DEVELOPMENT OK THE AMERICAN KAIL AND TRACK. 



G83 



collection. As no splice bars save a thin plate to protect the wood at 

 the end of the rail were used, this rail was expected to become popular, 

 but its use was abandoned a few years afterwards. 



Previous to 1850 English rails were usually rolled in lengths of 15, 1(5, 

 and 18 feet; by 1855 the latter length became the universal standard. 



As improved methods were adopted in irou manufacture, the length 

 was increased in order to reduce the number of joints.* By 1857 rails 

 were made at progressive mills 21 to 24 and 27 feet long and by 1860-'65 

 the 30-foot limit was reached. 



Although longer lengths have been manufactured at a few mills, the 

 30-foot rail has been considered the standard for over a quarter of a 

 century. 



STEEL RAILS. 



The first steel rails in Europe are said to have been rolled at the 

 Ebbw Vale Works, in Wales, about 1855. The steel was produced by 

 the Uchaturis process. Zerah Colburn states that "the quality of the 

 steel is said to be equal to that used for razors." 



The difficulty in obtaining good iron on this side of the water led the 

 more prosperous American companies to continue to import steel and 

 iron rails from abroad for some years. 



Fig. 69 is a cross-section of the steel rails rolled at Dowlais, Wales, 

 for the New Orleans, Memphis and Chattanooga Railroad in I860, from 

 a drawing in the collection. 



Fig. 69. 



Rah. fob New Okleans, Memphis, and Chattakooca Railboad, 

 rolled at Dowlais, Walks, 18C9. 



I i :i drawing in the U S, National Uu9eum. ) 



STEEL RAILS ROLLED IN AMERICA. 



The introduction of Bessemer steel in America and the conflicts in 

 the United States Patent Office, which finally resulted in a compromise 

 and consolidation of the various interests involved, form a very inter- 

 esting chapter in the history of American manufacture. 



In Swank's " History of Iron in all Ages" I find that "the first steel 

 rails ever made in this country were rolled at the North Chicago Boil- 

 ing Mills in May, 18G5." These were experimental rails, only a few 



In IS4U it was not uncommon to find eight hundred joints in a mile of single 

 track. Now, 1890, the number is reduced to about three hundred and fifty. 



