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 THE 
 
 ROAD-MASTER'S ASSISTANT 
 
 A MANUAL OF REFERENCE FOR ALL HAVING TO DO WITH 
 THE PERMANENT WAT OF 
 
 i AMERICAN RAILROADS, 
 
 Containing the Best Results of Experience and Minute 
 Directions for Track- Laying, Ballasting and 
 Keeping the Track in Good Repair. 
 
 WILLIAM S. tHUNTINGTON. 
 
 Second Edition. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 A. N. KELLOGG & CO., 72 BROADWAY. 
 1872.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by 
 
 A. N. KELLOGG & CO., 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 
 CLAKK W. BRYAN & CO., PRINTERS, 
 SPRISGFIELD, MASS.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE object in offering this little volume to the rail- 
 road public is to correct, as far as possible, certain 
 erroneous practices into which track-layers and sec- 
 tion-men have fallen, -which practices are fatal to the 
 life of track and rolling stock. 
 
 With the introduction of the " T " rail in this coun- 
 try a certain method of laying track was adopted, 
 and, with few exceptions, has been adhered to until 
 the present day, and so with track repairs. It may 
 be said that track-men "fell into a groove" thirty 
 years ago, and are still following it, to the great detri- 
 ment of railroad shareholders and of the public at 
 . large. 
 
 /^4 The enormous expense of track repairs and the 
 
 ^ liability to accident may be greatly reduced by a re- 
 
 V form in the every-day practice of the track-layer and 
 
 _ "^section-master ; and the manner in which this may be 
 
 *? accomplished is set forth in this work as clearly and 
 
 * briefly as possible. It would not be a difficult matter 
 
 to fill a volume of several times the size of this on 
 
 the subjects herein embraced, but the author believes 
 
 ,353973
 
 that the information here given will be more accepta- 
 ble in its present form " in a nut-shell " than if oc- 
 cupying unnecessary space for the purpose of making a 
 big book. It is not forgotten that several books have 
 been published, bearing on the same topics ; but they 
 are mainly of a technical nature, and not adapted to 
 the wants or capacities of the average track-man, and 
 are of little value to other than professional engineers. 
 
 The author has undertaken to make this a practical 
 book for practical men, and the ideas herein presented 
 are the result of upward of a quarter of a century's 
 experience and extended observation in various ca- 
 pacities, on some of the best as well as some of the 
 worst managed railroads in the country. 
 
 It is not designed to " upset " any well established 
 theory, nor is it expected to introduce ideas entirely 
 new to every one who may read these pages ; but it 
 is confidently hoped that the great mass of track-men 
 will here find suggestions that will be valuable to 
 them, and far more so to their employers. 
 
 The author has, in the course of his experience, 
 demonstrated the truth of all the statements made 
 herein by actual experiment and practice, and may, 
 therefore, commend them to his readers as more valu- 
 able than conclusions which are only "jumped at," 
 or opinions formed without mature consideration. 
 
 W. S. H. 
 BYRON, MICH., April, 1871.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. TRACK-LAYING. 
 
 Careless Work 11 
 
 Cross-Ties 12 
 
 Laying Ties 14 
 
 " Sighting in Ties " 15' 
 
 Measuring off for Joint-Ties 18 
 
 Laying Ties on Bridges, Trestle Work, etc 20 
 
 The Selection of Ties 21 
 
 CHAPTER II. LAYING THE RAILS. 
 
 Careless Handling 23 
 
 Curving Iron 23 
 
 Laying Iron on Curves 24 
 
 Expansion of Iron 25 
 
 Care in Replacing Repaired Iron 27 
 
 Shims between Rails .... 27 
 
 Suspension Joints 29 
 
 Creeping Track 29 
 
 The "Plug Chair" 29 
 
 An Invention Wanted . . . .30 
 
 CHAPTER III. ABOUT SPIKES. 
 
 Hasty and Careless Spiking 31 
 
 Spiking Joints 33 
 
 Preservation of the Gauge 33
 
 The Inner Rail "running ahead "on Curves . . . . 33 
 
 Oscillation of Carriages 34 
 
 Gauge Concussion 35 
 
 Spiking on Bridges, Culverts, etc 37 
 
 Waste of Kail-Plates 38 
 
 CHAPTER IV. CATTLE-GUARDS, CULVERTS 
 AND TURN-OUTS. 
 
 Cattle-Guards often Mere Traps 39 
 
 Their Proper Construction 40 
 
 Laying Iron on Cattle-Guards, Culverts and Road- 
 Crossings. 40 
 
 Laying Turn-Outs 42 
 
 Locating Frogs 42 
 
 Double Turn-Outs 43 
 
 Curving Iron among Frogs 46 
 
 Curving and Placing Guard-Rails 47 
 
 The " Hammer Rule " and the Correct Rule .... 48 
 
 Tie-Rods 49 
 
 A Few Words on Home and Foreign Roads .... 50 
 
 CHAPTER V. ON BALLASTING TRACK. 
 
 Waste of Gravel 61 
 
 Saving Property before Ballasting 53 
 
 Good Ballast 53 
 
 Raising Track for Ballasting 54 
 
 Tamping 54 
 
 Filling up and Dressing off Track 55 
 
 Economical Ballasting 58 
 
 Insufficient Ballast Sags 59 
 
 The Elevation at Curves 60 
 
 CHAPTER VI. TRACK REPAIRS. 
 
 Methods Unchanged for a Quarter of a Century . . 62 
 Cheap Section-Masters 63
 
 Surfacing Track 65 
 
 Lining Track 66 
 
 Lining Track in Frosty Localities 67 
 
 Clearing out Ditches, Culverts, etc 68 
 
 Dimensions of Culverts 70 
 
 "Kinks "in Rails 71 
 
 Preserving True Gauge 72 
 
 Caring for Bridges and Trestle Work 72 
 
 Bridges Should be Planked for Foot Passengers ... 73 
 
 CHAPTER VII. DRAWING SPIKES SHIMMING. 
 
 Waste in Spike-Drawing 
 
 Claw-Bars 
 
 Spike-Drawing in Winter 
 
 Shimming the Track 
 
 Shims often ill-made and of bad material 
 When Shimming should be done . . . 
 When Shims should be removed . . . 
 
 . 75 
 
 . 76 
 . 76 
 . 78 
 . 79 
 . 80 
 . 80 
 . 82 
 
 The Manufacture of Shims 
 
 Shimming under Ties on Open Culverts, Trestle 
 
 Work, etc 83 
 
 The Action of Frost 85 
 
 Danger from Planks at Road-Crossings 85 
 
 Wood-Piles 86 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. REPAIRING SWITCHES, 
 FROGS, ETC. 
 
 Bent Switch-Rods 87 
 
 Adjusting the Throw of Switches 87 
 
 Connecting Rods 88 
 
 Cast-Steel Plate and Rail Frogs 88 
 
 Fastening Guard-Rails 89 
 
 Short Guard-Rails 90 
 
 Useless Tinkering 91
 
 Viii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. RENEWING TIES SHIFTING 
 IRON. 
 
 The Work not so Simple as it Looks ^92 
 
 Difference of Ties 93 
 
 How Track is Affected by Changing 93 
 
 Shifting Iron 95 
 
 Step Chairs 96 
 
 Spiking Replaced Iron 97 
 
 Preserving the Gauge 97 
 
 Uncurved Iron for Curves 98 
 
 Unnecessary Expense of Permanent Way .... 99 
 
 CHAPTER X. SNOW AND ICE. 
 
 Snow Plows 101 
 
 Clearing the Flange-ways of Snow and Ice .... 104 
 Devices for Clearing Flange- ways 105 
 
 CHAPTER XI. A WORD TO SUPERINTEND- 
 ENTS AND ROAD-MASTERS. 
 
 The Choice of Road-Masters 106 
 
 What is Expected of a Road-Master 107 
 
 Inefficient but Ambitious Road-Masters 108 
 
 Section-Masters 110 
 
 Useless Tinkering Ill 
 
 CHAPTER XH. ON FIRE AND WATER AS ENE- 
 MIESALSO ON PRESERVING FENCES. 
 
 Washing Away of Embankments 112 
 
 Care of Road -Bed in Freshets 113 
 
 Surface Ditches 115 
 
 Hand-Car Practice Fires 116 
 
 Fires on Bridges 116 
 
 The Preservation of Fences . . . 118
 
 CHAPTER XIII.-ON RAILROAD ACCIDENTS. 
 
 Preventable and Non-Preventable Accidents . . .120 
 
 What Accidents are Unavoidable 122 
 
 Unavoidable Collisions 123 
 
 Collisions Caused by Carelessness 125 
 
 On Preventing Accidents 128 
 
 Defective Wheels, Axles, Rails and Switches . . .128 
 
 Draw-bridge Signals . 131 
 
 False Economy 132 
 
 " Eternal Vigilance " 132 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Elevation of the Outer Rail on Curves 133 
 
 Degree of Curves 135] 
 
 Bending Rails 136 ' 
 
 Number of Rails per mile Weight, etc 137 
 
 Cross-Ties 138 
 
 Inches Expressed in Decimals of a Foot 138 
 
 Fractions of an Inch Decimally Expressed .... 138 
 
 INDEX 139
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 TRACK LAYING. 
 
 CARELESS WORK USUAL DEFECTS AND THEIR CONSEQUEN- 
 CESCHOICE OF CROSS-TIES; SHOULD BE OF UNIFORM SIZE 
 How TO LAY THEM, AND How NOT TO LAY THEM SIDE 
 TIES "SIGHTING IN TIES "MEASURING OFF FOR JOINT 
 TIES LAYING TIES ON BRIDGES, ETC. THE USE OF SHIMS. 
 
 TRACK LAYING is generally performed in a careless 
 manner, with little or no regard to wear and tear of 
 track and rolling stock ; the main object in view being 
 to get over the ground as fast as possible, so as to put 
 the road in operation, when all defects may be reme- 
 died. This might be well enough, if the remedy was 
 sure to be applied ; but this is very seldom the case, 
 and track once poorly laid, is generally allowed to re- 
 main so until safety demands a thorough overhauling, 
 which can only be done at great expense and incon- 
 venience. Indeed, there is no remedy for some of the 
 defects of poor track-laying, after the road is put in op- 
 eration. Of course the ballasting can be done, the 
 track put in good surface and line, the ditches and 
 water-courses cleaned out, and the road put in good 
 running order for the present ; but if the ties are im-
 
 12 CROSS-TIES. 
 
 properly laid, crooked iron laid on a straight line ; if 
 the iron is not sufficiently curved on curves, or is 
 allowed to run ahead on curves, the inner rail get- 
 ting so far ahead as to bring the joint-ties diag- 
 onally across the track, there is no remedy except to 
 tear up the track and relay it. This is too expensive 
 an operation, and is never done until the ties. are so de- 
 cayed, or the iron so worn, as to require removal, which 
 operation must be performed much sooner than would 
 be the case if the track was properly laid at first. 
 
 Cross -Ties. 
 
 An important matter in connection with track- 
 laying, too often overlooked by railroad managers, is 
 the selection of cross-ties. These should be of uni- 
 form length, breadth and thickness. If they are not 
 so supplied, they should be assorted before they are 
 laid, so that all the ties in a set, or a length of iron, 
 will be of the same size. If they vary in length, the 
 rail on one side of the track gets an uneven support 
 and will settle out of surface, while that on the other 
 will remain in good surface, making a disagreeable 
 track to run over. If they vary in thickness, it causes 
 trouble in frosty weather, as the action of frost is not 
 uniform but varies as the ties vary in the depth they 
 enter the ballast. Much mischief has been done by 
 frost breaking away under the thinner ties while it re-
 
 CROSS-TIES. 13 
 
 mained solid under the thicker ones, as trains were 
 passing over them. The action of water settling under 
 cross-ties, where they vary in thickness, often occa- 
 sions a serious disturbance in the surface of track, by 
 washing out the gravel from under the thick ties, 
 while it is not disturbed under the thin ones ; thus 
 rendering it difficult to keep the track in good sur- 
 face. If the ties vary in width, and are laid the 
 same distance apart from center to center, the rails 
 get an uneven support, to the great damage of track 
 and rolling stock. Any one standing by the side of 
 such a track, while a locomotive is passing slowly, 
 will observe that the drivers spring the rail most 
 where the narrow ties are. In passing from a couple 
 of wide ties over a few narrow ones placed adjoining 
 them, the narrow ties settle into the ballast deeper 
 than the wide ones, and the drivers seem to be run- 
 ning down hill. On the other hand, when passing 
 from the narrow to the wider ties they appear as if 
 running up hill ; thus rising and falling as the ties 
 are wide or narrow. If the rails were made of a ma- 
 terial which would retain its shape after they were 
 sprung out of surface by a locomotive, they would 
 present an appearance similar to the waves of the 
 ocean in a gentle breeze. Running over such a track 
 is far more expensive than when ties are of uniform 
 width, and laid equal distances apart.
 
 14 CROSS-TIES. 
 
 With ties of uniform length, breadth and thickness, 
 it is possible to lay a track that a locomotive will run 
 on as smoothly as a ball on a billiard table, which is 
 certainly very desirable. 
 
 Laying ties is not an operation that requires 
 much mechanical skill ; and probably most track-layers 
 would consider any hints on the subject superfluous. 
 Yet there are matters of great importance connected 
 with the operation that are frequently overlooked, 
 and it is proposed to point out here some of the most 
 serious faults that are committed. 
 
 Track-layers do not generally take sufficient pains 
 to lay ties at right angles to the rails. Thus the 
 ends are brought nearer together on one side of the 
 track than on the other, resembling the letter A. At 
 the next space, perhaps, the letter is reversed. This 
 gives a good support to a portion of the rail on one 
 side, while the rail on the opposite side has no sup- 
 port ; and as these conditions are reversed in the 
 next space, a disagreeable rocking motion is given 
 to the trains, which occasions unnecessary wear to 
 track and rolling stock. Ties should be laid at 
 right angles with the rail, with a view to giving the 
 rail a continuous uniform support through its entire 
 length. 
 
 Side-ties (ties next the joint) should be of equal 
 width and laid the same distances from the joint, oth-
 
 "SIGHTING IN TIES." 15 
 
 erwise the joint-tie will be likely to roll somewhat 
 to one side, and thus form a "cocked joint," causing 
 the iron to wear rapidly at the joint. The truth of 
 this may be seen by any one who will take a walk of a 
 few miles on almost any railroad in the country. It 
 will be observed that the ends of rails, at all joints hav- 
 ing side-ties properly laid, will be in good order ; while 
 those having one side-tie nearer than the other to the 
 joint-tie will be battered and broomed, being subject- 
 ed to a pounding from every wheel that passes. By 
 paying proper attention to laying side-ties, the iron 
 will last much longer than when laid in a careless 
 manner, and it would be a great saving to railway 
 companies if the managers would see that more care 
 is exercised in this respect than is generally given. 
 
 "Sighting in Ties." 
 
 Almost every one has a "way of his own" of do- 
 ing certain kinds of work, and every one considers his 
 method the best. It is the practice of some engi- 
 neers to set grade-stakes 20 feet apart for laying ties. 
 This is unnecessary labor for the engineers, and more- 
 over it is inconvenient for those who lay the ties. 
 The men who lay the leading ties must handle a 
 straight-edge 21 feet in length, which is difficult to 
 manage, especially in windy weather. It is a slow and 
 tedious operation to place each end of a straight-edge
 
 16 "SIGHTING IN TIES." 
 
 on the grade-stakes. A more ready method of lay- 
 ing the " leading ties " is to " sight them in " by the 
 use of " target boards. " These boards are shown in 
 the annexed cut. They are constructed by taking a 
 board eight or ten inches in width, and the length 
 of the ties to be laid. Near one end a leg, 3^ or 
 4 feet in length, made of a strip of board, is fas- 
 tened. At the same distance from the other end is 
 a clasp and thumb-screw. An iron rod passes 
 through the clasp and is driven into the ground far 
 enough to support the board steadily. Two boards 
 like fig. 1 are required, and they should be painted 
 white, with a black stripe half an inch wide on the 
 upper edge. 
 
 With this arrangement it is only necessary to set 
 one grade-stake opposite each center-stake, 100 feet 
 apart. Place the leg of the target-board on the 
 grade-stake ; then drive the rod into the ground 
 sufficiently to hold the board steadily. If on straight 
 line, level the board and secure it in place by the 
 thumb-screw. If on a curve, first level the board, 
 then elevate the required distance by the ^ inch, or 
 inch marks on the rod. Place another board like 
 this at the next grade-stake, and you are now ready 
 to proceed. The target is made by mortising a 
 standard into a block. A cross-piece at the top of 
 the standard is painted like the target board. Place
 
 18 MEASURING OFF FOE JOINT-TIES. 
 
 this upon the tie after it is in place. Of course if the 
 top of the target when placed on the tie, coincides 
 with the two boards the tie is right. A sprightly lad 
 ten or twelve years old can, after a little practice, 
 sight with great accuracy and rapidity. 
 
 By this process the leading ties can be laid near 
 enough together so that a short straight edge may be 
 used to lay the intermediates. When sufficient lead- 
 ing ties have been laid between the target-boards, the 
 rear board may be moved ahead, "jumping " the other 
 board like playing checkers. The distance between 
 the leg and the rod of the target-board should be 
 equal to the gauge of the track. On curves the 
 grade-stakes should be set on the inner side. 
 
 This method relieves the engineers of an immense 
 amount of unnecessary labor, and track-layers who 
 have tried the plan prefer it to any other. 
 
 Measuring off for Joint-Ties. 
 
 This should be done with great care, and, if nice- 
 ly done, will not only save much labor and trouble in 
 track-laying, but will tend greatly to prolong the life 
 of rails and reduce the expense of track repairs. If 
 the iron " runs ahead " of the marking, the joint-tie 
 must be moved ahead, or the joint will not be in the 
 center of the tie and will cause a "cocked joint," 
 which will expose the ends of the rails to unneces-
 
 MEASURING OFF FOB JOINT-TIES. 19 
 
 sary wear by " pounding. " If the marking runs 
 ahead of the iron, it is necessary to move the joint- 
 tie back, and in either case it brings the joint-tie nearer 
 to one side-tie than the other, which is sure to cause a 
 " cocked joint, " by which the rails will soon be spoiled. 
 When it is necessary to move the joint-tie, the side-ties 
 should also be moved, to bring them equal distances 
 from the joint. This will not only prevent the wear of 
 rails at the joint, but will save much expense in track 
 repairs. 
 
 The ties should not be laid far in advance of the 
 rails, as it is convenient in measuring for joints to go 
 back occasionally and measure from the end of the 
 rails and correct the measurement, which will obvi- 
 ate the necessity of moving ties after being once 
 laid. The measuring pole or rod should be as long 
 as the target-rail. The length of shorter rails may 
 be marked on the pole. The joint-stakes should be 
 made square and straight. Set the stake ahead of 
 the end of the pole (or the marks, if for short iron,) 
 just the distance that is allowed for expansion, and by 
 driving the stakes perpendicular and firm the meas- 
 urement will be correct. By exercising a little care 
 to place the stakes in line, the measuring will be more 
 accurate than when driven zigzag. In laying track 
 on curves it is necessary to cut the inner rail oc- 
 casionally to keep the joint radial to the curve. In
 
 20 LAYING TIES ON BRIDGES, ETC. 
 
 such cases the measuring pole must be " set back," as 
 much as is taken off the rail. The man in charge of 
 laying the iron should keep watch and notify the 
 " marker," when the iron has run ahead far enough t 
 need cutting. The marker can thus act understand- 
 ingly. 
 
 Laying Ties on Bridges, Trestle-Work, Etc. 
 
 There are some splendid railroad bridges in this 
 country, built at enormous expense, which are greatly 
 injured because the ties on them are improperly laid. 
 In many cases the engineer who has charge of the 
 building of bridges is miles away when the track is 
 being laid, and that work is in charge of those who 
 give little heed to the manner in which the ties are 
 placed. When cross-ties are used on bridges, they 
 should be laid by a mechanic, with great nicety, as 
 this is essential to the life of tho bridge. In adzing 
 them down to a uniform thickness, great care should 
 be taken that there is not the slightest variation ; for, 
 although it is usual to use sawed ties on bridges, 
 they will be found to vary considerably in thickness, 
 so that every tie should be carefully measured before 
 the iron is laid. It is not uncommon to find track 
 laid on bridges where the ties have not been prop- 
 erly fitted, and shims used to level up with. The 
 shims are often made of soft wood, in which case they
 
 LAYING TIES ON BRIDGES, ETC. 21 
 
 are worthless, or they work out of place, thus leaving 
 the rail with only a bearing on every third or fourth 
 tie. This should never be allowed, as it causes great 
 strain and vibration, and injures the structure. Cross- 
 ties should be securely fastened, so that they cannot 
 slip or jar out of place. Frequently three or four 
 ties may be found out of place, and so close as to 
 touch each other, while the rail has no support for 
 several feet. Of course such things would not be 
 looked for on some of our first-class roads; but they 
 are far too common in this country, both for the good 
 of the railroad community and the public. 
 
 Every joint-tie should be adzed down to the thick- 
 ness of the chair (when cast chairs are used), so as 
 to bring the bottom of it on a level with the others. 
 When thick cast chairs are used, and the tie is not cut 
 down, the bottom is brought lower than the others, 
 giving water a chance to settle under it, causing the 
 ballast to work out from beneath, and so making it 
 difficult to keep in surface. 
 
 Managers of roads now in course of construction can 
 save thousands of dollars by exercising a little care in 
 the selection of ties and having them properly laid; 
 and on old roads where decayed ties are being removed 
 or new iron laid, the above hints may be acted upon 
 to good advantage. This care has been exercised of
 
 22 LAYING TIES ON BRIDGES, ETC. 
 
 late on some of our leading roads, and it is found that 
 when ties are properly laid the iron lasts much longer, 
 the expense of repairs to track and rolling stock is 
 much reduced and there are fewer accidents. Other 
 roads should go and do likewise.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 LAYING THE RAILS. 
 
 DAMAGES BY ROUGH HANDLING CURVING IRON LAYING 
 IRON ON CURVES COCKED JOINTS AND How TO REMEDY 
 THEM EXPANSION OF IRON USUAL PROVISION AGAINST 
 IT CAUTION NECESSARY IN REPLACING REPAIRED RAILS 
 THE FOUR-BOLTED FISH-JOINTS HOOP IRON SHIMS 
 SUSPENSION JOINTS CREEPING TRACK. 
 
 IT is somewhat singular that so expensive an article 
 does not receive better treatment. Much iron is ren- 
 dered unfit for use by rough handling. It is often bent 
 by being carelessly thrown from cars, and laid without 
 being straightened ; or it is thrown to one side as use- 
 less, and afterwards covered with gravel or mud, and 
 lost. A great many thousand dollars' worth of iron 
 is lost and destroyed by bad handling, every year, 
 throughout the country. 
 
 Curving Iron. 
 
 It is customary, with most track-layers, to curve 
 iron by dropping it as it is drawn from the iron cars, 
 when laying it. This is a bad practice, as it is either
 
 24 CURVING IRON LAYING IRON ON CURVES. 
 
 curved too much or not enough; or, as is generally 
 the case, it is not curved at all, but only gets an elbow 
 in the middle of the rail, while from the middle to 
 the ends it remains perfectly straight. Sometimes, on 
 slight curves, the iron is curved after spiking, by 
 throwing the curve into it with lining bars. This 
 makes a very handsome track for a short time ; but the 
 iron will soon regain its former shape, and become 
 straight. Straight iron wears rapidly on curves, and it 
 is difficult to keep in line. Iron should never be laid 
 on curves until it is properly curved ; and, if no curv- 
 ing machine is at hand, it can be very nicely done 
 with the old-fashioned apparatus, viz. : a chain, lever 
 and sledge, a couple of ties, and a fishing-line. 
 
 Laying Iron on Curves. 
 
 It is well known that the inner rail on curves will 
 "run ahead" so as to bring the joint-tie diagonally 
 across the track. This has the effect to throw the joint- 
 tie nearer to the side-tie on one side of the track, and 
 farther on the other, forming the letter A as above- 
 mentioned, also Causing a "cocked joint" that is, the 
 side-tie being nearer to the end of one rail than to the 
 end of the other, the end of one rail is raised a trifle 
 above the other, and soon becomes battered and spoiled. 
 Another evil in allowing iron to run ahead is the disa- 
 greeable rocking motion it imparts to rolling stock,
 
 EXPANSION OP IRON. 25 
 
 especially if the track is not in good surface. When 
 track is out of surface, the joints are sure to be low ; 
 and the wheels pitching into a joint on one side, a little 
 before reaching the opposite joint, cause a twitching 
 and jerking from side to side, which is very disagree- 
 able and destructive. 
 
 The inner rail should be cut frequently, so as to keep 
 the joints as square as possible. It is a good plan to 
 cut off three inches as often as the iron gets ahead two 
 inches. This will keep the joints all right. It is no 
 uncommon thing on some roads to find iron run ahead 
 fifteen to twenty inches, and sometimes two feet. This 
 is a bad practice, and should be avoided. 
 
 Expansion of Iron. 
 
 Many serious accidents are caused in this country in 
 the summer months by the expansion of iron. These 
 accidents are not confined to what are called " one-horse 
 roads," but frequently occur on some of the best-man- 
 aged roads in the country. In the month of July, 1867, 
 eight serious accidents occurred in one day, all caused 
 by expansion of track iron ! Several lives were lost, 
 and the damage amounted to an enormous sum. Prob- 
 ably there are few more fruitful sources of accident 
 than expansion, although it is fair to presume that 
 there is not a track-layer or a section-master in the 
 country unacquainted with this property of iron. It is
 
 26 EXPANSION OF IRON. 
 
 safe to say that, as a cause of disaster, it ranks next to 
 collisions and misplaced switches. Accidents from ex- 
 pansion are always serious ones, usually resulting in a 
 general smash-up, with loss of life. Yet these acci- 
 dents may be prevented by allowing for expansion, 
 especially when rails are laid in cold weather. When 
 cast chairs are used, it is customary to drive the rails to 
 place with a sledge, and a chip of wood, or little sliver, 
 is placed between the ends of the rails, to keep them 
 open a little, for expansion. This is of no use, for a 
 blow of the sledge will smash the chip, or compress it 
 to the thickness of a sheet of paper; while in laying 
 twenty-one feet iron in winter, a space of at least one- 
 eighth of an inch should be left at each joint, and, if 
 very cold, one-fourth of an inch is not too much. The 
 length of iron and temperature of the weather should 
 always be taken into consideration. Probably one 
 cause of track-layers neglecting to make provision for 
 expansion lies in the fact that, years ago, the iron was 
 only about half the length of that now in use, and in 
 laying the long iron now, they only make the same 
 provision that they did for short iron. It is said that 
 a continuous line of track, five hundred miles in 
 length, will expand one-fourth of a mile. Railroad 
 managers would do well to see that all track-men in 
 their employ are posted in this matter ; and, as differ- 
 ent rules are needed in different parts of the coun-
 
 EXPANSION 0V IRON. 27 
 
 try, the subject should be attended to by engineers, 
 each in his own locality. 
 
 Care is also needed in replacing iron that has been 
 repaired. In welding the ends of battered rails, they 
 are frequently left a trifle longer than they were be- 
 fore, and when they are replaced in the track they 
 take up all the space, leaving no room for expansion. 
 It is a common practice for repair-men, when replac- 
 ing mended iron, to squeeze it in perfectly tight. In 
 such cases they are sure to have trouble in hot weath- 
 er. Men who have charge of the repairing of rails 
 should have a gauge, and never allow a rail to leave 
 the shop the merest trifle longer than when it came 
 in, except for a particular purpose. 
 
 Track-layers using the four-bolted fish-joint usually 
 make no allowance for expansion, as that is supposed 
 to have been provided for at the rolling-mill, by 
 elongating the bolt-hole both in the rail and fish-bar. 
 But it is unsafe to rely wholly on this provision, as 
 the holes in the fish-bars and rails are so placed in 
 relation to each other as to allow the rails to come in 
 contact unless prevented by placing a shim between 
 them. The iron car should always be provided with 
 a shim-box on each side, for that purpose. The boxes 
 should be divided into various compartments to hold 
 shims of various thicknesses, not only to be used at 
 different seasons of the year, but at different times
 
 28 EXPANSION OF IRON. 
 
 of the day. The thicker ones should be used in the 
 morning when it is cool, and at the close of the day, 
 and thinner ones in the heat of the day. It is a good 
 plan to take hoop or band iron, 1 inch or 1^ inches 
 wide, and of various thicknesses, and cut into lengths 
 of about three inches ; then bend the pieces in the 
 middle at right angles, so that they will form two 
 sides of a square ; select the proper thickness, and 
 use them by placing one end between the rails and 
 the other on the top of one rail at the joint. After 
 the joint has been bolted and spiked, the shims can be 
 easily removed for future use. This is an import- 
 ant matter, and should receive more attention than is 
 generally given to it. 
 
 Trouble is sometimes experienced on roads where it 
 would seem that ample provision had been made for 
 expansion. This is sometimes caused by sand, gravel, 
 particles of iron, etc., getting into the space between 
 the rails at the joint, where the chair prevents its 
 working out. There is no remedy for this except to 
 exercise care in ballasting, and to clean out the joints 
 as well as possible after dressing off the track. Safe 
 expansion is also hindered by bolting the fish-bars 
 so tight as to prevent the slip of the rail, causing it 
 to buckle, which throws it out of line. This is 
 the most serious, if not the only objection to the fish- 
 bar joint.
 
 SUSPENSION JOINTS CREEPING TRACK. 29 
 
 " Suspension joints, " have been used considerably on 
 some roads, and thus far have given good satisfaction. 
 With these joints no chair is used, and the joint is 
 made by placing two broad-faced ties near together, 
 each tie being near the end of the rail, leaving about 
 three inches, or perhaps more, of the ends of each 
 rail with no support except the fish-bars. This leaves 
 the joint suspended between two ties, six or eight 
 inches apart, and all sand, gravel, etc., is allowed to 
 fall through, leaving the joint always free. 
 
 Creeping Track. 
 
 Much damage has been done by expansion, from 
 improper treatment of " creeping track. " The creep- 
 ing of track occurs most frequently on roads with 
 heavy traffic, and where grades are heavy and change 
 often. The rails in creeping have a tendency to 
 move towards the foot of the grade, bringing the 
 ends of all the rails on the incline in contact, while at 
 the summit there is an open space of several 
 inches. This space is sometimes filled with a hard- 
 wood plug, or block, driven in tightly to prevent its 
 working out. On some roads a " plug-chair " is used 
 in place of the block. These chairs are of the ordi- 
 nary form of cast chairs, with a tongue in the middle 
 of the rail-seat, the tongue being in the form of a 
 cross-section of the rail. The tongue, or plug, is
 
 30 CREEPING TRACK. 
 
 cast with the chair, and chairs are cast having the 
 plug of various thicknesses, varying from one to 
 three or four inches, to fill a space of any width. 
 Of course these chairs prevent the brooming of iron 
 at the open spaces, and are also a great relief to roll- 
 ing stock ; but they prevent expansion, and their use 
 should be abandoned. Fish-bars prevent creeping 
 in a great measure, but there are thousands of miles of 
 road in the country still using the old style of chairs, 
 and the railroad community is greatly in need of some 
 effective contrivance for keeping rails in their places, 
 longitudinally. The inventor who will produce it 
 will, no doubt, be well rewarded.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ABOT7T SPIKES. 
 
 WASTEFUL HANDLING DRIVING SPIKES HOT? THEY ABE 
 SPOILED THE RIGHT METHOD THE GAUGE : ITS MISUSE 
 OSCILLATION OF RAILROAD CARRIAGES : BAD SPIKING 
 ONE CAUSE OTHER CAUSES SPIKING ON BRIDGES- 
 WASTE OF RAIL-PLATES. 
 
 THE driving of spikes is an operation which is 
 usually performed in a slovenly manner, and a great 
 deal of money is wasted in consequence. Kegs of 
 spikes are thrown from the car into ditches, culverts, 
 cattle-guards, etc., the kegs are broken open and a 
 portion of their contents are lost in the mud or covered 
 with gravel, and never seen again, unless, acci- 
 dentally, they are dug up, years afterwards, by re- 
 pair men. If a little more care was exercised in this 
 respect it would be well, and not only with regard 
 to spikes, but with bolts, nuts, washers, chairs, fish- 
 bars, etc., which frequently share the same fate. But 
 it is the manner of driving spikes that chiefly needs 
 improving, and it may be changed greatly to the ad- 
 vantage of all concerned.
 
 32 SPIKING. 
 
 Spiking, like all work connected with track-laying, 
 is usually done with a riish, and, consequently, poor- 
 ly done. The spikes are often driven under the rail ; 
 that is, they are set leaning, so that the point either 
 goes with a slant, under the rail, or, in the other di- 
 rection, from it. It is wrong in either case, as the 
 spike can never afterward be drawn for track repairs 
 without bending it so as to render it unfit for future 
 use ; for an attempt to straighten it will break it. 
 Spikes should be driven as nearly perpendicular as 
 possible. Tall spikers usually set the spike leaning 
 from them ; probably for convenience of driving. 
 The practice is a bad one, as it brings the head of 
 the spike down on the rail edgewise, which weakens 
 it ; and, moreover, the spike is in a worse position for 
 drawing than when driven in the other direction 
 above mentioned. In drawing a spike driven with 
 the top leaning from the spiker, the head is almost 
 sure to break off; or, if it does not, it will be bent to 
 one side, so as to render it entirely worthless. For 
 proof of this, notice the kegs and barrels full of bent 
 and broken spikes, and the loose piles of the same arti- 
 cle around every car-house, shop or depot, or in the 
 scrap-house, to say nothing of the great numbers of 
 them that are lost in the gravel. Most of these spikes 
 might have been used again if they had been properly 
 driven. Thousands of tons of spikes are destroyed
 
 SPIKING. 33 
 
 in this way, and they represent an enormous sum of 
 money. 
 
 Spiking joints is often carelessly done, although 
 with some kinds of chairs now in use, much care is 
 necessary to secure a true joint, so ag not to subject 
 the ends of the rails to pounding and battering, which 
 soon renders them unfit for use. 
 
 Many heads are broken off the spikes, when driv- 
 ing them in a hurry, by striking the last blow too 
 forcibly. When the spike is nearly driven home, a 
 light blow should be given, so as just to bring the 
 head to the rail without cracking or straining it. In 
 frosty weather bushels of spike-heads may be picked 
 up on some roads, which have been needlessly broken 
 by carelessness in striking. In spiking the gauge- 
 side, care should be taken to place the gauge at right 
 angles with the rail. It is not uncommon to find 
 track to vary in width from ^ to | of an inch, and 
 sometimes even more. One cause of this variation 
 lies in not placing the gauge properly. On straight 
 lines it is not difficult to get a true gauge if ordinary 
 pains are taken ; but on curves and frogs, etc. , it 
 requires considerable care to place the gauge properly, 
 as the eye is liable to be misled by surrounding ob- 
 jects. But the greatest difficulty ip this respect is 
 generally encountered on curves, by reason of the 
 inner rail "running ahead," as before mentioned.
 
 34 SPIKING. 
 
 Spikers are in the habit of placing the gauge at the 
 joint on both sides of the track ; and when one joint 
 is fifteen or twenty inches in advance of that on the 
 opposite side it has the effect to alter the width of the 
 track very much. This variation in the width of 
 track is a serious evil, which may, in some measure, 
 be remedied by proper care in spiking the gauge- 
 side. There are other causes of the evil above men- 
 tioned, which, together, have the effect to make this va- 
 riation far greater than is generally supposed. The 
 gauge is sprung by driving the outside spike under the 
 rail, so as to draw the rail in; or, perhaps, the inner 
 spike is started first, which draws the rail out a trifle too 
 much ; and, after the spikes are once driven, it is left 
 as it is, right or wrong, not being considered of any 
 importance, as it is but a trifle too wide or narrow, as 
 the case may be. The oscillation of railroad carriages 
 is, in a measure, due to variation in gauge. The 
 question " why do railroad carriages oscillate ? " has 
 lately been discussed in the scientific and mechanical 
 papers, and has been ascribed by some, who have 
 given the matter considerable attention, to the bevel 
 of car wheels. There is no doubt that conical wheels 
 are, to a certain extent, the cause of oscillation of 
 cars when running on a track in good line, and with 
 a true and uniform gauge. In the discussion here 
 alluded to, the oscillation of railroad carriages is des-
 
 SPIKING. 35 
 
 cribed as something extremely disagreeable, and with 
 a good deal of truth. There are, however, a few 
 roads in the country where carriages are compara- 
 tively free from this nuisance. It is customary to 
 allow one inch for play between the flange of the 
 wheel and the rail. This is necessary, for obvious 
 reasons, and with this inch for play it is impossible 
 to entirely prevent oscillation. There is, however, 
 nothing particularly damaging from this cause to track 
 or rolling stock, when track is laid to a true gauge, 
 while a gentle, regular, swinging motion of a passen- 
 
 It is the sudden yanking and twitching from side to 
 side that nervous people so dislike, which tends to 
 the rapid wear of track and rolling stock, and is not 
 unfrequently the cause of accidents. 
 
 As the rail is a guide to the wheels, the line-side 
 may be in perfect condition ; yet, if the gauge-side 
 varies, it will be seen to present a snaky appearance, 
 full of kinks, and, as the flange of the wheel is as 
 likely to follow the gauge-side as the other, the disa- 
 greeable oscillations will still occur. If track is |- or f 
 of an inch too wide, then, of course, the trucks have 
 an excessive side-motion, which produces what is 
 called "gauge concussion." Another cause of con- 
 cussion and oscillation may be found in the surface of 
 track, even when the gauge is tolerably correct. It is
 
 36 SPIKNQ. 
 
 a fact not generally known, that a locomotive or car 
 wheel will generally follow the highest rail on straight 
 line, when one side of the track has settled more than 
 another. For instance, if a rail, or the length of 
 several rails, on the right side of the track has settled 
 so as to be lower than that on the left, the flange on 
 the wheel will follow the left side ; but suppose this 
 condition of the track to be reversed for a few lengths 
 of iron beyond, then the flange will follow the right 
 rail, and so on, continually changing from side to 
 side, causing both oscillation and concussion. These 
 difficulties are not so serious on curves as on straight 
 line, unless the track is out of line, and in that case 
 they are far more disagreeable on curves. 
 
 There is but little track in this country with straight 
 line perfectly level, for various reasons above men- 
 tioned, viz: improperly selected sleepers, improper 
 manner of laying them, etc., etc. The track settling 
 out of surface, and the incline of the ties (the cross 
 section of the track) continually changing from side 
 to side, the trains which pass over such track afc 
 high velocities (the flanges of wheels striving to fol- 
 low the higher rails), are, in consequence, subjected 
 to sudden and powerful lateral motion. This motion, 
 on track kept in good repair, is not always productive 
 of any serious evils ; ^but, as before said, it greatly 
 increases the wear of rails and rolling stock.
 
 SPIKING ON BKIDGES, CULVERTS, ETC. 37 
 
 Spiking on Bridges, Culverts, Etc. 
 
 A great deal of valuable timber is destroyed and 
 track rendered unsafe, on bridges, culverts, etc., by 
 using common spikes, which act as so many wedges 
 to split the stringers or rail-plates. When the track- 
 layer is not furnished with bridge-spikes, he should 
 provide them himself, by haying the blacksmith 
 sharpen a sufficient quantity of common spikes so 
 as to reverse the points. This will prevent the 
 splitting of rail-plates, or checking them, which lets 
 in water, causing them soon to decay. -There are 
 many bridges, the stringers of which are so decayed 
 that the spikes can be pulled out with the fingers. 
 The main body of the timber may be perfectly sound, 
 while a line along the base of the rail, on either side, 
 and under the rail, may be so far decayed that the 
 spikes will work out by the jar of passing trains. 
 On some roads it is not uncommon to see track-men 
 picking up the spikes and driving them in a new 
 place ; or, if this has been done so many times that 
 there is no new place, they make one by plugging 
 a bole, or filling it with sand, in the soundest place 
 they can find. 
 
 Thousand of rail-plates are now lying by the road- 
 side, rotting, which might safely have done duty for 
 years longer had they received proper treatment. 
 
 353973
 
 38 SPIKING ON BRIDGES, CULVERTS, ETC. 
 
 Such timber as is used for this purpose -is expensive, 
 and no railroad company can well afford such wanton 
 destruction of property. Of course these timbers 
 should not remain in the track one minute after they 
 become unsafe ; but, with proper usage, they will do 
 service much longer than with such usage as they too 
 often receive. 
 
 Rail-plates should be securely fastened to prevent 
 spreading. This is often neglected, and the neglect 
 might possibly be the cause of a first-class smash-up ; 
 in which case, if a broken wheel, or a bent axle, 
 were found among the wreck, it would sound better 
 to charge the consequences to that.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CATTLE-GUARDS, CULVERTS AND TURN-OUTS. 
 
 CATTLE-GUARDS OFTEN MERE TKAPB THEIR PROPER CON- 
 STRUCTION LAYING IRON OVER CATTLE-GUARDS, CUL- 
 VERTS AND ROAD-CROSSINGS LAYING TURN-OUTS LO- 
 CATING FROGS CURVING IRON GUARD BAILS MEASUR- 
 ING DISTANCES BY THE HAMMER ADJUSTMENT OF GUARD 
 RAILS TIE-RODS A FEW WORDS ON HOME AND FOREIGN 
 ROADS. 
 
 CATTLE-GUARDS are sometimes constructed by dig- 
 ging a narrow, shallow pit, and covering it with slats. 
 Perhaps no more ingenious device could be employed, 
 if it were desired to kill or maim every animal seen 
 at a road crossing. As a trap, it is perfect ; but as a 
 guard, entirely worthless. The frightened animal 
 fancies he sees a safe way of escape, becomes en- 
 tangled in the slats, and is held until crushed by the 
 train, which is not unfrequently thrown from the 
 track, and more or less damaged. Many railroad 
 companies have frequently been brought to grief by 
 this sort of trap, and yet they continue their use. 
 The most effective cattle-guard is a deep pit left
 
 40 CATTLE-GUARDS, CULVERTS, AND TURN-OUTS. 
 
 entirely open, without even cross-sleepers, as they 
 make a trap similar to slats. These pits should be 
 strongly walled up, either with masonry or timber, 
 (the former is preferable, but it is difficult to obtain 
 material in some sections,) and the track laid on 
 stringers in a substantial manner ; not cobbled up on 
 ties or fence-posts, as is frequently the case. Noth- 
 ing gives our railroads a more poverty-stricken, slov- 
 enly appearance, than a shabby and unsafe manner 
 of building cattle-guards and culverts. 
 
 In laying iron on cattle-guards, open culverts, etc., 
 care should be taken that the joints do not come on 
 the end of the stringer, outside the face of the wall 
 or abutment. If the joint is near the end of the 
 stringer, it is likely to injure the masonry by rocking 
 when trains are passing. It is far preferable, there- 
 fore, to bring the joint near the middle of the timber. 
 This can be easily arranged by laying a few lengths 
 of short iron just before reaching the culvert or cat- 
 tle-guard ; or, if there is no short iron at hand, it is 
 better to cut a length for that purpose, as the pieces 
 need not be wasted ; they will be wanted for guard- 
 rails or something else of the kind. The same care 
 should be exercised in regard to road crossings, ex- 
 cept that the joints should be brought outside the 
 planking. This cannot always be done, owing to 
 the length of track that must be planked ; but there
 
 CATTLE-GUARDS, CULVEKTS, AND TURN-OUTS. 41 
 
 are many crossings that may be laid with no track- 
 joint in the planking ; and this can easily be done by 
 the track-layer, while it will save a great deal of 
 trouble to the section-master, and expense to the 
 company. The principal objection to a joint in a road 
 crossing, where it is covered with plank, is, that it is 
 frequently necessary to disturb the crossing for track 
 repairs ; and to do this the planking must be taken 
 up. This often results in the splitting of the planks, 
 so that new ones must be furnished, or the crossing 
 is not left in a safe condition. Besides, it often hap- 
 pens that frost remains under the planks, in which 
 case it requires a vast amount of hard labor with the 
 pick to accomplish the necessary repairs, when, but 
 for the joint being in the crossing, the repairs would 
 not be needed. The reason is this : the joint-tie is 
 more likely to settle than any other part, and water 
 will remain a long time under the crossing after it 
 has entirely left other portions of the track ; so that 
 the joint in the crossing needs frequent raising to 
 keep it in surface, while if it was outside the plank- 
 ing it would be easily accessible for repairs when 
 needed. Every section-master has experienced more 
 or less trouble with joints in road crossings ; and, as 
 this trouble is costly, it would be well for those in 
 charge of track-laying to give it special attention.
 
 42 LAYING TURN-OUTS. 
 
 Laying Turn-Outs. 
 
 It requires considerable skill and judgment to lay 
 a good turn-out. There are many track-layers of 
 great experience who can hardly be persuaded to 
 undertake the job in some cases, while others, of lim- 
 ited experience, will readily undertake the most 
 difficult job in that line. The latter class. of men 
 eventually make the best track-layers ; but railroad 
 
 in consequence of giving the work to men imperfectly 
 acquainted with its difficulties. 
 
 Engineers have published books giving instructions 
 for placing frogs, staking out work, etc., containing 
 much valuable information on the subject ; but as it 
 is difficult, and frequently impossible, to follow strictly 
 any given rules in laying turn-outs, the track-layer is 
 forced to rely mainly on his own judgment and experi- 
 ence. The principal difficulties encountered by track- 
 layers of limited experience, are : in getting the frogs 
 the proper distance from the switch, and the right 
 distance apart when more than one frog is to be laid. 
 
 In placing a frog, the track-layer wants to know 
 how far from the heel of the switch-rail to place the 
 point of the frog. This distance depends upon the 
 gauge, the angle of the frog and the " throw " of the 
 switch-rail. Frogs are usually made six inches across
 
 LAYING TDKN-OUTS. 
 
 the head, and with three inches of opening at the 
 mouth. With these dimensions, the following table 
 will give the distances in feet and decimals from the 
 " toe," or "head " of the switch to the point of the 
 frog the throw of the switch being five inches; gauge, 
 4 feet 8 inches : 
 
 
 Distance from toe of Switch to point of Frog, 
 Switch-Rail in feet being- 
 
 length of 
 
 
 12. 
 
 14. 16. 
 
 18. 
 
 20. 
 
 22. 
 
 3 
 
 29.1 
 
 29.7 30.1 
 
 30.4 
 
 30.7 
 
 30.9 
 
 &/4- 
 
 33.3 
 
 34.0 34.5 
 
 35.0 
 
 35.3 
 
 35.6 
 
 4 . . 
 
 37.3 
 
 38.2 38.8 
 
 39.4 
 
 39.8 
 
 40.2 
 
 4/<2. 
 
 41.1 
 
 42.2 43.0 
 
 43.7 
 
 44.3 
 
 44.7 
 
 6 . . 
 
 44.8 
 
 46.1 47.1 
 
 47.9 
 
 48.5 
 
 49.1 
 
 5^2. 
 
 48.3 
 
 49.0 61.0 
 
 51.9 
 
 52.7 
 
 53.2 
 
 6 . . 
 
 61.7 
 
 63.1 54.8 
 
 65.9 
 
 66.8 
 
 57.6 
 
 6^9. 
 
 65.0 
 
 56.9 58.5 
 
 59.8 
 
 60.8 
 
 -61.7 
 
 7 . . '. 
 
 58.1 
 
 60.3 62.1 
 
 63.4 
 
 64.7 
 
 65.7 
 
 1%. . . 
 
 61.2 
 
 63.6 65.6 
 
 67.2 
 
 68.6 
 
 69.6 
 
 When a double turn-out is to be laid from the main 
 track, on a straight line, one to each side of the main 
 track, it is not a difficult affair, provided the frogs are 
 of the right size and length in relation to each other. 
 Of course the two long frogs should be of equal length 
 and placed opposite each other in the main track. 
 When these two frogs have been put in place, it is 
 easy to ascertain the proper location of the short or 
 center frog in this way : Extend a line (a good fishing- 
 line is the thing) from the turn-out end side of each 
 of the long frogs to the head of the switch-rails ; then
 
 44 LAYING TUKN-OUTS. 
 
 drive a spike or stake in the place to be occupied by 
 the gauge-sides, (inner side) of the switch-rail, when 
 thrown on the turn-out ; now curve the line by setting 
 spikes or stakes, so as to give it a true curve, and to 
 afford an easy passage through the frog. Perform the 
 same operation with the other side, and the point of 
 intersection of the two lines will be the proper place 
 for the point of the center frog. It is well to place the 
 center frog nicely in the position indicated by the cross- 
 ing of the line ; then move it slightly, say ^ or f of an 
 inch toward the long frogs. It will otherwise be dif- 
 ficult to line both turn-outs so that the point of the 
 center frog will not be too prominent on one or other 
 of the side-tracks, for then the flanges of wheels would 
 probably hit the point and cause mischief; while re- 
 moving it slightly toward the long frogs will insure a 
 free passage of flanges on both tracks. 
 
 The above hints are on the supposition that the main 
 track has been laid previous to commencing to lay the 
 turn-outs. When the main track and turn-outs are all 
 to be laid at once, lines may be drawn to represent the 
 rails of the main track ; then proceed as above. More 
 care is necessary in placing cast frogs than rail frogs, 
 as the latter can be made to yield somewhat in lining 
 up, so as to conform to the different tracks ; while the 
 cast frogs require to be very nicely adjusted at first, 
 or they are sure to cause trouble in lining.
 
 LAYING TURN-OUTS. 45 
 
 It is frequently necessary for two turn-outs to leave 
 the main track from the same side and from the same 
 switch, and sometimes another from the opposite side, 
 from the same switch. It will require five frogs to do 
 this. The first thing in marking out the work is to de- 
 termine the location of the switch, and also that of 
 the frogs to be placed in the main track. The location 
 of the intermediate frogs can then be ascertained by 
 drawing lines to represent the rails in each of the turn- 
 outs. It requires a practiced eye to draw these lines 
 nicely ; and this is the most difficult operation con- 
 nected with laying turn-outs. Printed rules and in- 
 structions are of little use to the track-layer in per- 
 forming this operation. He must rely mainly on his 
 own judgment and experience for success in the un- 
 dertaking. This is obvious, from the fact that there is 
 often a lack of room, especially at stations in large 
 towns, or where companies are obliged to make use of 
 every inch of ground in their possession, making it 
 necessary to crowd a great deal of track into a small 
 space, at variance with ordinary rules. Besides, at 
 some points the turn-outs leave the main track on its 
 straight line, while at other points there is a slight curve, 
 and at others again, a sharp curve ; and sometimes 
 the turn-out leaves the main track from the inside of 
 the curve, and in other cases from the outside. It 
 will thus be seen that the " situation " is frequently
 
 46 LATINO TURN-OUTS. 
 
 changed, and that no two turn-outs are laid precisely 
 alike, except on straight line and with plenty of room. 
 
 Next in importance to the proper location of frogs 
 is the curving of iron. This should be nicely done on 
 all curves (as stated on a previous page), but it is es- 
 pecially important that it be well done among frogs. 
 The amount of curve the iron should receive can be 
 readily ascertained at the time the lines are drawn for 
 placing the frogs. 
 
 In order to ascertain the proper location for the 
 short, or center frog, after those on the main track are 
 put down, lay out the curves of each switch from the 
 point of each frog on the main track to the end of the 
 opposite switch-rail. This may be done by driving 
 stakes into the ballast, or spikes into the sleepers, and 
 stretching a stout, smooth cord around them. After a 
 little practice, these curves can be nicely laid out by the 
 eye, by shifting the stakes or spikes, until a true curve, 
 with the cord, is produced, and one that will give an 
 easy passage through the frogs. Then the point where 
 the cords cross each other is the proper location of the 
 short, or center frog. 
 
 It can now be easily ascertained how much the iron 
 should be curved. Before disturbing the cords which 
 have been stretched around the stakes, take a piece of 
 small twine, the length of the longest rail to be laid 
 between the frogs, and stretch it on the outside of the
 
 LAYING TURN-OUTS. 47 
 
 stakes, so as to conform to the curve laid down, and 
 make a mark on the cord at each end of the twine. 
 Between the two points thus marked, stretch the twine, 
 inside the curve, in a straight line, so as to form a 
 chord to the arc. Then, from the center of the twine, 
 measure the distance to the curve, which will be the 
 amount the iron must be curved. Similar measure- 
 ments may be made half way between the center and 
 the ends, for greater accuracy. The rail can then be 
 bent by any convenient process. The amount of curve 
 it should receive can be determined by stretching the 
 small twine from the flange side of each end of the 
 rail, and measuring the distances taken from the curves 
 as described. These distances can be measured either 
 by rule, or simply by cutting notches on a stick. 
 
 The guard rail, placed opposite the frog, is fre- 
 quently too short, and the bend at the ends too abrupt. 
 When guard rails are made of common track rail they 
 should be of good length, and the bend much further 
 from the end than is usual. A short guard rail, with 
 the ends bent at nearly right angles, is an abomination. 
 It is impossible to keep it in place, as it is hacked and 
 gouged by the flanges of wheels coming in contact with 
 the ends and cutting out pieces of iron, and the fasten- 
 ings (which are not always of a substantial character) 
 soon give way, resulting in more or less damage. 
 
 Placing a guard rail properly is a much nicer opera-
 
 48 LAYING TURN-OUTS. 
 
 tion than is generally supposed. It is amusing to see 
 a man, in spiking a guard rail, use bis hammer to meas- 
 ure the distance the guard is to be from the main rail. 
 If he can drop his hammer in, lengthwise, between the 
 main rail and the guard, it is supposed to be right, no 
 matter what the size of the hammer. And, notwith- 
 standing the variation in the size of spiking hammers, 
 it is an old rule, still adhered to by many, to place the 
 guard rail just the width of the hammer, at the eye, 
 from the main rail. It is the practice of others to place 
 the guard rail just two inches from the track in all 
 cases. This is a little better than the "hammer rule," 
 and, if the track is in true gauge, will do very well; 
 but as a track that has been in use for a considerable 
 time is often from a to ^ inch wide of its gauge, if 
 the guard rail is placed by the two-inch rule, it is obvi- 
 ous that it will be just as much too far from the frog as 
 the track is too wide. This will pull the flange of the 
 opposite wheel against the guard of the frog with a 
 succession of sudden shocks, as each wheel passes, 
 soon knocking the frog loose on one side and the guard 
 rail on the other, and at the same time shaking the bolts 
 out of rolling stock, thereby adding considerably to the 
 expense of repairs. 
 
 To place a guard rail correctly, it is a good plan to 
 measure two inches from the end of the gauge and 
 make a mark there. Then place the opposite end
 
 LAYING TURN-OUTS. 49 
 
 of the gauge at the point of the frog, and spike the 
 guard rail to this mark, always measuring from the 
 point of the frog, and not from the rail opposite. This 
 will answer as a general rule, yet there are some pe- 
 culiar cases to which it would not apply so well ; but 
 if there is anything wrong in the adjustment, its 
 cause may be ascertained by watching closely as 
 trains are passing slowly over the frog. Sometimes 
 the flangeway of frogs contains large quantities of 
 chips and shavings that have been cut from the loco- 
 motive flanges while passing through the frog. This 
 indicates something wrong, and it should be attended 
 to at once. The cause can easily be discovered by 
 close examination, and its removal in season may pre- 
 vent accident. 
 
 Tie-rods on switch-rails should be secured in 
 place by bolting them to the flanges or base of the 
 rail. They are usually made to clasp the rail loosely 
 are driven on from the ends of the rails and left. 
 In a short time they become loose, rattling and clat- 
 tering in a disagreeable manner as trains pass over 
 them. And they soon slip out of place, leaving a 
 long portion of the switch-rails with nothing to pre- 
 vent spreading, which sometimes happens in conse- 
 quence. 
 
 Other faults might be shown in the every day 
 practice of track-layers ; but it is deemed suffi- 
 4
 
 50 LAYING TURN-OUTS. 
 
 cient to have called attention to the more impor- 
 tant points generally overlooked by them, and also 
 by stockholders and directors, who, above all others, 
 are interested in the matter". It is now* about forty 
 years since we commenced building railroads in this 
 country, and in that time we have built and put in 
 operation upwards of 50,000 miles of road. Some 
 of these roads are a credit to the builders and to 
 the country, yet it must be admitted (however reluc- 
 tantly) that our roads are not, as a whole, as sub- 
 stantially built as they are in Europe. The main 
 excuse offered for this is the want of capital. It 
 is, however, a false economy to build railroads in 
 this shiftless manner, and undertake to keep them 
 open for traffic. The heavy expense of maintain- 
 ing the permanent way in this country, as com- 
 pared to that incurred on foreign roads, is ample 
 proof of this. It would seem that our railroad men, 
 as a class (to use a common expression,) "fell into a 
 groove " years ago, in regard to certain practices, and 
 the majority of them are there yet. A few, however^, 
 have left it to their advantage, and to the advantage 
 of the public ; and present indications are that we are 
 on the eve of a general reform in the construction and 
 maintenance of railroads throughout the country. 
 
 *1870.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON BALLASTING TRACK. 
 
 HAULING BALLAST WASTE OF GRAVEL DUMPING GRAVEL, 
 IT SHOULD NEVBR BE DONE TILL ROAD-BED is HEADY- 
 BOULDERS, ROOTS, ETC., SHOULD NOT BE CARTED WITH 
 GRAVEL RAISING TRACK TAMPING DRESSING OFF 
 TRACKS WHAT TO Do WHEN MATERIAL is SOAHCH 
 SAGS ELEVATION OF CURVES. 
 
 THE importance of having tracks well ballasted is 
 understood by all railroad men ; and the railroad 
 company which is possessed of a plentiful supply of 
 good gravel, conveniently situated, may be considered 
 fortunate. In some sections it is almost impossible to 
 get a supply of even an inferior article, and ballast- 
 ing in such localities is a very expensive operation. 
 Ballast is frequently hauled a long distance, and 
 wasted by dumping on a high, narrow embankment, 
 down which it slides to the bottom, leaving scarcely 
 any remaining where it can be placed under the track. 
 There is nothing (except pay-day) that pleases a set 
 of gravel-train men more than a high embankment, 
 the longer and higher the better, with the ends of the
 
 52 BALLAST WASTE OF GRAVEL. 
 
 ties projecting at either side, and situated about forty 
 or fifty miles from the gravel pit. There, train after 
 train may be dumped with very little labor, as the 
 cars require no rocking, while the gravel, all leaving 
 the car with a thin, scraping sound at the first tilt, is 
 soon lying at the bottom of the embankment, and the 
 men are ready for a long ride. The deep cut near 
 by needs widening, sloping and ditching ; but when 
 the embankments have all been widened with gravel, 
 the clay can be taken out of the cut and hauled off a 
 dozen miles or more, and dumped off from some bridge 
 into a rapid stream, when the current will carry it off 
 out of the way, to the comfort and amusement of 
 train-men. On some roads, however, little regard is 
 paid to the comfort of gravel-train men, and the em- 
 bankments are widened with the material from the 
 nearest cuts, gravel being considered too expensive, 
 especially when it must be hauled a long distance. It 
 seems a little singular that there should be so much 
 shabby, slovenly and wasteful work done on railroads 
 under the plea of poverty ; while yet these poor com- 
 panies will allow gravel to be dumped into cattle-guards, 
 culverts, streams and swamps, and wasted in every con- 
 ceivable manner. There might be some excuse for 
 building a culvert or trestle-work in a loose manner 
 under peculiar circumstances, for temporary use ; but 
 there is none for wilful waste of good gravel, and on
 
 BALLAST WASTE OF GRAVEL. 53 
 
 some roads this waste is carried to the extent of thou- 
 sands of dollars. Gravel should never be dumped 
 until the road-bed is in good condition to receive it, 
 without danger of its sliding down embankments, or 
 being dumped into mud and mixed up with clay and 
 slush so as to render it worthless as ballast. > 
 
 Before dumping ballast, the road should be closely 
 examined and all spikes, bolts, nuts, washers, rails, 
 chairs, ties, etc., etc., picked up. Track-layers are 
 particularly careless in leaving such property scattered 
 about in ditches ; and if it is not saved before bal- 
 lasting, it is very likely to be lost. This subject has 
 been spoken of before, but railroad men will bear fre- 
 quent cautioning on all matters connected with the 
 saving of property. 
 
 In some gravel pits there are a great many bould- 
 ers, roots, stumps, etc., and it is common to load these 
 with the gravel, merely to get them out of the way 
 of the workmen in the pit ; and it often happens that 
 this trash is dumped in a cut where it occasions much 
 trouble to get rid of it. So much of the rubbish as 
 cannot be put into the track (and none of it should 
 be), is left in the ditch, where it must either be re- 
 moved, or allowed to remain and clog the water- 
 course. Boulders, and all stones too large to be used 
 as ballast, should be thrown to one side when the train 
 is out of the pit. They will be found useful for
 
 54 GOOD BALLAST RAISING TRACK. 
 
 some purposes, but they are not good for ballast when 
 mixed with gravel. Thus it will be seen that a great 
 deal of money may be wasted in so simple an opera- 
 tion as hauling and dumping ballast. 
 
 Raising track for ballasting is not always conducted 
 with need/ul care, especially when raising it to a con- 
 siderable height. Frequently a joint is raised on one 
 side of the track at a time ; when, if cast chairs are 
 used, it is very sure to break off the lips, and also to 
 rack and twist the joints, and put the whole track into 
 disorder. This should be avoided as much as possible, 
 and with a little care track may be raised to any height 
 required for ballasting without doing any damage. 
 
 When the track is raised, and before filling with 
 gravel, all ties should be put in their proper places, 
 and held snugly up to the rail, and the spikes care- 
 fully driven home ; otherwise gravel and small stones 
 will work under between the rail and the tie. When 
 ties are are out of place, and the track is filled with 
 gravel, they are likely to remain so, much to the 
 damage of the track, as has been shown. 
 
 In tamping, it is customary to tamp the ties their 
 entire length ; but it is found to be bad practice to 
 tamp as hard midway between the rails as at the ends 
 of the ties, and on the inner side of the rails. All 
 track newly raised will settle more or less, and if the 
 middle of the track is tamped hard, it will cause it
 
 TAMPING LRESSINQ OFF TRACK. 55 
 
 to rock and work out of line, as ballast will wash out 
 from under the ends of ties when it remains hard and 
 full in the center. Such track will rock from side to 
 side in a very disagreeable manner, and is sometimes 
 dangerous, as ties are frequently broken from this 
 cause. 
 
 It is best always to leave the gravel a little slack in 
 the center ; not sufficiently so, however, to make a 
 cavity for water to settle into, but so that the principal 
 bearing will be mainly under the rails, or as near them 
 as possible. With this manner of tamping, the sta- 
 bility of the track will be found much greater than 
 when tamped hard in the middle. 
 
 Filling up and dressing off track is usually done 
 according to the taste of those in charge of the work ; 
 hardly any two men having the same style of doing it. 
 It is sometimes difficult to follow a given rule in dress- 
 ing off, or to adopt any particular mode of filling up, 
 owing to the lack of ballast. At the first raising, it 
 is not advisable to take much pains in finishing off, as 
 the track will settle so as to require considerable sur- 
 facing in a short time, and any extra finish it may have 
 received will be spoiled, and so much labor lost. The 
 second time of going over it is the proper time to finish 
 in good style. This is usually done by the section 
 men ; and it would be better to have section men do 
 all the ballasting, as they are likely to take more pains
 
 56 TAMPING DRESSING OFF TRACK. 
 
 with it than those who never expect to see the track 
 again after the ballasting is done. 
 
 When there is an ample supply of ballast, it is a 
 good plan to fill in midway between the rails, so that 
 the ties will be covered to the depth of about three 
 inches. Commence the slope about a foot from the 
 gauge side of the rails, and continue it so that there 
 will be sufficient space under the rails, between the 
 ties, for water to run off freely, and that at the ends 
 of the ties the gravel will be about two inches lower 
 than the top of the ties. As much gravel should be 
 left outside the ends of the ties as may be, without 
 interfering with the free passage of water from the 
 track. If there is an over-supply of ballast, which 
 is sometimes the case, all that cannot be used to ad- 
 vantage should be scraped into piles out of the way, 
 and saved for future use. It should never be allowed 
 to lay in heaps and ridges along the ends of the ties, 
 preventing the escape of water, as is frequently done. 
 It is not advisable to fill the track too full, on account 
 of ballast being plenty, as it causes trouble when repair- 
 ing in winter, especially in shimming, which operation 
 will be discussed hereafter. 
 
 In filling track on curves, it is not well to slope 
 the ballast from the middle of the track each* way, 
 because, the outside of the track being elevated, it 
 would cause water to settle under the track. It is
 
 FILLING TRACK ON CURVES. 57 
 
 better to fill the track so that the slope will com- 
 mence at or near the ends of the ties on the outer 
 side of the curves, so as to carry the water across 
 the track toward the inner side. The slope on the 
 upper and outer side must be shorter and more in- 
 clined, so as to carry the water from the ends of the 
 ties, or perhaps a little to the outside of them, into 
 the ditch. In short, the main object in view, in fill- 
 ing up and dressing off track, should be, in all cases, 
 to prevent the settling of water under the ties. 
 
 Much damage is done by allowing trains to run 
 over track before it is well tamped up. When track 
 is raised considerably, and only the joint-ties, and, 
 perhaps, one or two intermediates, partially tamped, 
 a train running over it will bend the iron surface- 
 wise, so that it is impossible to straighten it again 
 without heating it ; and there will be kinks in it after 
 all is done when it has once been badly bent on the 
 surface. "With good management, no train need pass 
 over track until it is well tamped. It is an easy mat- 
 ter, at least, to have the track ready for all regular 
 trains, and it is better to stop working or irregular 
 trains, than to allow them to run over track before 
 it is really prepared for them. To some, this caution 
 may seem unnecessary, but there is much bad track 
 made by the spoiling of the iron while ballasting. 
 
 Some hints have been given on filling track when
 
 58 ECONOMICAL BALLASTING. 
 
 plenty of gravel is at hand. What follows will point 
 out how the work should be done when there is a 
 scarcity of that material. It is said that a good cook 
 can prepare a very palatable meal with almost noth- 
 ing to make it of, whereas a poor cook will nearly 
 breed a famine when there is plenty to eat. So with 
 track-men ; some will put a piece of road in good 
 order and keep it so with small allowance of ballast, 
 which is " the needful ; " while others, with abund- 
 ance, will make but a sorry show. The practice with 
 most track-men, when but a small quantity of gravel 
 can be had, to put it all under the ties, leaving 
 nothing to fill between them, is erroneous. For how- 
 ever small the quantity of ballast, the track should not 
 be raised so high as to require all the gravel under the 
 ties, but a portion should be reserved to fill between 
 the ties and at the ends. Let us examine a piece of 
 track with little or no material between the ties, where 
 the road-bed and the ballast are of a light sandy na- 
 ture. Some of the ties will, of course, have a solid 
 bearing, while others will hang loosely by the spikes, 
 having no bearing at all except when the rail is de- 
 flected by a passing train ; and as soon as the rail is 
 relieved of its load it springs back to surface, taking 
 with it the ties holding by the spikes. With this cav- 
 ity under the ties, the sand is forced out from under 
 them by compressed air escaping as the tie is suddenly
 
 ECONOMICAL BALLASTING. 59 
 
 forced into its bearing. Each tie thus continually 
 works its way into the road-bed, while those ties hav- 
 ing a solid bearing are not so affected. Any one 
 having doubts of the truth of this statement may be 
 convinced of its correctness by sitting close to the 
 track when a train is passing. He will notice that 
 a jet of sand escapes from under every loose tie, 
 forced out by the rush of air caused by the sudden 
 settling of the tie into the cavity, which literally 
 pumps the ballast from under the track. There is no 
 way of obviating this when the road-bed is not wide 
 enough to prevent the ends of the ties projecting 
 over the slope, which is often the case on unfinished 
 roads, and, not unfrequently, on roads considered 
 finished. When the road-bed is of ample width, fill 
 the track (as before stated) between and at the ends 
 of the ties, so as to exclude air and water as much 
 as possible. Mud or clay, from the ditches at the 
 side of the track, is preferable to air for ballast, for 
 if track is well filled with even a poor material it will 
 keep in order much longer than with an insufficient 
 quantity of good gravel, with none between the ties. 
 The track is often raised too high for the amount of 
 ballast at hand, owing to the desire of the track-men 
 to put the track on true grade, leaving no sags. This 
 is very desirable, but it is far better to leave sags and 
 have ballast enough to fill the track properly, than to
 
 60 FILLING TRACK SAGS. 
 
 make a true grade and leave the track naked. Of 
 course a short sag looks bad, and we can hardly blame 
 a track-man for taking it up, even with scarcity of 
 ballast ; but stability should not be sacrificed to appear- 
 ances. How often do we see a piece of track at the 
 foot of a steep grade, on a high embankment, piked 
 up as far as possible, with all available material put 
 under it, and the ends of the ties projecting over the 
 slope of the embankment, squirting ballast as every 
 train passes, and requiring the constant attention of the 
 section-men to keep it in anything like a safe condition ; 
 when, by leaving a slight sag, it might be kept in toler- 
 able running order with half the labor that is required in 
 its present misplaced elevation. It is not well to be 
 too particular in bringing track up to a true grade on 
 new roads, as the road-bed will settle, and on heavy 
 fills it will require raising several times before it will 
 remain up to grade. It is impossible to keep track in 
 line when it all lies above the ballast, and there is 
 nothing to steady it and keep it in place. An old- 
 fashioned outside-connected locomotive will throw such 
 a track out of line at a remarkable rate ; and where 
 such engines are used, it requires constant attention 
 to keep track that is not properly ballasted in good line. 
 The elevation of curves is a matter that has occupied 
 the attention of track-men and engineers to a consider- 
 able extent ever since the commencement of railroad
 
 INSUFFICIENT BALLAST. 61 
 
 building in this country. Formerly it was the custom 
 to give curves a greater elevation than is the practice 
 at present. The views of engineers differ widely in 
 this matter, some claiming that elevation is unnecessary, 
 while others argue that it is indispensable. Then, what 
 some would consider a proper elevation would not be 
 so considered by others ; and the degree of elevation 
 therefore varies considerably on different roads through- 
 out the country. The degree of elevation is usually 
 left to the decision of track-men while it should more 
 properly be determined by engineers ; and the degree 
 of elevation should be marked on the center stakes, 
 as well as the degree of curvature, to serve as a guide 
 in ballasting.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TRACK REPAIRS. 
 
 METHODS UNCHANGED FOB A QUAETEH OF A CENTURY ROU- 
 TINE IDEAS OF TRACK-MEN SECTION-MASTEKS : THEY ABE 
 OFTEN BADLY PAID CHEAP SECTION-MASTERS NOT DESIR- 
 ABLEWORK ON A NEW ROAD JOINT-TIES LINING 
 TBACK : IN FBOSTY LOCALITIES CLEARING OUT DITCHES 
 AND CULVERTS : THEIR PROPER DIMENSIONS KINKS IN 
 RAILS IMPORTANCE OF TRUE GAUGE TRESTLE-WORK 
 AND BRIDGES SHOULD BE PLANKED FOR FOOT PASSEN- 
 GERS. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the improvements made within the 
 past fifteen or twenty years in the construction and 
 management of railroads, there is one department, that 
 of track-repairing, that may be said to remain pre- 
 cisely as it was a quarter of a century ago. The aver- 
 age section-master has been following a beaten path, 
 and he practices the same method, in performing the 
 various operations pertaining to his department, that 
 was adopted at the commencement of railway travel in 
 this country. He has little or no opportunity to profit 
 by the experience of others in his calling ; his own ex- 
 perience is usually limited ; and it rarely occurs to
 
 CHEAP SECTION-MASTERS. 63 
 
 him that there is any better way to do a certain job 
 than the way he has been accustomed to do it. This 
 is not the case with those engaged in other depart- 
 ments, as they have the benefit of the experience of 
 older hands, and opportunities of communicating their 
 ideas to each other ; while the section-master is " sol- 
 itary and alone," and "must stand on his own bot- 
 tom." He is left to his own resources, and, although 
 burdened with a great responsibility, he is not consid- 
 ered worthy of notice by men engaged in other 
 departments. There are, however, exceptions to this 
 rule, and there are many track-men who have had op- 
 portunities for observation which they have well im- 
 proved, and who would make good section-masters. 
 Railroad managers, however, are apt to pursue an un- 
 wise policy in these appointments, and, influenced by 
 a false economy, to employ men of little experience, 
 as they can be had for less money. It is a practice 
 with many companies to cut down the wages of sec- 
 tion-masters at every favorable opportunity, so that all 
 the keen, wide-awake men, who have seen service, will 
 not *' stand the pressure," but leave for better paying 
 situations ; and, as there are plenty of incompetent 
 rnerr willing to take their places at the reduced wages, 
 the managers consider that they are making money by 
 the change. They argue that "any man who has 
 worked on track repairs a little while can take care
 
 64 CHEAP SECTION-MASTERS. 
 
 of a section, and we are not going to pay a man fifty 
 or sixty dollars a month, when we can get the work 
 done for half that sum." 
 
 Now, here is a great mistake. These half-price 
 men are the most expensive that can be employed. 
 The property in the care of a section-master has cost 
 a great deal of money, and, if not properly cared for, 
 wears out rapidly ; and a section-master who under- 
 stands his business can save more money for the com- 
 pany than his wages amount to. Indeed, an incom- 
 petent foreman of a section will waste more than 
 would pay a dozen good men. The best are not too 
 good, and a really good one is cheap at any price ; 
 while a poor one is so expensive that no company can 
 afford to employ him. There are many matters of 
 importance connected with track repairs that are not 
 generally understood, and it is for the interest of the 
 railroad community to give the whole subject careful 
 consideration ; to see to it henceforth that track-repair- 
 ing is put into the hands of none but capable men, 
 who will improve its methods, and carry into their 
 work a spirit of thoroughness and efficiency. 
 
 The first work of the section-master, on taking 
 charge of a section on a new road, is to undo work 
 that has been improperly done by the track-layers. 
 If the track has been laid according to the suggestions 
 in a former chapter, it will need but little overhauling ;
 
 SECTION-MASTERS SURFACING TRACK. 65 
 
 but there is generally more or less work of this kind 
 to be done. Suppose the track to have been ballasted. 
 The work now will be to take out sags, and put the 
 track in first-rate surface. Great care should be 
 exercised in surfacing, and on 'straight line it should 
 be perfectly level. It should be tamped as uniformly 
 as possible, and, as before mentioned, a little slack in 
 the middle. Now is the time to attend to this, as it 
 is important to keep track level in its cross section; 
 and if hard tamped in the middle, it is impossible to 
 keep it so. The joint-tie should always be the last 
 one tamped. This is contrary to the ordinary practice, 
 but a little reflection will prove it to be the true way. It 
 is an easy matter to raise a tie by tamping it with bars, 
 in good ballast, and if the side-ties are tamped after 
 the joint, it will raise the joint-tie so that it will be 
 loose, hanging by the spikes to the rail. If but one 
 side-tie is tamped after the joint, it will cause a cocked 
 joint, exposing the end of one rail, on each side of the 
 track, to severe pounding by passing trains. By 
 taking the joint-tie in hand last, it can be raised a 
 trifle by hard tamping ; and the joint will then have a 
 solid support, and not bear too much on the side-ties. 
 It is well known that the joint-tie is more likely to 
 settle than any other ; and miles of track can be found 
 on some roads without a solid joint in the whole 
 distance, owing to the ordinary practice of tamping 
 5
 
 66 LINING TRACK. 
 
 the joint first. Of course these loose joint-ties cause 
 iron to wear rapidly, and are also injurious to rolling 
 stock. 
 
 Lining Track. 
 
 The importance of having track in good line is not 
 fully realized by track-men generally, and it is often 
 much neglected. Many suppose that after track is 
 once well lined it needs no further attention ; it is, 
 however, constantly working out of line, from various 
 causes. Now the line is of more importance than the 
 surface. When track is only moderately rough in the 
 surface, there is nothing very serious about it, if the 
 line is good, and the iron lies solid on the ties, as 
 there is provision made for unevenness of surface in 
 the construction of rolling stock. But any defect in 
 the line of track cannot be compensated for in the 
 censtruction of cars and locomotives. Of course the 
 unevenness of surface is not desirable, and should be 
 remedied as far as possible, but of the two evils it is the 
 least. There is nothing more disagreeable to passen- 
 gers and train-men than the sudden yanking and 
 jerking of cars from side to side, caused by track 
 being out of line ; and not only is it disagreeable, but 
 the iron is badly worn in consequence, with a 
 corresponding wear to cars, etc. When track is well 
 ballasted it will remain in line much better than when
 
 LINING TRACK DRAINAGE. 67 
 
 insufficiently ballasted. When one side of the track 
 has settled somewhat, it will work out of line by the 
 sudden shocks imparted to the rails by the lateral 
 motion of car trucks, and outside-connected freight 
 engines, when laboring hard, disturb the line consider- 
 ably. But the chief cause of track getting out of 
 line is the raising of it when surfacing. Placing a 
 bar under the end of the tie, when raising track, has 
 a tendency to pull it toward the operator, although it 
 be but a trifle. Perhaps the next joint will need rais- 
 ing on the opposite side, and thus one joint is pulled 
 out of line a trifle in one direction, while at the next 
 it is pulled in the opposite direction, leaving it zigzag. 
 Track should always be put in line after surfacing, for 
 the above reason. The line may not be greatly dis- 
 turbed by one surfacing, yet as track-men are con- 
 stantly going over the road picking up low joints, and 
 as some joints require frequent raising, the track soon 
 gets badly out of line, and should be attended to. It 
 is better to line after surfacing, and before filling in 
 the ballast, as the track is easily moved then ; and, 
 when it is put in place and the ballast filled in after- 
 ward, it will the better keep in line. In frosty locali- 
 ties, where the ballast and road-bed remain frozen for 
 a considerable time, it is a good plan to give track a 
 thorough lining at the commencement of cold weather, 
 or when it is expected that the track will soon freeze
 
 68 DITCHES, CULVERTS, ETC. 
 
 up ; otherwise it must remain out of line for many 
 months, in which time the iron will have worn consider- 
 ably, and there will be a heavy addition to the expense 
 of car repairs in consequence. 
 
 Ditches, Culverts, Etc. 
 
 Track-men do not pay sufficient attention to drain- 
 age. The section-men will find more or less gravel 
 remaining in ditches, culverts, etc., after ballasting, 
 frequently obstructing the passage of water. All this 
 should be removed and all water-courses put in good 
 order, as it is impossible to keep track in good sur- 
 face when water is allowed to soak through the road- 
 bed, as is frequently the case, though a little labor 
 would prevent it. In narrow cuts, where there is 
 but a slight descent for the passage of water, a very 
 little gravel or rubbish will cause water to penetrate 
 the road-bed, and much labor is wasted in surfacing 
 that might be saved by a very little labor in the 
 ditches. It is a common thing to see a considerable 
 gang of men employed day after day with tamping 
 bars, surfacing in some cut, while the ditches 
 are half filled with water and rubbish ; what little 
 gravel there is in the track mixed with wet clay, be- 
 ing made into mortar by the use of the tamping bars. 
 It will often be found that a large quantity of gravel 
 has slid down the embankment and lodged in the
 
 DITCHES, CULVERTS, ETC. 69 
 
 mouth of a culvert, which is hidden by grass and 
 weeds ; and those culverts are frequently too small 
 to allow a free passage of water, even when kept 
 clear. In cases of high water, chips, small sticks, 
 and all manner of floating trash, by settling in the 
 gravel at the mouth of the culvert, soon form a place 
 of lodgment for larger floating substances. In this 
 way the culvert is completely dammed up, and thus 
 embankments are frequently injured or completely 
 washed away, when a little attention would have pre- 
 vented any damage. A stone, a fragment of wood, 
 or any other obstruction lying in a ditch, or culvert, 
 is not in itself any great injury to the road, but it 
 will collect sufficient rubbish in a short time to occa- 
 sion mischief. A block of .wood falling from a loco- 
 motive tender and rolling into the ditch ; or a strip of 
 board, or fence stake, or other obstructive substance, 
 lodging across the mouth of a culvert, has often been 
 the cause of damage which has cost hundreds of dol- 
 lars to repair. It is a good plan to clear all rubbish 
 out of small streams for a considerable distance above 
 the culvert ; and not only from the bed of the stream, 
 but for a considerable distance on either side, where 
 there is any possibility of the overflowing of the banks. 
 Small streams (very small ones) are more dangerous 
 than large ones. A stream of tolerable size is usually 
 provided with ample room for free passage at bridges,
 
 70 DIMENSIONS OF C0LVERTS. 
 
 and the water in it runs with sufficient force to pre- 
 vent any floating substance lodging so as to cause 
 mischief. Of course all logs or trees lodging against 
 piers or abutments should be cleared away, and this 
 matter is generally attended to ; while a few leaves 
 and small sticks lodged in a culvert, which are really 
 more dangerous, are likely to remain unnoticed. Sec- 
 tion-masters are too apt to think that attention to 
 such matters is out of their line of duty, and, owing 
 to their anxiety to have " the best riding section on 
 the road," consider it to their disadvantage to have 
 any labor performed except on the track ; but it is 
 clear that, in this view f their obligations, they lose 
 sight of the interest of the company. 
 
 With respect to culverts, it may be well to say here 
 that engineers are often at fault in estimating their 
 proper dimensions. Culverts are often staked out in 
 a dry season of the year, and the engineer is apt to 
 be deceived as to the quantity of water that may flow 
 into them at other seasons, or in case of a freshet. 
 In other cases the ground is frozen and covered with 
 sno,w, and a ravine is crossed by an embankment, no 
 culvert being considered necessary ; then, as the 
 ground thaws out, a considerable stream makes its 
 appearance, which must force a passage, if one is not 
 provided, through the embankment. It costs more 
 to build a large culvert than a small, but when to the
 
 KINKS 'iN RAILS. 71 
 
 cost of the small one is added that of getting an en- 
 gine and a train of cars out of the mud, repairs to en- 
 gine, cars, track, etc., to say nothing of the hindrance 
 to other trains, and possible loss of life, the in- 
 creased prime cost of the larger culvert is more than 
 counterbalanced. In case of doubt as to the size of 
 culvert needed, it is best always to take the safe course 
 and be sure that they are large enough. It is some- 
 times suspected that the engineers figure for the interest 
 of contractors in building culverts ; and the frequen- 
 cy of accidents on some roads, caused by culverts 
 being too small, or by the want of any passage for 
 water, might suggest these conclusions. However 
 this may be, it is certain that an immense amount of 
 property is destroyed and many lives lost every year 
 from this cause, and yet these accidents are generally 
 looked upon as unavoidable, and no one is blamed. 
 
 As before stated, the section-master will find much 
 to do in putting to rights what has been neglected by 
 the track -layers. Perhaps a few rails have been laid 
 with "kinks" in them, the result of bad handling. 
 If any such are found, they should be removed and 
 replaced by straight ones ; or, if there is no iron to 
 use in their place, they may be taken out and straight- 
 ened with the chain, lever and sledge. If they are 
 so badly kinked as to require heating to straighten 
 them, a fire may be built at a convenient place, and
 
 72 KINKS IN 'KAILS. 
 
 the rails heated on the spot, without taking them to 
 the shop for that purpose. With this treatment iron 
 will last much longer than if allowed to remain out 
 of shape. Many joints will be found badly spiked, 
 displaced or twisted out of shape in ballasting, so that 
 the ends of the rails do not meet in good line, and if 
 these are allowed to remain so the iron will soon be 
 spoiled. The spikes should be drawn and all such 
 joints spiked over again, and the joint-ties which are 
 out of place, so that the meeting of the rails is over 
 one side of the tie instead of over the centre, should 
 be at once adjusted. Although it requires consider- 
 able labor to do this, it pays ; and the sooner it is 
 done the better. 
 
 On inspecting track, it will be often found that the 
 gauge-side will be too wide in some places and too 
 narrow in others ; and if the deviation is not very 
 slight, it is best to draw the spikes and spike to a 
 true gauge. Some of the evils of this inaccuracy of 
 gauge have been explained in a previous chapter, but 
 as the matter is an important one and much over- 
 looked, it is proper to call attention to it here, for the 
 good of the section-master and the interest of the 
 company. 
 
 The section-master should thoroughly examine all 
 trestle-work and bridges, and see that the hints here 
 given to track-layers have been acted upon. How-
 
 IMPORTANCE OF A TRUE GAUGE. 73 
 
 ever carefully the work may have been done, it is 
 possible that some important matter may have been 
 overlooked. The bridge carpenters may have neglect- 
 ed to secure the stringers, so as to prevent their moving 
 out of place, leaving this work for the track-layers, 
 who in turn may have overlooked the matter or left 
 it for the section-men to attend to ; and as they are 
 the last men on the ground, to them belongs the duty 
 of making good the shortcomings of those who have 
 gone before. Perhaps the cross-ties have not been 
 secured so that they will not jar out of place. This 
 should be done in a substantial manner, and on 
 bridges where there is much crossing on foot, planks 
 or boards should be nailed or spiked across the ties, 
 so as to form a safe footway. It is impossible to pre- 
 vent people crossing bridges, and, this being the case, 
 it is better to make the passage safe, not only for the 
 general convenience and safety but for the conven- 
 ience of track-men themselves. There are many 
 bridges thrown over dangerous streams, with no way 
 for pedestrians to cross except by stepping from tim- 
 ber to timber, where to fall through would be certain 
 death, and if caught by a train escape would be im- 
 possible. Many of these bridges are so constructed 
 that there is no room for a person to stand in safety 
 while a train is passing, even were the fastenings 
 secure, and even with plenty of room timid persons
 
 74 FOOT-WALKS ON TRESTLE WORK. 
 
 would incur imminent danger. In fact hundreds of 
 persons have met their death in this way ; and as a 
 notice at the end of the bridge prohibiting people 
 from crossing amounts to nothing, it is best for the sec- 
 tion-master to provide a safe foot-way, except on such 
 bridges as require a guard night and day to prevent 
 persons walking over.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DRAWING SPIKES SHIMMING. 
 
 WASTE IN SPIKE-DBAWING CLAW-BARS THE BULL'S-FOOT 
 SPIKE-DRAWING IN WINTER Loss BY CARELESSNESS 
 SHIMMING : ITS ADVANTAGES OFTEN BADLY DONE SHIMS 
 OFTEN ILL-MADE AND OF BAD MATERIAL-CONSEQUENCES 
 SHIMMING IN FROSTY WEATHER How TO MANAGE IT- 
 TAMPING THICK SHIMS SHOULD BE SPIKED TO TIES MA- 
 CHINE-MADE SHIMS SHIMMING UNDER TIES, OR UPON 
 CULVERTS, TRESTLE-WORK, ETC. WHAT COMES OF SHIMS 
 WORKING OUT Bo AD-CROSSINGB WOOD-PILES. 
 
 Drawing Spikes. 
 
 THE various operations connected with track repairs 
 necessitate the drawing of a great many spikes, which 
 operation is usually very carelessly performed. The 
 heads are pulled off or the spike is bent so that it can 
 not be driven again, and a new one must take its place. 
 A great many tons of spikes are yearly wasted by care- 
 lessness in drawing and by bad handling afterwards. 
 As claw-bars are usually made, it is impossible to draw 
 a spike without spoiling it for future use. The claws 
 should be so shaped as to take no hold of the point of 
 the head, otherwise the head is either broken entirely
 
 76 CLAW-BARS. 
 
 off, or is bent so as to become unfit for use. Now, 
 when the claws are made properly, all the force ap- 
 plied to the spike in drawing it will come in a line 
 with the body of the sjpike, so that it can be drawn 
 straight. Some spikes are of bad shape to draw in 
 good condition for future use, but with a claw-bar of 
 the proper form, and care in drawing, a great many 
 spikes can be saved. 
 
 There are a good many kinds of claw-bars, some of 
 which work well ; and there are several kinds of patent 
 bars for pulling spikes which are well spoken of, but 
 for some reason they have not yet come into general 
 use ; and probably the old style of "bull's-foot " claw is 
 as good as any, if properly made. It is, however, a 
 difficult job to make a good claw-bar, but as it is an 
 implement which is in almost constant use, it should be 
 rightly made and used. Even with a good claw-bar, 
 when not handled rightly, spikes are often broken, bent 
 and twisted needlessly. A great many spikes are 
 broken and destroyed by attempting to draw them in 
 winter when the ties are frozen solid, and when they 
 can not be drawn by any claw-bar without breaking. 
 This is one instance of a vast amount of labor per- 
 formed by repair-men that results in no good to the 
 track or profit to the company ; much of which, in- 
 deed, is rather an injury than a benefit, not only 
 wasting time and labor, but destroying property in
 
 WASTK IN SPIKE-DRAWING. 77 
 
 place of saving it or keeping it from wear. It is one 
 way of wasting time and destroying property to draw 
 spikes for repairs when they are not needed. Track- 
 men have a great desire to be busy, especially about 
 train-time, and they frequently draw spikes for ^Dim- 
 ming when it is not necessary, as in severe cold 
 weather, when not one spike in ten can be drawn with- 
 out breaking. Of course those drawn must be replaced 
 with new ones, which are expensive. Every railroad 
 company is paying out large sums of money for spikes, 
 a great part of which might be saved by paying a little 
 attention to the matter. But this is not all, for not 
 only spikes, but chairs, bolts, etc., and often bars, 
 hammers, and other tools are broken by careless use 
 in frosty weather, so that it would be better for the 
 company to pay the men for sitting by the fire than to 
 have this kind of work done at such times. Those 
 who have not given the subject special attention would 
 be surprised at the amount of money that can be 
 saved by exercising more care in this seemingly un- 
 important matter. There are other ways of destroy- 
 ing this kind of property, and it is singular that such 
 wasteful practices are allowed to such an extent as 
 they are. Some of the best-managed roads in the 
 country have their spike account increased hundreds, 
 not to say thousands, of dollars yearly, by the slash- 
 ing, tearing, ripping style of doing work which some
 
 78 SHIMMING. 
 
 track-men have. It is frequently considered too 
 much trouble to draw spikes, and they are driven in- 
 to the tie out of the way, being hammered until the 
 heads break off, when one more blow sinks it out of 
 sight. This operation is sometimes performed to such 
 an extent that a half-dozen or more spikes are 
 jammed into a single tie, resulting in the loss of S0 ( 
 many spikes and the injury of the tie, which is by no 
 means trifling. Sometimes a chisel-pointed crowbar 
 is used to force spikes from the rail. By placing 
 the bar perpendicularly and using the rail as a ful- 
 crum, the spike is bent sufficiently to allow the remov- 
 al of the rail, when shifting iron ; and when, after- 
 wards, another rail is put in its place, the spikes are 
 driven up to the rail and so left. Old hands fre- 
 quently do this, and there are miles of track served 
 in this manner, with only a portion of the spikes tak- 
 ing any hold of the rail. Track left in this condition 
 is not safe ; and it has often been the cause of se- 
 rious trouble. This matter is well worthy the atten- 
 tion of railroad managers, and it is singular that it 
 should be so generally overlooked. 
 
 Shimming the Track. 
 
 In winter, when ballast is frozen so that track can- 
 not be surfaced by tamping, it is done by shimming, 
 which is often performed in a shiftless manner, and
 
 SHIMMING. 79 
 
 many serious accidents have happened on track in con- 
 sequence. If shimming is well done, it is one of 
 the nicest and most important operations connected 
 with track repairs. It prevents wear of iron and 
 rolling stock to a greater extent than any other oper- 
 ation consuming the same amount of labor. 
 
 Some section-men make shims out of blocks of wood 
 that have fallen from the tender, or have been thrown 
 overboard by firemen when too large for their use, 
 and sometimes they split off a piece from the end of 
 a tie, make a wedge with a dull hatchet, drive it un- 
 der the rail, and cobble it up in such a manner that 
 it will roll and rack frightfully under a passing train. 
 Track is sometimes raised on shims of considerable 
 thickness so that the spikes scarcely enter the tie, 
 and after a few trains have passed the spikes will not 
 touch the rail, as every vibration of the rail forces 
 the spike from it, where it remains. This is very un- 
 safe. These shims frequently get loose and work 
 out from under the rail, and a great deal of iron is 
 ruined by being bent in the surface from this cause. 
 Rails may often be found without support for several 
 feet, the shims having worked out, and the rail so 
 bent that it cannot be straightened without heating. 
 It is not uncommon to see track-men go along the 
 road, pick up the shims that have worked out, and 
 slip them under the rail, when, if the rail has been
 
 80 SHIMMING IN FROSTY WKATHER. 
 
 sufficiently sprung in the surface, they may hold it 
 for a short time ; but they will soon work out again, 
 and then it may be necessary to hew off a little be- 
 fore they will go under the rail, owing to its be- 
 ing bent. In this manner track that has been raised 
 on shims three inches thick will soon come down to 
 half that thickness. This kind of work is practiced 
 to a far greater extent than is generally supposed, 
 and there is hardly any road-master but can find 
 some bad shimming on his road if he closely exam- 
 ines it. 
 
 Much labor is wasted, when frost has left or is 
 leaving the track at the close of the winter, in remov- 
 ing shims that should be left under the rail. Of 
 course shimming is rendered necessary by track be- 
 ing thrown or heaved out of surface by the action of 
 frost, and when the frost leaves, it is necessary to re- 
 move the shims. In fact, this should be a busy time 
 for section-men, where much shimming has been 
 done, as it is often dangerous to let shims remain af- 
 ter the track has settled to its bearing when the frost 
 is fairly out. It has formerly been the practice on 
 all roads, to shim only when the track could not be 
 tamped on account of frost ; but it is now the custom 
 on some roads to shim in summer, when it requires 
 but slight raising to put the track in good surface. 
 This is a gootl plan and should be practiced on all
 
 ON REMOVING SHIMS. 81 
 
 roads, as no doubt it will be when once its advan- 
 tages become known. When joints are down but a 
 trifle and the ties have settled to a good bearing, it 
 disturbs ballast to tamp it, and, if rains occur soon 
 after tamping, the track is likely to settle out of sur- 
 face again very soon ; whereas, if a shim is placed 
 under the rail, it will remain in good surface a long 
 time. On looking at the surface of track, it may ap- 
 pear to be all right, when, on a close examination of 
 the joint-ties, they will be found a trifle loose just 
 enough so to expose the ends of the rails to the 
 pounding action of wheels, by which the iron is soon 
 spoiled. It is better to shim such a joint than to 
 tamp it, even in summer. A great deal of track that 
 is shimmed in winter settles into first-rate surface in 
 the spring, with the shims remaining in the track ; but 
 it is the practice of section-men to remove the shims 
 and raise the ties to the rail and tamp them. This 
 should never be done, for it is worse than throwing 
 away labor, as the track is not in as good condition 
 as it was before the removal of the shims, and a fre- 
 quent tamping is necessary to keep it in good surface, 
 when if the shims had been allowed to remain no la- 
 bor would have been required. Of course, shimming 
 should have been well done when it is allowed to re- 
 main, and not cobbled up on round sticks or 
 as is often the case. 
 6
 
 82 MAKING GOOD SHIMS. 
 
 When a shim of considerable thickness is required, 
 it should be spiked to the tie and other spikes driven 
 through the shim, in the manner of spiking when no 
 shim is used ; otherwise the track may spread and 
 cause mischief, especially on curves. Shims should 
 be prepared by machinery, of hard wood, and of va- 
 rious thicknesses, bored for the spikes, and when 
 used the tie should be adzed off smoothly so that the 
 shim may have a good bearing. Ties that have been 
 in the track for a considerable time will be found to 
 be grooved under the rail, and, unless the groove is 
 adzed out, the shim will break, and the portion under 
 the rail will settle into the groove and thus materially 
 alter the surface of the track. When track-men are 
 obliged to furnish their own shims they make them out 
 of any material they get hold of, sometimes out of 
 a pine board knocked off the fence, or a block cut 
 from a cedar fence-post, or something else which is 
 worthless for the purpose ; and it is for the interest of 
 railroad companies to furnish shims ready for use and 
 see that they are properly used. 
 
 Joints are often shimmed in winter when they do 
 not really need it, for a joint may be considerably 
 down and at the same time the ends of the rails lay 
 perfectly solid in the chairs. In such cases it is bet- 
 ter not to disturb it in frosty weather, as the iron is 
 not subjected to unusual wear, and the loss from
 
 SHIMMING UNDER TIES. 83 
 
 breakage will overbalance any benefit that can be de- 
 rived from shimming. 
 
 In regard to making shims by machinery, no expen- 
 sive apparatus is necessary, as any ordinary car or 
 repair shop is furnished with all needful appliances 
 for making shims to good advantage, and one man 
 can make more shims and better ones in a day, 
 in an ordinary repair shop, than a whole gang of 
 section-men can hew and hack out in twice that 
 time. Good hard timber can readily be sawed into 
 shims of various thicknesses and packed into boxes 
 to be sent where they are needed. Where many 
 shims are used it will pay to rig a boring appar- 
 atus especially for that purpose. This can be done 
 with very little expense in any shop by arranging 
 two bits of the proper size in position to bore both 
 holes at one operation. It is best to bore the blocks 
 before sawing them into shims. New roads which 
 have not got their shops in operation, or short lines 
 which have no extensive shops, affording facilities for 
 making shims, will find it good economy to have them 
 made at some private shop. 
 
 It might be thought that sufficient has been said 
 about shimming, but there is room for a few further 
 remarks on the subject, especially on shimming under 
 ties, on open culverts, trestle-work, etc. Blocks, or 
 shims, of several inches in thickness, are frequently
 
 84 SHIMMING UNDER TIES. 
 
 used in such places, and as they are out of sight, 
 they frequently work out, and remain out a long time 
 before it is discovered. In all such places shims 
 should be nailed or spiked to the stringer. It may 
 be said that any one would know that ; but whoever 
 will get on a locomotive, and ride over some roads, 
 .will notice that the engine generally makes a lurch at 
 every culvert or cattle-pass it comes to ; and the cause 
 of this will be found, in many cases, to be owing to 
 the shims being displaced under a portion of the ties. 
 Engineers on some roads can tell on a dark night ex- 
 actly where they are, without taking notice of sur- 
 rounding objects, by a certain rolling or pitching 
 motion of the engine when passing over certain 
 cattle-guards or culverts. The shims may after a 
 time be replaced, but while they are out the rails be- 
 come bent in the surface, and no amount of wedging 
 or shimming will straighten them afterwards. There 
 are roads of considerable length where it would be a 
 difficult matter to find a straight rail on a cattle guard 
 or open culvert ; and this is owing mainly to shims 
 working out from under the ties, or from under the 
 ends of rail-plates, when no cross-ties are used. 
 
 At other times the rail becomes bent by frost heav- 
 ing the track at each end of the culvert, carrying the 
 soil up and the ties or rail-plate with it, leaving the 
 rails with no support for the width of the culvert or
 
 ACTION OF FROST ROAD CROSSINGS. 85 
 
 cattle-guard ; and then the rails must of course settle 
 under the weight of passing trains, until they reach 
 their former bearing. Track is not unfrequently 
 raised gradually several inches by the action of frost, 
 and this leaves the iron the same distance above its 
 bearing unless it is shimmed. In frosty localities the 
 action of frost should be closely watched, as shims 
 that are thick enough for to-day's use may not answer 
 to-morrow, owing to the constant raising of the track by 
 the action of frost ; and such track needs shimming of- 
 ten. There is no railroad company in cold sections of the 
 country but has suffered more or less from the neglect 
 of .section-men to put in shims when frost enters the 
 ballast, and to remove them when it is leaving ; and, 
 although, as previously stated, it is best under some 
 circumstances to let shims remain, it is, under others, 
 necessary that they be removed to prevent accident. 
 There are other matters connected with the action of 
 frost which are frequently overlooked, and which it 
 may be proper to mention here. 
 
 Planks at road-crossings are frequently raised- by 
 frost so as to be caught by the pilot, and cause more 
 or less damage. Sometimes these planks are so raised 
 that they become grooved and scraped by bolts hang- 
 ing from the pilot or from brake beams, and no notice 
 is taken of it until a plank becomes loose, and then 
 comes mischief. These planks should be watched and
 
 Ob DANGER FROM WOOD-PILES. 
 
 kept in a safe condition by taking them up and pick- 
 ing away from between the ties the frozen ballast, 
 which is usually the cause of the plank being disturbed. 
 It is obvious that if the ties rise with the plank there 
 can be no danger ; but when the plants are raised by 
 the expansion or heaving of the ballast between the 
 ties, so as to draw the spikes from the ties, or the spike- 
 heads through the plank, it then becomes dangerous, 
 and should be attended to. 
 
 Wood-piles are sometimes tipped over upon the 
 track by the action of frost in the spring of the year, 
 as it is leaving the ground. In winter long piles of 
 wood are often placed as near the track as possible, 
 leaving barely room for the safe passage of trains ; 
 and when a thaw commences it may go on more quickly 
 on the side next the track, in which case the top of 
 the pile may be thrown so near the track as to be dan- 
 gerous. When a wood-pile is seen to be settling to- 
 wards the track it should not be watched too long be- 
 fore taking measures to prevent it from falling. A pile 
 may appear safe, when the jar of an approaching train 
 might shake off a few sticks, which would be sufficient 
 to cause damage that a little more care on the part of 
 track-men might prevent.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 REPAIRING SWITCHES, FROGS, ETC. 
 
 BBHT SWITCH-BODS THE THROW OF SWITCHES CONNECT- 
 ING-BODS FROUS: CAST-STEEL PLATE AND RAIL FROGS- 
 FASTENING GUARD-RAILS SHORT GUARD-RAILS USELESS 
 TIXKERING. 
 
 IN yards where much switching is done, running 
 off at switches is a frequent occurrence, and switch- 
 rods are often so bent that the gauge of the switch is 
 made much too narrow. If these rods are not straight- 
 ened the ends of all the rails at the head of the switch 
 will be exposed to rough usage, as the switch-rails 
 will not meet in line with the others. It is best always 
 to keep spare rods on hand, to be used in case of a 
 run-off. The bent rods can then be taken to the shop 
 and straightened for future use. Rods may be pro- 
 tected by placing a tie on each side of them, leaving 
 just room enough between the ties for the rod to move 
 freely. In case of a run-off, the ties will relieve the 
 rods of the weight of the wheels and prevent bending. 
 The throw of switches should be nicely adjusted, 
 so that the head of the switch will meet in perfect line
 
 88 SWITCHES AND FROGS. 
 
 with the ends of all connecting rails. It is not uncom- 
 mon to see iron at switches exposed to the action of 
 wheel-flanges, and cut and gouged to such an extent 
 as to require removal before it has served out half its 
 time. Connecting-rods should be so constructed that 
 they may be lengthened or shortened, as may be nec- 
 essary, to adjust the throw of the switch, which would 
 prevent unnecessary wear of rail, and also of loco- 
 motive flanges. 
 
 There are certain kinds of frogs which need much 
 attention to keep them in place. The ordinary cast- 
 steel plated frogs are bad in this respect ; but they are 
 rapidly going out of use, giving place to elastic frogs 
 and what are known as rail frogs. All short frogs are 
 difficult to keep in place, and probably the rail frog is 
 superior to all others in regard to stability. Frogs are 
 often neglected after they become loose, both in their 
 bearings and laterally ; this often results in the break- 
 ing of the frog or in injuring the trains, and not un- 
 frequently in both. 
 
 Much injury is caused by putting a new frog with 
 old iron ; that is, iron that has been in use so long as 
 to be worn down considerably lower than the frog. 
 Or sometimes a rail of lower pattern is used next the 
 frogs, which causes the frog to be severely pounded by 
 every wheel that passes. There is scarcely anything 
 more disagreeable in railway practice than running a
 
 GUARD-RAILS. 89 
 
 locomotive over the hard, square, unyielding end of a 
 steel-plated frog that is from to ^ an inch higher 
 than the connecting rail ; but if you call the attention 
 of the track-man to it, he is very likely to tell you that 
 "it will soon wear down to the rail, and then it will be 
 all right." But when there is the slightest difference 
 between the height of the frog and rail, shims of iron 
 plates should be used to bring them to a level. A 
 nick should be cut in the plate for the spike, to pre- 
 vent its working out. If the rail is higher than the 
 frog (which is rarely the case), it can be chipped off 
 on the bottom so as to correspond with the height of 
 the frog ; and it will pay to be very particular in do- 
 ing this kind of work. 
 
 The fastenings to guard-rails should be of a more 
 substantial character than they often are. It is com- 
 mon to use cast fastenings on a great many roads, but 
 there are guards on other roads with no fastenings but 
 ordinary spikes, and a short guard-rail can not be well 
 secured by any number of these alone. In the absence 
 of castings it is common to fit a piece of plank into 
 the throat of the guard and spike it to the tie. This 
 answers a good purpose, but not less than two 
 should be used to each guard-rail, and the more the 
 better as many as there are ties to spike them to. 
 One of these braces alone, if placed near the middle 
 of a guard-rail, is worse than nothing ; for there is, of
 
 90 GUARD-RAILS. 
 
 course, more or less strain on the end of the guard- 
 rail, as it is pressed by the flanges of wheels, and if 
 only spikes are used at the end they will yield con- 
 siderably. Now if there is an unyielding fastening 
 in the middle, as is often the case, the shock takes 
 effect in the opposite direction, at the other end of the 
 guard ; and as trains pass in different directions the 
 action is reversed, the guard-rail acting as a double 
 lever, with the single plank or casting in the middle 
 as a fulcrum. In this manner a guard-rail will soon 
 be knocked loose, and not unfrequently thrown entirely 
 out of the track ; and the man who spiked it will 
 wonder why it is that the brace he took so much pains 
 to place in the center did not prevent its getting loose, 
 when it was, in reality, the cause of it. 
 
 The inefficiency of short guard-rails was mentioned 
 in a previous chapter ; but as they will, no doubt, be 
 frequently met with by repair-men, I should advise 
 them to take them up, throw them in the scrap heap, 
 and use good long ones instead, such as can be secured 
 in place and serve their purpose satisfactorily at all 
 times. 
 
 The common practice of putting a piece of plank or 
 a car stake between the frog and the guard-rail, for 
 the purpose of securing the latter, is a bad one. Guard- 
 rails sometimes receive severe pounding, and the frog 
 must receive a portion of the shock, which will in time
 
 USELESS TINKERING. 91 
 
 loosen the spikes which hold it in place, unless it is 
 well shouldered into the cross timbers that support it, 
 which is not always the case. There is usually an im- 
 mense amount of useless tinkering done among frogs 
 and switches that serves only to pass away time which 
 the company must pay for, and makes a great show of 
 work, while accomplishing nothing. 
 
 A great deal of work, too, is done on track repairs 
 before it is needed, for the sake of being busy, at a 
 useless waste of time and money. Of course there will 
 occasionally be a slack time, or times when there is 
 nothing particularly urgent on hand to do ; and it is 
 at these times that the foreman of track repairs has to 
 show his experience and judgment, in placing his men 
 where they can be best employed for the interest of 
 the company.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RENEWING TIES SHIFTING IKON. 
 
 THE WORK NOT so SIMPLE AS IT LOOKS NEEDS TO BB 
 DONE INTELLIGENTLY DIFFERENCE OF TIES How 
 TRACK is AFFECTED BY CHANGING TIES RAILS: WHEN 
 ENDS ARE BROOMED STEP-CHAIRS FOR LAYING RE- 
 PAIRED IRON ADJUSTING REPAIRED RAILS SPIKE- 
 vDRAWiNG PRESERVING THE GAUGE UNCURVED IRON 
 FOR CURVES. 
 
 WHEN ties have been selected and laid according 
 to the directions given in a former chapter, it will 
 be comparatively easy to replace old ties with new 
 ones ; otherwise it will be difficult to do it prop- 
 erly. I do not mean to be understood that it is a 
 very difficult affair to take out a decayed tie and put 
 a new and sound one in its place, as is done ordina- 
 rily ; but to do it well requires considerable care and 
 attention. The work is, however, too often entrusted 
 to a squad of inexperienced men, with no one to act 
 as foreman, under the delusion that any man or gang 
 of men is capable of doing it. This is a mistake, 
 and a serious one too, under which some of the best 
 track-men in the country are laboring. It is not gen-
 
 RENEWING TIES. 96 
 
 erally known by section-masters, or even road-mas- 
 ters, that a small tie has a heavier weight to sustain 
 than a large one, and that therefore it requires some 
 skill and intelligence to manage properly the appar- 
 ently simple operation of renewing ties. It is easily 
 understood that a small tie will settle into the ballast 
 further under the same load than a large one, and 
 that the rail will, in consequence, spring considerably 
 more when supported by the former than when over 
 the latter. Now let us suppose that several small 
 ties are placed next to several large ones and that the 
 small ones settle an inch more than the large ones, 
 (which is not an extravagant supposition) ; it is ob- 
 vious that the small ties are subjected to a blow of 
 six or eight tons, more or less, as the case may be, 
 falling one inch, in excess of what the larger ties 
 have to sustain. 
 
 Of course the section-men, in renewing ties, should 
 remove only such as are decayed. When ties vary 
 much in size, as they usually do, it is only the small 
 ones that require removal, as the large ones are capa- 
 ble of doing duty for a year, or perhaps several years 
 longer. If they have been assorted when first laid, 
 and those of a uniform size laid together, of course 
 each set of equal size will be so far decayed as to ren- 
 der it necessary to remove them all at one time, while 
 the next or adjoining set (length of iron), if larger,
 
 94 RENEWING TIES. 
 
 may remain for a time longer. In this way tbe rail 
 will receive a uniform support, as well when the new 
 ties are under it as it did with the old ones. If the 
 ties have been laid promiscuously, without regard to 
 size, then, in removing those which are decayed, a tie 
 will be taken out here and there ; and as a new tie, 
 well tamped, gives the rail a more solid foundation 
 than an old one, it has a bad effect on rolling stock, 
 and on the track also, giving the latter an uneven sup- 
 port. The condition of track, in regard to its so- 
 lidity, is subject to two changes under the operation 
 of removing ties when it is done at random : first, by 
 disturbing the road-bed under the ties newly laid, 
 while it remains solid under others ; next, after the 
 second tamping of the new ties, which is necessary 
 soon after they are put in, they become the most un- 
 yielding by reason of the greater solidity of the wood 
 now resting on an equally solid bearing in the ballast. 
 Any one riding on a locomotive over a track, after ties 
 have been removed and replaced at random, will ap- 
 pear to travel over a very uneven surface, owing to a 
 want of uniform support by the ties. Thus it will 
 be seen that there is room for the exercise of as much 
 care and attention in the simple operation of renew- 
 ing ties as in laying them at first, in order that the 
 track, and the company, may receive the full benefit 
 of so expensive an operation.
 
 UNIFORMITY IN TIES SHIFTING IRON. 95 
 
 Because a small tie has a heavier load to sustain 
 than a large one, it follows that when several small 
 ties are laid together, they will, under some circum- 
 stances, settle an inch or more in excess of larger 
 ones placed adjoining them. This may appear absurd 
 to many railroad men, especially to those who have 
 had the good fortune always to have been employed 
 on roads so well tied that there is barely room between 
 the ties for tamping ; which have, in fact, almost a 
 solid bed of timber with rails laid on of the heaviest 
 pattern. Unfortunately for the railroad community, 
 however, and the community at large, there are but 
 few such roads in the country ; and those whose ex- 
 perience has been on roads where ties are laid very 
 scatteringly and with a light rail will have no diffi- 
 culty in finding ample proof of the correctness of 
 what has been said. 
 
 Shifting Iron. 
 
 When a rail gets badly broomed at the ends, it is 
 taken to a shop and repaired by welding on a piece of 
 bar-iron to level it up to its former shape. A great 
 deal of iron remains sound and in good condition 
 throughout its entire length, after the ends have be- 
 come battered so as to render them unfit for use. It is 
 therefore a matter of economy to repair such rails, 
 and put them to further use, rather than to put new
 
 96 SHIFTING IRON STEP-CHAIRS. 
 
 iron in their place, as iron that is well repaired and 
 properly replaced in the track will answer nearly as 
 well as new iron for a long time. It requires con- 
 siderable care, however, in replacing it in the track, 
 to make repaired iron pay. Sometimes the end of a 
 rail that has been repaired is placed next to one that 
 has not been worn or battered sufficiently to require 
 removing. Tn such cases the ends of the repaired 
 rails, being higher than the adjoining ones, are exposed 
 to a severe pounding and are soon spoiled, so that re- 
 paired iron does not always pay expenses. In laying 
 repaired iron, what are known as step-chairs should 
 be used. These may be made of any of the ordinary 
 styles of cast chairs, but with the rail seat on one 
 side lower than that on the other, so that' rails vary- 
 ing somewhat in height may be placed together and 
 yet form a true and even joint, preventing all unnec- 
 essary wear or pounding of iron. The lips of step- 
 chairs should be made low and have both sides alike, 
 so that they may be used either side out, or on either 
 side of the track, as occasion may require. It is best 
 also to provide chairs of various patterns, with refer- 
 ence to the height of the step, that, varying slightly, 
 they may accommodate any variation in the height of 
 rails. The expense of furnishing these chairs is but 
 a trifle as compared to the saving they effect in the 
 wear of iron, and it is economy to use them even
 
 RELAYING IRON DRIVING AND DRAWING SPIKES. 97 
 
 when the variation in the height of the iron is very 
 slight. 
 
 The various operations in repairing track render it 
 frequently necessary to draw spikes from ties. Now 
 if, in replacing iron, the rails can occupy exactly the 
 same place as those taken out, and leave the gauge 
 correct, it is better to fill the spike-holes with sand 
 and drive the spikes in the old holes. For if these 
 are driven in new places every time, the tie soon be- 
 comes full of holes, which fill with water. Thus the 
 timber is softened under the rail and soon rots, while 
 all other portions remain sound. It is best, there- 
 fore, to drive spikes in the old holes, after filling or 
 plugging them up, unless there is some good rea- 
 son for driving them in a new place, in which case 
 the old holes should be tightly plugged to keep out 
 water. 
 
 In putting new iron in the place of old, it is the cus- 
 tom with many to draw the spikes only on one side of 
 the rail. In some cases this may be done to good 
 advantage, as it will save considerable labor, as well 
 as the damage to ties and spikes which is the result 
 of careless drawing. As old track is usually wide 
 gauge, if the new rails are wider on the tread than 
 the old ones, the gauge may occasionally be made 
 correct or nearly so, though the spikes are drawn on 
 one side only. But it is not worth while to be too par- 
 7
 
 98 ADJUSTING REPAIRED RAILS CURVES. 
 
 ticular about saving labor in this work to the sacri- 
 fice of a true gauge, and better, therefore, as a rule, 
 to draw all the spikes. Several miles of track might 
 have been seen, not long ago, on what is considered 
 a first-class road, where the laying of new iron had 
 reduced the gauge half an inch. The rails in conse- 
 quence were wearing out rapidly, and could last but 
 a short time under those conditions. In the same 
 way the use of iron of some other pattern, with a 
 broader base, might render a gauge ^ an inch or more 
 too wide ; and yet, judging from the practice of some 
 track -men, they are not aware that track iron is 
 made of more than one size or pattern, but believe 
 that all rails are alike. 
 
 In renewing iron, as in laying new track, curving 
 is often neglected. A car load of iron is run, per- 
 haps, hundreds of miles from where it was loaded, 
 to the spot where the iron is to be used, when it is 
 distributed from the car and laid without regard to 
 curving or straightening. If the iron is to be laid on 
 straight line, this plan is well enough, care being 
 taken to straighten such rails as have been kinked in 
 handling ; but if it is to be laid on a sharp curve, 
 it is better to unload it carefully at the end of the 
 curve, and then it can be properly curved and laid 
 from the iron car, or a hand car, as in laying new 
 track.
 
 BELAYING CURVED IRON. 99 
 
 In relaying iron that has been taken from the track 
 and repaired, it frequently happens that some which 
 has been in use on a curve is relaid on a straight line. 
 In such cases the curve should be well taken out of it 
 before laying it. At other times it is found convenient 
 to lay on curves iron which has previously been used 
 on a straight line, and this is often done without curv- 
 ing it. This matter does not generally receive the at- 
 tention its importance demands. Iron is taken out 
 for repairs and sent to a shop, which may be many 
 miles away, and when it is ready for use again it is 
 likely to be sent to some other part of the line, far 
 away from where it was taken out. As there is 
 no remedy for this, all iron coming from the rail 
 shops should be closely examined before laying it, 
 to see that it is in proper shape. The operations 
 of removing, repairing and relaying iron, are, alto- 
 gether, expensive, and if not well done will not 
 pay. From the report of the New York State En- 
 gineer, for year ending September, 1869, it ap- 
 pears, that the cost for repairs of iron in road bed, 
 in that State during the year, was $4,717,907.54 ; 
 and no doubt, fifty per cent, of this cost might have 
 been saved by proper care and attention in laying 
 the track, and by giving it proper care and attention 
 afterwards. 
 
 The cost of maintaining the permanent way is one
 
 100 UNNECESSARY EXPENSE OF PERMANENT WAY. 
 
 of the greatest obstacles to the profitable working 
 of any railroad ; but, as before said, this expense, 
 on some roads, is more than double what it need be, 
 if proper measures were taken to prevent all unnec- 
 essary wear to track iron.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SNOW AST) ICE. 
 
 SNOW-PLOWS INSUFFICIENT JEALOUSY OF MASTER MECHAN- 
 ICS A HINDRANCE TO THEIR IMPROVEMENT OTHER REA- 
 SONSCLEARING THE FLANGE-WAY SOME METHODS OF 
 DOING THIS. 
 
 IN some sections of the country the expense of re- 
 moving snow and ice from railroad tracks is enor- 
 mous, and as the work is usually done by section- 
 men, and often charged to the account of track re- 
 pairs, it may be proper to offer some hints on the 
 subject. 
 
 The clearing of snow from railroad track has not 
 received sufficient attention from managers, and track- 
 men are in a great measure powerless in this matter 
 without the co-operation of the superintendent and 
 master mechanic. The last named official is usually 
 on hand in case of a severe storm, with a huge snow- 
 plow, constructed in his shop, after his plan. This 
 commonly requires the united efforts of from three to 
 six locomotives to move it through enormous drifts of
 
 102 SNOW PLOWS. 
 
 snow, or through the deep cuts that are filled with it ; 
 and when once the monster, with wings extended, has 
 passed over the line, it returns to be made much of 
 by every mechanic who had the least part in its con- 
 struction, and increase the self-complacency of its de- 
 signer. There is hardly any first-class railroad in 
 snowy parts of the country but is provided with some 
 kind of " big snow-plow," and, as a general thing, 
 they are useful for removing heavy drifts of deep 
 snow; but they are apt to leave large quantities in the 
 flange-way, which soon become packed and frozen into 
 solid ice, offering a great obstruction to trains. What 
 is thus left to pack down in the flange-way is usually 
 neglected by the master mechanic and those under his 
 charge, and track-men are left to their own resources 
 to remove it, and it not unfrequently happens that 
 when a section-master applies to the foreman of the 
 shop for aid in perfecting or repairing some imple- 
 ment for clearing ice from the 'flange, he is insulting- 
 ly turned off with the reply that " the big plow has 
 been over the road, and that is sufficient." 
 
 When the first railroad was built in this country, 
 it was asked : " Can we run it in winter on account 
 of snow?" It was a question not easily answered 
 then, but after a few years' experience it was demon- 
 strated that, with proper appliances, snow would not 
 seriously interfere with railroad traffic, or, at least,
 
 SNOW PLOWS. 103 
 
 that the difficulty was not an insurmountable one. 
 Years later, very goo'd snow-plows were put in opera- 
 tion on some roads, but even the best of them were 
 not adopted on roads other than those for which they 
 were built, and there is not to this day any standard 
 snow-plow in use. The reason assigned is the great 
 reluctance of master mechanics generally to adopt 
 each other's improvements. However this may be, it 
 is certain that no thoroughly efficient snow-plow has 
 ever come into general use, and of all improvements 
 of a mechanical nature, pertaining to railroads, the 
 snow-plow may be said to be in the rear. There 
 seem to be at least two good reasons for this : one as 
 stated above, and the other that the article is needed 
 only a portion of the year, and it is somewhat in the 
 condition of the roof of a certain man's house ; when it 
 was fair weather it needed no repairs, and when it 
 rained he could not repair it. So with building a 
 snow-plow ; in hot summer weather, or in pleasant 
 weather in autumn, it is forgotten ; and when every 
 one is up to his ears in snow it is too late to commence 
 building one, as winter will soon be over and it will 
 not be needed. This is the excuse on some roads, 
 year after year, for not building a first-class snow- 
 plow ; and winter after winter their trains are lost in 
 some severe storm and not heard from for days at a 
 time. When the snow is all gone in the spring, the
 
 104 CLEARING FLANGE-WAYS OF SNOW AND ICE. 
 
 managers conclude they have had an unusually hard 
 winter and probably will never see the like again, 
 that it is at least doubtful if a snow- plow will be 
 needed the following winter and so none is built. 
 This is the practice of many companies year after 
 year. 
 
 But a more particular consideration of the snow- 
 plow belongs to another chapter. The matter in 
 hand is the work of clearing track of snow and ice, 
 in which track-men are especially interested. 
 
 When the flange-way of the track becomes filled 
 with hard snow, which soon forms into ice, it offers 
 great resistance to passing trains, and the wood or 
 coal pile is correspondingly diminished. This impor- 
 tant matter is often neglected by track-men, who, as 
 a general thing, imagine that if the surface of the 
 rail is clear, and passenger trains make time, and if 
 frieghts are not very much behind, the track is all 
 right. They do not consider that the passenger en- 
 gine which has passed them with such apparent ease 
 is using a large amount of fuel in excess of the ordi- 
 nary quantity, or they do not notice that the freight 
 trains are running with several cars less than their 
 usual number, on account of the flange being full of 
 snow and ice. It is no excuse for to-day that the 
 flanges were cleared out yesterday , for when there is 
 snow on the ground, it is constantly sifting along and
 
 DEVICES OF CLEARING FLANGE-WAYS. 105 
 
 drifting into the flange-way, where it is soon packed 
 into ice by passing trains, and makes hard traveling. 
 Some roads in the country have an apparatus attached 
 to the front of the locomotive or under a car for clear- 
 ing flanges as the train passes along. This is a relief 
 to track-men, and, if the contrivance works well, it is 
 equally beneficial to train-men and profitable to the 
 company. It is, however, difficult to operate such 
 appliances successfully, on account of the liability of 
 the scraper to catch on chairs, frogs, crossing-planks, 
 etc. There is in use on some roads a very efficient 
 contrivance that can be raised on approaching cross- 
 ings, etc., but owing to the difficulty of raising it at 
 the proper time, it has not come into general use. 
 In most cases, track-men cannot make better use of 
 their time in winter than in clearing the flanges, and 
 by doing this thoroughly they may save the company 
 a handsome sum out of current expenses.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A WORD TO SUPERINTENDENTS AND ROAD- 
 MASTERS. 
 
 INEXPERIENCED SUPERINTENDENTS APT TO APPOINT IN- 
 EFFICIENT ROAD-MASTERS ROAD-MASTERS NEED A 
 PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE OF DETAILS IN REPAIRS THEIR 
 DUTIES OFTEN TOO MULTIFARIOUS SECTION-MASTERS 
 NEED MINUTE INSTRUCTION RIDING IN "PALACE CARS" 
 ROAD-MASTERS AS LIKELY TO INJURE THE ROAD BY 
 ZEAL FOR ECONOMY AS BY EXTRAVAGANCE As A CLASS 
 
 THEY ABE NOT OVER-WILLING TO BE INSTRUCTED. 
 
 THERE are many railroad superintendents who owe 
 their appointments, not to their experience in any 
 capacity as railroad men, but to a financial interest 
 in the road, or through the favor of their stockhold- 
 ing friends. These gentlemen frequently make poor 
 selections in the choice of men to act as road-masters. 
 They very naturally suppose that any one who has 
 been found capable of acting as engineer or engi- 
 neer's assistant will make a good road-master, and to 
 a certain extent this supposition is correct. There 
 are, however, very few men whose experience has 
 been limited to engineering who make good road-mas-
 
 THE SELECTION OF ROAD-MASTERS. 107 
 
 ters, because they have had no opportunity to observe 
 the many important details of repairs, which they 
 must leave to the section-masters. These, as a class, 
 do not take as much interest in the matter as they 
 should and generally depend on the road-master for 
 instructions ; and it is therefore important that those 
 who act in the latter capacity should be men whose 
 practical experience enables them to instruct section- 
 masters in all matters in their line of duty. When 
 railroad building was in its infancy, or rather in its 
 ".teens," there was a lack of experienced railroad 
 men and many companies were forced to employ in- 
 competent and inexperienced persons. Now, however, 
 the case is different, and notwithstanding there are so 
 many miles of road now in course of construction in 
 this country, the supply of good men in any capacity is 
 more plentiful than ever before. It is not difficult at 
 the present day to procure a first-class man as road- 
 master, and as the superintendent has no more important 
 assistant than that functionary, it is important that he 
 should be very careful in making the appointment. 
 It is also important, when a superintendent has 
 secured a good road-master, that he should not burden 
 him with too many responsibilities. He is frequently 
 expected to act as conductor of a gravel or wood train, 
 as wood agent, agent for the supply of bridge, and 
 fencing timber and lumber, besides a host of other
 
 108 INEFFICIENCY OF ROAD-MASTERS. 
 
 duties, which he cannot perform without neglecting 
 important matters on the track. A superintendent 
 should. never require a road-master to perform any 
 service unconnected with track repairs if it can be 
 avoided. The business of road-master, if performed 
 thoroughly, requires the constant attention of a wide- 
 awake, energetic man, and it is not economy to re- 
 quire him to perform many duties outside of his de- 
 partment. A man who has had practical experience 
 on track repairs, first as a common laborer, then as a 
 second hand, and finally as section-master, and who 
 has keen observation and business tact, will make a 
 better road-master than one who is a professional en- 
 gineer with no other qualifications. 
 
 Road-masters are not generally careful enough to 
 give full instruction to section-masters ; and whatever 
 particular is thus overlooked by the former is apt to 
 be left undone by the latter, much to the disadvantage 
 of the company. 
 
 It is too much the practice of road-masters to do a 
 great part of their business in the office, or while rid- 
 ing in a Pullman palace car from one end of the road 
 to the other. There are a great many roads having 
 elegant cars, gilded in the highest style of art, running 
 over track that is in a wretched condition, owing, in a 
 great measure, to carelessness on the part of the road- 
 master. It is not, of course, always the fault of the
 
 DUTIES OF ROAD-MASTERS. 109 
 
 road-master that the track is in a bad condition, be- 
 cause sometimes when the ties are decayed and require 
 removal, the superintendent will not furnish the nec- 
 essary material for repairs in the way of new ties or 
 iron, and the road-master is consequently restricted 
 in the performance of his duty. 
 
 But perhaps no greater cause can be assigned for 
 the bad condition of railroad track throughout the 
 country than the desire on the part of the road- 
 master to make his account as light as possible. It 
 is not expected that a road-master will either freely 
 use the company's money to build up his own reputa- 
 tion, or that he will practice economy to such an ex- 
 tent as to injure the road ; but it is sometimes the 
 case that he has full permission to order all the mate- 
 rial he may think necessary, and he will now and 
 then abuse this privilege. That is to say, he will or- 
 der more new ties or iron than are really necessary, 
 for the sake of establishing a reputation as a first-class 
 road-master, which reputation is gained at the com- 
 pany's expense. There are others who take a differ- 
 ent view of the matter, and, seeking to gain a name 
 for economy, do not order as many ties or as much 
 iron as are really necessary for the good of the com- 
 pany. These extreme practices have a common object 
 in view, viz., to make the reputation of road-masters, 
 while both are fatal to the interests of the companies.
 
 110 DUTIES OF ROAD-MASTERS. 
 
 A section-master cannot be expected to keep track 
 in good order without being supplied with the neces- 
 sary material, and when that supply is furnished it 
 should be the business of the road-master to see that 
 such material is properly used. If he has any section- 
 master who does not thoroughly understand how to 
 use the material properly, he should give as much 
 of his time as possible to the instruction of such sec- 
 tion-master and the supervision of his work. 
 
 Road-masters may gain valuable information by 
 reading what others have to say, who have had op- 
 portunity to observe the various effects of certain prac- 
 tices in track repairs. Perhaps it may not sound 
 well to say that road-masters, as a class, are the 
 most stubborn of all classes of railroad men in their 
 unwillingness to receive instruction from ' others. 
 Such, however, is the case. But while some never 
 try to learn, and some cannot learn if they try, there 
 are others (let us hope the number is increasing) who 
 can and do profit by what they read. 
 
 The most important points connected with track re- 
 pairs have now been discussed. There are, however, 
 other matters connected with the operation that need 
 attention, and a few words on the subject will be 
 sufficient to give some section-masters or track-men 
 generally some ideas that may be. new to them and 
 valuable to the company.
 
 TO SECTION-MASTERS. Ill 
 
 It has been pointed out that side-ties are often im- 
 properly laid. Here is an important subject for the 
 consideration of the section-master. It is the cus- 
 tom with most section-masters to run a hand car over 
 their track day after day and when they come to a 
 bad joint to stop and " fix it ; " and there are certain 
 joints that require " fixing " every day. This is, as" 
 before stated, owing to the position of the side-ties. 
 The proper way to avoid this every-day tinkering 
 is to dig away the gravel, draw the spikes, and put 
 the misplaced ties in proper position ; and this meth- 
 od is true economy, for the common practice has cost 
 many a railroad company thousands of dollars which 
 might have been saved by better management.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ON FIEE AND WATER AS ENEMIES ALSO ON 
 PKESEBVING FENCES. 
 
 WASHING ATVAY OF EMBANKMENTS INSTANCE OF NEGLECT 
 AND ITS CONSEQUENCES VIGILANCE NEEDED AT THE SEA- 
 SON OF FRESHETS DUTY OF SECTION-MASTERS POWER OF 
 WATER NOT FULLY REALIZED BY SECTION-MENACTION 
 OF WATER IN DEEP CUTTINGS SURFACE DITCHES HAND- 
 CAR PRACTICE FIRES : BURNING WASTE ; BRIDGE-BURN- 
 ING, AND ITS CAUSES BREAKS IN FENCES MAY BE HIDDEN 
 BY WEEDS FALLING TREES DANGER OF LEAVING FENCES 
 BROKEN. 
 
 IN many sections of the country the nature of the 
 soil is such that a sudden fall of rain will frequent- 
 ly wash away the embankments ; and many a frightful 
 accident has occurred in consequence of a rain fall 
 which the section-master has not regarded as at all 
 dangerous. But in no case are vigilance and 
 promptness more needed. Even in the night-time, 
 if a section-master is awakened by a sudden and se- 
 vere storm, it is best for him to bestir himself, and 
 look over his track before any train is due. The 
 writer once cautioned a section-master to look closely
 
 CARE QF ROAD-BEDS. 113 
 
 to an embankment composed mostly of sand, in which 
 a drenching rain had made a small channel, and which 
 it was rapidly undermining ; and by reason of his 
 giving no heed to the warning a whole train was 
 wrecked, with a loss of several lives and several thou- 
 sand dollars' damage to property. This is not men- 
 tioned as a solitary instance of the kind, because 
 occurrences of this kind are frequent at some seasons 
 of the year. Within a few years a station building 
 on a New England road was washed entirely from its 
 foundation, and an excavation one hundred feet in 
 depth was made on the site of the building. This 
 was done in less than an hour's time. Such an oc- 
 currrence, though an extreme case, may, nevertheless, 
 serve as a warning. 
 
 Care of Road-Bed in Freshets. 
 
 Attentive readers of the daily papers cannot fail to 
 notice the frequent occurrence of frightful accidents 
 at certain seasons of the year, caused by the sudden 
 washing away, or undermining, of embankments. It 
 will be seen, however, that these do not take place so 
 often in the spring and fall of the year, when freshets 
 and storms prevail, because at such periods all hands 
 are on the watch. Section-masters are more vigilant ; 
 engineers run their trains with greater caution ; brake- 
 men, instead of taking the most comfortable vacant
 
 114 CARE OF ROAD-BEDS. 
 
 seat they can find, sit astride the brake-wheel, ready 
 for action at the first signal of danger. It is in mid- 
 summer, when the rough spring weather is over, and 
 the usual spring freshets have passed, that some of 
 the worst accidents on record have happened. These 
 are attributable to the sudden and severe storms 
 which are frequently experienced in this country, 
 crossing it from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It is not 
 pleasant for a railroad man to take a hand car, or 
 go on foot, over several miles of track in a severe 
 storm ; but every section-master should bear in mind 
 that at such times his services are most valuable 
 to the company. It is his duty to make exami- 
 nations, especially of those portions of road-bed 
 which he may have reason to believe most liable- 
 to damage by the storm ; for, of course there are 
 places on every railroad that are more likely to 
 be affected by storms than others. It is to be 
 regretted that the average section -master is not 
 aware of the power of water, and does not real- 
 ize the damage that may be done in a short time 
 by even a small quantity of water when condi- 
 tions favor its action. Miners in California use 
 water to tear down mountains, and, if properly ap- 
 plied, a very small quantity accomplishes great re- 
 sults. Of course they use artificial means to bring 
 the water to bear with its greatest force ; but ua-
 
 ACTION OF WATER IN DEEP CUTTINGS. 115 
 
 ture has her means too, which are ample, in given 
 circumstances, to invest water with terrible powers of 
 destruction. 
 
 For example : In heavy cuttings serious accidents 
 have occurred by the undermining of boulders and 
 huge rocks, by the action of a very small quantity of 
 water in a short time. 
 
 There is a road in this country which occupies an 
 enviable position on the list of first-class roads, 
 and yet has had its full share of disaster ; and 
 the action of water in deep cuttings has been to 
 it the greatest cause of danger and damage. All 
 roads in mountainous districts are more or less 
 troubled in the same way, yet some companies, by 
 taking proper preventive measures, have suffered com- 
 paratively little. 
 
 Surface ditches are probably the best safeguards 
 against the danger under remark ; and it is strange 
 that they are not more generally used for that pur- 
 pose. A surface ditch is one that is dug on the top 
 of the slope, but at a sufficient distance from its edge 
 to prevent the water in it from breaking through and 
 rushing down the slope. It is not expensive, the 
 protection it gives to track is considerable, and track- 
 men should see that one is dug in all places where 
 it may be needed.
 
 116 THE PREVENTION OF FIRES. 
 
 Hand-Car Practice Fires. 
 
 When section-men are passing over the road with 
 a hand-car, going to or from work, they do not usual- 
 ly take as much notice of matters along the way as 
 they should, especially in regard to fire. Careless 
 firemen frequently throw overboard handfuls of dirty 
 waste, which at any time may be ignited by a spark 
 from a passing locomotive. Hence the fire may be 
 carried into the dry grass by the roadside, afterwards 
 into the fence, and soon to the hay-stacks, buildings, 
 wood-piles, etc. There are certain times in the year 
 when such accidents are more likely to occur than at 
 others, and much property is destroyed in that way, 
 which, with proper attention, might have been pre- 
 served. I do not undertake to say that all fires of 
 this nature may be prevented; but it is notorious 
 that track-men frequently pass handfuls of burning 
 waste, or a stump that has caught fire from a spark, 
 without deeming it worthy of notice. Now, when a 
 gang of track-men engaged at work discover a smoke 
 on a line, they should at once attend to it ; and it 
 should be a rule at all times never to neglect the 
 least indication thai a fire has caught on the line. 
 On more than one occasion expensive bridges have 
 been destroyed, owing to the section-men's neglect 
 to stop the hand-car and remove a live coal of fire
 
 THE PREVENTION OF FIRES. 117 
 
 dropped by a locomotive, or to put out a fire caused 
 by a spark from a smoke-stack lodging in a decayed 
 spot of timber. It is well known that a bridge may 
 be perfectly safe in regard to the soundness of its 
 timbers, and yet have a small knot partially decayed, 
 or " punky, " as it is termed. This does not impair 
 the strength of the timber to any great extent, but 
 it is extremely combustible and may be ignited 
 by a single spark ; and when the fire has "once 
 caught, it may remain for days unnoticed. Then 
 all at once, when the wind is right, the entire 
 structure may be consumed in a few moments. It 
 will thus be seen that bridge-burning does not nec- 
 essarily show neglect on the part of track-men ; 
 for, as above stated, fire may remain a long time in 
 the timber without being discovered, and at last 
 spread too rapidly to be checked. All these are 
 exceptional cases. 
 
 It is a good plan for the track-men to examine 
 bridges in dry weather, every time they cross. On 
 some bridges that have cost large sums and are in 
 exposed places watchmen are employed night and 
 day, yet, even with this precaution, many expen- 
 sive bridges have been destroyed by fire. Small 
 bridges, and stringers on culverts, etc , need watch- 
 ing as much as larger structures; as not unfre- 
 quently a coal or spark may drop on a stringer or
 
 118 BRIDGE-BURNING FENCES. 
 
 rail-plate, and so burn it as to cause a train to 
 fall through. Some of the worst wrecks on record 
 have been taken out of culverts where a stringer 
 has been nearly burned through. Fire and water 
 are admirable servants to railroad men, but if not 
 watched narrowly they are apt to prove their worst 
 enemies. 
 
 Fences. 
 
 It is of the utmost importance that track-men 
 should note well the condition of fences. In some 
 places these are so overrun with weeds and under- 
 brush that a serious break may be hidden from 
 a careless eye ; and, in fact, it is too often over- 
 looked. In other cases a rail will be knocked off 
 the fence, or a break be made by a fallen tree ; 
 and it not unfrequently happens that such damages 
 go from day to day unrepaired, giving cattle an 
 opportunity to get on the track. Now when cattle 
 are pastured alongside of a railroad, they are tempted 
 by the good growth of grass across the fence, and 
 are generally more apt than the track-men to no- 
 tice a break in the fence. Surely it is far better 
 lo stop a hand-car and repair a fence, than to sub- 
 ject a company to damages for killing stock, with 
 the additional expense, occasionally, of a wrecked 
 train.
 
 PRESERVATION OF FENCES. 119 
 
 In a word, men when passing over the road with 
 a hand-car should keep their eyes open, and be 
 prompt to remedy every defect they discover. It 
 should be a rule never to postpone any work of re- 
 pairs that can be done on the instant.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 ON RAILROAD ACCIDENTS. 
 
 PREVENTABLE AND NON-PREVENTABLE ACCIDENTS ILLUS- 
 TRATED NEWSPAPER CRITICS A WORD TO NEWSPAPER 
 MEN WHAT ACCIDENTS MAY BE CLASSED AS UNAVOIDA- 
 BLECOLLISIONS : FROM BREAKING OF CAR-COUPLINGS ; 
 FROM MISUNDERSTANDING BY TRAIN-MEN ; BETWEEN 
 GRAVEL AND PASSENGER TRAINS CHEAP AND IGNORANT 
 FOREIGN LABOR PROMPT USE OF LIGHTS NARRATIVE OF 
 A COLLISION BROKEN (USUALLY CHEAP) AXLESCRACKED 
 WHEELS BROKEN RAILS WHO is BLAMEWORTHY MIS- 
 PLACED SWITCHES FALSE ECONOMY CONCLUSION. 
 
 To say that all railroad accidents might be pre- 
 vented would be to make a rash assertion ; but to say 
 that a large portion of them might be avoided would 
 not be extravagant. When railroad accidents are 
 classified, it is seen that there are some classes, all, 
 or nearly all, of which might be prevented by means 
 within the power or every railroad company. And 
 there is one class at least which it would seem cannot 
 be prevented by any human power or forethought. 
 In the latter class may be reckoned, in the present 
 state of our knowledge, such as are caused by sudden
 
 UNAVOIDABLE ACCIDENTS. 121 
 
 and severe storms, which tear away embankments or 
 precipitate rocks and earth upon the track in deep cut- 
 tings or on mountain sides. This class of accidents 
 has been incidentally mentioned when cautioning 
 track-men to be vigilant in case of storms, and pre- 
 vent accidents as far as possible by giving warning to 
 trains in case of danger. There are, however, cases 
 when it would seem that the utmost vigilance on the 
 part of track-men would not prevent disaster. Many 
 times men have been sent over the road to see that 
 all was safe, just before a train was due ; yet, during 
 the short space of time between their passing a cer- 
 tain point and finding it safe and the time for the ar- 
 rival of the train at that point, a violent storm has 
 swept away the track, and the train has been precip- 
 itated into an awful chasm. Accidents of this kind 
 are not unfrequent, and there does not seem to be 
 any way of preventing them except by stationing men 
 along the line in places where such accidents might 
 occur, to warn trains of danger. This has been, and 
 continues to be, the practice on some roads ; yet, not- 
 withstanding the precaution, such accidents have still 
 occurred. The illustrated newspapers have interested 
 the public on many occasions with engravings of 
 these frightful disasters, taken from a sketch made 
 on the spot by "our special artist." These illus- 
 trations are usually accompanied by very minute de-
 
 122 UNAVOIDABLE ACCIDENTS. 
 
 scriptions of the catastrophe, and generally wind up 
 by assuming gross carelessness on the part of some 
 one, and charging the officers of the road with neglect 
 of their duties. 
 
 The daily papers of the country have of late, and 
 indeed for years past, been very severe on the rail- 
 road managers in their accounts of what they usually 
 term " the last railroad murder. " In many cases 
 such language is hardly too severe ; for although it 
 would not be fair to suppose that any railroad man- 
 ager would deliberately subject himself to so serious 
 a charge, yet the frequency of accidents on some roads 
 makes it clear that there is far too little regard for hu- 
 man life or the interest of the road. On the other 
 hand, it would be well for newspaper men to bear in 
 mind that in railroad operations, as in every other 
 business, accidents will happen in spite of every effort 
 to prevent them ; and in such cases it serves no worthy 
 purpose to occupy two or three columns in abusing 
 the manager of a railroad. All such disasters as are 
 caused by act of Providence, of course, cannot be 
 prevented by any human agency, and no one should 
 be blamed for them. Among these may be classed 
 such as are caused by tornadoes, lightning, and those 
 sudden and awful rain storms that sometimes visit va- 
 rious parts of the country and destroy hundreds of 
 feet of enbankment in a few moments. Fires may,
 
 WIIAT ACCIDENTS ARE UNAVOIDABLE. 123 
 
 under some circumstances, be properly put into this 
 class of accidents ; so may, in some measure, the 
 breaking of wheels, axles, etc., which can not always 
 be avoided. Although these may have been selected 
 with great care, and thoroughly tested in regard to 
 their strength, they will at times give way without any 
 apparent cause. There are other accidents of a kin- 
 dred nature which may also be classed as unavoidable, 
 such as the breaking of car-couplings, for instance. 
 It is generally the custom to make car-couplings of 
 sufficient strength to withstand a much heavier strain 
 than they are ever expected to be subjected to. This 
 is done as a measure of safety, and the idea is 
 correct; but the constant friction to which the links 
 are exposed will, after a time, wear and weaken them 
 to such an extent that they frequently fail to bear the 
 strain imposed upon them. Trains have parted while 
 ascending a heavy grade, when, if there had been no 
 brakemen on the detached cars, they would of course 
 have run back down the incline. And sometimes a 
 collision has occurred with a following train. These 
 accidents have been rather more numerous than is 
 generally supposed. Formerly they were more fre- 
 quent than now, as it is a general rule on all roads to 
 station a brakeman on the rear car to prevent them. 
 This precaution does not always suffice, for the reason 
 that there are often so many cars on the detached
 
 124 COLLISIONS. 
 
 portion of the train that one brakeraan can not con- 
 trol them, and if the train following has been running 
 a little closer to the train ahead than the orders allow, 
 a collision is the result. This may be attributed to 
 mere carelessness, and sometimes at least the charge 
 would be fairly made. A rear brakeman, by leaving 
 his post for a short time to have a friendly chat with 
 his next brakeman, has been the immediate cause of 
 such mischief. But it not unfrequently happens that 
 a coupling link works the pin out when the train is on 
 a descending grade, and thus the train is divided. 
 This can not fairly be charged to carelessness ; for no 
 amount of care and attention would prevent the pos- 
 sibility of the pin working out, though it might pre- 
 vent serious consequences ensuing. The breaking of 
 links is in most cases due to their becoming much 
 worn, bent and twisted, and thereby rendered unsafe. 
 Doubtless many accidents are caused by the use of 
 links in this condition. As soon as a link shows the 
 least sign of weakness it should be laid aside. 
 
 These accidents, though occurring in many different 
 ways, may be generally classed as avoidable. Yet it 
 is at times extremely difficult to say who is to blame 
 and how much. A misunderstanding between train- 
 men and others interested in the running of trains is 
 the most common cause of collision ; and when this is 
 made apparent, and all parties are found to have acted
 
 COLLISIONS CAUSED BY CARELESSNESS. 125 
 
 in good faith, it seems hard to censure anybody. Yet 
 it would seem that either the rules of the road must 
 be defective, or the persons employed to carry them 
 out deficient in the necessary intelligence and care- 
 fulness. 
 
 At the present day, however, such accidents are less 
 frequent than formerly, There are obvious reasons 
 for this, which will be apparent to any railroad man 
 on giving the matter a little thought. 
 
 There is now and then an account in the newspapers 
 of a frightful collision on some of the old roads; but 
 this class of accidents is mostly confined to new roads, 
 where no regular system of operating has yet been es- 
 tablished, and where ballast trains, etc., are running, 
 which are very likely to be out of time, or directly in 
 the way when regular trains are due. With few ex- 
 ceptions, the most frequent and destructive collisions 
 have occurred on new roads, between gravel and regu- 
 lar trains, owing to the former blocking up the road. 
 This is no "inscrutable dispensation," bat the result 
 of sheer carelessness. Any accident that is caused by 
 ignorance or neglect, is, of course, of the avoidable 
 kind. If railroad superintendents would exercise 
 more caution in the selection or appointment of men 
 to responsible positions (and what position is not a re- 
 sponsible one?) there would be fewer collisions. It 
 has become the custom of late, with most railroad
 
 126 COLLISIONS "ECONOMICAL MANAGEMENT." 
 
 companies, to put a certain class of foreigners to per- 
 form duties which, for the profitable management of 
 the business, require more intelligence than they gen- 
 erally possess. There are men of this sort in charge 
 of working trains, on many roads, who can scarcely 
 tell the time by a watch. This is a specimen of the 
 "economy" before mentioned, and probably no one 
 has practiced this kind of economy for any length of 
 time without furnishing ample evidence to condemn it, 
 and to show the importance of putting none but in- 
 telligent, wide-awake men in charge of working 
 trains. 
 
 In regard to collisions commonly viewed as un- 
 avoidable, many have no doubt occurred in time of 
 heavy fog, when, in a clear night, a light might have 
 been seen a sufficient distance to prevent accident 
 such for instance, as a hind train running into a pre- 
 ceding one which had broken down. Of course, if 
 the leading train, on meeting with an accident, were 
 to send a light back far enough, it would prevent col- 
 lision, if the light could be seen at all ; but when a 
 following train runs rather close to the leading one, 
 there would hardly be time, after a serious accident, 
 to send a light back far enough to prevent a collision. 
 There are various ways in which a collision might oc- 
 cur during a fog, which would be avoided in clear 
 weather.
 
 COLLISIONS WILL OCCUR AN INSTANCE. 127 
 
 There is a well managed road in one of the Mid- 
 dle States which was in operation for twenty years 
 without having to record a single accident to trains or 
 injury to passengers. Then came a terrible collision, 
 partly in consequence of a misunderstanding, and 
 partly because of a thick fog which was prevailing at 
 the time. It was usual, when an express train ar- 
 rived at the terminal station, for another fast train to 
 pull out and go over the road in an opposite direction. 
 Four miles from the terminal station was another sta- 
 tion, where, on certain occasions, if the train coming 
 in was a little late, the two trains would meet. On 
 the occasion referred to, the train coming in was only 
 a trifle late, so it was concluded to proceed to the 
 next station. The conductor of the train going out had 
 by some means got the idea that he was to meet the 
 in-coming train at the station before mentioned, and 
 the conductor of the last mentioned train understood 
 that he was to reach the terminal station as soon as 
 possible. In consequence, the trains met with a fear- 
 ful crash. As the engineer of each train was making 
 his best time to get to the station ahead of him, be- 
 fore the other train came out, the trains were running 
 at a high velocity, yet, strange as it may seem, the, loss 
 of life was but trifling, compared to that occasioned 
 by similar accidents elsewhere ; although both trains 
 were completely wrecked, involving a severe loss to
 
 128 ON PREVENTING ACCIDENTS. 
 
 the company. In this case it was argued that the con- 
 ductors of both trains were to blame, yet they were 
 guided by exactly the rules which they had been prac- 
 ticing for years with success. The main point in the 
 argument for the defense was the fog. It is doubt- 
 ful, under the circumstances, whether those trains 
 could have been run even in a clear day, at the same 
 velocity, without coming in contact. But putting 
 aside this question, the instance is given to show that 
 accidents of the kind will occur in spite of all pre- 
 cautions to prevent them. 
 
 It has been shown that there are certain accidents 
 which happen in the common course of events, and for 
 which no blame can be rightfully laid upon any one. 
 There seems, however, to be an almost imperceptible 
 line of division between such disasters and those that 
 are the result of carelessness. 
 
 But admitting that there are many and various ways 
 in which a railroad train may come to grief, for which 
 there is no apparent remedy; there are many cases 
 where the ounce of prevention, which is better than 
 a pound of cure, may be applied to good advantage. 
 
 On some roads, broken axles seem to be a more 
 prevalent disease than on others, and this is owing, 
 doubtless, to the managers working on the pound of 
 cure plan. That is, they wish to economize, and do 
 so by purchasing cheap axles, which keep them in con-
 
 WHEELS, AXLES AND RAILS. 129 
 
 stant trouble by their frequent failures. The verdict : 
 " Caused by a broken axle," is often rendered of late, 
 and this class of accidents is not diminishing, but con- 
 tinues to be alarmingly frequent Car wheels have 
 been greatly improved within a short time, and acci- 
 dents from broken wheels appear to be less frequent 
 than in the early days of railroading in this country ; 
 yet, in some instances, cracked wheels have been run 
 a little too long, and have occasioned damage. Mis- 
 chief has arisen from running a wheel which has had 
 a piece broken out of its flange ; and, indeed, it is 
 not strange that accidents are frequent on some roads 
 where little attention is paid to defective wheels and 
 axles. 
 
 Some of the worst accidents have been caused by 
 broken rails. In most cases this is the result of care- 
 lessness on the part of track-men. In others, the 
 managers are at fault for not providing iron to replace 
 that which has become dangerous by being battered 
 and worn. Battered iron requires constant attention 
 to keep it in a safe condition, and the least neglect on 
 the part of any one connected with replacing or repair- 
 ing rails may have serious consequences. The break- 
 ing of a sound rail is a rare occurrence. Most acci- 
 dents happen on roads where the iron is known to be 
 unsound, and all such accidents can be avoided. It 
 is true that, in frosty localities, rails sometimes break 
 9
 
 130 RUNNING OFF AT SWITCHES TYLER'S SWITCH. 
 
 which were supposed to be safe, but even here it is 
 usually the unsound rails which give way, and, as 
 these can be easily detected by a practiced eye, it 
 follows that the accident that they give rise to might 
 be prevented by proper caution. 
 
 Running off at Switches 
 
 Misplaced switches have been the cause of more 
 accidents than anything else'; and several years ago 
 these accidents were so frequent that timid persons, 
 while on a train, were in constant fear of becoming 
 victims of some frightful catastrophe. Switches and 
 switch-tenders are improving in regard to safety, but 
 serious accidents, with which they are connected, are 
 still frequent. There is a kind of switch, known as 
 Tyler's Safety Switch,* much used on many New 
 England roads, that seems to be very efficient, and 
 may be regarded as sure and safe at all times. This 
 switch was patented, but, as the patent has expired, 
 any railroad company that wishes to use it can do so 
 without fear of prosecution. There is no doubt that 
 the companies who have used this switch have saved 
 thousands of dollars by it, and it is singular that it has 
 not been more generally adopted. There are other 
 switches that seem to be all that could well be desired 
 
 *Descrlbed and illustrated on p. 61, Vol. III. RAILROAD GAZETTE.
 
 BRIDGE SIGNALS. 131 
 
 to ensure safety, but neither have they come into ex- 
 tensive use ; possibly because the inventors are poor, 
 and want a trifle for their patents. Running off at 
 switches may in most cases be avoided by the exercise 
 of ordinary care on the part of switchmen and engi- 
 neers, and any accident of this kind may generally be 
 charged to carelessness. 
 
 The list of railroad accidents is a long one, and, 
 although a great many on the list are not of a serious 
 nature, yet it is impossible for even a slight accident 
 to occur without more or less expense to the company ; 
 and many times those slight accidents are accompanied 
 with the loss of life. Some of the most lamentable 
 that ever happened in this country have taken place 
 at drawbridges, owing to the neglect of the bridge- 
 tender to change the signal when the draw was open. 
 These disasters were so frequent a few years ago, and 
 their results of so ruinous a character, that most of 
 the companies operating roads where drawbridges are 
 used have been driven to adopt signals specially for 
 their prevention. There are signals so connected with 
 the machinery of the draw that there can be no mis- 
 take as to whether it is open or not, and no running 
 off at drawbridges is therefore likely to occur in future, 
 where such preventive means exist, except as the re- 
 sult of derangement of the signal apparatus and neg- 
 lect to put it in repair.
 
 132 FALSE ECONOMY. 
 
 In explaining the causes of railroad accidents, per- 
 haps the most comprehensive cause should not be over- 
 looked, namely the too great desire on the part of 
 stockholders and managers to save money. This is 
 the prime source from which most of the causes of rail- 
 road accidents arise. And the way to remove them 
 is to be found in a more liberal supply of necessary 
 material, and in securing, even at some increase of 
 cost, a greater efficiency on the part of employes. 
 
 There is no surer way to prevent accidents than to 
 be always on the look-out for them, not forgetting that 
 they almost always come from a direction where they 
 are least expected. The opinion prevails with many 
 that railroad traveling is more dangerous than any 
 other mode, and yet reliable figures show that the per- 
 centage of travelers on railroads who are maimed or 
 killed on their journey is far less than that of persons 
 by the old-fashioned public coaches and private con- 
 veyances. It would be folly, of course, to rest con- 
 tent with such a comparison, and sit down compla- 
 cently under removable evils. Accidents on railroads 
 are yet far too numerous, and it is hoped that what has 
 been said will help to draw attention to their causes 
 and the remedies. The reformer's voice will only be 
 effectually silenced when railroad men learn to work on 
 the maxim "Eternal vigilance is the price of- 
 SAFETY."
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Elevation of the Outer Rail on Curves. 
 
 THE proper elevation of the outer rail on curves is of 
 the utmost importance ; yet on few roads in this country is 
 this properly attended to. The less the radius of curva- 
 ture and the greater the speed, the greater should be the 
 elevation of the outer rail. The annexed table is accord- 
 ing to this theory : 
 
 Radius of 
 
 Elevation of the Oute 
 in miles 
 
 r Rail in Inches; 
 per hour being 
 
 the velocity 
 
 in feet being 
 
 10. 
 
 20. 
 
 30. 
 
 500 
 
 0.57 
 
 2.83 
 
 6.56 
 
 1,000 
 
 0.29 
 
 1.43 
 
 3.30 
 
 2,000 
 
 0.15 
 
 0.71 
 
 1.65 
 
 3,000 
 
 0.10 
 
 0.47 
 
 1.10 
 
 4,000 
 
 0.07 
 
 0.36 
 
 0.83 
 
 5,000 
 
 0.0(5 
 
 0.28 
 
 0.66 
 
 While these figures are theoretically correct, it would 
 be difficult, if not impossible, to adhere to them in prac- 
 tice. While some trains would run at a speed of 10 miles 
 an hour, others would be run at a velocity of 30 or 40 
 miles per hour. By reference to the table it will be seen
 
 134 APPENDIX ELEVATION OF RAIL ON CURVES. 
 
 that on a curve of a radius of 500 feet the difference of 
 elevation between a speed of 10 miles and 30 miles per 
 hour is six inches, or very nearly. The traffic on most 
 roads in this country is not sufficiently uniform in its char- 
 acter to admit of elevation on curves by this rule. In the 
 New England States, years ago, the rule was to elevate 
 one inch for every degree of curvature, and this was con- 
 sidered as nearly correct as any rule for from one up to six 
 degrees of curvature, on roads in mountainous regions, 
 where the speed of trains varies from the snail's pace to 
 60 miles an hour. There are a few roads in this country 
 on which the traffic and speed of trains is so nearly uni- 
 form that rails elevated by the rule in the foregoing table 
 will be very nearly correct. But for roads on which the 
 traffic is of a general character, the following will be found 
 in practice to work well : 
 
 Decree. 
 
 Radius in 
 feet. 
 
 Elevation in 
 inches. 
 
 Degree. 
 
 HadiuB in 
 feet. 
 
 Elevation 
 in inches. 
 
 30' 
 
 11460 
 
 Vz 
 
 5 
 
 1146 
 
 3% 
 
 1 
 
 5730 
 
 1 
 
 5 30'' 
 
 1042 
 
 4 
 
 1 30' 
 
 3820 
 
 1/4 
 
 6 
 
 boo 
 
 4/1$ 
 
 2 
 
 2865 
 
 \i 
 
 6 30' 
 
 882 
 
 42^ 
 
 2 30' 
 
 2292 
 
 2 
 
 70 
 
 819 
 
 
 3 
 
 1910 
 
 2M 
 
 7 30' 
 
 764 
 
 
 3 30' 
 
 1637 
 
 2^? 
 
 8 
 
 717 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 1433 
 
 3 
 
 8 30' 
 
 675 
 
 ^/4 
 
 4 30' 
 
 1274 
 
 3% 
 
 9 
 
 637 
 
 7 
 
 The above degree of elevation has proved satisfactory 
 on some of the best roads in the country, which do both 
 a heavy freight and a fast passenger business, with safety. 
 
 A responsible road-master will notice curves and keep 
 the wear equal on the outer and inner rails.
 
 APPENDIX DEGREE OF CURVES. 
 
 135 
 
 Degree of Curves. 
 
 It may be desirable for a track-man to find the degree 
 or radius of a curve. Stretch taut a fifty-feet tape-line on 
 the inner side of the rail, and measure the perpendicular dis- 
 tance (which is the "middle ordinate") from the center of 
 the tape-line to the inner edge of the rail. The radius and 
 degree of the curve corresponding to this middle ordinate 
 may then be found in the following table: 
 
 Degree. 
 
 Radius in 
 feet. 
 
 Middle Or- 
 dinate in 
 inches. , 
 
 Degree. 
 
 Radius in 
 feet. 
 
 Middle Ordi- 
 nate in 
 inches. 
 
 30' 
 
 11460 
 
 .22 i 
 
 11 
 
 522 
 
 7.20 
 
 1 
 
 5730 
 
 .66 i 
 
 12 
 
 478 
 
 7.87 
 
 
 2865 
 
 1.32 
 
 13 
 
 442 
 
 8.51 
 
 4,3 
 
 1910 ' 
 
 1.97 
 
 14 
 
 410 
 
 9.17 
 
 4 
 
 1433 
 
 2.63 
 
 15 
 
 383 
 
 9.80 
 
 5 
 
 1146 
 
 3.28 
 
 16 
 
 359 
 
 10.49 
 
 i 6 
 
 955 
 
 3.94 
 
 17 
 
 338 
 
 11.11 
 
 7 
 
 819 
 
 457 j 
 
 18 
 
 320 
 
 11.78 
 
 8 
 
 717 
 
 5.24 
 
 19 
 
 303 
 
 12.41 
 
 9 
 
 637 
 
 5.89 
 
 20 
 
 288 
 
 13.06 
 
 10 
 
 574 
 
 6.54 i 
 
 
 
 Railroad curves are spoken of as being of a certain 
 " degree of curvature," or of a certain " radius." The 
 radii corresponding to the various degrees ordinarily met 
 with may be found in preceding tables. To ascertain the 
 radius corresponding to any degree : Divide 5,730 (the 
 radius of a 1 curve) by the degree of the curve under 
 consideration. For example : 
 
 Radius of a 5 curve
 
 136 
 
 APPENDIX BENDING RAILS. 
 
 Bending Rails. 
 
 The following is a table of middle ordinates for bending 
 rails to be laid on curves of the given degree or radius : 
 
 NOTE. This table is slightly modified in form from that pre- 
 pared by Mr. John C. Trautwine for his " Civil Engineers' Pocket 
 Book." 
 
 LENGTHS OF RAILS. 
 
 .0361 .024 
 .0721 .060 
 .120 .006 
 
 .132 
 .216 .168 
 .264' .2(4 
 
 .240 
 ; .276 
 
 .312 
 
 .348 
 
 .468 384 
 .504 i .408 
 .552 -444 
 
 5-.>l'.7J!2!592 21256 i.'956;l!668 
 
 2.352 2.052 1.776 1.500 1.272 1.044) 
 1404 1.162 
 
 478.3 2.832 2.472 2.148 1.812:1.536 1.260J1.020 
 
 441.7; 3.048 2.664 2 304 l.!:,i; U'r.c 1 Mr,i; 1.104 .900 
 4H.3':3.300 2.86H 2.484 2.100 1.776,1.464 1 188 .960 
 383.1 1 3.540 3.084 2.676 2.250 1.908 1.572 1 272 1.020 
 359.3J 3.756 3.276 2.S32 2.400 2.040 i 1.668 '1.356 1.092 
 338.3 3.996 3.480 3.024 2.551. 2 100 1.77(5 1.440 1.152 
 319.6i'4.212 3.672 : 3.18o 2.700 2.280 1.872 1.524 1.224 
 .9 4.452 3.888 i 3-360 2.856 2.412 1.980 1.608^.296 
 
 302. . .- . . . .. . . 
 
 287.9 : '4.704 4.092 3.552 3.0)0 2.r,44 2.0*8 1.6921.368 1.044 .792 
 
 .684'. 504 
 .732 .540 
 
 .780 .588 
 .840:.G24 
 
 .sss .r,i;n 
 
 .984 .732
 
 APPENDIX RAILS AND CROSS-TIES. 
 
 137 
 
 Rails. 
 
 In one mile there are 5,280 feet, or 1,760 yards. To lay 
 one mile of track requires : 
 
 704 Fifteen-feet Rails,' 
 
 660 Sixteen-feet Rails, 
 
 587 Eighteen-feet Rails, 
 
 528 Twenty-feet Rails, 
 
 503 Tvventy-one-feet Rails 
 
 377 Twenty-eight-feet Rails, 
 
 352 Thirty-feet Rails. 
 
 Rails weigh about ten pounds per yard for each square 
 inch of sectional area. For example : The cross-section 
 of a 56 Ib. rail is 5 6-10 square inches. 
 
 Sectional Area in 
 square inches. 
 
 Weight per Yard 
 in pounds. 
 
 Tons per Mile, (2,0 ;n 
 
 Tons per Mile, 
 (2,240 Its.) 
 
 4 | 40 
 
 70.4 
 
 62.85 
 
 6 
 
 50 
 
 88. 
 
 78.57 
 
 5 6-10 56 
 
 98.5 
 
 88.00 
 
 6 60 
 
 105.6 
 
 94.28 
 
 7 
 
 70 
 
 123.2 
 
 110.00 
 
 8 
 
 80 
 
 140.8 
 
 125.71 
 
 9 
 
 90 
 
 158.4 
 
 141.42 
 
 10 
 
 100 
 
 176. 
 
 157.14 
 
 For any weight of rail ; Multiply the weight, in pounds 
 per yard, by eleven (11) and divide the result by seven (7). 
 The answer will be the number of " long " tons (2,240 Ibs.) 
 per mile. 
 
 Cross-Ties. 
 
 The number of cross-ties per mile, when they are placed 
 2 feet apart from center to center, is 2,641 ; at 2)^ feet apart, 
 2,348; at 2^ feet, 2,113; at 2% feet, 1,921 ; and at 3 feet 
 apart, 1,761.
 
 138 APPENDIX TABLES. 
 
 Inches Expressed in Decimals of a Foot. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 Foot. Inches. 
 
 Foot. 
 
 1 ... 
 
 .0833 
 
 7 - - * 
 
 .5833 
 
 2 
 
 .1667 
 
 8 - 
 
 .6667 
 
 3 
 
 .2500 
 
 9 - - - 
 
 .7500 
 
 4 ... 
 
 .3333 
 
 10 - - 
 
 .8333 
 
 5 
 
 .4166 
 
 11 ... 
 
 .9166 
 
 6 
 
 .5000 
 
 12 - 
 
 1.0000 
 
 Fractions of 
 
 Inch Decimally Expressed. 
 
 
 1-16 - 
 
 .0625 
 
 9-16 - 
 
 .5625 
 
 1-8 - - - 
 
 .1250 
 
 5-8 - 
 
 .6250 
 
 3-16 - 
 
 .1875 
 
 11-16 - 
 
 .6875 
 
 1-4 - 
 
 .2500 
 
 3-4 - 
 
 .7500 
 
 5-16 - 
 
 .3125 
 
 13-16 - 
 
 .8125 
 
 3-8 - 
 
 .3750 
 
 7-8 - 
 
 .8750 
 
 7-16 - 
 
 .4375 
 
 15-16 - 
 
 .9375 
 
 1-2 - 
 
 .5000 
 
 1 ... 
 
 1.0000
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ACCIDENTS 120 
 
 What accidents are unavoidable 122 
 
 On preventing accidents 128 
 
 Accidents caused by defective wheels, axles, rails 
 
 and switches 128 
 
 What results from false economy 132 
 
 BALLASTING 51 
 
 Waste of gravel 51 
 
 Saving property before ballasting 53 
 
 What is good ballast 53 
 
 Preparation of the track 54 
 
 Tamping and dressing off the track 54 
 
 What to do when material is scarce 58 
 
 True grade and lack of stability 59 
 
 Repairing 65 
 
 BRIDGES Laying ties upon 20 
 
 Spiking on bridges 37 
 
 The care of bridges 72 
 
 They should be planked for foot passengers . . 73 
 
 Shimming under the ties 84 
 
 The prevention of fires 116 
 
 Bridge signals 131 
 
 CATTLE- GUARDS Often mere traps 39 
 
 Their proper construction 40 
 
 Laying iron upon 40
 
 140 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CLAW-BAES 76 
 
 The "bulls-foot" 76 
 
 The use of claw-bars 76 
 
 COLLISIONS Unavoidable 123 
 
 Carelessness and various causes 125 
 
 Their prevention 128 
 
 CREEPING TRACK 29 
 
 An invention wanted to prevent it 30 
 
 CULVERTS 37 
 
 Laying iron on 40 
 
 Keeping them clear 68 
 
 Shimming under the ties 83 
 
 CURVES Curving iron 23 
 
 Laying iron on 24 
 
 Curving iron among frogs 46 
 
 Elevation at curves 60, 133 
 
 EMBANKMENTS Waste of ballast on 51 
 
 Washing of f 112 
 
 EXPANSION OF IRON 25 
 
 Danger from " plug chairs " 29 
 
 FENCES The preservation of 118 
 
 FIRBS Danger from waste 116 
 
 Danger on bridges 117 
 
 FLANGE-WATS 104 
 
 An invention wanted to keep them clear of snow 
 and ice 105 
 
 FRESHETS Care of road-bed in 113 
 
 FROGS Location of "42 
 
 Curving iron among 46
 
 INDEX. 141 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 FROST Lining track in frosty localities 67 
 
 The action of 85 
 
 GAUGE Spiking the gauge side 33 
 
 Gauge on curves 34 
 
 Gauge concussion 35 
 
 Preserving true gauge 72 
 
 Shifting iron 98 
 
 GRAVEL Waste of 51 
 
 GUARD-RAILS 47 
 
 Placing Measuring distances by the hammer . . 48 
 Proper rule for placing 48 
 
 HAND-CAR PRACTICE 116 
 
 HOME AND FOREIGN ROADS A few words on . . 50 
 
 JOINT-TIES 65 
 
 Measuring off for 18 
 
 KINKS " IN RAILS 
 
 LAYING IRON 23 
 
 On curves . . 24 
 
 Laying repaired iron 98 
 
 LAYING TIES, TRESTLE WORK, ETC 20 
 
 LINING TRACK 66 
 
 MEASURING OFF FOR JOINT-TIES 18 
 
 OSCILLATION OF CARRIAGES 34 
 
 Coned wheels and true gauge 34 
 
 PLANKS AT ROAD CROSSINGS 85
 
 142 
 
 passengers 73 
 
 PLUG CHAIRS 29 
 
 RAILS Laying 23 
 
 On Curves .24 
 
 Replacing repaired rails 27 
 
 Spiking rails 31 
 
 Inner rails on curves " Running ahead "... 24 
 
 Curving 23 
 
 Curving and placing guard-rails 47 
 
 " Kinks " in rails 71 
 
 Guard-rails .48 
 
 Shifting rails 98 
 
 Uncurved /iron for curves 99 
 
 Defective rails 99 
 
 RAIL-PLATES Waste of 38 
 
 RAISING TRACK FOR BALLASTING 64 
 
 REPAIRED IRON Care in replacing 99 
 
 Repaired curved iron 99 
 
 ROAD-MASTERS 106 
 
 The needed qualifications 107 
 
 Road masters require a practical knowledge of 
 
 details in repairs 107 
 
 Duties Care in instructing section-masters Or- 
 dering supplies 108 
 
 Ambition, inefficiency and " tinkering " ... 109 
 Road-masters should read 110 
 
 SAGS 59 
 
 SIGNALS AT DRAW-BRIDGES 131 
 
 SECTION-MASTERS .62 
 
 Cheap section-masters 63 
 
 Duties of a section-master 64, 110
 
 143 
 
 SHIMS Between rails 27 
 
 Shimming the track 78 
 
 Good and bad shims 79 
 
 When shims should be used 80 
 
 When shims should be removed 81 
 
 Machine and hand-made shims 82 
 
 Shimming under ties 84 
 
 SNOW AND ICE 101 
 
 Economy in keeping the track clean 104 
 
 Apparatus for clearing flange-ways 105 
 
 SNOW PLOWS 101 
 
 No standard are in use 103 
 
 The jealousy of master mechanics a hindrance to 
 their improvement 103 
 
 SPIKES Waste of 31 
 
 Careless driving 32. 
 
 The right method of spiking 33 
 
 Preserving the gauge while spiking 33 
 
 Spiking on bridges, culverts, etc 37 
 
 SPIKE-DRAWING 75 
 
 On Claw-Bars and the way to use them .... 76 
 Drawing spikes in winter 77 
 
 STEP CHAIRS 96 
 
 SUPERINTENDENTS A word to 106 
 
 The choice of road and section-masters . . . .107 
 
 SURFACE DITCHES 115 
 
 SUSPENSION JOINTS 29 
 
 SWITCHES 87 
 
 Adjusting the throw. 87 
 
 Bent switch-rods 87 
 
 Connecting-rods 88 
 
 Tyler's safety switch 130
 
 144 
 
 TABLES. 
 
 Locating Frogs 43 
 
 Elevation of the Outer Rail on Curves . . . .133 
 
 Degree of Curves 135 
 
 Bending Rails 136 
 
 Number of Rails per Mile, Weight, Etc. . . .137 
 
 Cross-Ties 138 
 
 - Inches Expressed in Decimals of a Foot . . . 138 
 
 Fractions of an Inch Decimally Expressed . . . 138 
 
 TAMPING 54 
 
 TIES Uniformity in 12 
 
 The action of frost and water under ties .... 13 
 
 Laying ties at ri^ht angles to the rails .... 14 
 
 Side-ties 14 
 
 " Sighting in Ties " 15 
 
 Measuring off for joint-ties 18 
 
 Laying ties on bridges, etc . 20 _, 
 
 Joint-ties 21 
 
 Selection of ties 21 
 
 TRACK REPAIRS 62 
 
 Oldfogyism 62 
 
 Work on a new road Surfacing Tamping joint- 
 ties Cocked joints 64 
 
 Lining track 66 
 
 Clearing out ditches and culverts 68 
 
 " Kinks " in rails 71 
 
 Repairing bridges, trestle-work, etc 72 
 
 TURN-OUTS 42 
 
 Skill and judgment required in laying turn-outs . 42 
 . Double turn-outs, one from each side of the main 
 
 track 43 
 
 Double turn-outs from the same side 45 
 
 WHEELS Cracked wheels as a cause of accidents . 128 
 
 WOOD-PILES The action of frost in overturning 
 
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