in. 
 The elastic upraising is greater in the first test than in the second, 
 without doubt because the tamping had been more compact; it at- 
 tains, in fact, .091 in. in the first case and .06 in. second. The 
 greatest compression is found on the exterior side of the rail (first, 
 test .185 in., second test .18 in.), which is explained by the reac- 
 
50 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 tion of the ballast, which rights the cross tie and inclines it towards 
 the extremities. 
 
 Tie 8 ft. 6.36 in. by 8.66 in., tamped at the end at 15.75 in. each 
 side of the rail. (No. 3, Fig. 12.) The same tie, tamped at its 
 extremities and at 15.75 in. on each side in the interior, served for 
 this test. The tamping was limited by two angles fixed to the bot- 
 tom of the tie at the extreme points of the tamping. The form at- 
 tained is that of the basin observed at St. Etienne-du-Bois; the 
 bottom is slightly raised in comparison with the left side; the ex- 
 tremity of the right, resting on a more solid foundation, is raised 
 more. The compression is maximum in the interior of the track; 
 the sinking attains .185 in. to the left and .18 in. to the right. The 
 elastic uplift has taken place according to a slightly concave curve, 
 like that which is generally observed at the working places of cross 
 tie renewals. It is sensibly equal to that stated above, about .063 in., 
 the mean permanent sinking being .106 in. 
 
 Tie 7 ft. 6.96 in. long, tamped over 15.75 in. on each side of 
 the rail. (No. 4, Fig. 12.) The same tie reduced to 7 ft. 6.96 in. 
 and tamped over 15.75 in. on each side of the rail was the object of 
 a test. The tamping was limited as above by angles. The curve 
 took the form of a basin more flattened than the preceding, with 
 raising in the central part, the pressure tending to be distributed 
 equally over the ballast. The total sinking is less in consequence 
 of this fact; it scarcely reaches .150 in. while it exceeds .18 in. 
 in the preceding case. The elastic uplift is consequently a little 
 less. The maximum pressure is exercised in the interior and near 
 the rail. 
 
 Tie 7 ft. 6.96 in. long, with tamped bed 15.75 in. and 21.65 in. 
 {No. 5, Fig. 12.) This tie, 7 ft. 6.96 in. long, was unsymmetrically 
 tamped 15.75 in. at the extremities and 21.65 in. in the interior. 
 The total sinking is not greater than in the preceding case; the 
 pressure is distributed; the center is raised up, being little more 
 than with the symmetrical tamping, which depends on the fact that 
 it is naturally more supported. The elastic uplift is made as above; 
 the beam is righted so to speak parallel with itself. 
 
 Wood ties 7 ft. 3 in. long, with tamping 13.78 in. on each side 
 of the rail. (No. 6, Fig. 12.) The same tie, reduced to 7 ft. 
 3 in. long, was tested with two different repetitions with a sym- 
 metrical tamping 13.78 in. long on each side of the rail. The curva- 
 ture of the elastic line diminishes (No. 6, Fig. 12); the 
 beam is lowered, so to speak, parallel with itself. The pressure is- 
 equally distributed over the ballast. The total sinking seems greater, 
 
LENGTH TO GIVE TIES AND TAMPED BED. 51 
 
 which holds with tamping which has been more or less condensed; 
 but the elastic uplift, which is only to be considered, is nearly the 
 same, to some tenths of a millimeter. 
 
 Wood tie 7 ft. 0.6 in., with unsymmetrical tamping. (No. 9, 
 Fig. 12.) The unsymmetrical tamping of this same tie, which is 
 7 ft. 0.6 in. long, because it was effected over 12.6 in. at its ex- 
 tremities and over 14.96 in. towards the interior, raises the pre- 
 ceding curve toward the center, a curve which is convex at the 
 middle and inclined towards the extremities. 
 
 The pressure is exercised more towards the exterior, for the 
 reason that the beam is sustained on the side of its center; it is 
 distributed, however, better than in the first cases examined; the 
 total sinking is always nearly the same as the elastic uplift. The 
 latter preserves the same value approached after a second test. 
 The beam returns parallel with itself. 
 
 Wood tie 6 ft. 11.04 in., with unsymmetrical tamping. (No. 8, 
 Fig. 12.) This tie was 6 ft. 11.04 in. long, with an unsymmetrical 
 tamped bed of 11.81 in. at the extremities, and of 15.75 in. towards 
 the center. It takes a convex form under the load, as in the pre- 
 ceding test. The maximum sinking, very pronounced towards the 
 extremities, is more important because the latter have been brought 
 more closely to the point of application of the pressure. The elastic 
 uplift is the same, and is made nearly parallel to the axis of the 
 deformed beam. After three successive tests, the second after two 
 hours, the third after four hours, the lowering has scarcely in- 
 creased; the beam is always deformed parallel with itself and the 
 elastic uplift remained what it was after the first test. 
 
 The composite tie (No. 10, Fig. 12) behaved as in all earlier 
 experiments; it was lowered nearly parallel with itself without 
 apparent deformation. It reascended the same. The total sinking 
 is nearly the same as for the wood ties; the elastic uplift is also the 
 same. The beam is righted according to a plane slightly inclined 
 on the side where the earth was the more solid. 
 
 The metallic tie of the state system (Nos. 11 and 12, Fig. 12) 
 was tested with two tamped beds, the first over its entire length, 
 the second over its breech, and 15.75 in. long in the interior of the 
 track. 
 
 In the first case the deformation has occurred in a very irrsg- 
 ular fashion, following a convex form in the center with the ordi- 
 nary sinking; the beam is uplifted according to a plane inclined 
 to the left. It seems, at first sight, to have no very regular resist- 
 ance in all its sections, and to be bound to be deformed quite rapidly. 
 
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58 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 In the second case, the curve is more regular and is concave 
 towards the center. The beam is righted according to the profile 
 of a catenary, which ought to give it in time a permanent deforma- 
 tion and produce a diminution of the track gage. 
 
 In all the experiments which have just been related, the rela- 
 tive sinking of the ties with each other has not been sought for, 
 since that question was solved on the main track from Bourg to 
 Saint-Amour, and since the necessity for a tamped bed, executed 
 in a more or less firm manner, in one test or the other, and, as a 
 consequence, irregularly settled, render all comparison illusory. 
 
 But the following points should be retained from the study 
 which has been made: 
 
 (a) The long ties, 8 ft. 6.36 in. to 7 ft. 6.6 in., take, under the 
 load, the form of a basin, with the bottom slightly raised in the 
 center. 
 
 (b) The short ties, 7 ft. 0.6 in. to 6.5 ft., are deformed accord- 
 ing to a curve, convex or otherwise, and inclined toward the ex- 
 tremity. 
 
 (c) The ties between 7 ft. 0.6 in. and 7 ft. 2.64 in. are lowered 
 parallel with themselves without sensible curvature. 
 
 (d) The unsymmetrical tamping raises the curve towards the 
 center; a very feeble lack of symmetry reacts very clearly in this 
 direction. 
 
 (e) It is possible, then, by increasing the rigidity of a cross 
 tie, notably by concentrating the material about the supports, to 
 recuce its sinking to the quantity which is intended as a limit, and 
 its flexure in such measure as one would wish. 
 
 (f) The permanent sinking of the ballast is variable accord- 
 ing to the case, but the elastic sinking', the only one there is reason 
 to consider, is, so to speak, constant, whatever be the length and 
 type of the cross tie adopted. The deformation is slowly produced 
 and augments with time. 
 
 DYNAMIC EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 The results obtained under moving loads, at the passage of sev- 
 eral trains traveling with different speeds, have always been the 
 same, comparatively, as those obtained in the static state. They 
 are always less, from 10 to 20 per cent., than the latter, and the 
 difference observed between the flexure of the wood ties and of the 
 composite ties supporting the same rails is maintained, the latter 
 being less deformed, and sinking less than the former. The refer- 
 ence marks were at first placed at 5.12 in. on the interior of the two 
 
LENGTH TO GIVE TIES AND TAMPED BED. 59 
 
 rails, points where the maximum deformation in the static state is 
 produced, then on five points equally distributed over the length of 
 the pieces. The figures have always been found less than those of 
 the static state (the mean .05 in. for ties of wood, .035 in. for 
 composite ties); the composite tie descended parallel with itself, 
 while the wood tie is deformed according to the curves described 
 cases. The deformation of the material is made slowly, and as 
 above. 
 
 All the experiments which we have made, as well as those which 
 have been previously realized by Mr. Ferry, lead to the same con- 
 clusion; dynamic actions produce less effect than static actions; in 
 order to obtain the maximum deformation, it is then sufficient to 
 examine what occurs in the static state. 
 
 The apparatus for measurement, which is very simple, and dis- 
 posed in such a manner as not to be influenced in the course of 
 the trial, cannot be considered faulty. The rod which sustains the 
 spring is buried to 4.92 ft. in the soil; it should be able to rise up 
 vigorously under the load, which would increase the bending figures, 
 but it cannot descend under that influence. As to the spring, it 
 will not grip against the glass plate, but it will slide against it. 
 Besides, Mr. Ferry has shown that the figures of deformation were 
 the same in the static state, whether they be observed by means 
 of the rule or by means of the spring register. The results orb- 
 tained under a moving load ought, then, to be considered as exact. 
 
 It is necessary, then, that the dynamic actions be exercised 
 with less intensity than the static actions. There is, we believe, 
 a law which ought to be nearly general, except in certain particular 
 much more slowly as the latter is more rigid, and as the mechanical 
 actions take place in a short time. A spring registers slowly the 
 forces to which it is submitted; at the same time, preserved from 
 their effect, it is distended no less slowly, and retakes its primitive 
 form in a time of definite duration. One can walk without leav- 
 ing an imprint on a moving soil of weak consistency, when walking 
 rapidly; the deformation has not had time to be produced. If, on 
 the contrary, one stood still on the same soil, the latter would be 
 deformed more or less rapidly, according to its degree of resistance. 
 
 All the known facts confirm this law of deformation, which can 
 be considered as general. Without doubt, it is admitted that in 
 metallic work, dynamic actions increase static actions by 70 per 
 cent.; but that does not weaken in any way the law which we have 
 derived from these experiments. 
 
 The tie on which the flexure has been studied does not take 
 
60 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 the proper deformation which it should have under the action of 
 loads, but it undergoes that of the ballast, which serves for its 
 support, and of the bed of the ballast. It results that its deforma- 
 tion is limited by that of the material which sustains it. This 
 material acts on the tie after the manner of a powerful spring, which 
 slowly registers the forces which it receives, and which does not 
 attain to registering them completely when they arrive in too short 
 a time. In particular, the shocks which are the consequence of 
 dynamic actions, and which are only susceptible of increasing the 
 flexures in the static state, cannot produce this effect, because they 
 act in too short a time for influencing the spring. 
 
 It is not the same as a piece of metallic work, which, not being 
 sustained, obeys all the vibrations it receives, and which are so 
 much the more intense as they are due to a more violent and shorter 
 shock. Such is the chord of an instrument, which, taut, enters into 
 vibration under an instantaneous influence, for example, the sound 
 rendered by a neighboring instrument. Shocks have thus an im- 
 portant action on a metallic floor, which registers them by reason 
 of its situation and their instantaneousness; but they have not any 
 on a piece sustained by an elastic material but reacting by its mass 
 after the fashion of a spring. It is possible that the materials of 
 the track, the rails, for example, do not obey this last law, but the 
 experiments made up to this time permit of no conclusion either 
 in one direction or the other. 
 
 Apart from the transverse movement, which we have just been 
 studying, the track is submitted to a lateral movement, which is 
 explained as a sliding movement, and often causes derailments. 
 Weber has determined the maximum values of the sliding movement 
 of the track which are produced in the course of normal traffic. 
 His tests have demonstrated that in alinement it produces displace- 
 ment which may reach % in. for the base of the rail, and .28 in. 
 for the head. 
 
 Engesser has proved that it would suffice for main tracks, to 
 take 0.15 to 0.25 G (G load on wheel) as the ordinary value of the 
 horizontal force. 
 
 But if the greatest vertical pressures on the track are pro- 
 duced by the overloaded axles, the greatest horizontal pressures 
 are due to the unloaded axles. The latter have their greatest effect 
 when the ballast is the most unsettled, ttfat is to say, when it has 
 just been changed or renewed. 
 
 It was then placed under the most unfavorable conditions; the 
 experimental ties were arranged as follows: Wood ties and steel 
 
LENGTH TO GIVE TIES AND TAMPED BED. 61 
 
 ties in a switching track at the Bourg station. They were isolated 
 from the neighboring ties, either by superelevating them and re- 
 moving the plates from the neighboring pieces, or again by with- 
 drawing the latter from the track; in this manner it was cer- 
 tain that the cross tie under experiment alone sustained 
 the weights which were placed on it. Besides, the shoulder 
 plate of the cross tie under experiment was replaced by an ordi-" 
 nary flat plate, and the screw spikes were withdrawn so that the 
 cross tie could slide under the rail, but in order to diminish the 
 friction, the surfaces in contact were greased. 
 
 This done, the tie was pushed, being thus rendered independent, 
 and without load, by means of the Collet declimeter, installed, on 
 the one hand, against the extremity of the piece, and on the other 
 hand against a very solid wall. Then the same tie was loaded by 
 means of an axle of 6.61 net tons, and the experiment pushed in 
 the two cases up to the moment when a displacement of .8 in. was 
 obtained, at which the track can be considered as out of service. 
 
 The results of these experiments .are given in the table below: 
 
 , For a displacement of .8-in. x 
 
 , Without load. x With load. 
 
 Composite tie, in the free state From 4,189 to 5,291 Ibs. 15,212 IDS. 
 
 Wood tie, in the free stateT 220 Ibs. 11,684 " 
 
 Steel tie, in the free state 1,102 " 7,496 lk 
 
 The composite tie offers a resistance 24 times greater than that 
 of the wood tie when it is not loaded, that is to say, when this re- 
 sistance presents its weakest value. When it is loaded with an axle 
 of six metric tons, its resistance to sliding is still greater by nearly 
 3,307 Ibs. than that of the wood tie. This is not true of the steel 
 tie; the latter, at first more resistant than the wood tie, not carry- 
 ing any load, becomes less under the load, which appears to arise 
 from the less friction of the ballast against the metallic body. 
 
 If only the two ties, respectively the wood and the composite 
 one, are considered, it is observed that their resistance to sliding 
 being respectively about 220 Ibs. and 4,409 Ibs. without load, there 
 remains for the resistance under the load of 6.61 net tons, 11,464 Ibs. 
 for the first and 10,802 Ibs. for the second. The friction which 
 operates against the sliding is thus proportional to the weights and 
 not to the frictional surface or the substances having the same 
 adherence with the ballast. Mr. Ferry has found that for wood 
 ties this resistance varies from 50 to 80 per cent, of the overload- 
 ing, 50 per cent, when the pieces are smooth, freshly creosoted, -80 
 per cent, on the contrary when they are rough, and when the super- 
 ficial layer of creosoting has been cut by the rubbing against the 
 
152 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 ballast. He has equally demonstrated that the addition of angles 
 under the cross tie, in a word of projections able to give support 
 against the ballast, sensibly increased the resistance to sliding by 
 about 20 per cent, of the overload. 
 
 In the particular case, the wood ties being experimented with, 
 having been placed for a long time in the track, ought to offer a 
 maximum adherence; the coefficient reached 80 per cent, of the 
 overload, that is to say, about 10,582 Ibs., nearly the figure given 
 ^above, 11,464 Ibs. For the composite tie placed* in the track at the 
 same moment of the experiment, the adherence was not great, 
 scarcely 60 per cent; it was then 7,937 Ibs., to which it was neces- 
 sary to add the 20 per cent, due to the cross bars, 2,646 Ibs. The 
 total resistance would thus be, theoretically, from 10,582 Ibs. to 
 220 Ibs., near the figure obtained. The observations of Mr. Ferry 
 are then completely confirmed. 
 
 Again, it ought to be remarked that the thickness of the cross 
 bar or of the roughness ought to be relatively small, to have its 
 full efficiency. A centimeter of protuberance suffices and it is 
 easily conceived, for the tamped bed has no compactness, and only 
 offers consequently resistance in its upper part. The maximum use- 
 ful effect is thus produced on the surface of the ballast; an increase 
 in the relief of the cross bars does not produce an increase in the 
 resistance. That results from experiments made by the P. L. M. Co., 
 and explains the results which have been found with a tie provided 
 with cross bars. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DEFORMATION OF THE TRACK. 
 
 The sliding of the track, which is one of the most frequent 
 deformations, and the most prejudicial to operation, is not, however, 
 the principal one; others are produced of a permanent kind, 
 which cause disorders in the track. While not primarily as 
 grave, they occasion by their repetition serious difficulties. 
 Among them may be mentioned creeping of the track, narrow- 
 
 x 
 
 ing of the gage on tangents, or its spreading on curves; the 
 compression of the wood at the supports, tearing out the screw 
 spikes, and, finally, the shock which is produced right at the joint, 
 and which causes the dislocation of the track and the vertical defor- 
 mation of the rail. 
 
 All these deformations are caused by the longitudinal and trans- 
 verse movements previously described. They are the consequences 
 -of them, to such a point that when these movements are diminished, 
 the deformations are reduced at the same time. 
 
 CREEPING OF THE TRACK. 
 
 Rolling loads produce, in the direction of the movement of the 
 trains, longitudinal displacements of the rails, which are ordinarily 
 called dragging or creeping, and sometimes the entire track is drawn 
 along. The ordinary methods employed for preventing creeping 
 (notching of rails, anti-creepers, joint plates, angle bars) transmit, 
 in a certain measure, the forces producing the longitudinal pushing 
 of the rail to the fastenings as well as to the tie and to the ballast. 
 The movement is more or less retarded, and the advance, whose 
 effects are injurious, as I will show further along, diminished. 
 
 The rails are subjected in the longitudinal direction to two 
 forces in a contrary direction; the driving wheels of the engine 
 determine by their adhesion a reaction on the rails directed in an 
 inverse direction to the travel; the carrying wheels of the engine 
 and those of the other vehicles tend on the contrary to push the 
 rail ahead. It is the last effects which are predominant, and ex- 
 perience shows that the longitudinal movement of rails always takes 
 place in the direction of the trains on a double-track line. 
 
64 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 But the longitudinal movement is not equal in the two lines of 
 rail, even on tangents; when the road is double track the rail ad- 
 vances more rapidly in the line of rail on the outside (the left 
 line) than in that of the inter-track side (right line).* 
 
 It results that the joints of the two lines of rail are no longer 
 concordant; ties, especially those which act jointly with the rail, 
 for example, the ties of the even-joint at the following end, are 
 no longer placed normally .with the track; the gage of the track 
 narrows; the screw spikes lose their contact with the base of the 
 rail. The overlapping of the joints, which in general are low, no 
 longer allows the fall of the wheels at the passage of the joint to 
 be simultaneous on the two lines of rails, and there must neces- 
 sarily result from it zig-zagging movements for the engine and cars. 
 
 The longitudinal dragging causes as an effect the allowance 
 for expansion at the joints to disappear when the temperature rises, 
 the rails, no longer being able to expand, become compressed, and 
 a zig-zagging movement can produce a lateral sliding of the track. 
 
 It is necessary, periodically, to put the rails back in place, and 
 this operation is costly; Mr. Ferry estimates it at $18.80 per mile 
 per year on a line of average traffic. The longitudinal movement 
 is therefore of real importance, and the principal causes which deter- 
 mine this forward movement should be sought. 
 
 Mr. Coiiard estimates that the creeping (Revue des Chemins 
 de Fer, August, 1896) ought to be attributed principally to the shock 
 of the wheels at the passage of joints. It will be seen, further along, 
 that the rails deflect at their extremities at the passage of the 
 wheels, and that the latter fall from the advance rail on the follow- 
 ing-rail, always more or less inflected, and produce a shock the more 
 perceptible, the older the track is and the more deformed the rails 
 are vertically. The wheel would act on the following-rail after the 
 manner of a wedge, and would drive it before it. 
 
 This explanation of the advance movement is very proper, and 
 is corroborated by a series of facts which Mr. Coiiard has put in 
 evidence in a very neat manner. 
 
 Thus, the speed of the trains increases the dragging; the latter 
 is therefore maximum on the grades. Braking produces the same 
 effect, since sliding friction is added, and creeping is very pronounced 
 at the limits of stations. 
 
 On curves this movement is accentuated, especially on the line 
 of rail of short radius, since the latter receives a larger part of 
 
 "Trains are run left-handed on the Paris, Lyons & Mediterranean. 
 
DEFORMATION OF THE TRACK. 65 
 
 the load by reason of the inclination calculated for the highest 
 speeds, and since the sliding friction of the tire against the rail 
 acts in the direction of movement. On the line of rail of long radius 
 the movement has a tendency, on the contrary, to be produced in an 
 inverse direction, in consequence of the cutting of the rail by the 
 flange of the engine. This effect is diminished by the employment 
 of the bogie truck, which enters the curves better. On a right aline- 
 ment, the dragging is produced most thoroughly on the outside line 
 of rail, in consequence of the unequal subsidence of the ties, a sub- 
 sidence \vhich consequently produces a greater loading on that side 
 of the track. When the line of rail of the short radius is found at 
 the same time on the outside, the two movements are conjoined and 
 the dragging is greater. 
 
 The ballast acts equally either for increasing or diminishing 
 the importance of the movement. Mr. Ferry has proved an advance 
 of % in. per thousand trains on track laid in a very variable ballast, 
 that is to say, deprived of all residue by sifting, and freshly placed. 
 
 But the explanation given by Mr. Coiiard has not been admitted 
 by all the technicists; the shock which is produced by the passage 
 of wheels from rail to rail doubtless has an influence, since the 
 simple substitution of angle bars for fish-plates has diminished the 
 creeping, but it ought to have other secondary causes, which act in 
 the same direction, and which complicate the study of the phe- 
 nomena. Thus Professor Johnson, at St. Louis, attributed the creep- 
 ing of rails to the undulatory movement studied above, which is 
 produced in consequence of the oscillation of the supports. 
 
 The resistance, which the friction between the rail and the tie 
 opposes to the return of the points of rest of the rail on its sup- 
 ports, gives consequently a slow creeping of the rail in comparison 
 with the ties. 
 
 The shock and the undulatory movement exercise a%ery serious 
 action on the creeping; they are not, perhaps, the only elements 
 susceptible of producing it. It has been seen, in fact, that, on a 
 line of two tracks, each of which is only traversed by trains going 
 in the one direction, the dragging of the rail is more sensible on 
 the exterior side, that is to say, on the outside space. Mr. Coiiard 
 thought that this fact was. due to the unequal subsidence of the ties, 
 which tend to incline to the side where the ballast and roadbed 
 present the least resistance. This explanation does not suffice, since 
 the same anomaly is observed on lines with four tracks; it is al- 
 ways the left line of rail in the direction of movement which is 
 submitted to the strongest dragging force. Other explanations have 
 
6 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 been sought, such as the lack of symmetry of the engine, which 
 would be more heavily loaded on the left, the position of Giffard, 
 -etc.; it suffices to cite them, in order not to retain any of them, for 
 they do not rest on any precise observation. 
 
 The question then remains intact, and has not been entirely 
 -solved, in spite of all the interest which it presents; but it is neces- 
 sary to retain the influence of the shock and of the undulatory move- 
 ment, whose effect is of great importance, especially that of shock, 
 .as I have shown. 
 
 The author will endeavor to show, in the second part of this 
 work, the methods employed for combatting the creeping, and to 
 indicate those which should be adopted to arrive at a better result. 
 
 REDUCTION OF THE GAGE OF THE TRACK ON TANGENT AND THE 
 WIDENING ON CURVES. 
 
 Mr. Coiiard has pointed out, in very precise experiments, of 
 which he has given an account in the Revue des Chemins de Fer for 
 July, 1888, that in right alinement the rails are inclined to the 
 interior of the track, and that on curved alinement the same move- 
 ment takes place to the outside. He has equally proved that at the 
 joint the rail in advance is inclined more than the following rail, 
 and that the wheel falls from the first on the second. 
 
 The mean inclination on right alinement is as follows: With 
 a good tamping of the tie, .067 in. on the advance rail, and .028 in. 
 on the following rail (line of rail on the outside). 
 
 With a defective tamping, .08 in. on the advance rail and .04 in. 
 on the following rail (line of rail on the outside). The line of rail 
 on the outside should incline more than the line of rail of the inter- 
 track space. The consequence of the unequal inclination of the two 
 rails, advance and following, is to super-elevate the advance rail 
 in companion with the following rail, to provoke a fall of the 
 vehicle, which withdraws considerable length of the following rail 
 from contact with the wheels, and which increases at the same time 
 as the inclination. 
 
 Mr. Coiiard considers that this inclination would produce the 
 same effect as if the rail were pivoted about the interior edge of 
 its base. He has established that the jerk which is felt at the pass- 
 age of joints cannot be attributed to the space left between the 
 two rails for expansion, but to the unequal level produced by the 
 unequal rotation of the two extremities of the rails. "The shock 
 brings about, little by little, the unpacking of the tie at the follow- 
 ing end of the even-joint, and the latter circumstance augments 
 
DEFORMATION OF THE TRACK. 67 
 
 still more the jerking at the passage of the joint, the lowering of 
 the following tie tending to increase the unequal level of the two* 
 rails." 
 
 On a curve, the first axle of the train is that which most de- 
 forms the track. The line of rail on the side of the short radius is 
 projected towards the center of the curve; the line of rail on the 
 side of the long radius is, on the contrary, inclined to the interior 
 of the track; the first axle only produces an inclination to the 
 exterior. 
 
 Mr. Coiiard has analyzed intelligently the phenomena of nar- 
 rowing and widening of the gage of the track, but he has not per- 
 haps given the exact reasons. If he has indeed seen that the widen- 
 ing of the track ought to be attributed to an exaggerated super- 
 elevation given to the rail of long radius on curves, it does not seem 
 that he has found the reason for the reduction of the gage of the 
 track, which is produced on tangents. 
 
 I have shown, by numerous experiments, that the wood tie em- 
 ployed on railroads, bends in a very perceptible manner. The rail 
 tends then, in consequence of this flexure, to be inclined towards 
 the interior of the track, and this effect is again augmented by the 
 compression of the supports and their deformation on the interior 
 side, as we shall see further along, since the inclination of one-twen- 
 tieth given to the rail, and the flexure of the tie, act in the same 
 direction, and bring the weight of the load towards the interior. 
 The unequal inclination of the two rails is also a consequence of 
 the flexure, since the tie at the advance end of the even joint under- 
 goes the maximum flexure and draws over the rail, while the tie 
 of the following end of the even joint has not yet attained its com- 
 plete deformation, and the imperfect splicing does not induce the 
 two rails to act at the same time. 
 
 Besides, Mr. Coiiard has implicitly recognized the causes given 
 above, since he has proved that the placing of plates under the 
 rails, distributing the load over a greater surface, diminishes the 
 effect of the reduction of the gage. 
 
 COMPRESSION OF THE TIES RIGHT AT THE SUPPORTS. 
 
 The rails are fixed on the ties, whether it be directly or indi- 
 rectly, by means of plates of support; in the first, as in the second 
 case, but especially in the first, the wood is compressed excessively, 
 and finishes by taking a permanent deformation. 
 
 tu the bending tests of ties the lowering of the rail has been 
 marked, apart from the points taken on the tie. This lowering, 
 
68 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 which has always been found in excess of that of the neighboring 
 points, gives the measure of the sinking of the rail on its support, 
 and, consequently, of the compression of the wood. In order to 
 -appreciate its value, mean figures of the lowering of the points of 
 the tie, situated on each side of the rail, have been taken, and the 
 difference between these figures and those of the lowering of the rail 
 have been given. The table on the following page, which sums up 
 these calculations, brings out the fact that the sinking of the rail in 
 its support is about twice as great with ordinary ties as with com- 
 posite ties. 
 
 It is, however, necessary to remark that this reduced sinking 
 is not due entirely to the reduced compression of the wood, but that, 
 apart from this fact, it is also necessary to take account of the 
 flexure of the tie, which increases the compression under the base 
 at the inside edge of the rail, already greater by reason of the incli- 
 nation of 1 in 20. But this flexure increases but little the effect of 
 the sinking, for the slope of the bent tie scarcely reaches 1 in 400, 
 a negligible quantity in comparison with the inclination. 
 
 Whatever the reason may be, the compression of the wood is 
 produced, and it is a maximum on the interior side, because, for 
 the reasons given, the loads are carried on this side. This coin- 
 cides with the statement of Mr. Coiiard, set forth in his article for 
 July, 1888, in the Revue ties Chemins de Per; he has claimed cor- 
 rectly that the rail turns about its interior edge, which produces 
 a super-elevation of the advance rail in comparison with the follow- 
 ing rail, and determines a drop at the passage of the joint. 
 
 The increases of the resistance of ties to compression presents 
 very great interest, and is intimately connected with the question 
 which now occupies us, that is to say, the attempt to find out how 
 to avoid deformations, in order to obtain a better circulation of traf- 
 fic, and realize more considerable speeds. After the passage of 
 trains, the rail returns to its primitive position; the base reacts 
 on the head of the screw spike, tending to tear it from its socket. 
 
 PULLING OUT SCREW SPIKES. 
 
 The sinking of the rail in its support, the least bending of the 
 tie, and the elastic reaction which results from it, exercise, slowly 
 but surely, pulling effects on the screw spikes. At the end of a cer- 
 tain time, the screw spikes, which unite the rail with the ties, no 
 longer hold, especially those which on a tangent are located in the 
 interior of the track. They can be readily pulled out of their holes. 
 
 That is why a study of the fastenings is necessary; it is neces- 
 
DEFORMATION OF THE TRACK. 69 
 
 COMPRESSION OF SUPPORTS AND INCLINATION OF RAIL. 
 
 Figures for points Diff. bet. the 
 
 No. observed to the right and Mean Figures figures of 
 
 of ties. , left of the rail x figures. for the rail. cols. 4 and 5 
 
 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 
 
 1. Wooden Ties (P. M. rails) Line of long radius. 
 
 5 -14.5 20.0 17.2 18.0 0.8 
 
 6 25.0 19.5 22.2 26.0 3.8 
 
 7 15.0 21.0 18.0 20.5 2.5 
 20 13.0 19.0 16.0 17.5 1.5 
 
 Mean compression 2.1 
 
 Line of Short Radius. 
 
 5 24.0 21.0 22.5 26.0 3.5 
 
 6 22.0 23.5 22.7 26.0 3.3 
 
 7 27.0 24.0 25.5 29.5 4.0 
 20 25.5 21.0 23.2 27.0 3.8 
 
 Mean compression 3.6 
 
 2. Composite Ties (P. M. rails) Line of long radius. 
 
 7A 23.0 22.5 22.7 23.5 0.8 
 
 7B 22.0 23.0 22.5 23.0 0.5 
 
 9 12.0 14.5 13.2 15.5 2.3 
 
 10 19.5 19.5 19.5 21.0 1.5 
 
 11 25.5 26.5 26.0 
 
 12 11.0 12.0 11.5 13.3 1.8 
 15 12.0 14.5 13.2 13.5 0.3 
 
 15 11.0 14.0 12.5 13.5 1.0 
 
 16 9.5 10.5 10.0 10.5 0.5 
 
 18 19.0 .19.5 19.2 19.5 0.3 
 
 19 15.5 13.5 13.5 15.5 2.0 
 
 Mean compression 1.1 
 
 Line of Short Radius. 
 
 7A 32.5 37.5 35.0 35.0 
 
 7B 33.0 33.0 33.0 36.5 3.5 
 
 9 19.5 16.0 17.7 23.0 5.3 
 
 10 24.0 24.0 24.0 29.0 5.0 
 
 11 23.5 24.0 23.7 27.5 3.8 
 
 12 19.0 17.0 18.0 19.0 1.0 
 
 13 21.0 22.0 21.5 27.5 6.0 
 
 14 23.0 24.5 23.7 25.5 1.8 
 
 15 17.0 19.5 18.2 21.0 2.8 
 
 16 19.5 20.0 19.7 23.0 3.3 
 
 17 15.0 14.0 14.5 16.r> 2.0 
 "18 23.5 26.0 24.7 26.0 1.3 
 
 19 20.0 20.0 20.0 21.0 1.0 
 
 Mean compression 2.8 
 
 3. Recapitulation. 
 
 Wooden ties line of long radius. 2.1 Wooden ties line of short radius. 3.6 
 
 <Comp. ties line of long radius. .1.1 Comp. ties line of short radius. 2.8 
 
 Difference in favor of Comp. tie. 1.0 Difference in favor of Comp. tie. 0.8 
 NOTE. The figures are expressed in tenths of millimeters. 
 
70 
 
 TRACK DEFORMATION. 
 
 sary to know the limiting force which can be applied to the screw 
 spikes before they can be withdrawn, and that which they can sup- 
 port before a spreading of the track .98 in. takes place, considered 
 as sufficient to put it out of service; finally, the limiting force which 
 can be imposed on it before obtaining excessive turning. 
 
 These experiments have been executed with two very ingenious 
 pieces of apparatus devised by Mr. Albert Collet, and which he has 
 
 Fig. 13 The Extrahometre, Vertical Section and Front View. 
 
 named the extrahometre and the declimetre. They have been used, 
 as will be seen later, on ordinary and composite ties, with or with- 
 out treenails, of which Mr. Collet is the inventor. 
 
 The extrahometre is a very small testing apparatus, with register 
 and with means for measurement, weighing only 13.23 Ibs. and 
 able to support a force of 8.82 net tons which is exercised vertically 
 on the head of the screw spike, in the manner for extracting. This 
 force is produced up to the moment when the wood is torn and 
 
DEFORMATION OF THE TRACK. 71 
 
 yields; at that moment there is no more resistance in consequence 
 of more force. 
 
 This apparatus (Fig. 13), entirely of steel, is composed of a 
 square pedestal, S, serving as point of support, through the opening; 
 of which is introduced the head of the screw spike, which is en- 
 gaged in the foot of the dog, G. The foot of the dog is in one piece 
 with the traction cheeks, F, and the nut, D, in which travels the 
 motor screw, V, directed at R, by the key for screw spikes. Between 
 the two cheeks is a cylinder, C, whose two flanges, N, rest on the 
 pedestal. The cylinder .contains liquid glycerine in T, and above,. 
 a piston, P, packed with leather, carrying a small ball, L. 
 
 At the extremity of one of the flanges, N, a pressure gage re- 
 ceives and records the pressure exercised on the liquid passing by 
 the capillary conduit, M. B is a release latch, and E a symmetrical 
 arrangement allowing the adoption of a standard, in order to verify 
 the pressure gage in case of necessity. The travel of the foot of 
 the dog is 1.57 in. This apparatus is in use by several railroad com- 
 panies in France. 
 
 The table which follows gives the results obtained on composite 
 ties: 
 
 COMPOSITE CROSS TIES. 
 
 Without treenails s . , - With treenails - , 
 
 Forces on screw spikes Forces on screw spikes 
 
 )f the N Raise 
 
 Lateral of the middle 
 
 wedges. wedges. 
 
 3. 15,983 Ibs. in.* 
 
 3. " 
 
 , of 
 
 the , 
 
 Raise 
 
 t 
 
 Middle 
 
 Lateral 
 
 of middle 
 
 Midd 
 
 wedges. 
 
 wedges. 
 
 wedges. 
 
 wedg< 
 
 13,228 Ibs. 
 
 
 
 0.04 in. 
 
 15,873 
 
 12,235 "t 
 
 
 0.02 " 
 
 15,983 
 
 12,787 " 
 
 13,228 Ibs. 
 
 0.0 " t 
 
 
 11,464 " 
 
 11,574 " 
 
 0.0 " $ 
 
 
 13,228 " 
 
 13,007 " 
 
 0.0 " $ 
 
 
 11,023 " 
 
 12,787 " 
 
 0.0 " 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Observations : 
 
 *Wooden wedges of creosoted oak, but split by frost. 
 fThis wedge was split before the trial. 
 JMean force : Middle wedge without treenail, 12,324 Ibs. ; lateral wedge, 
 
 without treenail, 12,654 Ibs. 
 Mean force on the two wedges, 12,456 Ibs. 
 
 The following table gives the results of trials on wood ties: 
 
 Forces on the screw spikes 
 
 Nature of ties. Without treenails. With treenails. 
 
 New oak ties, creosoted 13,668.5. Ibs. 15,873.1 Ibs. 
 
 Piece of new good spruce, creosoted 7,936.5 " 11,023.0 " 
 
 Apart from the experiments related above, and which were 
 made in my presence, I have embodied the results of similar experi- 
 ments executed by the employees of the P. L. M. Co., some days 
 before. It was interesting to compare the results obtained with 
 
72 TRACK DEFORMATION. 
 
 a more complete series, in which the wood ties tested were with or 
 without treenails. It is not necessary to give here the details of 
 these experiments, it would be, in fact, going beyond the outline 
 of the study which we have undertaken, but it is fitting to remember 
 that the resistance to withdrawal of the screw spikes is the fol- 
 lowing: 
 
 1st. In pine ties Approximately 7,716 Ibs. 
 
 2d. In pine ties with treenails , . 11,023 " 
 
 3d. In new oak ties 13,228 " 
 
 4th. In new oak ties with treenails " 15,432 " 
 
 5th. In oak ties in service for eight years 7,496 " 
 
 6th. In oak ties in service for 8 years, new treenails " 12,125 " 
 
 7th. In oak ties with old treenails " 7,496 " 
 
 The limit to extraction of the screw spikes in the composite 
 cross ties is raised as an average to 12,456 Ibs., that is to say, to 
 A figure which is very near that which was obtained with new oak 
 ities; the wood of the wedges was, however, of bad quality, pre- 
 senting a good many fissures, and having all the appearances of 
 ibeing split by frost. Their own resistance was certainly inferior 
 to that which it would have been if the material employed had been 
 sound. The central wedge once in place, no longer rises, whatever 
 may be the pressure to which the screw spike is submitted; the 
 fastening is then secured in a certain fashion, and even more ef- 
 ficiently than it is generally, by reason of the compression of the 
 fibers of the wood. The wedging, or rather the squeezing, of the 
 pieces of wood, which one would consider a priori, as one of the 
 weak points of a composite cross tie, becomes, on the contrary, one 
 of its principal advantages; it seems that the bringing together of 
 the fibers of the wood arising from the squeezing, gives to that 
 material a resistance superior to that which it would have had in 
 a free state. It is that which explains also the reason why the 
 employment of the treenail in ties gives a superior resistance to 
 that of the wood which constitutes them; the treenail has not, so 
 to speak, any resistance of its own. That which demonstrates it, 
 is that the limit of extraction varies according to the nature of the 
 wood which envelops it, and which latter is, so to speak, the inter- 
 mediary between the resistance of the treenail and that of the wood, 
 which surrounds the latter. It follows that this resistance ought 
 to hold the fibers of the wood envelope in compression more or 
 less great, since the more fibrous and elastic the wood is, the more 
 considerable is the resistance. 
 
 Thus the compression of the wood constitutes one of the prin- 
 cipal merits of the tie, and in order to exhibit it, I have provided 
 the wedges with treenails. The result has been what was expected; 
 
DEFORMATION OF THE TRACK. 
 
 73 
 
 the compressed horizontal fiber of the blocks reacted on the ver- 
 tical fiber of the treenail, and the resistance was increased by about 
 20 per cent, that is to say, that with blocks composed of sound 
 wood, fibrous and elastic, and with treenails introduced at the point 
 where the fastenings are placed, a resistance was obtained which 
 surpassed known limits. It was interesting, consequently, to make 
 new experiments with that idea, and to see how cross ties, com- 
 posed of wooden blocks of the kind indicated above, would behave. 
 For that effect, cross ties provided with wooden blocks of horn- 
 beam and elm were experimented with like the preceding, but un- 
 fortunately, the woods employed were absolutely baked, and the 
 trials offered no more than a relative interest. 
 
 In spite of these very disadvantageous conditions, the results 
 have nevertheless been very satisfactory, since there was obtained 
 on a middle wedge a force of 19,621 Ibs. (limit of power of the 
 extrahometre) , and on the lateral wedges forces varying between 
 15,432 Ibs. and 16,094 Ibs. The results of this last experiment are 
 set down in the following table: 
 
 COMPOSITE TIES. 
 Forces on the screw spikes 
 
 -x Raise 
 
 Observations. 
 
 Mean force on a lateral wedge, 15,- 
 300 Ibs. 
 
 These blocks were prepared specially 
 for the tests ; they were not creo- 
 soted, because they were not to 
 be used in the tracks ; they were 
 in full process of decomposition, 
 as we have been able to account 
 for it to ourselves, having broken 
 several of them. 
 
 2<Z. Elm wedges. 
 
 Wood as above. 
 
 , of the v 
 
 sedges -^ Raise 
 
 
 On the sides of midd 
 
 In the middle. 
 
 (lateral.) wedges 
 
 
 1st Horn-b< 
 
 14,330 Ibs. 
 
 15.432 Ibs. 
 
 17,637 " 
 
 16,094 " 
 
 14,110 " 
 
 15,432 " 
 
 12,346 " 
 
 14,992 " 
 
 
 14,110 " 
 
 
 15,983 " 
 
 
 14,330 " 
 
 
 15.983 " 
 
 12,676 Ibs. 
 13,779 " 
 11,023 " 
 10,472 " 
 
 13,669 Ibs. 
 
 12,676 " 
 
 13,448 " 
 
 13,228 " 
 
 11,684 " 
 
 ' 13,007 " 
 
 11,905 " 
 
 12,566 " 
 
 The object of the experiments with the dvclimetre was to 
 measure the bending of the tie and to bring about the overturning 
 of the fastenings under increasing forces, having as an effect the 
 spreading of the track to the limit (.98 in.), where it is considered 
 as out of service. 
 
74 
 
 TRACK DEFORMATION. 
 
 This apparatus is essentially composed of a screw and nut, and 
 rests on the heads of the two rails, under conditions similar to 
 those of the wheel tires. The screw acts, through the intermediary 
 of a ball and piston, on glycerine, which is contained in a reservoir, 
 the pressure of which is registered by a pressure gage; it tends 
 to spread the two rails, and the force causes the tie to assume a 
 convex curvature. (See Fig. 14.) The displacement of the rail 
 is registered and amplified by an independent instrument. 
 
 Fig. 14 Declimetre; Longitudinal Section, Plan and Elevation. 
 
 This apparatus serves also to measure the resistance of the 
 track to lateral displacement, by supporting it against an abutment 
 pier, and by acting on a single rail. 
 
 The experiments were made on composite and wood ties, at 
 first in separate units, then by groups of two, each distant from 
 the other (13.78 in.). The ties were placed on two supports, nearly 
 of the length corresponding to that of the tamped bed. Steel ties 
 in use on the state system were also experimented with, under 
 similar conditions. 
 
DEFORMATION OF THE TRACK. 75 
 
 The apparatus was fixed, in the first case, in the axis of the 
 tie to be tried, and in the second case, in the center of the two 
 ties. In order to measure the curvature of the pieces, which it 
 tended to produce, and which made known, so to speak, the degree 
 .of their rigidity, there was opportunity for estimating the import- 
 ance of the flexures from their initial position which these pieces 
 underwent. To this effect a right line was traced on the ties, whose 
 two extreme points were placed near the ends of each of the pieces, 
 .and, at a given moment, the flexure in comparison with this line, 
 now become curved, was measured, by describing with the same 
 points a new right line, and by observing the departure of these 
 two lines at the middle of their length. 
 
 This apparatus, which tended to spread the two sections of 
 rail, acted at first on the tie, to induce its flexure; then, when this 
 
 CT 
 
 Not reinforced. Reinforced at ends. 
 
 Fig. 15 Ordinary P. M. Tie Plate. 
 
 had attained, a certain degree, which corresponded to the bending 
 of the head of the screw spike on the plate, apart from its shoulder, 
 the fastenings, principally those placed in the interior, commenced 
 to be overturned, up to the moment when the base of rail escaped 
 from the head of either of the interior screw spikes. (Fig. 15.) 
 This effect was obtained without increase of force. 
 
 These experiments have shown that there was reason for con- 
 solidating the interior fastenings, and for increasing the number 
 in comparison with the exterior fastenings. The good effect of the 
 reinforcement of the plates in use on the P. L. M. system was also 
 proved. In the type employed, the head of the screw is only par- 
 tially sustained by the shoulder; it has then a tendency to over- 
 turn in the empty space until it meets the exterior part lying below 
 the shoulder. There results a weakening of the fastening and a 
 .bedding of the screw spike which diminishes the resistance to this 
 
76 
 
 TRACK DEFORMATION. 
 
 kind of force. The rail is no longer maintained by the screw spike, 
 and generally escapes from the fastening. In order to remedy this 
 disadvantage, it is sufficient to prolong the shoulder of the plate 
 on the exterior. In the trials which followed, the interior screw 
 spike took the position indicated in Fig. 15, and the resistance to 
 overturning was increased by 20 per cent. 
 
 The experiments with the declimetre were carried on in like 
 manner with the steel ties of the State System. The rails were 
 fixed on the ties through the intermediary of steel plates, with an 
 inclination of 1 in 20, and bolted on their upper surface. Three 
 bolts per rail were used in the first test, two on the exterior and 
 one in the interior; in the second, two in the interior and one 
 on the exterior. The declimetre was placed, as in the preceding 
 experiments, in the axis of the tie. The forces were successively 
 exercised, and were noted for each spread of the rails of .2 in. 
 
 Fig. 16 Tie Plates Used on Wood (Left) and Composite (Right) 
 
 Ties. 
 
 up to .98 in., where the track is considered out of service. The 
 deformations of the beam, placed on two supports right at the rails, 
 were read in comparison with the lower and horizontal edge of 
 a steel rule, resting on invariable supports parallel with the tie. 
 The latter was raised at the center in comparison with its original 
 position, and lowered at its extremities; the curve of deformation 
 was thus convex upward. , 
 
 It would take too long and be without great interest to give 
 the detail of all these experiments. They are summarized in the 
 table on the following page. 
 
 This table shows: (1) that the forces were proportional to the 
 number of interior fastenings; (2) that the forces sustained by 
 the composite ties, provided with ordinary plates, were a little supe- 
 rior to those undergone by the wood ties, but that the inverse result 
 was obtained in the experiments with reinforced plates. This fact 
 
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 q TJ< q oo 
 
 F 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 CO 
 
 o> 
 
 ft a 
 
 ft 2 
 
 a 
 
 72 
 
 "a fl 
 
 a .s 
 
 'a d 
 
 72 
 
 'a fl ' 
 
 > 
 
 fe 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 ^ 00 
 
 a, TH 
 3 o 
 
 02 
 ^ 
 
 d 
 
 ^ 
 
 p*5 
 
 ^ 
 
 05 ' 
 ^ 
 
 2 d 
 
 ^ 00 
 a) <M 
 
 w d 
 
 03 "< 
 
 8 s ? 
 
 fc- 
 
 ^ N 
 
 CP 00 
 
 3 d 
 
 ^ 
 ^ in 
 
 2 d 
 
 S 
 
 
 >H 
 
 S 
 
 ta 
 
 0) 
 0) 
 
 1 
 
 02 
 
 a> 
 
 S a 
 
 S 
 
 L- 
 
 05 
 Q) 
 
 q 
 O . 
 _q 
 
 o 
 
 05 
 
 la 
 
 05 
 <1) 
 
 S fl 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 ^ . 
 
 H ,fl 
 
 05 
 0) 
 
 S a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 tj 
 
 
 'O 
 
 eS 
 
 in 
 
 oo 
 
 t- 
 
 t- 
 
 00 
 
 00 
 
 C5 
 
 o 
 
 M 
 ci 
 
 VI 
 
 " 
 
 
 t-; 
 
 rH 
 
 t- 
 
 rH 
 
 o 
 
 *H 
 
 00 
 
 CO 
 
 a 
 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 d 
 
 d 
 
 o' 
 
 rH 
 
 d 
 
 rH 
 
 d 
 
 rH 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 OJ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 05 < 
 
 O 
 
 Lfa 
 
 O5 rH O 
 
 00 CO CO 
 
 t^ CO GO 
 
 3 I 
 
78 TRACK DEFORMATION. 
 
 can only be explained by the more complete reinforcement of the 
 shoulder of the plates employed on the wood ties. In fact, for 
 these latter pieces, the shoulder was prolonged in an inclined plane, 
 C D, by adding a piece A B C D (Fig. 16), while we were satis- 
 fied, for the plates intended for composite ties, with a plane G H 
 (Fig. 16), much less inclined; thus the heads of the screw spikes 
 were found to be more supported on the first plates (Fig. 18), 
 than on the second (Fig. 16), which explains the difference in the 
 increase of the forces. 
 
 It may therefore be concluded that with plates absolutely iden- 
 tical, the forces would have increased in the two cases in the same 
 proportion. Whatever it may be, no track is submitted in practice 
 to the forces which were obtained, and these latter can always be 
 considered as maxima, which will never be reached. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 DEFORMATION OF TIES. 
 
 The curves of deformation of these different ties, a deformation 
 which was obtained by spreading the track, acting horizontally on 
 the rails, are those which give the application of the theory, and 
 the theoretical flexures <are very close to those which were observed. 
 
 The moment of the flexure to which the wood and steel cross 
 ties are submitted is constant for all sections; the curve of deforma- 
 tion, determined by the condition that the beam, resting on two 
 supports right at the rails, is horizontal at the middle of the span, 
 Js then represented by the equation: 
 
 Kx2 K (la) 
 
 E 1 y = , 
 
 2 2 
 
 in which K represents the moment of constant flexure, I the half 
 span of the beam, a the length between the extremity of the beam 
 and the raiK by taking as the origin of co-ordinates the middle 
 of the beam, and as axes the. neutral line and the perpendicular 
 erected at its middle. 
 
 It has been deduced from it that the total bending of the beam, 
 which is equal to the sum of the flexures, at the middle and at its 
 -extremities, is given by the expression: 
 
 The table following permits a comparison of the observed and 
 theoretical flexures, calculated as has just been described; the flex- 
 ures obtained have been taken by attaching the rails to the cross 
 ties with the screw spikes in the interior, which assures the greatest 
 
80 
 
 TRACK DEFORMATION. 
 
 solidity to the fastening, and an integral transmission of the force 
 to the beam: 
 
 Value 
 of the force. 
 2,205 Ibs 
 4 409 " . 
 
 Bending 
 , of 1 
 Wooden. 
 180 
 360 
 
 moment 
 ;ie v 
 Steel. 
 
 * Wooden ties N 
 Theoret- 
 Observed. ical. 
 
 , Steel 
 Observed 
 
 ties ^ 
 Theoret- 
 . ical. 
 
 323 
 605 
 
 0.40 in. 
 
 0.24 in. 
 
 
 
 '5 291 " 
 
 432 
 
 0.26 in. 
 
 0.29 in. 
 
 8 818 " 
 
 720 
 
 0.64 in. 
 
 0.47 in. 
 
 9 90 " 
 
 810 
 
 0.44 in. 
 
 0.55 in. 
 
 11 023 " 
 
 900 
 
 0.80 in. 
 
 0.59 in. 
 
 13 228 " 
 
 1.080 
 
 834 
 
 995 
 1.116 
 
 0.78 in. 
 
 0.71 in. 
 
 
 
 13 669 " 
 
 1 116 
 
 0.59 in. 
 
 0.76 in. 
 
 15,432 " 
 16 259 " 
 
 1.260 
 1 328 
 
 0.75 in. 
 0.82 in. 
 
 0.83 in. 
 0.88 in. 
 
 16 314 " . . 
 
 . . 1 332 
 
 0.69 in. 
 0.91 in. 
 
 0.91 in. 
 1.03 in. 
 
 18.298 " . 
 
 1.494 
 
 Two observations may be made on the results set down in this 
 table: 
 
 1. The theoretical flexures of the wood tie are sensibly equal 
 to the flexures observed within the limits of elasticity of the wood, 
 that is to say, in the case in question, up to a force of 11,023 Ibs., 
 corresponding to a bending of .79 in. When this bending is reached, 
 it is remarked that, under increasing forces, the bending diminishes, 
 which corresponds to a new state of the body, which takes a perma- 
 nent deformation, and is extended while taking a less curvature. 
 Besides, from this moment, the wood becomes brittle, and several 
 ties were broken under the plate, where the weakest section is 
 found by reason of the adzing for the plate. 
 
 2. The theoretical flexures of the steel tie are a little superior 
 to those which were observed. The reason for it is the following: 
 The plates of support for the rail were riveted to the upper sur- 
 face of the cross tie and became a part of it. An increase of sec- 
 tion results, for a notable length of the beam (about 23.62 in.), 
 and, consequently, of the moment of inertia; the latter, which in 
 the normal section is only 168, is increased by the moment of the 
 plate, that is to say 256, a value which reaches nearly double the 
 inertia of the section of the ties. 
 
 The latter has, then, from this fact, an exceptional rigidity, 
 which explains the difference observed between the theoretical and 
 recorded flexures. 
 
DEFORMATION OF TIES. 81 
 
 STRESS OF METAL AND OF WOOD. 
 
 It is possible, after having studied the deformation of cross 
 ties, to investigate the stress of metal and wood resulting from this 
 deformation. It is given by the formula: 
 
 x z 
 
 R = 
 
 I 
 in which R is the stress per unit of surface, x the bending moment, 
 
 ^ the resisting moment of the beam. 
 
 The table which follows gives for each force the maximum 
 stress to which the extreme fiber of the sections is submitted. 
 
 , Moment > Value of force, in 
 
 Value , Bending , Resisting N , Ibs. per sq.in. 
 
 of force. Wood tie. Steel tie. Wood tie. Steel tie. Wood tie. Steel tie. 
 
 2,205 Ibs 180 135 18 30 353 6,400 
 
 4,409 " 360 270 . . . . 711 12;80() 
 
 5,291 " 432 323 . . . . 853 15,645 
 
 8,818 " 720 540 .. .. 1,422 
 
 9,920 " 820 605 .. .. ..T 28,589 
 
 11,023 " 900 675 .. .. 1,778 
 
 13,228 " 1.080 810 .. .. 2,133 
 
 13,669 " 1.116 833 .. .. 39,498 
 
 15,432 " 1.260 945 . . . . 2,489 
 
 16,259 " 1.328 992 .. .. 2,617 
 
 16,314 " 1.332 995 .. .. 47,164 
 
 18,298 " 1.494 1.116 52,910 
 
 It is observed: 1. That the wood tie was stressed, in the ex- 
 periments accomplished, very near to the limit of elasticity of the 
 material which composes it, since the latter is nearly 2,133 Ibs. 
 per sq. in., as was established in the study of the deformation. The 
 result to be drawn is that a wood cross tie ought never to take a 
 flexure greater than 0.40 in. under penalty of being exposed to 
 rupture. 
 
 2. That the steel tie was stressed to a limit near that of rup- 
 ture, 52,626 Ibs., in place of 64,004 Ibs. per sq. in., and that it has 
 a resisting moment little higher, since, under a feeble force its 
 stress reaches the limit generally admitted, 6,400 Ibs. per sq. in.; 
 it is true that the plate or the chair can reduce in a large measure 
 the calculated stress. 
 
 CURVE OF DEFORMATION OF THE COMPOSITE TIE. 
 
 The composite tie can be considered as an armored beam, com- 
 posed of a steel envelope and of a wooden furring; the union be- 
 tween these elements is so intimate, in consequence of the squeez- 
 ing of the pieces, that these two elements may be considered to form 
 an indivisible whole, the one coming to aid the other, to resist the 
 
.82 
 
 TRACK DEFORMATION. 
 
 0.2O 
 
 forces to which they are submitted as a whole. Such a solid may, 
 therefore, well be compared to a beam of armored cement, in which 
 the elements are associated in a manner so intimate, that each 
 takes, within the limits 
 of its elasticity, the part 
 of the force which it 
 can bear. 
 
 The experiments 
 which were made on 
 the sliding of the 
 wedges, or the single 
 wedge in the interior of 
 the metallic body, have 
 shown the good founda- 
 tion for this conception. 
 
 SECTION OF COMPOSITE TIE. 
 
 For these tests, rails, tie plates, and screw 
 spikes were removed,, leaving the wedges and 
 blocks entirely free to slide in their envelope. 
 
 The tie was butted at 
 one of its extremities 
 
 against a wall, or against a very solid obstacle; the declimetre 
 exercised its force against the other extremity (Fig. 17). 
 The force which was thus exercised was raised to 15,432 Ibs. 
 before sliding began. This force is much greater than that which 
 is necessary for bedding the fastenings, since a force of 1,543 Ibs. 
 suffices for overturning the head of the screw spike on the plate, 
 which was displaced 0.4 in.; for a displacement 0.6 in. the force 
 was raised to 5,732 Ibs. It can be concluded from this that the 
 fastenings will yield before either of the blocks has commenced to 
 slide, and that the plate will never injure the flanges of the skele- 
 ton which surrounds it. 
 
 Each of the blocks thus forms with the metallic skeleton, a solid 
 whole, which permits of calculating with exactness the forces 
 which are developed in each of the parts of the system. 
 
 Three sections must be considered: the first, where the furring 
 and the envelope are complete; the second where the envelope is 
 defective in its upper part, that is to say right at the fastenings; 
 the third where the envelope exists alone, without furring, which 
 -occurs at the extremities and in the central part of the piece. 
 
*! 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 I 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 01 
 
 -D 
 
 V 
 
 CD 
 
84 
 
 TRACK DEFORMATION. 
 
 The table which follows gives, comparatively, the observed and 
 the theoretical flexures calculated by graphical statistics (Fig. 18) : 
 
 Value 
 
 -Bending moment.- 
 
 -Flexures.- 
 
 of force. 1st Sec. 2d Sec. 3d Sec. Observed. Theoretical. 
 
 4,409 Ibs. 337 377 325 0.12 in. 0.10 in. 
 
 8,818 " 674 754 649 0.16 " 0.20 " 
 
 11,023 " 843 942 812 0.21 " 0.25 " 
 
 13,228 " 1.011 1.130 974 0.23 " 0.30 " 
 
 15,432 " 1.180 1.319 1.137 0.28 " 0.34 " 
 
 16,314 " 1.248 1.394 1.201 0.28 " 0.36 " 
 
 Q/S 
 
 O.ZS 
 
 O.2O 
 
 0,25 
 
 O.4O 
 
 Fig. 18 Graphic Representation of the Bending of Composite 
 Tie (Wood and Steel). 
 
 Amount of 
 
 force. 
 2,205 Ibs. 
 4,409 " 
 
 8,818 " 
 11,023 " 
 
 Theoretical 
 bending. 
 
 0.05 in. 
 .10 " . 
 .20 " 
 
 Amount of 
 force. 
 
 13.228 Ibs. 
 15.432 " 
 16.314 " 
 
 Theoretical 
 
 bending. 
 
 0.30 in. 
 
 .34 " 
 
 .36 " 
 
DEFORMATION OF TIES. 85 
 
 The theoretical flexures approach closely to the observed flex- 
 ures; a little smaller under the initial forces, they surpass the re- 
 sults of observations by some millimeters, when the forces are 
 increasing. It seems that the rigidity goes on increasing at the 
 same time as the latter, in consequence of the still more intimate 
 connection of the materials. This rigidity is apparent, for they 
 are the supports which react and reduce the flexure. 
 
 Whatever it may be, this study proves that the theoretical bend- 
 ing of the composite tie is about three times less than that of the 
 wood tie and of the steel tie, when these pieces are submitted to 
 horizontal forces of 4,409 Ibs., but that this superiority diminishes 
 when the forces reach 15,432 Ibs. (Bending of the composite cross 
 tie about two times less.) 
 
 If one considers the composite tie as an armored beam, in 
 which each of the elements is stressed, while taking the same elon- 
 gation, proportionately to its coefficient of elasticity, one arrives 
 at the following result for the three sections considered: 
 
 Value of force, Ibs 4,409 8,818 11,023 13,228 15,432 16,314 
 
 Bending moment : 1st section 337 674 843 1.011 1.180 1.248 
 
 2d " 377 754 942 1.130 1.319 1.394 
 
 3d " 325 649 812 974 1.137 1.201 
 
 Resisting moment, cu. cm. : 
 
 1st section armored part 1.764 
 
 2d " notched part 1.066 
 
 3d " center & extrmty 1.217 
 
 Value of force : 
 
 1st Sec. Wood, Ibs. per sq. in. 270 541 669 811 939 996 
 
 1st " Steel, " " " 5,405 10,810 13,370 16,214 18,775 19,912 
 
 2d " Wood, " " " 498 996 1,237 1,493 1,735 1,835 
 
 2d " Steel, " " " 9,956 19,912 24,748 29,869 34,705 36,710 
 
 3d " Wood, " " " 
 
 2d " Steel, " " " 7,567 15,133 18,917 22,700 26,484 27,991 
 
 In order to obtain the forces to which the elements of the 
 composite tie are submitted, it was assumed that it was composed 
 of a single material (wood for example), and the moment of inertia 
 of the steel was augmented from this fact in the ratio of the co- 
 efficients of elasticity, that is to say, of 20 to 1. It has thus been 
 possible to calculate the position of the neutral axis of the beam, 
 supposedly homogeneous, and to deduce from it the stress of each 
 of the elements, that of the steel being 20 times superior to the 
 stress of the wood. 
 
 If the results set down in the table above are examined, and 
 if they are compared with those which correspond to the wood and 
 steel ties, it is observed that the stress of the material is much less 
 in all the sections of the first than in the two others. 
 
86 TRACK DEFORMATION. 
 
 In the mortised part, the material is still stressed within an 
 acceptable limit, 9,956 Ibs. per sq. in., under a force very much 
 superior to that to which it can ordinarily be submitted, but that 
 part is quite short, and is reinforced by the plate, which compen- 
 sates, and more, for the metal cut away for the placing of the fast- 
 enings. It is not the same for the steel tie of the State, which is 
 too weak in each of its sections, except right at the fastenings, 
 where it is equally reinforced by the plate or chair. Therefore, it 
 may be said, that the composite tie tested presents two sections a 
 little less resistant reinforced by the plates, while the tie of the. 
 State is weak over its whole length, except right at the fastenings. 
 The two situations are, then, inverse with one another, and all to 
 the advantage of the composite tie. 
 
 It is the same in the case of the wood tie, which is weak 
 everywhere, and which has not a great rigidity, since it takes a 
 flexure very much superior to that of the composite tie. In order 
 that it may present the same stiffness, it would be necessary to- 
 increase the moment of inertia, which ought to be three times 
 higher than that which is actually possessed, that is to say, that 
 the latter should attain about O m 00015 in place of O m 00005. 
 Supposing that the depth of 5.5 in. is maintained, which could not 
 however be increased without difficulty, since it would be neces- 
 sary at the same time to place a greater quantity of ballast above 
 the tie, it ought to be given a width of 25.6 in., which is certainly 
 inadmissible, for the actual base would be tripled. It is true that 
 the same result can be obtained with ties 7.09 in. deep, 11.8 in. wide, 
 but we believe that such ties would not be easily found, at least 
 for the price, which would render their use impossible. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 STRESS OF TIES IN THE TRACK. 
 
 The experiments on overturning, joined to those which have 
 been related above on flexure, permit the determination, with a 
 certain exactness, of the stress of the material composing the ties, 
 under the effect of rolling loads. 
 
 In tact, it has been seen that the stress of the wood ties was 
 711 Ibs. per sq. in. for a theoretical bending of 0.24 in.; for a mean 
 bending of 0.10 in. observed on the cross ties with P.L.M.-A. rails, 
 the stress will be about 299 Ibs. per sq. in., that is to say, that these 
 pieces are stressed about to the tenth of their resistance within the 
 limit of elasticity. 
 
 As regards the ties with P.M. rails, the stress is 142 Ibs. per 
 sq. in. 
 
 The steel tie has a flexure of 0.10 in., which corresponds to a 
 stress of about 5,405 Ibs. per sq. in. (about one eighth of the elastic 
 limit). 
 
 The elements of the composite tie are submitted to the follow- 
 ing forces for a maximum bending of 0.012- in.: 
 
 1st section. 2d section. 3d section. 
 Wood, Its. per sq. in.. . 27 50 
 
 Steel, Ibs. per sq. in. . . 540 996 754 
 
 The stress is thus for the steel, as for the wood, very much 
 inferior to the admitted resistances, which would permit of re- 
 ducing, from that point of view, the dimensions of the materials 
 employed. 
 
 Space does not permit of discussion of stresses under moving 
 loads, since these are notably inferior, as we have shown. 
 
 Apart from the forces of extraction, and overturning, which 
 are the most important, the screw spikes are exposed to excessive 
 turning in their sockets, which reduces the pressure of the rail 
 against its support. This disadvantage is produced above all at the 
 moment of placing the screw spikes, and when they are retightened, 
 the trackman can, if he does not give proper attention, exceed the 
 force necessary, and render useless the work which he does. 
 
88 
 
 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 The following limits are admitted as the force determining the 
 excessive turning of screw spikes: 
 
 Pine, without treenail 132 Ibs. 
 
 Pine, with treenail 176 " 
 
 Hard wood, oak or beech, without treenail 220 " 
 
 Hard wood, oak or beech, with treenail 242 " 
 
 The force is observed on a register which is attached to an 
 apparatus invented by Mr. Collet, under the name of torsion meter, 
 and which is placed on the head of the wrench for the screw spikes. 
 
 The company placed, about three and one-half years ago, 1,056 
 creosoted pine ties, provided with Collet treenails, on the line from 
 Bourg to Chalon-sur-Saone. In the course of the month of August, 
 1902, after a traffic of about 13,500 trains, some trials were made 
 with the torsion meter, in order to learn the resistance of No. 6 
 screw spikes against excessive turning. 
 
 The force necessary to obtain this effect on the screw spikes 
 set in the treenails of the original placing, was 159 Ibs.; it was 156 
 Ibs., that is to say, sensibly equal, on screw spikes placed in new 
 treenails, which were screwed into new holes, alongside of the tree- 
 nails of the original placing, in the middle and at the extremities 
 of the cross ties in service. 
 
 It is well to remark that while the resistance to excessive turn- 
 ing does not seem to be modified with time, that which the screw 
 spike offers against extraction from a treenail appears to diminish. 
 It is a fact which has been proved by Mr. Ferry, and of which we 
 will seek the explanation further along. 
 
 Whatever it may be, it was desired to give an account of the 
 resistance to excessive turning in composite cross ties, compared 
 with ordinary cross ties of oak or pine creosoted. The results of 
 these trials are condensed in the table below: 
 
 Kind of tie. 
 
 Composite ties Lateral wedge of 
 horn-beam without treenail.. 
 
 Composite ties Lateral wedge of 
 oak without treenail 
 
 New ties of creosoted oak : 
 
 Without treenail 
 
 With treenail 
 
 New ties of creosoted spruce : 
 
 Without treenail 
 
 With treenail. . 
 
 Limit 
 of forces. 
 
 231 Ibs. 
 
 231 
 
 220 
 
 242 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 No excessive turning ; at 231 
 Ibs. the screw spike broke. 
 
 No excessive turning ; this 
 force could not be exceed- 
 ed by 2 men. 
 
 Excessive turning. 
 No excessive turning. 
 
 Excessive turning. 
 Excessive turning. 
 
STRESS OF TIES IN THE TRACK. 89 
 
 These trials have shown that the resistance to excessive turn- 
 ing, for screw spikes placed in the blocks of the composite tie, that 
 is to say, squeezed by the play of the skeleton and the cross bars, 
 was at least equal to that of screw spikes placed in ties provided 
 with treenails. The same cause ought to produce the same effects: 
 the squeezing of the fibers of the wood, whether by the treenails or 
 by the pressure exercised by the envelope, sensibly increases the re- 
 sistance to excessive turning. 
 
 The good hold of the fastenings presents considerable interest; 
 for, without an energetic tightening, the rail vibrates on its support, 
 the track becomes jolty, and is deformed vertically, since it is no 
 longer sustained. The tie is hammered, is raised up, and is buried 
 by blows, which disorganize the ballast. This repeated movement, 
 joined with the flexure of the tie and with the compression of the 
 wood, disarranges the fastenings and provokes their tearing out. 
 Finally, if the resistance to overturning is not assured, if the screw 
 spike does not find a sufficient support in the ties, if it is not com- 
 pletely supported by its flange on the base of the rail, if the rail 
 is pushed out, and that principally on curves, to the exterior of the 
 curve, there is a spreading of the track and danger of accident. 
 The track is deformed in the horizontal direction. 
 
 All engineers who have made a study of tracks, notably Mr. 
 Coiiard, affirm that the joint is the weakest point. Mr. Freund, 
 Engineer of Maintenance for the Eastern Railway Company, in a 
 study of the most interesting and best recorded facts, appearing in 
 the Revue des Chemins de Fer, January, 1897, pointed out the causes 
 which rendered this point the most defective. 
 
 There is produced at the joints an unequal level in the direc- 
 tion of the travel of the trains, that is to say, at the passage of the 
 vehicles, the rail in advance being higher than the following-rail, 
 there is a drop. This unequal level of the rails at the joints is the 
 result either of the juxtaposition of bars of different height, or of 
 the unequal wear of the splice bearing points of the rails and the 
 splices. 
 
 "The difference in the head of the rails is due to the inevitable 
 imperfections of rolling. Sometimes it amounts to a millimeter 
 from one rail to another, and from one extremity to the other of 
 the same rail. It is possible, therefore, to produce jumps when 
 the chances of laying put in juxtaposition, at the same joint, the 
 extremities of the rails of different caliber. 
 
 "These jumps are ascendant or descendant, in the direction of 
 the movement. But whatever may be the direction in which they 
 
90 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 are presented, they provoke shocks at the advance end of the fol- 
 lowing-rail, which react on the splice bearing points of that rail, 
 and promote its wear, while they are without influence on the bear- 
 ing points of the rail in advance. 
 
 "As to the inequality of the splice bearing points, already thus 
 prepared, its cause can be explained as follows, for the part which 
 does not arise from the imperfections of the fabrication of the 
 rails, and which is clearly shown in the joints where the rails are 
 of equal height. 
 
 "In consequence of the compressibility of the wood of which 
 ties are made, of the ballast and of the soil, the track undergoes 
 under the wheels of the vehicles, a depression which, almost in- 
 significant under light loads, can reach and even surpass 0.4 in. 
 under the most heavily loaded wheels. 
 
 "This depression induces undulations in the rails, the amplitude 
 of which, for a given resistance of the track to flexure or to sink- 
 ing in the soil, varies with the load and the position of the wheels. 
 It has in general, its greatest value under the first axle of the 
 engines, when that axle is found in the middle of two successive 
 supports." (See the article of Mr. Freund, Revue des Chemins de 
 Per for January, 1897.) 
 
 It is the successive undulations which, bringing the different 
 parts of the splicing in contact with the extremities of the rail, 
 produce an abnormal wear of those parts, and determine the drop 
 of the vehicles from the rail in advance to the following-rail, when 
 the latter pass over the joint. Thus, it results from the examina- 
 tion of a very large number of splices that, in consequence of these 
 oscillations on a line traversed in one direction, the following-rail, 
 by resting on the splicing, makes a kind of notch, b' (Fig. 19), 
 whose depth is at a lower level than that which the rail in advance 
 produces at a. 
 
 When the load has passed the joint and encounters the follow- 
 ing-rail, the latter is inclined, when resting at the bottom of the 
 notch, b', while the rail in advance is elevated; there is then a 
 considerable fall from the advance-rail to the following-rail, as was 
 found by Mr. Coiiard, and that fall is due, except in the case where 
 the rails present an unequal height, to the longitudinal movement 
 of the track previously studied. The flexure of the tie of the fol- 
 lowing end of the even joint ought also to increase this effect, since 
 the more this piece bends, the more is the difference of level be- 
 tween the advance and following-rails accentuated. The shock 
 which is produced at the joint increases the flexure still more, be- 
 
STRESS OF TIES IN THE TRACK. 
 
 91 
 
 cause it determines the unpacking of the cross tie, which is found 
 suspended at the end of a short time, and which assumes a still 
 more pronounced curve. 
 
 The cause of the defective state of the track at the passage 
 of the joint being well shown by the analysis of it by Mr. Freund, 
 it was of interest to verify the manner in which a 'joint of a track 
 provided with composite ties behaves, in comparison with what 
 habitually takes place. If the theory of Mr. Freund is exact, the 
 fall ought to be very much diminished when passing over track 
 with composite ties. 
 
 Care was taken to observe the deformation of the track befoFe 
 any test, and as it was found that this deformation was increased, 
 the profile was corrected by means of hoop iron wedges placed be- 
 tween the splicing and the head of the rail. Fig. 20 displays the 
 condition of the joints before and after placing the wedges; the 
 latter have reduced, at least by one-half, the slope at the extremi- 
 
 Odrance 
 
 Fotlorrinc 
 
 Fig. 19 Shock at the Joint. 
 
 ties of the rails, a slope which could reach about .08 in. in 19.69 in. 
 The permanent deformation of the rails was still more apparent 
 on >vack provided with composite ties than on that provided with 
 ordinary ties, Fig. 21; that was occasioned by the fact that the 
 P. M. rails, with which the section was provided, were very much 
 worn, after long service. 
 
 The experiments were carried on in the following manner: 
 Three cleats were fixed on both sides of the joint, at each of the 
 extremities of the rails, on the upper part of the head. A steel rule 
 placed on rigid supports allowed an estimate of the difference of 
 level between the top of the cleats and the under part of the rule, 
 by means of the wedge gage previously described. The first axle of 
 the engine was brought right at the first cleat, and the profile of 
 the extremities of the rails was observed; then the same opera- 
 tion was repeated by allowing the same axle to advance successively 
 right at each cleat, and the same observation was made. 
 
92 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 The result of these experiments is given in Fig. 22, in the left 
 part of which are shown the successive sections of profiles of th.e 
 P. L. M.-A. rails resting on ordinary cross ties; in the right part, 
 the same profiles of P. M. rails supported on composite ties. The 
 full line represents the original profile of the rails, the dotted line 
 the profile deformed by the passage of the vehicle. 
 
 The original profile of the P. L. M.-A. rails is quite defective; 
 there is, from the advance end to the following end of the joint, 
 an unequal level of .064 in. at least; at the passage of the load 
 over the joint there is a fall of .06 in. The successive profile of 
 the two rails becomes quite discontinuous and more undulating. 
 
 The original profile of the P. M. rails supported on composite 
 ties is better. At the joint there occurs an ascending step, which 
 is rather unusual. The passage of the load improves the profile, 
 which becomes almost continuous; there is an inequality of scarcely 
 .012 in. when the load passes over the joint. 
 
 This is what is to be expected; it will be recalled, moreover, 
 that the longitudinal movement of the track is much less strong 
 when the latter is provided with composite ties, and that the joint 
 does not undergo any oscillation during the passage of a load over 
 the rail. The splicing is not then injured, as in the ordinary case; 
 the shock which is produced is very much diminished by reason 
 of this fact; the following tie is not unwedged, at least as rapidly. 
 The unequal level of the advance end and following end is increased 
 by this unwedging, but the unwedging is also an effect of the oscil- 
 latory movement of the track, and it becomes, in consequence, one 
 of the causes for bad condition of the joint. This unwedging causes 
 the tie of the following end of the even joint to bend more than 
 otherwise, which increases the fall still more, due, for the most 
 part, to the unequal wear of the splice bearing points. The com- 
 posite tie, which distributes equally over the ballast the pressure 
 which H supports, is not exposed, like the ordinary tie, to being 
 unwedged; the fall at the joint ought then to be reduced. 
 
 However, it is difficult to make an exact and complete com- 
 parison between the results obtained on the track provided with 
 P. L. M.-A. rails and those which have been found on the track 
 provided with P. M. rails. This latter track is much more rigid 
 than the first, and the movements which can be produced are of 
 less importance. Similarly, the weakness should not reach, from 
 this fact, the proportion of 1 to 3; but it is certain that it will 
 be found, and will be as much greater as the tie is larger, and 
 as the oscillatory movement is reduced. 
 
STRESS OF TIES IN THE TRACK. 93 
 
 The experiment performed under the conditions pointed out 
 is therefore of importance. The unequal level which is produced 
 by the passage of vehicles from the advance end to the following 
 end has been observed in the static state; it is probable that it is 
 greater in the dynamic state, by reason of the shock which takes 
 place, and which is capable of increasing the movement. 
 
 I have not been able to prove it on the experimental track; 
 moreover, the interest of such a measurement would not have 
 been great, for the track conditions on a curve would have vitiated 
 the test,, or, at least, rendered it not precise. Nevertheless, I wished 
 to proceed with the measurement of unequal level on track 2 of 
 the line from Lyons to Geneva, particularly stressed and provided 
 with P. M. rails. The ordinary splices, which united the extremi- 
 ties of the rails, presented exactly the aspect pointed out by Mr. 
 Freund; that is to say, the bearing points of the splices were un- 
 equally worn, and the notch of the following end, in consequence 
 of the repeated shock, was deeper than the notch of the advance end. 
 
 It was necessary, in order to have an exact proof, to photo- 
 graph results. Mr. Louis Lumiere, whose name is well known for 
 his optical studies, established a special apparatus of the most 
 simple kind, which permits registration on a photographic film. 
 This apparatus is composed essentially of two acetylene lanterns at 
 the center of two concave mirrors, each fixed to the extremities 
 of the rails to be tested, and a sensitive film. The housing con- 
 taining the film and the acetylene lanterns was arranged on a con- 
 crete block located about a meter below the track, in such a man- 
 ner as not to be influenced by the passage of vehicles. The same 
 film registered at the same time the displacement of the advance 
 rail and that of the following rail. The experiment was performed 
 at the passage of a freight train traveling at a maximum speed of 
 12.4 miles an hour. 
 
 Fig. 23 shows the depressions which are manifested at the ex- 
 tremities of the advance rail and following rail at the passage of 
 each of the vehicles; the absolute magnitude of this depression 
 is given by the difference between the position of the horizontal 
 line representing the luminous ray before the passage of the train, 
 and the lower points of the undulating line, determining for each 
 extremity of the rail the oscillatory movement which it assumes 
 at the passage of the train. The influence of each of the axles is 
 clearly noticeable; between two axles the rail tends to raise up. 
 The same effect is produced with more intensity between two ve- 
 hicles. At the moment when the train is about to cross the joint, 
 
94 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 the rail is slightly elevated, then it is lowered by a certain quantity, 
 which appears maximum on the passage of the first axle. 
 
 The magnifying of the upper record is 3.79, the magnifying of 
 the lower record is 3.91. It results that, after the photographic 
 trace, the extremity of the following rail vibrated 0.35 in., and 
 that the advance rail had a play of 0.14 in. The fall, when pass- 
 ing from the advance to the following rail, would thus be 0.21 in. 
 It is not necessary to remark that this fall is very great, and that 
 it indicates a joint in bad condition. It was thought desirable, in 
 order to try the apparatus, to take a joint of this kind, allowing 
 an appreciable vibration to be obtained. These results are, besides, 
 comparable with those which are pointed out by Mr. Coiiard in his 
 article of July, 1897, on the vertical deformation of the rails (Revue 
 des Chemins de Fer), for he estimates that the variable flexure 
 of the rail at its extremity is 0.12 in., and that the compression 
 of the ballast reaches 0.12 in.; the bending which it can take is, 
 then, 0.24 in. 
 
 It matters little whether the flexure does or does not reach 
 this limit; it suffices to prove that it is of real importance, and that 
 it ought to be reduced. 
 
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CHAPTER VII. 
 
 STUDY OF WOOD USED FOR TIES. 
 
 Hard woods are principally used in France, oak or beech being 
 preferred, but when these are not easily obtainable, or are too ex- 
 pensive, pine is used; but these woods are not utilized as they are 
 found in commerce. They are first submitted to preservative pro- 
 cesses, creosote generally being used. The timber, as purchased, is 
 not that of the first quality used for framing which costs in France 
 120 francs per cubic meter, say $55 per thousand feet b.m. but 
 second quality wood is used, especially second quality oak. The 
 price of sap wood and wane oak, prior to the preservative process, 
 is about $20 per thousand feet, while beech costs about $16 per 
 thousand feet. Thus the untreated oak tie costs about 87% cents 
 and the untreated beech tie about 68 cents. 
 
 Beech makes an excellent wood for tie purposes, but is difficult 
 to preserve and becomes worm eaten very rapidly if it is not al- 
 lowed to dry under favorable conditions, especially if the bark is 
 not removed after the tree is cut down. Pine wood is quite resistant 
 to compression but, owing to the loose texture of its fibers, it re- 
 sists poorly the tearing caused by the fastenings and has a shorter 
 life in service than the harder woods do unless the fastenings are 
 made in a way which will be discussed further on. 
 
 Mr. Michel, Chief Engineer of the P. L. M. Company, has made 
 a study of the relative compressibility of these species of ^YOod to 
 the limit of permanent deformation. According to him the resist- 
 ance to compression of oak or beech, common pine, larch or spruce 
 is as follows: 
 
 Perpendicular Parallel with the Proper- 
 
 Species of wood. to fibers. fibers. tion. 
 
 Oak or beech 3,413 Ibs. per sq. in. 2,560 Ibs. per sq. in. .75 
 
 Common pine 2,845 " " " 2,133 " " " .7.", 
 
 Larch or chestnut 1,707 " " " 1,138 " " '' .7.~> 
 
 Spruce 1,138 " " " 683 " " " .60 
 
 But this resistance to compression varies considerably according 
 to whether the wood is treated or not, and also according to whether 
 or not it is sustained between the walls of an envelope, as in the 
 case of the composite tie. In the first case, with treated wood, 
 
STUDY OF WOOD USED FOR TIES. 109 
 
 the resistance to compression diminishes, as will subsequently be 
 shown. In the second case, however, that of the composite tie, it 
 increases very materially because the wood held fast between the 
 walls of the metallic frame is sustained and the fibers have less 
 play in relation with each other. 
 
 But before discussing these questions mention should be made 
 of the process of treatment which is employed, since this has a 
 considerable influence on the durability of the tie and consequently 
 on its steadiness in the track. The experiments made have been 
 carried on principally with beech, but the information derived can 
 easily be extended to other kinds of wood. The quantity of creo- 
 sote which can be used depends upon the amount of moisture in 
 the wood which is being treated; therefore, the seasoning of the 
 wood must first be considered. 
 
 In the first experiment, pieces of beech wood 9.84 ft. long, 
 6.3 ft. high and 6.3 ft. wide were cut immediately after the tree 
 had been felled and were placed in rows on supports under shelter, 
 to be seasoned. These pieces of wood, which contained on an aver- 
 age 45 per cent, of their weight of water in the beginning, were 
 weighed separately, at first every 15 days and then at longer inter- 
 vals. The successive losses of moisture are given in the table on 
 the following page. 
 
 This wood was clearly not piled under conditions, as regards 
 seasoning, identical with those of ties piled in the ordinary manner, 
 since these are exposed to the weather and would presumably be 
 slower in drying, but the extreme limits of seasoning remain the 
 same; that is, the maximum of moisture at the beginning will be 
 45 per cent., and at the end it will be about 21 per cent. These 
 limits are sufficiently accurate for the discussion which follows. 
 
 It will be seen by the table given that nearly the maximum 
 seasoning was obtained in 4% months after felling, from the first 
 of May to the 15th of September, during the fine season. From 
 the 15th of September to the 15th of February following the per- 
 centage of moisture of the wood remained stationary around 22 per 
 cent, with slight fluctuations; then, during the fine season follow- 
 ing, up to October, 1897, the rate of moisture descended to 20 per 
 cent. 
 
 According to previous statements, beech wood, after six years 
 of seasoning under shelter, still contained from 10 to 12 per cent, 
 of moisture; but from the point of view of practical drying of ties, 
 it is scarcely possible, without stove drying, to lower it below 22 
 per cent, of moisture. 
 
110 
 
 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 Periods 
 
 of 
 weighings. 
 
 1896. 
 
 1st May. 
 15th Mav. 
 
 1st June. 
 15th June. 
 
 Duration 
 
 of 
 seasoning. 
 
 Beginning. 
 
 1 month. 
 
 Table of Losses of Moisture. 
 
 Successive 
 
 proportions of 
 
 moisture remaining 
 
 in the wood 
 at each weighing. 
 
 Character of wood, 
 
 according 
 to the degree of seasoning. 
 
 1st July, 
 loth July. 
 
 1st Aug. 
 15th Aug. 
 
 1st Sept. 
 loth Sept. 
 
 1st Oct. 
 loth Oct. 
 
 2 months. 
 
 44.6 per cent. From 45 to 40 per cent, of mois- 
 38.0 " ture some days after felling, 
 
 the water flows from the wood 
 and forms pools at the foot of 
 the pieces when they are on 
 end. 
 
 31-6 " From 40 to 35 per cent, of the 
 
 28.6 wood still surcharged with 
 
 water appears translucent at 
 the surface, when it has just 
 been cut ; the fresh shavings 
 are semi-transparent when in- 
 terposing them between the 
 eye and the light. 
 
 26.5 
 24.5 
 23.0 
 22.5 
 
 22.0 
 21.8 
 
 21.7 
 21.6 
 
 1st Nov. 
 
 1st Dec. 
 1897. 
 1st Jan. 
 
 1st Feb. 
 
 Below 30 per cent, moisture, it is 
 difficult at first sight to state 
 the degree of seasoning. 
 
 With 20 per cent, of moisture, it 
 can be said with certainty that 
 the wood has arrived at its 
 maximum practical seasoning 
 without stove-drying, because 
 it will scarcely dry more when 
 exposed to the air another year. 
 
 6 " It is probable that the ties in the 
 
 middle of a pile could not at- 
 
 7 tain this degree of seasoning. 
 
 8 " .... The wood after 5 to 6 years of 
 
 seasoning under shelter, still 
 
 9 " 21.8 per cent. contains 10 to 12 per cent of 
 
 moisture. 
 
 The quantity of water contained in pine is at least equal, if 
 not greater than, that which is found in beech, that is to say about 
 45 per cent, immediately after felling and 20 per cent, after season- 
 ing. It is not the same in the case of oak; the percentage of moist- 
 ure which it possesses is certainly less, the fibers of the wood are 
 more compressed, and the quantity of water which they enclose 
 more restricted. It is difficult for me, for want of precise experi- 
 ments, to give an exact figure; it can be said, however, that this 
 wood dries very slowly, keeps its moisture a very long time, and 
 absorbs, consequently, a very small quantity of creosote. On this 
 account, it is difficult to say when the preservation process can best 
 be undertaken. This refers to the heart of the wood, not to the 
 sap, which loses its water very rapidly. 
 
STUDY OF WOOD USED FOR TIES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 When cross sections of new beech cross ties creosoted with 
 35 Ibs. and containing much moisture (30 per cent, for example, 
 which is very common), are immediately examined after the injec- 
 tion has been made, it is noticed that the creosote has penetrated 
 into the end by the annual layers of the autumn wood, and that 
 the spring wood, though considered more porous, has not been abso- 
 lutely impregnated; the wood resembles a series of concentric rings 
 alternately creosoted or intact. 
 
 The sections, made quite near the extremities, show the wood 
 impregnated for a certain distance without alternations; at 3.94 in. 
 the rings commence to be denned, 7.87 in. they are very clear, and 
 occupy nearly the whole section of the wood. (Fig. 24.) 
 
 Fig. 24. 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 Fig. 26. 
 
 But proceeding towards the mortises for plates, the notable 
 portions of these rings disappear (Fig. 25) and become more rare 
 in proportion as they approach the middle of the length, where, 
 often, there is no longer any trace. (Fig. 26.) 
 
 On the other hand, it is seen that the creosote has also pene- 
 trated through the lateral surface, by reason of the degree of 
 moisture in the wood; above 35 per cent, there is almost no more 
 penetration, scarcely two to three millimeters (0.08 or 0.12 in.), 
 sometimes none; towards 30 per cent, the creosote has penetrated to 
 :a depth of two to three millimeters (0.08 to 0.12 in.), for the color 
 'Of the wood goes on getting weaker in the direction of the depth. 
 
112 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 In the moist wood, as above, there exist few cracks arising 
 from seasoning; when they are observed they are in the direction 
 of medullary rays, not penetrating to more than two to three cen- 
 timeters (0.79 to 1.18 in.), and the creosote has penetrated a little 
 deeper by them. These cracks do not follow the meshes, but form 
 freely among them. 
 
 If a transverse cut is made at the extremity of a beech tie in- 
 jected with 35 IDS., freshly creosoted in the moist state (30 per cent. 
 for example), it is observed that the concentric rings of the annual 
 layers form alternations of wood creosoted and not creosoted; but 
 by leaving the piece of wood of small sectional volume in the air, 
 the rings of creosote, clearly limited and defined on the cut sur.face, 
 spread out by the seasoning and the creosote is diffused in the cir- 
 cular intervals of wood previously intact. When this piece of wood 
 has finished drying (which requires one or several days, according 
 to the thickness of the piece and the temperament), the creosote is 
 diffused in a diluted greenish tint, which sometimes occupies the 
 whole mass. In the sections of these moist ties made towards the 
 mortises for plates, or towards the middle of the tie, are parts the 
 least injected, where, at the moment of making the section, only 
 small portions of wood creosoted are seen, the diffusion on drying 
 is exceedingly slight. 
 
 But if these samples of wood imperfectly creosoted are pre- 
 served in moist sand, no diffusion apparently takes place. Accord- 
 ing to that it would seem that there was advantage, for the dif- 
 fusion of the creosote, in keeping the ties after creosoting exposed 
 for a long time to the air, but it is observed that this diffusion, 
 which is well done, and within a short time, with the small samples, 
 is much slower with the ties exposed to the air. 
 
 On the other hand, the tie from which the piece in question 
 has been cut, is preserved even in the air with its tints in rings, 
 without any diffusion, during several months, and to such a degree 
 that it keeps at least 30 per cent, of its original moisture; once 
 placed and buried in the ballast, it losses or absorbs moisture very 
 slowly, according as it is more moist or more dry than the medium 
 surrounding it when it is first placed in the track. When it has 
 reached the degree of moisture of the ballast, the latter diminishes 
 or increases according to the seasons. In ties weakly creosoted 
 with 35 Ibs. in pure gravel ballast, in position for at least five 
 years, the wood not injected, in the interior of the tie, contained 
 from 30 to 35 per cent, of moisture in the month of September, 
 after a month of dryness and an ordinary summer; in a ballast 
 
STUDY OF WOOD USED FOR TIES. 113 
 
 of broken stone this proportion of moisture is much less, from 20 
 to 25 per cent., which favors diffusion. 
 
 In these kinds of ties the impregnation is generally produced 
 by the rings of autumn wood; it was not diffused, and the rings, 
 although compared, remained in their primitive state. The limit- 
 ing amount of moisture at which the diffusion commences to work 
 is not known, but it is evidently less than 30 per cent. 
 
 When the amount of creosoting is reduced from 46 to 35 Ibs., 
 beech ties are imperfectly creosoted, and the white wood* not 
 creosoted appears on the mortise for the plate, that is to say, at 
 a distance of a centimeter (0.39 in.) from the surface. With the 
 aid of a special auger, numerous samples of untreated wood were 
 taken from these ties, and from 30 to 35 per cent, of water was 
 found. When they have 30 per cent, moisture they are only super- 
 ficially creosoted, except at the extremities over 9.84 in. long, where 
 the injection has penetrated without reaching the mortises for plates. 
 Some ties of this nature employed in the annual track renewals 
 from 1889 were submitted to a special examination. By sounding 
 them from time to time it was proved that they were rapidly worm- 
 eaten, and that at the end of four years a large number of them, 
 from 15 to 30 per cent., according to their position in the track, 
 commenced to decay in their interior; 10 per cent, were already 
 replaced at the end of this short lapse of time. 
 
 In all the ties studied, the decay followed the same course. 
 There is first produced the heating or the spotting of the wood not 
 creosoted, situated immediately under the superficial crust pene- 
 trated with creosote, and that over the upper part of the tie, which 
 is not covered up and is placed in the interior of the track. The 
 spotted wood is that which has heated before seasoning by the 
 fermentation of the sap moisture; in the beginning, the color, 
 generally clear yellow for beech wood, commences to be spotted 
 with characteristic white points, then to be marbleized with yellow- 
 ish spots; the fibrous contexture disappears, the wood becomes 
 
 *The wood, which remains with its natural color without any trace of in- 
 jection, is called white wood in beech ; the most common color of beech is 
 clear yellow ; it is often white as poplar ; exceptionally, it is reddish. The 
 heart wood, which appears towards the age of 30 to 35 years, is red, very hard 
 and appears to be proof against the injection of an amount of 33 Ibs. Un- 
 treated heart wood is not found in the cross ties of 1877, subjected to 55 Ibs. 
 of creosote. All the wood in these old ties is strongly impregnated with 
 creosote. The whole of the wood is strongly impregnated with creosote.- 
 From the report of Prof. W. K. Hatt, to the American Railway Engineering 
 and Maintenance-of-Way Association. 
 
114 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 spongy, becomes yellow colored,* and the shavings which are cut 
 have no body and crumble. (Fig. 27.) 
 
 The next process is that the heating gains in depth and reaches 
 .all wood not creosoted, which affects the shape of a spindle on the 
 longitudinal section of the cross tie, and is terminated in a fish 
 tail towards the fastenings; the wood which is spotted and has first 
 become yellow under the creosote crust of the surface, still intact, 
 assumes a brown color, of touch-wood, and seems to be calcined. 
 The tie preserves a very good appearance on the exterior, and the 
 wood under the fastenings remains quite sound. (Fig. 28.) 
 
 The creosoted superficial crust of the top next yields and is 
 broken towards the middle of the inter-rail space; it forms a trough 
 in the decayed wood, where water accumulates, and promotes decom- 
 position. The decay reaches the fastenings more or less rapidly, 
 which often hold sufficiently well, above all those of the exterior, 
 but- the tie is out of service. (Fig. 29.) 
 
 Some hundreds of decayed ties taken out of the track have been 
 examined, and samples were taken from more than 10,000 ties in 
 service, commencing to decompose; the same process of decomposi- 
 tion has always been observed in ties injected with 35 Ibs. Beech 
 wood very sound, but moist with sap, not injected, imprisoned in 
 the superficial bed of creosoted wood, which prevents that sap 
 from evaporating, becomes heated and decays rapidly by commencing 
 at the part contiguous to the face free from ballast, exposed to the 
 sun, which first becomes spotted. 
 
 A very conclusive experiment was tried on this subject, which 
 is easy to repeat; there was available in the spring a half tie of 
 very sound beech of recent felling, containing 35 to 40 per cent, 
 of sap water. Two pieces, each 27% in. long, were taken from it; 
 after having tarred the first, it was buried in the ballast, leaving 
 the upper face uncovered, exposed to the air, and the other piece, 
 not tarred, was preserved as a witness, exposed to the air but not 
 
 *When the natural beech wood (not creosoted) becomes spotted it loses 
 its clear yellow color and passes to straw yellow or citron yellow, and its 
 fibrous texture disappears. It becomes spongy and in planing the shavings 
 have no body and crumble away. It breaks with the least effort, "like a 
 radish," that is to say, the fracture does not present drawn out fibers as are 
 produced with sound wood ; to use a local expression, it is "cooked." In this 
 state, which is always the prelude of the red decay, the screw spikes no longer 
 hold well in the tie, but turn without effort. 
 
 The yellow wood in question contains no trace of creosote, as the analysis 
 of the shavings shows. However diluted the creosote may be, the traces are 
 easily observed, even in wood very lightly tinted, or by compressing the wood 
 in a press between two leaves of white blotting paper, or better, by treating it 
 with benzine. 
 
 Both yellow wood and "cooked" wood are stages of decay. 
 
STUDY OF WOOD USED FOR TIES. 115 
 
 buried. At the end of six months the first piece was unburied, and 
 it Was observed while cutting it that it was heated and entirely 
 spotted in the interior, but particularly under the uncovered face 
 exposed to the sun, where the decomposition was remarkably much 
 more advanced. The proof piece remained perfectly sound, and was 
 dry; the other, on the contrary* had kept all of its moisture. That 
 is what takes place in ties whose injection is only superficial. 
 
 In order to make the creosote penetrate better into that part 
 of the tie which receives the screw spikes, the cutting and the boring 
 are performed before injection, and this practice has been followed 
 in France, in a general way, since 1894. 
 
 By comparing, by means of longitudinal sections and samples, 
 previously taken from different points of their length, the ties in- 
 jected after this procedure with those injected without holes, it is 
 observed that the first are impregnated with creosote under the 
 mortise and in the region of the holes; but the second are injected 
 only at a distance from the extremities, which varies with the de- 
 gree of humidity of the ties at the moment of injection, which often 
 does not reach the mortise. And as the creosoted wood is not 
 reached by decay, and as a single fiber of injected wood remains 
 unimpaired in a center of decomposition, we are assured that boring 
 the ties before injection increases their durability, and that it is a 
 good practice. 
 
 Independently of the experiments related above, Mr. Ferry has 
 made others on thousands of ties, developing the same facts. We 
 will cite only one to show the influence of creosoting to refusal. 
 
 Of 1,152 beech ties, injected after this manner, and placed in 
 1877 on the line from Mouchard to Bourg, between kilometers 
 492,024 and 493,000, all were as sound in 1896, that is to say, 19 
 years after placing them, as on the first day, while 1,204 ties placed 
 in 1889 on the same line, which were only injected with 37% Ibs. 
 per tie, were entirely decayed, in the proportion of 35 per cent., at 
 the end of six years. 
 
 The conclusion to be drawn from these experiments is that ties 
 are generally creosoted very superficially, for the reason that it is 
 not possible to obtain a complete drying for the extraction of all 
 the water which they contain. Even by stove drying, the operation 
 cannot be pushed sufficiently far to remove all the sap; we must 
 therefore be contented with allowing the ties to dry naturally, which 
 always shuts up a certain quantity of water, particularly in their 
 center. 
 
 Injection practiced after an imperfect drying has also the effect 
 
O) 
 
 O) 
 
 il 
 
 m 
 
STUDY OF WOOD USED FOR TIES. 117 
 
 of concentrating the water in that part, which becomes consequently 
 a center of decomposition for the tie. Each tie then commences to 
 decay in its center, which is the part exposed to the alternatives 
 of heat and dryness, while the extremities, better creosoted and 
 .under protection of the ballast, resist for a longer time. 
 
 TREATMENT OF PINE AND OAK. 
 
 The same process which has been found for beech is applicable 
 for pine; the latter ought even to absorb a greater quantity of creo- 
 sote. The same thing does not hold true with oak; the heart of 
 the oak only takes traces of creosote, only the sap being pene- 
 trated by the injection. But this hard fiber is sometimes a disad- 
 vantage instead of an advantage; for if the heart of the oak is not 
 dry (and it is hard to tell whether it is or not), the envelope of 
 creosote prevents the slow evaporation of the sap, which 
 finishes by being decomposed, and attacks in its depth the wood 
 of most sound appearance. That is the cause of decay of the great- 
 est number of ties, every piece of wood having more than 20 per 
 cent, moisture, and covered over with a superficial bed, rapidly 
 deteriorates, the beech at the end of three months, the oak at the 
 end of a longer period. 
 
 The heart of the oak, which only absorbs a very small quantity 
 of creosote because of its persistent state of moisture, is, however, 
 susceptible of decay from a cause other than that of its superficial 
 envelope preventing the slow and gradual evaporation of the sap. 
 The wood is, in fact, generally very much cracked; under the action 
 of atmospheric variations, these fissures open gradually wider and 
 form a kind of trough, where the water enters vertically. At the 
 end of a certain time this succession of moisture and of dryness 
 favors the development of fungi, and produces work of decomposi- 
 tion in the wood, which always perishes in its central part, gen- 
 erally not covered over. It is worth while remembering that the 
 simple bed of ballast placed on the breech of the tie, the plate placed 
 under the rail, protects the wood in an efficient manner against this 
 kind of decomposition. This evidently arises from the fact that, 
 in the case of ties drying rapidly, like those of beech, the creosot- 
 ing is more complete; but in the case of oak, which is only made 
 superficially antiseptic, the fissures do not form as in the uncovered 
 central' part, and the decomposition of the wood is not produced. 
 
 The preparation of wood before injection, and the proper drying 
 of it, are very important. The amount of the injection ought equally 
 .to enter into the computation, for if it is insufficient, it prolongs 
 
118 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 but little the durability of the piece of wood. Results from actual 
 experiment explain why, in spite of the expense which it induces,, 
 the amount of creosote used has tended constantly to be increased.* 
 
 In order to obtain satisfactory results, it was necessary to reach 
 refusal; a point which is not absolute, and depends even upon the 
 dimension of the piece submitted to injection. Thus, the beech 
 ties, 8.86 ft. long and of ordinary dimensions, scarcely take 55 Ibs., 
 even to saturation; the pieces of more restricted dimensions, like 
 the blocks of composite ties, absorb a greater quantity of creosote 
 20 per cent, more because the water of sap is more completely 
 eliminated. These pieces can then become indestructible and in- 
 variable in volume, as has been stated, whatever may be the agents. 
 to which they are submitted. The sap water having been replaced, 
 or surrounded by an antiseptic substance, the body is as though 
 mummified, without undergoing any alteration in the future. This 
 is what explains that, in spite of the variations in temperature, 
 the blocks are maintained for nearly four years in the metallic 
 skeletons without undergoing any modifications. 
 
 Experiments permit us to state these general points precisely; 
 two pieces of beech were taken, one from a tree felled in the month 
 of December, 1902, whose dimensions were: Length, 27 1 /-_> in.; width, 
 9.8 in.; depth, 5.9 in., and they were placed under observation. 
 When they had attained the degree of seasoning of 20 per cent.,, 
 presenting then at their extremities important longitudinal clefts,. 
 they were submitted to two successive injections of creosote in such 
 a manner that they absorbed the greatest possible quantity of it. 
 The four faces of each of the blocks on three different sections. 
 were previously referenced to the tenth of a millimeter; they were 
 referenced anew after the creosoting. The absorption of the creo- 
 sote, at the rate of 18.7 Ibs. per piece of wood, produced a mean 
 elongation of each face of 0.04 in. and the fissures were completely 
 closed. The void existing in a piece as dry as possible is then very 
 small, scarcely 0.04 in. on each of its faces; it is the maximum 
 play which can take place in the wood when it passes from the dry 
 to the humid state, or inversely. But with an injection to refusal 
 there is no play to fear, since the pores of the wood are filled up 
 
 *Amount of creosoting reported : 
 
 Oak. ^ 11 to 15. 4 Ibs. per cross tie. (Refusal.) 
 
 C 28.6 Ibs. The Northern Co. 
 Ma to 35 Ibs. The Western Co. 
 1 35 Ibs. The P. L. M. Co. 
 
 52.8 Ibs. (Refusal.) The Eastern Co. 
 
 The Midland Co. 
 
 Tine -\ 30.8 " The Orleans Co. 
 
 The P. L. M. Co. 
 
 ^ J-..O 1 UI5, 
 
 f 20.4 - 
 
 -j 30.8 " 
 
 I LM5.4 ' 
 
STUDY OF WOOD USED FOR TIES. 
 
 119 
 
 and can absorb no more, and since, on the other hand, the block 
 protected by the metallic skeleton will not give up any part of the 
 liquid absorbed. 
 
 I treated, like the beech, four blocks of heart oak; these pieces 
 of wood did not absorb any appreciable weight of creosote, scarcely 
 0.44 Ibs. each; that is to say, a quantity scarcely sufficient to coat 
 them superficially. 
 
 Finally the wood, dried to an .amount inferior to 20 per cent, 
 by means of stove drying, for example, and replaced in air, regained 
 moisture in a short time so as to reach the amount of 20 per cent. 
 That which we will designate as dry wood will, then, be wood con- 
 taining 20 per cent, of its weight of water. 
 
 INFLUENCE OF CREOSOTING ON THE RESISTANCE TO COMPRESSION. 
 
 But if creosoting has given favorable results from the point 
 of view of the preservation of the wood, it acts, on the contrary, 
 in an injurious way, to diminish the resistance of the piece sub- 
 mitted to compression. Mr. Ferry has made a series of very inter- 
 esting experiments on the resistance to compression of pieces of 
 wood submitted or not to an injection of creosote, and placed either 
 in the direction of the fibers or perpendicular to that direction. An 
 apparatus constructed by Mr. Collet was employed to produce this 
 compression, and which permitted a pressure of 8.8 net tons to be 
 reached; the wood was experimented with under the form of cubes 
 of 2% in. each way. The results of the experiments are summarized 
 
 in the table below: 
 
 Deformation when load is 
 applied perpendicular to 
 
 Dry oak 
 
 Load, 
 Ibs. 
 per sq. in. 
 . . 1,741 
 . . 1,741 
 . . 1,741 
 508 
 
 , thefl 
 Following 
 the Medullarj 
 rays. 
 0.00290 m. 
 0.00160 m. 
 0.00287 m. 
 0.00314 m. 
 
 bers x 
 Perpendic- 
 r ular to Deformation of 
 those rays. wood on end. 
 0.00380m. 0.00117m. 
 0.00350 m. 
 0.00334 m.* 0.00105 m. 
 
 Dry beech 
 Creosoted beech . . . 
 Spruce 
 
 Spruce 
 
 . . 1,741 
 
 000875 m 
 
 
 
 
 ^Deformation obtained with 1,306 Ibs. per sq. in. 
 
 These figures have not an absolute value, but a relative value, 
 for it would be necessary, to obtain the former, to take account of 
 the deformation of the apparatus itself, which has an influence on 
 the results. What we should keep in mind, nevertheless, is that 
 the deformation varies within sufficiently large limits, according to 
 whether the force is exerted perpendicular to the fibers of the wood, 
 to the medullary rays, or else in a perpendicular direction to those 
 
120 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 rays; finally, according as it is produced on the wood on end. Spruce 
 resisted the best, at least in the perpendicular direction. The de- 
 formation in this direction would be about once and a half greater 
 than it is in the perpendicular direction, that is to say, following 
 the medullary rays. The deformation is accentuated when the wood 
 is injected by about double; the liquid injected exudes at the same 
 time that the increase of pressure is produced. In every case the 
 deformation of the piece of wood takes a particular form: the spring 
 layers, which are the most tender, crush, and the autumn layers, 
 which are the hardest, slide over the first, giving the aspect of a 
 series of checks. 
 
 These phenomena are manifested when the wood is in a free 
 state; it does not seem that it should be thus when the wood, sub- 
 mitted to compression following the medullary rays, is prevented 
 from being deformed, whether it be shut up in a skeleton which 
 sustains it, or whether it be maintained in the transverse direction 
 by a counter pressure. In this case it acquires a superior resist- 
 ance and does not allow itself to be easily deformed because it is 
 sustained. 
 
 That is what I have observed on composite ties by comparison 
 with ordinary ties. It is recalled that the blocks of the composite 
 tie are pressed between the walls of the skeleton by means of cross 
 bars, and that the skeleton is thus shut up on these pieces of wood 
 in order to compress them. It is thus possible to appreciate the 
 influence of the compression of the wood in default of direct experi- 
 ments. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 METHODS FOR REMEDYING TRACK DEFORMATION. 
 
 After having studied the principal deformations to which the 
 track is submitted, it is proper to summarize the causes which- have 
 produced them and to search for methods to remedy them. 
 
 We have seen that the deformations consist of the creeping 
 of the track, the reduction in gage of the track, or its spreading, 
 the compression of the supports, the extraction of the screw spikes, 
 which contributes to the vertical deformation of the rails, and finally 
 of the shock, which is produced right at the joint, and which renders 
 the latter the worst point in the track. We have set aside in this 
 enumeration, which is not necessarily complete, the sliding of the 
 track, which is exercised in a peculiar manner, and has no rela- 
 tion with the deformations in question. The latter, as also those 
 we have pointed out, are due to two principal causes: the flexure 
 of the tie and the longitudinal movement of the track, this last 
 movement being itself a function of the flexure. Recapitulating, 
 it is, therefore, the reduction of the effect of these two causes to 
 which all specialists should bend their efforts. But, before exam- 
 ining in detail the proper means for diminishing the importance 
 of this effect, it is necessary to give an account of the manner in 
 which the tie rests on the ballast, because its position in the bal- 
 last ought to fix the tamped bed which should be made, and the 
 length to give to it. 
 
 It follows from numerous statements which we have worked 
 out that the tie, however well tamped it may be, and of whatever 
 length, gives, at the end of a certain time after the passage of 
 trains, the same form of flexure to the ballast which it experiences 
 (see Figs. 30, 31 and 32). This flexure we have made known above; 
 it is either, if the tie is long (more than 7.54 ft.), a concave curve 
 with light swelling in the center, or else, if the tie is short (less 
 than 6.88 ft.), a convex curve. This deformation of the ballast is 
 not, as has been thought, an elastic deformation, but entirely per- 
 
122 
 
 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 
 F- 
 
 -^3 
 
 <gmjKTO?T1FKTOirwraT!!S!!5^sr 
 _^ISP- . 
 
 
 
 [ 
 
 ffSjL 4 J 
 
 j< /S.7S- -4f /7S- *\ 
 
 fbrf Tamped with Tamping- Bar 
 
 (<__ _/$ 7S- * /7S' >, : 
 
 Part Tamped irm Tamping Bar 
 
 off/re bee/ 
 
 for laying rrea'&ea' by tamping am me rammer: 
 The parts not hatched are simp/y fitted tr/th 
 ballast not compressed ttfttt trie rammer: 
 
 Note: The hate fiing indicates the parts 
 '' mping am 
 
 Wood Tie Normally Tamped. (Track without e/eraf/on) 
 Arrangement of tamping rrhen if has jusf ee,i efo.ie ana" 
 before the passage offra/rf. 
 
 
 Wood Tie Normally Tamped. (Track w/fhouf e/eraf/'on) 
 Arrangement of tamping afferafraff/'c of SOO fra/'ns. 
 
 note: Tfie parts ab become spontaneously wedged a short time after /ay/'rtg. 
 The doffed fine is the curre of maximum flexure unc/er/oad. 
 
 There exists in repose, between the lover face of the fie and the bed for /aySng/n 6a//vst, a space r/n tfie form of a bas/n on nrh/'ch 
 is moti/ded at the moment of foadlng the face of f/>/s fie, which continues ro descend eran to the c/otfea' //rre. Th/s socrce rar/es from 
 $ of a millimeter to / m /m according fofhe /rate/re of tfie 6a//asf. The S/exvre wafer tte /acre* ef is arr arercrq'e of 2^/m for- 
 the ft ft. track /aid at L + 4. 
 
 Wood Tie Norm a f ft/ Tamped (Track ny//? e/eraf/on of 3.27 ftacf/t/s /9&3.Sff.) 
 
 Composite Tie Normal fy Tamped. (Track with e/eration of 3.27f?ad/us 
 
 Arrangement of tamping offer a traffic of SOO trains. 
 Note: The composite tie is only tamped under the block extending for J3. T3"on each side of the raif. The rest is empty. The tcrmp/figr 
 with the tamping bar from the beginning does not become mod/tied #ith ttme. and no iro/d/s observed beneath the fre in repose, as fo#rs 
 place in the case of the wood f/e. 
 
 Comparafiye Flexure under Load off he Compost fe and Wood T/'es. Track triM e/eraf/orr of 3. 2 7 ' 
 
 Radius /9&3.Sf7:) 
 
 Figs. 30, 31 and 32. 
 
METHODS FOR REMEDYING TRACK DEFORMATION. 123 
 
 manent, which remains when the cause which produced it has 
 ceased. 
 
 The ballast, in spite of all contrary appearances, is not elastic; 
 it subsides successively and little by little under the passage of 
 vehicles. This subsidence is variable according to the nature of 
 the ballast and the state of the subsoil, and amounts to 1.18 or 
 1.57 in. when it is a question of gravel and a subgrade capable of 
 deformation (embankment and cut argillaceous), and some milli- 
 meters only, when the ballast is composed of broken stone, and 
 when the subgrade resists more completely. Thus it would seem 
 that the track ought to descend, and by appreciable quantities; it is 
 not so, happily, and at the end of a certain time a sort of equilib- 
 rium is produced; the tie becomes suspended above the ballast, 
 when it is not submitted to any load; it reposes on its extremities, 
 whatever may be the care used in the tamping, and inflects in 
 the void existing between the upper part of the ballast and its 
 lower face, a void which arises from the subsidence of the support 
 under the load. This observation, which I have made many times, 
 and which is of great importance, as we shall see further along, 
 has likewise been registered by Mr. Couard (paper of July, 1897, 
 on the vertical deformation of rails). One reads, in fact, on page 
 36 of this interesting article, the following conclusion of the causes 
 of the vertical deformation of rails. "It is necessary to conclude 
 that the ties fixed to the rail rest on certain points suspended above 
 the ballast, and that right at the rail there are formed under the 
 ties, even the best tamped, depressions in the ballast, on the edges 
 of which the tie is supported; under the passage of a wheel even 
 lightly loaded, the ties make contact with the ballast and inflect 
 to the bottom of the depressions; from this moment only the increase 
 of the bending is proportional to the load." 
 
 POSITION OF THE TIE IN THE TRACK. 
 
 The tie thus takes an appreciable flexure, which produces the 
 dislocation of the joint and the deformation of the rail, and this 
 flexure is due, in the ordinary case, to its excessive length, and to 
 the unequal distribution of the pressure on the ballast, which is 
 a consequence of it. The elasticity, which it is believed should be 
 attributed to the ballast, and which is so construed from the fact 
 that the tie returns nearly to the place which it occupied before 
 the passage of the load, depends upon the bent tie itself and on 
 the reaction of the roadbed. It is possible that the tie does not 
 always rest on its extremities, but that it is supported on its central 
 
124 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 part, which is the case with center bound ties; that is to say with 
 those which oscillate about their center, and which render the track 
 unstable; this is produced when the tie meets a resistance at its 
 center superior to that at its extremities, which is due either to the 
 inequalities in the roadbed, or to the shocks arising from the ver- 
 tical deformation of the rails, which unwedge the tie and remove 
 the extremities from support. 
 
 The way ballast behaves under pressure leads to consequences 
 which should be fully understood, and which explain the poor 
 stability of certain tracks. Long ties have often been preferred 
 because they could be shifted endwise and re-employed after adzing; 
 that is a very bad practice, which it is necessary to abandon defi- 
 nitely. The ties rest, as has been seen, on their extremities; the 
 longest by reason of their flexure on the one hand, and by the un- 
 equal distribution of the load on the ballast on the other are sit- 
 uated at a higher level than that of the shorter ties, when, after 
 the passage of vehicles, they have returned to their initial posi- 
 tion. For the compression of ballast is as much greater as the point 
 considered is brought nearer to the point of application of the load, 
 in the particular case of the rail. This explains why ties of un- 
 equal length succeeding each other in the track are of different 
 heights, and produce a track in the form of a mountain, with high 
 points and low points. The track becomes jolty; the rails present 
 inequalities prejudicial to their good stability, and that effect is the 
 more sensible the greater the speed. 
 
 But the same principle does not hold with ties of different cross 
 sections. Under the load they descend unequally in the track, but 
 these inequalities should be restricted in comparison with the first, 
 because the longitudinal deformation of the tie is greater than its 
 sinking. From a long tie resting suspended on its extremities, it 
 follows that, in the experiments which we have made, the wood 
 ties ought to be found, after the passage of a certain number of 
 trains, at a higher level than that of the composite ties. This cir- 
 cumstance, which is perfectly explained, has nothing mischievous 
 in it, since the whole track is displaced parallel to itself. But in- 
 equalities may occur at the passage from the composite ties to the 
 ordinary ties. 
 
 EFFECT OF CLIMATIC VARIATIONS ON THE TIE. 
 
 The fact that the ties rest on the end, as has been proved, id 
 also confirmed by the manner in which they behave on a very wet 
 subsoil, or, on the contrary, on a very dry support. When the road- 
 
METHODS FOR REMEDYING TRACK DEFORMATION. 125 
 
 bed is argillaceous, it is known that it rapidly becomes muddy; the 
 water is arrested on its surface and rises, especially in the central 
 part, with the mud which it induces. The ballast becomes dirty, 
 and the tie pumps because it rests on a muddy bed, which has, 
 little by little, replaced the ballast buried in the roadbed. One of 
 the methods for arresting this movement and this pumping con- 
 sists in the establishment of walls at the extremities of the ties; 
 the central part of the track is thus consolidated, the water remains 
 in its interior, but the tie no longer pumps, because it is carried 
 on a firmer soil, and because it no longer has the tendency to be 
 supported on the less solid part, in consequence of its greater flexure. 
 This method amounts to diminishing its length by increasing the 
 points of support. 
 
 In the same way, when the variations of temperature are pro- 
 duced, the loaded tie modifies of itself its bed. When the ballast 
 and the roadbed are very wet it spreads and assumes a longer bed; 
 on the contrary, when the support becomes dry, the tie rises, so 
 to speak, above its original axis. It takes a smaller bed, inferior 
 to that which its length would permit. 
 
 This arises from the manner in which the load is distributed 
 over a given surface, and the fact pointed out is the particular ex- 
 planation of a more general law. The zone of influence of a load 
 is of much greater extent, as the surface submitted to that influ- 
 ence is more capable of deformation. It is, consequently, of small 
 extent when the support is rigid, and extends further when the 
 latter is flexible. The disadvantage of these variations, for the sub- 
 ject which now occupies us, is that the flexure of ties increases 
 with the deformation of the support; in order to do well it would 
 then be necessary to eliminate the hygrometric and spongy ballast, 
 and consolidate the roadbeds susceptible of notable deformation. 
 
 Recapitulating, it can be said that the tie, such as actually ex- 
 ists, is an elastic material resting on a support subject to deforma- 
 tion (the ballast), very little elastic (the roadbed). Its slight 
 rigidity causes it not to rest on its whole length, and to distribute 
 unequally the pressure on its support, the parts nearest to the load 
 being submitted to a severer compression, that is to say, to a greater 
 deformation. This deformation subsists by reason of the feeble elas- 
 ticity of the roadbed, and at the end of a short time the tie rests 
 on its extremities; it is a well understood question of a tie well 
 tamped at the moment of laying, and established upon a roadbed of 
 uniform resistance. 
 
126 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 TAMPING. 
 
 Here naturally arises the problem of tamping the tie; on that 
 question engineers are divided, because they have not perhaps an- 
 alyzed in a sufficient manner the given data of the problem. How 
 many times have I heard asked of the heads of sections the length 
 which they desired, in order to make the track solid? And how 
 many different replies have I heard, to the effect that the problem 
 appeared unsolvable, so that each section foreman was allowed to 
 make his own rules! 
 
 As a matter of fact, this does not make any trouble under actua] 
 condition; all the tamped beds, whatever they be, lead to the same 
 result; the tie always rests on its extremities. It is necessary, how- 
 ever, to guard against a tamped bed over the whole length of the 
 tie, because it might cause its unwedging and make it center bound. 
 
 But the actual situation can be remedied, and in a general man- 
 ner; it is not necessary to seek the length of the tamped bed for 
 a tie whatever it be, that is to say the length of its bed intended 
 to distribute the pressure as uniformly as possible over the bal- 
 last, and to prevent consequently its deformation, but what is quite 
 a different matter the length of the tie should be studied, in order 
 that it may undergo the least flexure. The first problem, such as 
 is proposed, is unsolvable; the second, we have seen, offers a very 
 clear and very precise solution. The length of the tie of least flexure 
 being determined by experiment, nothing is more simple than to 
 ascertain the best length for the tamped bed. Thus it has been 
 found that the tie ought to have a length between 7.05 ft. and 
 7.22 ft.; the tamped bed will have a total length equal to twice 
 the breech of the tie. The whole is symmetrical in comparison 
 with the load, and consequently the pressure will be distributed 
 nearly uniformly over the support. It would be mischievous to 
 extend the tamped bed on the side of the center, because the tie 
 would be deformed in an unequal manner, as we have seen. 
 
 LENGTH OF TIE OF LEAST FLEXURE. 
 
 An objection can be put forth against the shortening of the tie 
 on account of the obligation to avoid the cracks which are produced 
 at the extremities in consequence of the introduction of the screw 
 spikes. This useless length, it has been said, is a necessary evil; 
 I do not think so, for, if the theory of the tie of least flexure is 
 admitted as exact, nothing prevents consolidating the extremities 
 
METHODS FOR REMEDYING TRACK DEFORMATION. 127 
 
 with a special shoe, or a screw spike, as is done by certain French 
 companies, the Eastern, for example. 
 
 But that is not all, and if it is desired to reduce the deforma- 
 tion to its minimum, which is necessary in order to allow an in- 
 crease of speed, it is also necessary to have recourse to the measure 
 extolled since 1897 by Mr. Coiiard. That is to say, it is necessary 
 to give to the tie the highest possible moment of resistance: that 
 of the wood tie, brought to the standard of the steel, is only 36, 
 while that of the composite tie reaches 87, and is never less than 60. 
 
 The experiments which we have made naturally condemn all 
 steel ties in the form of a trough; for, on the one hand, their resist- 
 ing moment, less than that of the wood ties, is too weak, and 
 on the other hand, the tamped bed is almost impossible to make, 
 even with reduced dimensions which would lead to a less deforma- 
 tion. The moment of resistance could only be increased in two 
 ways, and neither is practically capable of realization; it would b3 
 necessary either to increase the thickness of the metal, and then the 
 tie, already too costly, would have a prohibitive price, or else it 
 would be necessary to increase its depth, and the inconvenience of 
 a bad tamped bed would be still more noticeable. Ties in the form 
 of a trough should, therefore, be abandoned, and their general 
 use would be an error, which would be regretted in the future. I 
 am not referring to the reduction in gage of the track produced 
 in consequence of the permanent flexure by the tie, nor of the fast- 
 enings, which certainly constitute a weak point, but confine myself 
 simply to the defect of rigidity of this type, and to the difficulty 
 of tamping. 
 
 The reduction of the flexure of ties is actually a necessity; it 
 will correspond also to a reduction in the longitudinal movement, 
 and will diminish the deformations which we have pointed out. 
 The study which I have made with composite ties compared with 
 ordinary ties confirms this view. The transverse flexure is dimin- 
 ished at the same time as the longitudinal movement, which pro- 
 duces the disorganization of the splices. These facts do not require 
 explanation; it is certain that the increase of the bending moment 
 ought to lead to a less deformation of the track, and that experi- 
 ment has confirmed what theory has presaged for a long time. 
 It has also been possible to establish, thanks to the composite tie, 
 that there was a length of tie of which the deformation was min- 
 imum, and that the more general problem of the zone of influence 
 of a load resting across a support on a material capable of deforma- 
 tion has been set forth. 
 
^ ^ 
 
 '1 
 
METHODS FOR REMEDYING TRACK DEFORMATION. 129 
 
 COMPOSITE TIES. 
 
 The experimental composite tie, which has behaved in an abso- 
 lutely satisfactory manner, is not perhaps the only model of this 
 kind which could be conceived. Made with a metallic skeleton, 
 which gives to it a great rigidity, which is to be desired, contain- 
 ing two wooden blocks, on which the fastening is made, and which 
 distribute the pressure on the roadbed, it presents all the advant- 
 ages which one could wish: rigidity and simplicity. No rivets, no 
 bolts; the compression of the two materials is obtained by clamp- 
 ing the skeleton by means of metallic cross bars. It is true that 
 the price of such a tie is high, and that it could not be commonly 
 employed; on tracks of much traffic this objection would not have 
 great value. The security of traffic, the economy of maintenance by 
 the reduction of deformation remain to be put in the balance with a 
 higher cost price. 
 
 But one of the inventors, Mr. Michel, understood how well 
 founded this objection could be for lines of less frequent traffic, 
 and has designed another type of tie, constituted with the same 
 materials, wood and steel, but formed of more simple elements. 
 The metallic parts are formed of two pieces of channel iron, con- 
 taining between them two wooden blocks in the form of a paral- 
 lelepiped. The assemblage is made by means of four cross bars 
 per block. The new model allows the realization of a series of types 
 of resistance, diverse and, consequently, of variable pjice, according 
 to the resistance. (Figs. 33, 34 and 35.) 
 
 The tie thus made presents the same advantages as the first 
 one experimented with, rigidity and facility for compactness of the 
 attachment, but it does not rest absolutely on the same principles. 
 The squeezing was obtained, at least in the first conception of the 
 inventors, by the rising of the wedge; in this case, on the con- 
 trary, it becomes perfect, as soon as the beam is formed, because 
 the cross bars make the elements, wood and steel, which compose 
 it, act jointly. This tie is not open to the charge that it has the 
 grave defect of comprising a great number of pieces, for it is an 
 armored beam, which only exists after the assemblage is effectuated. 
 It would be possible to make the same criticism of an armored 
 cement beam, or, indeed, even against a compound beam; both are 
 created only when their elements are reunited. The tie in question 
 is definitely an armored wooden beam. 
 
 The assemblage can be made with the perfection and solidity 
 which it is proposed to have for it, as was shown in experiments 
 
130 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 undertaken at the laboratory of the Ecole des Fonts et Chaussees. 
 The tie submitted to the test was composed of two pieces of channel 
 iron, 5.51 in. deep, 0.20 in. thickness of web and 11.42 in. width 
 of flange, bound together with cross bars of 2.36 in. by 3.94 in. 
 Each of the oak blocks creosoted, at least superficially, was 27.56 in. 
 long, 5.51 in. deep and 8.27 in. wide. The assemblage of the ele- 
 ments was made by placing the girdle constituted of channel iron 
 against the wood, and by introducing the cross bars between the 
 flanges of the channels by force. This procedure of squeezing was 
 primitive, since it was arranged only by primitive means. 
 
 Nevertheless, it was sufficient, since the sliding of the piece of 
 wood along the metallic body required a force of 8.8 net tons. The 
 pressure obtained under the action of four clamps being 13.2 net 
 tons, the coefficient of friction of wood against the iron was 0.3. 
 The dislocation of such a beam is therefore not to be feared, and it 
 is well to remark that under a similar force the wood tie would 
 be either broken or near breaking, and that the steel tie would be 
 on the point of bending (flexure of 0.91 in.). 
 
 But the assemblage can be assured by a methodical and even 
 pressure, and the above limit may be exceeded, if necessary. The 
 pieces to be united will be placed under a press and the heated cross 
 bars will be introduced between the flanges of the channels; there will 
 thus be realized, if it is desired, a total pressure of 39.6 net tons, 
 which supposes a tension of 9.9 net tons per cross bar. Each of 
 them having a section of 0.93 sq. in. would not be stressed to more 
 than 21,334 Ibs. per sq. in., which is acceptable. As to the wood, 
 it would only be stressed to 526 Ibs. per sq. in., about one-tenth of 
 the breaking load. 
 
 It may be asked if the pressure, being obtained, will be main- 
 tained in spite of- the effects of variations of temperature. I can- 
 not cite experiments with figures for support; however, I will cite 
 the first ties, which, placed in the track for four years, and sub- 
 mitted in consequence to all the temperature changes, have be- 
 haved well with a total pressure less than that which has since 
 been realized. No yielding has been produced, and the central wedge 
 could never be raised, except for a few millimeters. The proof 
 has then been made experimentally that yielding is not possible 
 under the conditions of ,test; but I do not wish to limit myself to 
 this demonstration, and I am having executed at this moment a 
 set of experiments relative to the effect of temperature variations 
 on the clamping of beams made like the ties. 
 
METHODS FOR REMEDYING TRACK DEFORMATION. 131 
 
 There is another point which I am having studied at the same 
 time, and which deserves special mention. It is the hardening of 
 the material by the effect of compression, a hardening which will 
 diminish the sinking of the rail in its support, and consequently 
 the deformation of the track and the stress on the fastenings. It 
 is a general law; the compression of the material gives a resist- 
 ance to it which it has not in a natural state. Mr. Considere, in 
 a note inserted in the Annales des Fonts et Ghaussees (second quar- 
 ter of 1904), has shown that the resistance of cement was increased 
 in the proportion of 1 to 6. The same fact should exist with wood; 
 it is fitting to establish it, and to show every advantage which can 
 be derived from it. It is probable that, thanks to this hardening, 
 the fastenings will present a greater resistance and that they can 
 be submitted to greater forces. 
 
 The best wood, whether for ordinary ties or of blocks for com- 
 posite ties, is heart oak. It is not necessary to creosote it; it is 
 sufficient to use a coat of tar and lime to protect its upper face 
 from the action of inclement weather. The experiment made on the 
 tracks on the line from Mouchard to Bourg produced excellent re- 
 sults; it demonstrated that this treatment was successful in main- 
 taining ties which would have been rejected with brief delay with- 
 out the preservative. The latter does not prevent, at the end or on 
 the sides, the slow and progressive seasoning of the tie. 
 
 The tie may also be seasoned by floating it for five or six months 
 to eliminate elements of decay, but this process is long, and not 
 very practicable because of the long drying subsequently required. 
 If the oak contains sap, which is unfortunately very common, the 
 floating can s^rve to preserve the beam; but creosoting is a disad- 
 vantage rather than an advantage. The sap alone absorbs the, creo- 
 sote in a sensible manner, and after the injection forms an impene- 
 trable envelope, under the protection of which the sap, not being 
 able to evaporate, enters into fermentation and attacks the wood. 
 It is undoubtedly better not to creosote sap oak. - 
 
 , : The same thing does not hold true for pine, spruce or beech. 
 These woods season rapidly and are capable of absorbing a quantity 
 
 ^t 
 
 of creosote sufficient to render antiseptic the small amount of sap 
 which still remains after seasoning (about 20- per cent.). But it 
 is necessary to creosote to refusal, which requires the employment 
 o-f at least 55 Ibs. of antiseptic liquid for a tie of 8.53 ft.; under, 
 these conditions the sap is, so to speak, surrounded by creosote, 
 and any fermentation is impossible. With a smaller dose, the sap ; 
 
132 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 not being given immunity, enters into fermentation, and decay com- 
 mences; this has been observed when the amount of creosote is 
 reduced to 35^ Ibs. 
 
 Besides these methods of preservation of ties, attention should 
 be directed to the covering of their upper part by ballast, the em- 
 ployment of plates which protect the seat of the fastenings, and 
 consequently the fastenings themselves. Perhaps it would be well, 
 in the case of secondary companies, where the ties often perish by 
 the fastenings and the decay of their sockets, to place in default 
 of a plate, a hoop-iron shim, whose only purpose would be to cover 
 the seat of the fastenings. On the P. L. M., notably, where a plate 
 is employed, the decay of ties is scarcely produced, except in the 
 central part The fastenings are still good, except when they have 
 undergone excessive turning, and then the tie ought to be rejected. 
 This is not true on lines where the rail rests directly on the tie, 
 and where the fastenings are absolutely uncovered; rust attacks 
 the screw spike and the wood which surrounds it. The fastening 
 becomes bad before the tie has become unfit for usage. From that 
 arises the necessity for having recourse to a method for consolida- 
 tion of the fastenings, which is not generally necessary on tracks 
 provided with plates. It is the same in the case of the ties laid 
 with even joints, for those of the following end, notably, often 
 perish at their fastenings by reason of the hammering which they 
 support at the joint. The wood in which the screw spike is en- 
 gaged is torn, and the piece should be rejected. It holds that at 
 the end of a certain time this piece is left in the air; the fasten- 
 ings support the weight of the beam and finish by tearing the wood 
 
 METHODS OF IMPROVING THE JOINT. 
 
 The obligation of obtaining a more rigid track, in view of real- 
 izing greater speeds, and also of reducing expenses of operation, 
 is in contradiction to the well-known principle that a railroad track 
 should be elastic, and should not present hard spots. It is neces- 
 sary, in discussing this question, to define the word "elasticity," as 
 employed in this case. Is an elastic track that which, under the 
 effect of loads, returns each time to its original position? Or should 
 elasticity be understood as a special quality, difficult to define, which 
 produces smooth rolling; should the track be like a spring of great 
 power, slowly registering the shocks and diminishing the effect so 
 disastrous for vehicles and for travelers? 
 
 If the first sense is adopted, an elastic track is necessarily a 
 bad track; it does not diminish the shocks, it multiplies them. For 
 
METHODS FOR REMEDYING TRACK DEFORMATION. 133 
 
 it is impossible that this elasticity should be at all points of like 
 proportions; here the track, under the effect of the ballast, of the 
 roadbed, and other causes, will be deformed more than at the neigh- 
 boring point. Shocks and jolts, impossible to avoid, will result from 
 it. Under existing conditions, with ties as they are laid, having 
 small rigidity, it may be said that on each rail length there is first 
 a drop, extending to the middle of the section; then a rise, from 
 this point to the end of the rail. Both in the drop and in the rise 
 there are high points and low points, which exaggerate the general 
 bad effect. This is occasioned by the fact that the joint, in conse- 
 quence of the drawing together of the ties at the splicing, which 
 stiffens the rail, is the least elastic point of the track, and that in 
 reality a hard point has been obtained when the contrary result 
 was sought. 
 
 For, up to the present time, if we have used a suspended joint, 
 it is because we have been afraid of having a hard point in its 
 place; it has been surmised, wrongfully, that the supported joint 
 was bad, and that it was necessary to keep it in the air in order 
 to preserve that elasticity, which is only a deception. A track 
 absolutely rigid as a marble table would be infinitely preferable 
 for rolling to a track capable of deformation, like that which we 
 actually have. This deformation for the word "elasticity" is im- 
 proper is a necessity; it cannot be made otherwise, but it is not 
 an advantage, any more than one could pretend that the elasticity 
 of the bridge of Saints-Peres was sought for, and constitutes progress. 
 
 It has been forgotten that, on a track as actually constructed, 
 hard points were not .possible, because all the points of this track 
 become deformed, and because, under the ties, the vertical dis- 
 placement is greater than anywhere else. Mr. Coiiard has shown 
 that the flexure of rail between two consecutive ties was comprised 
 between one-tenth and one-twentieth of a millimeter, and that the 
 lowering of a tie under a load can reach four millimeters (0.16 in.); 
 the mean is two millimeters (0.08 in.), that is to say the flexure 
 of the rail is comprised between 1/200 and 1/400 of the lowering 
 of the tie, and can be considered as infinitely small in comparison 
 with the latter. Otherwise put, the tie bends infinitely more than 
 any other point of the track; it is therefore wrong to think that it 
 can constitute a hard point. 
 
 The necessity for laying rails in short lengths, in order to leave 
 play between them for expansion, should not allow this fact to be 
 lost sight of, that the extremity of a rail is like any other point, 
 
134 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 and that it should not be otherwise treated. Now the two extremi- 
 ties of the rails which follow each other have a marked tendency 
 to vibrate differently; and from this tendency a fall Is created, 
 which goes on increasing with time. 
 
 Not only is the splicing displaced, but the rail is curved under 
 the effect of the fall and of the shock which follows. Mr. Couard 
 has shown that the unequal level, between the middle of the rail 
 and its extremities, can attain 0.8 in., divided thus: 
 
 Permanent bending between the middle and the extremity of the rail. .0.56 in. 
 
 Variable flexure 0.12 " 
 
 Compression of the ballast and of the subsoil 0.12 " 
 
 Total 0.80 in. 
 
 This material inequality is due to the fall and to the shock, 
 that is to say, to the suspended joint; it is the direct consequence 
 of it. When laying rails an allowance of 0.02 in. at the extremi- 
 ties is admitted; if this allowance is in a contrary direction at 
 the two extremities of adjacent rails, it is possible for the total 
 drop to amount to 0.04 in. This circumstance, which is frequently 
 presented, is the cause for the permanent bending, which rises even 
 to 0.56 in. The hammering of the rail at its extremities aggravates 
 the original situation up to the limit indicated. It is the same as 
 far as the variable flexure is concerned; an end of rail of about 
 11.81 in., since the ties of the even joint are spaced about 23.62 in., 
 should not bend under the loads to which it is submitted by more 
 than one-tenth of a millimeter. The variable bending which it takes. 
 and which is 0.12 in., is solely due to the shock, and, consequently, 
 to the suspended joint. It is possible then to reduce in an appre- 
 ciable manner the unequal level of 0.67 in. by holding the joint 
 and preventing it from vibrating. We will then have only the 
 flexure of the tie, the compression of the roadbed, which can be 
 reduced to 0.06 in. That is to say, by sustaining the joint the un- 
 equal level which is actually produced can be reduced to one-twelfth 
 of its real value. This will not only make better track, since the 
 shock will be lessened, but it will prolong the life of the rail, occa- 
 sioning a material economy in renewals. 
 
 The disorganization of the splicing, which is the first effect of 
 the play allowed at the extremities of the rails, their curvature 
 and the shock which follows, can be avoided by fixing the ends on 
 a very rigid tie. It is conceivable that the two extremities, fast- 
 ened on a single piece would act jointly with that piece, and would 
 not have the tendency to work separately, as actually takes place. 
 It is naturally necessary that the tie be rigid in order to avoid 
 
METHODS FOR REMEDYING TRACK DEFORMATION. 135 
 
 the stress on the fastenings, but, under that reservation, the method 
 which we have outlined, and which is very old, only presents 
 advantages. 
 
 Mr. Coiiard, in his study on the vertical deformation of rails, 
 makes the following comment: 
 
 "The principal attempts which have been made at reinforcing 
 the splices of rails and the want of success of the oldest attempts, 
 leaves little to be hoped for from the new, and I do not believe that 
 it will be in this direction that the solution of the stability of the 
 joint will be found. 
 
 "Experience proves that it is dangerous to suppress the allow- 
 ance for expansion in railroad tracks. 
 
 "The unsymmetrical placing of ties in such a way that there 
 is a greater number under the first half of the rail, appears to 
 have given good results on the line from Saint-Etienne to Lyons, 
 the busiest of the P. L. M. system. 
 
 "The reinforcement of the joint, by drawing together the ties 
 of the even joint, has been well tried; several companies have also 
 sought to bring the ties of the even joint still nearer together, in 
 connection with the suspended joint." 
 
 This tendency to draw nearer and nearer together the ties of 
 the even joint leads to the adoption of the supported joint; it is 
 therefore not astonishing to find in the discussion at the Congress of 
 1895 at London the following declaration by Mr. John M. Toucey, 
 of the New York Central: 
 
 "We have no more suspended joints since we tried them some 
 years ago. We abandoned them because the inflection was too great. 
 The joint is supported by three ties: one in the middle, the others 
 at the extremities of the splices. 
 
 "With the rails of 100 Ibs. per yard and this splice bearing 
 on three ties, there is scarcely any sensible inflection at the joint. 
 The rolling is almost as smooth in the middle of the rail as at the 
 extremities. We believe, therefore, that our system of splicing is 
 the best." 
 
 I concur in this rational conclusion. Mr. Coiiard also recog- 
 nizes that this is good practice, and he has shown that if the sup- 
 ported joint has been rated as bad, it is because the tie at the joint, 
 induced successively by the rail in advance and by the following- 
 rail, oscillated and easily became untamped when adjacent ties were 
 Sl 1 /^ in. away. He has established, in fact, that in the tunnels of 
 Blaisy-Bas and of Saint-Irenee, with spacing reduced to 23.62 in., 
 
136 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 and with 87-lb. rails, the supported joints behaved well, although 
 the pivoting of the ties still existed. 
 
 I conclude, then, that the only practical method for improving 
 the joint is to support it on a tie and to place two others 11.81 in. 
 from it. Moreover, untamping will be much less to be feared if a 
 rigid type of tie is adopted, which always rests on its appointed 
 bed. Experiment will alone permit of pronouncing upon this sub- 
 ject; but it can be said that untamping will then be less easy, 
 because the tie, resting on nearly a plane surface, will distribute 
 the pressure on the ballast uniformly, while actually, by reason of 
 the flexure, the pressure is distributed unequally, and the ballast 
 deformed unequally, which produces unwedging. 
 
 But this measure will only be useful after we succeed in cor- 
 recting the unevenness which exists between the two extremities 
 of the rail, and which proceeds, on the one hand, from defects in 
 manufacture, and, on the other, from defects in laying. It is under- 
 stood that if the joint still presents, after establishment of the 
 track, any unevenness, in whatever direction, the latter will become 
 rapidly worse, the tie of the joint becoming unwedged and finish- 
 ing by churning, which is actually the case with the even joint. 
 The unevenness will increase, and the state of things will become 
 just what it is now. The first measure to be taken consists, then, 
 in suppressing the existing unevenness; it is possible to accomplish 
 this in two ways, either by placing wedges under the lowest part 
 of the rail (but this would be difficult, for it is a question of some 
 tenths of millimeters), or by planing the "two extremities of the 
 rail with a portable tool, which seems easy, in order to place the 
 rolling surface at the same level on both sides of the joint. 
 
 Consolidation of the fastenings is indispensable to complete the 
 good support of the joint. If it is indispensable to improve the 
 joint, which is certainly the weakest point in the track, it is no 
 less necessary to pay attention to the holding power of the fasten- 
 ings. It has been seen how important they were, as much from 
 the point of view of assuring the joint action between the rail and 
 the tie as of the resistance opposed to lateral movement. 
 
 As far as concerns this resistance, it is proper to utilize^ the 
 whole surface of the head of the screw spike, and, on that 
 account, to adopt the tie plates, which diminish the effect of the 
 cutting which the rail exercises on the body of the screw spike. 
 Certain railroad companies, fearing this cutting, have kept its shank 
 away from the edge of the base of the rail; this is a bad solution, 
 for, if it serves to avoid one difficulty, it brings about another equally 
 
METHODS FOR REMEDYING TRACK INFORMATION. 137 
 
 serious. Lateral displacement of the rail, since it is not well sup- 
 ported and its overturning on curves, or. sliding, is not properly 
 guarded against. Experiments made on the P. L. M. on this sub- 
 ject show that with a metallic plate the cutting is very much dimin- 
 ished; it is true that we must take care of the abnormal wear 
 which is necessarily produced between two metallic surfaces, the 
 lower part of the base and the upper surface of the plate. JBut it 
 is possible to interpose between the two surfaces a plate of felt or 
 poplar. 
 
 On this account the reinforcement of the plates actually in use 
 on the P. L. M. was occasioned; it has been seen, in the first part 
 of this study, that, for want of a suitable reinforcement, the screw 
 spike is not sufficiently sustained, and that under the influence of 
 a relatively weak push exercised on the rail, it has a tendency to 
 be overturned, not being stopped by the plate. The reinforcement, 
 which we have made practical, has, on the contrary, arrested the 
 movement of overturning and diminished the chances for inclina- 
 tion of the rail, and, consequently, of the spreading of the track. 
 One can object, and it is probably the reason for. maintenance of 
 the actual type, that the reinforcement of the plate can induce loosen- 
 ing from the base of the rail, the head of the screw spike con- 
 tinuing to be supported on the reinforced part of the plate, while 
 no longer being applied to the base. It does not seem impossible 
 to remedy this disadvantage; it suffices, in fact, to slide an iron 
 wedge under the head of the screw spike, in the same manner that 
 wedges are placed between the splice and the lower part of the 
 head of the rail. The importance of the result to be obtained 
 justifies the measure which should be taken. 
 
 EMPLOYMENT OF THE TREENAIL. 
 
 As a means of consolidation of the fastenings, above all of those 
 which are used in ties already old, the treenail has been employed 
 with success. The wooden treenail, Collet system, was at first put 
 in service, then the metallic treenail, of which one of the best types 
 is the one invented by Mr. Thiollier. We pointed out, in the first 
 part of the study, the results which the Collet treenail gave. I 
 think it proper to recall them in revision. 
 
 The resistence to excessive turning, which is an essential quality 
 of the fastening is: 
 
 For pine without treenail 132 Ibs. 
 
 For pine with treenail 176 " 
 
 For hardwood, oak or beech, without treenail 220 " 
 
 \ For hardwood, oak or beech, with treenail . . . 242 " 
 
138 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 The resistance to tearing out, which is about 11,023 Ibs., in 
 creosoted pine with the treenail, in place of 7,716 Ibs., seems to de- 
 crease with time; for it decreases at the end of two years to 8,818 
 lb.3., to a limit sensibly equal to that which the wood possesses in its 
 natural state. That holds according to the manner even in which 
 the treenail is made; the latter is, in fact, cut out of wood in the 
 direction of the grain, and thoroughly creosoted. Now it is known 
 that a piece of wood thus established is in bad condition for receiv- 
 ing spikes or screws; they both hold badly. The wood does not 
 permit of penetration by a screw thread; this has been proved by 
 experiment with the treenail. Thus, when the insertion is first 
 made, the force of extraction is exercised on the treenail; at the 
 end of a few months the combination of screw spike and tree- 
 nail submitted to extraction acts otherwise, it is the screw spike 
 which is withdrawn, under a force of about 7,716 Ibs. It holds 
 from this that the wood of the treenail has not received the im- 
 print of the screw thread; it is simply compressed more or less 
 strongly, which in the beginning assures the union of the two pieces. 
 But at the end of a short time the effect of this compression dimin- 
 ishes, the wood shrinks little by little, the contact diminishes, and 
 the force which is necessary for extracting the system diminishes. 
 
 The resistance to tearing out in new oak ties is about 13,228 Ibs.; 
 it is about 15,432 lb*s. when the latter are provided with treenails. 
 But there is equally produced a diminution of resistance with time, 
 as much in the first case as in the second, and the reason for it is 
 the same. 
 
 As far as the resistance to overturning is concerned, the em- 
 ployment of the treenail does not appear to increase it materially; 
 it depends, above all, as has been seen, on the reinforcement of the 
 plate. 
 
 The useful effect of the treenail is not, in fact, very great for 
 opposing such a movement, because the upright wood of the tree- 
 nail presents quite a weak resistance, scarcely the tenth of the re- 
 sistance of the wood submitted to a force perpendicular with its 
 fibers; because, under the influence of the force, the hole takes an 
 oval shape, and because the wood crushes. 
 
 Another disadvantage in this method of consolidation of the 
 fastenings arises from the fact that its employment requires the 
 use of plates, in order to protect its upper surface. It is thus that 
 the treenails of ties on tracks of the P. L. M. Co. are well preserved, 
 because they are provided with a plate, but they shrink in the 
 same ties without the plate, and a space between the treenail and 
 
METHODS FOR REMEDYING TRACK DEFORMATION. 139 
 
 the wood of the tie is produced, rendering the fastening bad and 
 very shaky. This fact explains why, with certain companies where 
 the plate is not in use, the wooden treenail could not be employed. 
 It is possible, we believe, to remedy this disadvantage by placing 
 en the head of the treenail a protecting coat composed of tar and 
 sand, or of lime, sufficiently elastic to lend itself to all the move- 
 ments of the tie. 
 
 It may therefore be said that, under actual conditions, the tree- 
 nail prolongs the durability of a tie whose fastenings are damaged, 
 but it does not give an increase of resistance, since the latter dimin- 
 ishes quite rapidly. It is not safe, therefore, to count on its em- 
 ployment for improving the fastenings in a permanent manner; 
 at the beginning an improvement is obtained, but it does not seem 
 to continue. 
 
 THIOLLIEB TREENAIL. 
 
 Against excessive turning, which it is important to avoid, there 
 is net any increase of resistance; the employment of the Thiollier 
 metallic treenail seems on the contrary to produce this increase. 
 This treenail is nothing but a steel helix of oval section, of which 
 the number of spirals varies according to the pitch of the screw 
 spike, and which is incorporated right at each screw spike of the 
 tie in a socket previously cut in the tie by means of a cutting tap. 
 The lining has the same pitch as the screw spike to be employed, 
 and an interior diameter about the same as that of the core of the 
 screw spike, in order to reduce the play between the two pieces to 
 the minimum; the helix, prepared for its normal service, is always 
 flush with the upper part of the tie, lines the place cut out for the 
 plate, and, at its lower part, ought always to rest on at least 0.39 in. 
 of wood not tapped. 
 
 According to the inventor, as soon as the squeezing force com- 
 mences, by the contact of the cap of the screw spike with the rail 
 or the chair, the lining increases in diameter, embraces the forms 
 of the screw spike, which places the latter under protection against 
 all spontaneous untightening, and assumes the function of a spring, 
 all the different spirals obeying the force parallel to its axis trans- 
 mitted by the screw spike. 
 
 The lining, by its diameter greater than that of the screw, 
 engages the parts of the wood with a more extended surface than 
 that engaged by the threads of the screw spike, and in re-employed 
 ties, where the same site is preserved for the screw spike, the parts 
 of the wood less altered or less blackened. 
 
140 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 These advantages have caused certain railroad companies to 
 employ the Thiollier lining. The results of extraction are essen- 
 tially the same as those which are obtained with the Collet treenail; 
 that is to say, the resistance is increased by about 30 per cent. But 
 experience has not perhaps been sufficient to enable us to pro- 
 nounce on the efficiency of the lining after a certain time of em- 
 ployment; and it is to be feared that there will be produced, as with 
 the Collet treenail, a certain relaxation of the distended fibers. 
 In each case the resistance to excessive turning is limited. It does 
 not increase constantly, as a purely superficial examination would 
 tend to prove. It is necessary to guard against squeezing it too 
 tightly, for the spiral and the screw spike are made like a nut 
 and its bolt. In acting on the bolt, the nut is made to ascend; 
 the spiral ascends, the rings come to be pressed against each other 
 and against the plate, tearing the fibers of the tie, and the apparent 
 resistance to excessive turning is as much greater as the fastening 
 is more dislocated. But it is easy not to reach this limit, and it 
 is easily possible to remedy this disadvantage by providing the tree- 
 nail with a spur applied against the bottom of the tie, and by dimin- 
 ishing the flexibility of the spirals in order that they may not be 
 able to be pressed against each other. 
 
 Nevertheless, the Thiollier lining is an excellent palliative, for 
 it increases the resistance to transverse overturning comparatively 
 with the known systems, and is economical, since the lining can 
 be placed without withdrawing the tie from the track, which pro- 
 duces an economy of about 1 franc (19.4 cents). 
 
 Apart from the effect of overturning, which is very rarely pro- 
 duced, while admitting at the same time that it can take place, 
 there is occasion for considering the resistance which the rail, pro- 
 vided with its plate and its fastenings, presents to sliding. It has 
 been possible to verify this resistance by means of the Collet decli- 
 metre, and by a special arrangement which permits of direct action 
 on the plates. The results of these experiments are given below: 
 
 I'ine ties creosoted : With bare screw spikes 8,598 ibs. 
 
 With screw spikes and treenails 11,905 " 
 
 With screw spikes provided with Thiollier linings 15,212 " 
 
 New oak creosoted cross-ties with bare screw spikes 17,637 " 
 
 New beech creosoted ties 18,298 " 
 
 The following comparison can . be made, so far as the forces 
 
 for tearing out are concerned, according to whether the ties are 
 or are not provided with treenails or spirals: 
 
 I'ine ties : With bare screw spikes 6,834 Iba. 
 
 With screw spikes and new treenails 10,824 " 
 
 With screw spikes and treenails after 3y 2 years' service.... 8,818 " 
 With screw spikes and spirals 9,148 " 
 
METHODS FOR REMEDYING TRACK DEFORMATION. 141 
 
 It can be said, in recapitulation, that the Thiollier spiral pre- 
 sents 28 per cent, more resistance against sliding than the Collet 
 treenail; the lattar, on the contrary, offers 18 per cent, more re- 
 sistance against tearing out than the spiral without interposition 
 of the plate. In the case in point, it is therefore only a question 
 of ties of soft wood, for with hard wood the resistance is more 
 considerable, and the employment of the treenail or of the spiral 
 is not pointed -out. 
 
 It is evidently possible to consolidate the fastenings of ties 
 in bad condition by employing either the Collet treenail or the 
 Thiollier lining, but is the result obtained definite, and ought one 
 to count on a constant and notable improvement? I do not think 
 so, at least with the Collet system, because this treenail is cut 
 from wood parallel with the grain; I reserve my approval so far 
 as concerns the Thiollier spiral, because experiment has not been 
 carried on for a sufficiently long time. Will there not be, on the 
 other hand, a certain advantage, in point of view of resistance, in 
 placing such systems in a composite tie, where the wood is com- 
 pressed between two metallic parts? This is probable, because the 
 wood is maintained in constant tension against the fastening, with- 
 out it being possible to produce withdrawal. From the same cause 
 the sinking of the rail in the tie diminishes, which reduces the 
 inclination of the track by its spreading, as well as the movement 
 of the joint. 
 
 The employment of the treenail and of the spiral, such as they 
 are known, certainly does not constitute the only method of pro- 
 longing the life of ties in bad condition. A simple plug of wood, 
 cut perpendicular to the fibers, can fill the same office, especially 
 if care is taken to give it the form of a truncated cone, whose large 
 base should be directed downwards. When tightening the screw 
 spike the plug would be caused to rise, and its intimate contact 
 with the tie would be assured. 
 
 But, whatever may be the type adopted, it is necessary to pro- 
 tect the head of the plug against atmospheric variations; for that 
 a simple coat of tar with lime will suffice, in the case where the; 
 plate will not be adopted. 
 
 The employment of a bolt to replace the screw spike, "with the 
 bolt resting on the lower surface of the tie, is perhaps no longer 
 an always satisfactory solution, because a reduction of resistance 
 to overturning is to be feared. Against tearing out, on the contrary, 
 the resistance is maximum. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 In the first part of this study, I pointed out the principal de- 
 formations which track can undergo and which consist of: Creep- 
 ing, the reduction of gage on tangents, or spreading of gage on 
 curves, the compression of the tie at the supports, the tearing out 
 of the screw spikes, the poor holding of the joint, which produces 
 dislocation of the track and the vertical deformation of the rail. 
 
 I have shown that all these deformations, which when taken 
 singly, have only a small influence, exercise, in the aggregate, a 
 considerable effect, as much from the point of view of limiting 
 traffic as from facility of maintenance, and that they prevent the 
 increase of speed on all sections of lines where that increase is 
 desirable. Two principal causes act to produce these deformations: 
 the bending of the cross-tie and the longitudinal movement of the 
 track. 
 
 Some eminent engineers, Mr. Coiiard notably, who has been the 
 most caieful and patient observer, have only imperfectly seen this 
 relation of cause and effect; Mr. Coiiard concluded, after having 
 summarized these observations in a series of articles in the Revue 
 des Chemins de Fer, that there was occasion for increasing the 
 moment of resistance of the tie, and substituting for the type ac- 
 tually in use a type with reinforced section much more rigid. This 
 conclusion, set forth in 1897, was a logical one; it contradicted in 
 some respects the interpretations of a group of engineers, notably 
 represented by the Germans, who thought that the loaded cross-tie 
 rested completely on its bed of ballast, and that consequently the 
 pressure, was transmitted integrally over this bed, here more, there 
 less, according to the sinking of the ballast or the deformation of 
 the cross-tie. I believe that I have shown experimentally the error 
 in this theory. The non-loaded cross-tie placed under the best con- 
 ditions of stability rests on its extremities; under the effect of the 
 load, it is deformed and is moulded in the ballast. The ballast sub- 
 sides little by little, and finally takes the form of the deformed 
 
RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS. 143 
 
 cross-tie. The subsoil reacts more or less according to its nature, 
 and that is what gives to it the illusion of that elasticity, which 
 has been freely ascribed to the ballast. 
 
 But the tie does not transmit to all points of its bed the pressure 
 arising from the load which is applied to it. The zone of influence 
 of the load is very limited, hardly reaching 13.78 to 15.75 in. from 
 its point of application. There is in it a general law already noticed 
 by Mr. Mesnager, Engineer of Bridges and Highways, in charge of 
 the laboratory of the school, who has demonstrated that in connec- 
 tion with a reinforced concrete floor system of beams and slabs, the 
 entire length of the slab should not enter into the computation so 
 as to reduce the section of the beam, as the zone of influence of the 
 load is limited. It follows that on a movable bed like the road- 
 bed and ballast, the application of the load is made over a small 
 length on each side of the rail; beyond that, not only is there no 
 pressure, but a tendency to a sub-pressure. It is similar to the 
 case of a substance of small resistance, like turf, where the load 
 causes the soil around the loaded and displaced zone to rise up; 
 here the phenomenon is clear, but in the foregoing it is less apparent. 
 
 It is not then necessary to extend a cross-tie beyond a certain 
 limit, and that limit corresponds precisely with the length which 
 gives the minimum deformation of the piece. With that .length 
 the maximum of useful effect and the uniform distribution of the 
 load on the ballast will be obtained. This is an appreciable result. 
 If the tamped bed be maintained as originally established, there 
 will be no more such frequent unwedging. 
 
 The question of the length to be given to tamping will be solved 
 at the same time. It has not been up to the present time, because 
 the problem, as was stated, did not admit of solution. It has been 
 sought to discover what is the length to be given to the tamped 
 bed under a cross-tie of whatever length, having no relation, on 
 the one hand, with the load, and, on the other, with the gage of 
 the rails. All the solutions were equally good, or rather bad. The 
 problem is indeterminate, because it does not admit of a single 
 solution. It is necessary, as ,1 have pointed out, to reverse the 
 position of the problem and seek the length to be given to the 
 cross-tie, in order that it shall experience the minimum of flexure. 
 The limit to be given to the tamped bed corresponded with this 
 minimum of flexure. 
 
 Neither has sufficient attention been paid to the manner in 
 which the tamping should be done; some trackmen do it on the 
 right, while others do it on the left. There is no uniformity in 
 
144 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 their efforts, and the unequally tamped tie has a natural tendency 
 to become unwedged. Mechanical tamping, which Mr. Albert Collet 
 has rendered practicable, will give, we believe, excellent results, 
 and its general use will be imposed, when it is desired to establish 
 a very stable track always comparable with itself. 
 
 But this stability of the track will not yet be complete, if the 
 joints are not redesigned, if we do not fix them firmly and avoid 
 dislocation, which the best and most solid splicing only retards. 
 All that has been attempted up to the present time is to render 
 this splicing more rigid and to bridge it, so to speak, between the 
 two cross-ties of the even joint. Some engineers have been logical; 
 they have drawn the cross-ties of the even joint nearer together, 
 and they have joined them as twins, but few have dared to go to 
 the end, that is to say, to place the cross-tie under the joint in order 
 to support it. They were afraid, doubtless, that they would be re- 
 proached for sacrificing elasticity, the vague term which compre- 
 hends everything, and for creating hard points. It is the contrary 
 which is true; the hard point is found between two ties. Elasticity 
 is given by the tie, by the sinking in the ballast and the roadbed. 
 It is necessary then to approach the problem resolutely, as estab- 
 lished by experience. It is necessary to support the joint by a rigid 
 cross-tie, which will diminish the bending, and consequently the 
 longitudinal movement, the cause of the dislocation of the splicing. 
 It is necessary to draw together the two neighboring cross-ties, to 
 reduce their separation from the joint cross-tie, to prevent the rock- 
 ing movement which is necessarily produced by too great a spacing. 
 
 It remains to select the type of cross-tie corresponding to the 
 general conditions which we have imposed. A rigid cross-tie is 
 necessary, much more rigid than the actual wood cross-tie, which 
 has a resisting moment of about 36, wherever it is desired to in- 
 crease the speed. This necessity for reinforcing the cross-tie ex- 
 cludes, ipso facto, the steel cross-tie in the form of a trough, be- 
 cause its resisting moment can only be increased by adding to the 
 thickness of the metal or to its depth. In the first case, a cross-tie 
 too heavy would be beyond price; in the second case, being too deep, 
 it would no longer be capable of being tamped. 
 
 It is possible, then, only to take the wood cross-tie with a 
 stronger section, or else a composite cross-tie (wood and iron, 
 cement and iron, etc.) of a type similar to that which has been 
 experimented with. We can find fault with the high price of the- 
 skeleton of the latter, which, being constructed with a special iron, 
 
RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS. 145 
 
 will be expensive to manufacture. The inventors have themselves 
 stated this disadvantage. Mr. H. Michel invented a new model of 
 cross-tie as rigid as the first, but of a more practicable application, 
 because it is composed of commercial shapes of iron at the current 
 price, and because it allows of the design of different types, accord- 
 ing to the resistance which it is proposed to obtain. It is easily 
 possible to adopt it in secondary tracks, and obtain a cross-tie 
 whose stability is better 'and durability longer, without sensible 
 increase in the cost price. 
 
 This cross-tie is composed of two pieces of channel iron, or 
 T iron, held together by clamps, between which the wood blocks, 
 which are required for fastenings and as a means for distributing 
 the pressure on the ballast, are squeezed. It presents the same 
 advantages as the experimental cross-tie, and has, besides, the fol- 
 lowing: easy tamping, exposure of the blocks, readjusted if desired 
 with shims, easy renewal of the pieces. The compression of the 
 elements (wood and iron) is greater than in the first system, be- 
 cause of the tension given to the clamps and to the compression 
 of the wood. It is a beam of armored wood. 
 
 In resistance, this new type of cross-tie presents the same su- 
 periority as that pointed out above, and which depends on its greater 
 rigidity. The blocks of wood, parallelepiped in form, will be easy 
 to make from the butts of rejected cross-ties. If made of beedh, 
 they will be creosoted to refusal, which will render the piece of 
 wood antiseptic. If, on the contrary, the heart of oak is employed, 
 a superficial coat will be sufficient to protect the upper face of the 
 block. 
 
 In this .type the fastenings will be sufficiently solid, by reason 
 of the compression of the wood, especially if the reinforced metallic 
 plate is adopted, and if care is taken to make the entire width of 
 the collar of the screw spike bear on the base of the rail. The 
 employment of treenails can prolong the existence of cross-ties 
 whose fastenings have become bad, but it will not increase their 
 resistance permanently if the wood is not compressed or sustained 
 by a metallic girth. In every case the metallic treenails seem 
 preferable to the wooden treenails, and are equally 'good in all other 
 ways. 
 
 But, if the employment of cross-ties of the determined length 
 is imposed by reason of the stability of the tracks, and if this neces- 
 sitates the placing of sustaining shoes at the extremities, it is neces- 
 sary to guard against indiscriminately employing and mixing short 
 
146 TRACK DEFORMATIONS. 
 
 cross-ties with long cross-ties. The disadvantages of simultaneously 
 employing cross-ties of different lengths are many; the track be- 
 comes rough, and the deformations which are naturally produced 
 are increased. 
 
 Mr. Coiiard demonstrated that the greatest deformation is pro- 
 duced at the joint; it can attain 0.79 in., and is due to the allow- 
 ance which must be made when receiving rails from the mill, an 
 allowance which is 0.02 in. at each of its extremities. The rails 
 present the form of an inclined plane, and the depression, which 
 is 0.02 in. in the beginning, increases with time under the influence 
 of shocks, to 0.55 in. With the variable flexure of 0.12 in. which 
 is due to the same cause, and the compression of the ballast, the 
 total deflection is 0.79 in. The support of the joint and the straight- 
 ening up of the extremities of the rails, in order to avoid all unequal 
 level from the beginning, are absolutely required. 
 
 We conclude, then, that, in order to have tracks in a condition 
 for supporting a heavy and rapid traffic, there are necessary: 
 
 First. Cross-ties extremely rigid, two to three times more than 
 those actually in use, which excludes in every case the employment 
 of cross-ties exclusively of steel in the form of, a trough. 
 
 Second. The laying of the track with a cross-tie under the 
 joint, that cross-tie being followed and preceded at 11.81 in. with 
 cross-ties equally rigid. 
 
 Third. The use of reinforced plates. 
 
 I do not pretend to give definite solutions, but to point out those 
 which appear to me the most logical, and which promise good re- 
 sults. I have outlined a programme which should be followed up, if 
 only partially, in order to verify the truth of my deductions. 
 
 I will be glad to have the experiments which I have made re- 
 peated, to have them criticised, to have anyone go back to the 
 foundation of things, not being limited, as is now the case, to simply 
 proving by means of ingenious apparatus the deformations produced. 
 It is without doubt excellent to know them; but is it possible to 
 deduce anything from them if the whole cause which has produced 
 them is not sought for first? To repair the tradk at each point, 
 where these deformations have appeared, is very well for the mo- 
 ment, but, since one has not been to the foundation of things, since 
 the cause has not been destroyed, but only the effect, all that is left 
 is to recommence and always to recommence, which is the work of 
 Penelope. 
 
RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS. 147 
 
 I intend to continue the studies which I have commenced, to 
 verify still more the observations which I have made, to corroborate 
 them and to enlarge upon them. I only request to be followed, and 
 that such distinguished engineers as the railroad companies possess 
 put themselves to the work, giving account of the many things yet 
 to be done, and how the actual track should be reinforced, if it is 
 desired to increase the speed of traffic, while maintaining the security 
 which it ought to give. 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE i 
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE vi 
 
 CHAPTER I. NATURE AND OBJECT OF EXPERIMENTS 1 
 
 Ties Used 2 
 
 Characteristics of these Ties (Table) 6 
 
 Experiments on the Side Track at B6urg-en-Bresse 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. MOVEMENTS TO WHICH TRACK is SUBJECTED 13 
 
 Longitudinal Movement 13 
 
 Transverse Movement 16 
 
 Curves of Deformation of Cross Ties 19 
 
 Measuring Apparatus for Static Experiments. ... 24 
 
 Measuring Apparatus for Dynamic Experiments. 25 
 
 Stock for Experiment 29 
 
 Experiments of May, 1903 ... -. 83 
 
 Experiments of June, 1903 34 
 
 Experiments of July, 1903 36 
 
 Summary and Conclusion 37 
 
 CHAPTER III. LENGTH TO GIVE TIES AND TAMPED BED 48 
 
 . Dynamic Experiments 58 
 
 CHAPTER IV. DEFORMATION OF THE TRACK 63 
 
 Creeping of the Track 63 
 
 Reduction of Gage on Tangents and Widening on 
 
 Curves 66 
 
 Compression of Ties at the Supports 67 
 
 Pulling out Screw Spikes 68 
 
 Compression of Supports and Inclination of Rail 
 
 (Table) 69 
 
 The Extrahometre and the Declimetre 70 
 
 Results of Tests with Above 71 
 
 Summary of Maximum Results Obtained (Table) 77 
 
 CHAPTER V. DEFORMATION OF TIES 79 
 
 Stress of Metal and of Wood 81 
 
 Curve of Deformation of the Composite Tie 81 
 
PAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. STRESS OF TIES IN THE TRACK 87 
 
 Shock at the Joint 91 
 
 Apparatus for Recording 93 
 
 Graphic Results 95 
 
 CHAPTER VII. STUDY OF WOOD USED FOR TIES 108 
 
 Table of Losses of Moisture 110 
 
 Results of Preservative Processes Ill 
 
 Treatment of Pine and Oak 117 
 
 Influence of Creosoting on Resistance to Com- 
 pression 119 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. METHODS FOR REMEDYING TRACK DEFORMATION. 121 
 Comparative Flexures Under Load; Wood and 
 
 Composite Ties 122 
 
 Position of the Tie in the Track 123 
 
 Effect of Climatic Variations on the Tie 124 
 
 Length of Tie of Least Flexure 126 
 
 Composite Ties 129 
 
 Methods of Improving the Joint 132 
 
 Employment of the Treenail 137 
 
 Thiollier Treenail 139 
 
 Resistance to Sliding of Ties 140 
 
 CHAPTER IX. RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS 142