CATALOGUE OF THE MECHANICAL. ENGINEERING COLLECTION. 97 



During the year 1848 a very interesting experiment was tried by 

 the Camden and Amboy Railroad. Arrangements were made with 

 Cooper and Hewitt at the Trenton Iron Works to roll a 92-pound 

 rail, 7 inches high, with a base 4f inches wide; 15 miles of the 

 Camden and Amboy road were laid with this rail during the follow- 

 ing year. The engineer of that company believed that he had at last 

 solved the problem of track construction, inasmuch as this rail gave 

 an admirable opportunity for a strong joint. By experience it was 

 found that this rail was too rigid and produced so much concussion 

 by the train that the ends soon hammered out, and where the ballast- 

 ing was imperfect great damage was caused to the rolling stock; 

 consequently, the rail was soon after taken up. Much of this old 

 rail found its way to the cities, where it was bought by architects 

 and contractors for building purposes. A section is in the collec- 

 tion. It was laid between Bordentown and Burlington in 1849. 



PEAR-SHAPED RAILS. 



The early American T-rails were made of inferior iron, and this 

 was one of the causes that led to the adoption of the section with a 

 pear-shaped head, with which many roads were laid during the next 

 fifteen or twenty years. 



Sections of four of the pear-shaped rails described in the report 

 of the Railroad Commission of the State of New York for 1845 are 

 in the collection. They are: 



New York and Erie Railroad. Fifty-six Pounds to the Yard. In Use in 



1855. 



Cat. No. 180,225 U.S.N.M. 



New York Central Railroad. Fifty-six Pounds to the Yard. In Use in 



1855. 



Cat. No. 180,226 U.S.N.M. 



Buffalo, Corning and New York Railroad. Sixty-two Pounds to the Yard. 



In Use in 1855. 



Cat. No. 180,218 U.S.N.M. 



Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad. Sixty-five Pounds to the Yard. In 



Use in 1855. 



Cat. No. 180,217 U.S.N.M. 



The obtuse angle between the lower side of the head and the stem 

 of the rail made it difficult to apply a splice bar of any kind to ad- 

 vantage, and this fact led to the introduction of the ring joint (one 

 iron ring passing through two slots, one in each stem of adjacent 

 rails and passing around under the base of the rail and held in posi- 

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