MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 35 



sacrificing more valuable requirements for the road. It is nearly 

 straight, and passes over so level a country as to encounter no obsta- 

 cles requiring a grade exceeding twenty feet to the mile, and most of 

 the distance is upon a level. The road- way taken is four hundred feet in 

 width throughout the entire length ; the road-bed is elevated from six to 

 ten feet above the ordinary level of the country, and is thirty feet wide 

 on the top. The road is laid with a double track, a five-feet gage, 

 and a rail of sixty-nine pounds to the lineal yard, on a ballasting of 

 gravel two feet in depth. The bridges have no spans exceeding two 

 hundred feet, and are of wood, built after the plan of " Howe's Im- 

 proved Patent" so well known on the New England roads, with a 

 truss twenty-four feet in depth. The work had so far advanced at the 

 time of Col. Whistler's death, that a large portion of it will be in use 

 the present year, unless this event shall delay the prosecution of the 

 work. Under these circumstances, the death of Col. W. was re- 

 ceived in this country with a universal expression of sympathy and 

 sorrow. It is fortunate, however, that the enterprise is so far com- 

 pleted that his fame and his works are safe from the accidents of time 

 or of change. His successor will share largely in the same American 

 spirit that he possessed, and will see no reason to change or modify 

 anything that had been attempted by a man who united to the rarest 

 mechanical genius the most eminent practical ability. 



We have derived from Mr. W. L. W T inans, who has recently ar- 

 rived from Russia, some particulars with reference to the equipment 

 of this road. Mr. Winans is one of three American gentlemen, who 

 have the contract for equipping the road. They have already sup- 

 plied it with 162 locomotive engines, averaging 25 tons' weight ; 72 

 passenger cars ; 2,580 freight cars ; and 2 imperial saloon carriages, ca- 

 pable of carrying the Imperial Court of Russia. This equipment has 

 been built in Russia, in shops furnished by the government, and sup- 

 plied with Russian labor, with a few American mechanics to oversee 

 the work. The whole contract with Messrs. Harrison, Winans & 

 Eastwick has amounted to between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 dollars. 

 They engage to instruct Russian mechanics to take charge of the en- 

 gines when completed. 



The engines are of two classes; 62 are 8-wheel engines for pas- 

 senger travel, and 100 8-wheel engines for freight. The passenger 

 engines are of one uniform pattern throughout, so that any part of a 

 machine will fit the same position on any other. They have each 4 

 driving-wheels, coupled 6 feet in diameter, and trucks in front similar 

 to the engines on the New England roads. Their general dimensions 

 are as follows: Waste of boiler, 47 inches; length of tubes, 10 

 feet; number of tub,es, 186; diameter of tubes, 2 inches; diameter of 

 cylinders, 16 inches; length of stroke, 22 inches. The freight en- 

 gines have the same capacity of boiler, the same number and length of 

 tubes, with 3 pair of driving-wheels and a pair of small wheels in 

 front. The driving-wheels are only 4 k feet diameter, with 18-inch 

 cylinders, and 22-inch stroke, all uniform throughout in workmanship 

 and finish. 



The passenger cars have the same uniformity. They are all 56 



