RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION 295 



speed and is greater on a sharp curve than on an easy one. It 

 is overcome by elevating the outer rail and lowering the inner 

 one and also by coning the tread of the wheels. The diagram 

 (Fig. 84) shows the customary elevation for standard-gauge 

 track on curves up to 40 degrees and for speed up to 30 miles 

 per hour. 



The elevation for track of another gauge is approximately in 

 proportion to its relation to the standard-gauge. 



On light work forty men may surface and put in condition 

 about one mile of road per day, at a cost of from $60 to $75 

 per mile, while on main lines the cost may be $600 or more per 

 mile. 



Cost of Construction. — The cost of construction per mile on 

 logging railroads varies widely even in a given region. The two 

 factors that greatly influence it are topography and the character 

 of the bottom on which the road is to be built. 



Construction is cheapest in the flat pine forests of the extreme 

 southern States, where a minimum of grading is required. On 

 the other hand the rough topography of some of the Pacific 

 Coast country often requires heavy grading work and high 

 trestles and the roads must be built more carefully for trans- 

 porting the large and heavy timber. Swamps such as are found 

 in the cypress region also necessitate a heavy expenditure because 

 the main roads have to be built on piling. 



Loggers in all sections spend a maximum of from 50 to 75 cents 

 per thousand feet of timber hauled for the construction of the 

 road, from 20 to 30 per cent of which is expended on the main 

 line. The cost of main line logging roads, exclusive of rails and 

 other supplies, in the southern pine region ranges from $700 to 

 $2000 per mile, and on the Pacific Coast between $3000 and 

 $6000. Spur lines in the South cost from $250 to $600 and on 

 the Pacific Coast from $1500 to $2000 per mile. The cost of a 

 main line including new steel rails, angle bars, spikes, crossties 

 and supplies will exceed the figures given by from $3000 to 

 $3500 per mile. 



Maintenance-of-Way. — Section crews are employed to keep 

 the road ballasted up, maintain the gauge, keep the drainage 



