24 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the State of New Jersey. Mr. 

 Roberts made the collection for the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- 

 pany. He was 30 years in making it. Full rails were shown at 

 the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. The first of these 

 rails was laid in the year 1831, near Bordentown. 



Mr. Samuel L. Roberts, of Bordentown, N. J., who made the 

 collection, has worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company 

 for over 30 years, and, being over 70 years of age, has been 

 retired on a pension. 



The first strap-rail, which was laid at Bordentown by the 

 Camden and South Amboy Railroad and Transportation Com- 

 pany, weighed 83^2 pounds to the yard. It was also used on the 

 Delaware and Atlantic Railroad in 1832; also' between Kinkora 

 and New Lisbon. The first strap-rail used in the Camden and 

 Amboy in 1831 weighed 8^ pounds to a yard. A small amount 

 of T-rail was used in 1831 and weighed 36 to 40 pounds to the 

 yard. In 1842 still another T-rail, weighing 62 pounds to a 

 yard. In 1848, the large T-rail, weighing 92 pounds to a yard, 

 was used, but the height of this rail made it undesirable, and it 

 was soon discarded. 



Thus the collection shows the advancement of the rails and 

 manner of fastening them up tO' the time the collection was made. 

 At first stone was used instead of ties, as now, which is shown 

 in the exhibit. There are only five of these collections — two kept 

 by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, one by the Field Col- 

 umbia Exhibit, Chicago, one by R. P. Showden, Engineer of the 

 Amboy Division, and the other is in the New Jersey State 

 Museum. 



The strap and T-rails first used were brought from England. 

 In 1846 some of the rails used in the New Jersey Railroad were 

 rolled in the city of Trenton, N. J., 62 pounds to the yard. The 

 John Brown rail, 57^^ pounds to the yard, used in 1866, was 

 one of the best rails ever used by the New Jersey Railroad. 



The standard rail of 60 pounds tO' the yard was first used in 

 1876. 



In 1893 a new standard rail was used of 100 pounds to the 

 yard, and it is still the standard. Many different kinds of rails 

 and of different weights are shown by this excellent exhibit, as 



