DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN KAIL AND TRACK. 667 



bar, and the rivets, which have been replaced by the bolt and nut, to 

 complete the joint. 



A facsimile of the letter which lie addressed to the English iron mas- 

 ters a short time after his arrival in London was published in the Ke- 

 port on the Section of Transportation, 1887 (page 79). It contains a 

 cross section, side elevation, and ground plan of the rail for which he 

 requested bids. The letter reads: 



Liverpool, November 26, 1830. 



Gentlemen : At what rate will you contract to deliver at Liverpool, say from 500 

 to 600 tons of railway, of the best quality iron rolled to the above pattern in 12 or 16 

 feet lengths, to lap as showu in the drawing, with one hole at each end, and the pro- 

 jections on the lower flange at every 2 feet, cash on delivery? 



How soon could you make the first delivery, and at what rate per month until the 

 whole is complete .' Should the terms suit and the work give satisfaction a more ex- 

 truded order is likely to follow, as this is but about one-sixth part of the quantity 

 required. Please to address your answer (as soon as convenient) to the care of 

 Francis B. Ogden, consul of the United States at Liverpool. 

 I am, your obedient servant, 



Robert L. Stevens, 

 President and Engineer of the Camden and South Amboy 



Railroad and Transportation Company. 



The base of the rail which he first proposed was to be wider where it 

 was to be attached to supports than in the intervening spaces. This 

 was afterwards modified, so that the base was made one width, 3 inches, 

 throughout. Mr. Stevens received no favorable answer to his propo- 

 sals, but being acquainted with Mr. Guest (afterwards Sir John Guest), 

 then a member of Parliament aud proprietor of large iron works in 

 Dowlais, Wales, he prevailed upon him to have the rails rolled at his 

 works. Mr. Guest became interested in the scheme and accompanied 

 Mr. Stevens to Wales, where the latter gave his personal supervision 

 to the construction of the rolls. After the rolls were completed the 

 Messrs Guest hesitated to have them used, through fear of damage to 

 the mill machinery, upon hearing which Mr. Stevens deposited a hand- 

 some sum guaranteeing the expense of repairing the mill in case it was 

 damaged. The receipt for this deposit was preserved for many years 

 among the archives of the Camden and Amboy company. As a matter 

 of fact, the rolling apparatus did break down several times. "At first," 

 as Mr. Stevens in a letter to his father, which T have seen, described it, 

 "the rails came from the rolls twisted and as crooked as snakes," and 

 he was greatly discouraged. At last the mill men acquired the art of 

 straightening the rail while it cooled. The first shipment, consisting 

 of 550 bars, 18 feet long, 36 pounds to the yard, arrived in Philadelphia 

 on the ship Charlemagne May 10, 1831. The weight of the next ship- 

 ment, several months afterwards, was increased to 12 pounds per yard, 



