ENGINEERING. 



By WILLIAM II. WAHL, Ph.D., 



PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



KAILROADS. 



From a record of the year's progress, as chronicled in the 

 Railroad Gazette, we may affirm that in the field of rail- 

 road construction there has been reasonable activity, the in- 

 crease in the mileage of the country having been about 3 

 per cent. The Gazette records 2111 miles as the actual rec- 

 ord of new construction during 1877, or about 10 per cent, 

 less than the figures of the preceding year. Most of the new 

 roads, it is further noticed, were short, and of purely local 

 importance. 



In railroad legislation, the most memorable event of the 

 past year was the decision of the Supreme Court of the 

 United States in the so-called "Granger" cases, in which 

 the principle was affirmed that state legislatures possessed 

 the right to regulate and limit the rates charged by railroad 

 companies where they have not parted with that right by 

 charters. Another legal decision of importance, detailed by 

 the Gazette, is that permitting the elevated-railway compa- 

 nies of New York City to proceed with the construction of 

 their roads through the streets of that city without further 

 hinderance. That the companies have not been slow to 

 avail themselves of the privileges accorded them appears 

 to be evinced from the vigor with which they are forward- 

 ing their plans; the probabilities being that the several 

 rapid-transit roads will be practically completed and in op- 

 eration before another year has passed, thus deciding the 

 debated question of the practicability of elevated (as con- 

 trasted with underground) railroads for the requirements 

 of large cities. 



The Gazette closes an elaborate statement of railroad his- 

 tory with the following comments: "The year closed much 

 more cheerfully than it opened. . . . The prospect for the 



