4 RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. 



many parts abroad local maps are scarce, and not always 

 accurate, and engineers have to depend principally on their 

 own surveys, and rely upon the resident local authorities for 

 any particulars as to divisions of territory. On some of our 

 great colonial plains, and out in the far west of America, a line 

 may be laid out for miles without a single landmark to localize 

 it on a plan ; but careful setting out, and the relative levels of 

 the ground and gradients, as shown on the section, will always 

 indicate the correct position of any portion of the work. 



Both at home and abroad complete plans and sections of 

 any proposed railway must be deposited with the proper 

 Government authorities, and must be approved and sanctioned 

 by them before permission can be obtained to proceed with 

 the works. 



The regulations regarding the scale and general arrange- 

 ment of these plans and sections vary in different countries, 

 and are subject to modification from time to time. 



Each country has its own special enactments relative to the 

 method of dealing with roads, rivers, streams, and public and 

 private property proposed to be interfered with in the con- 

 struction of any line, and a knowledge of these is absolutely 

 necessary for the promoters of any new scheme, inasmuch as 

 some of the requirements may, in certain instances, influence 

 the precise route to be selected. 



The English Government has passed several Acts of Parlia- 

 ment setting forth the general conditions which must be complied 

 with in the construction of any railway in the United Kingdom. 

 These conditions, or standing orders, relate both to the acquire- 

 ment of land and property, the size and description of works for 

 public or private accommodation, and the inspection and official 

 approval of the undertaking when completed. These fixed 

 regulations are alike valuable to the promoters and to the public; 

 the former are informed of the principal points with which the 

 scheme must conform, and the latter know the limit of their 

 legal demands. 



No line of railway, or extension of any railway, will obtain 

 Parliamentary sanction, unless it can be satisfactorily proved in 

 the outset, that its construction would be of public advantage. 

 This point is of paramount importance, and due weight must be 

 given to it when preparing to refute the evidence of opponents 

 to the scheme. 



