178 RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. 



sized packages are readily transferred to or from the trucks, either 

 by hand or by small two-wheeled trolleys, the heavier pieces 

 being lifted by cranes. The cartway should run parallel to the 

 rails on the opposite side of the loading-bank, and may be either 

 inside or outside the building, according to the importance of the 

 place. When the cartway is inside, the entire front of the load- 

 ing-bank is available for cart traffic, but this advantage entails a 

 considerable increase in the size and cost of the building. When 

 the cartway is outside, the cart traffic is worked through large 

 doorways placed at suitable distances, and fitted with projecting 

 roofs or awnings to protect the goods during the loading or 

 unloading. At some of these doorways, short docks about 10 

 feet square, or more, are formed in the loading-bank, into which 

 the carts may be set back fairly into the shed for the greater 

 convenience of the transhipment of the goods by hand or crane 

 power. Where the stacking space is ample, the contents of 

 several railway trucks may be discharged on to the loading-bank 

 without any delay in waiting for carts, and the same railway 

 trucks may be loaded with other goods and dispatched outwards, 

 or may be taken away empty if the loading-bank is reserved for 

 arriving goods only. Where the traffic is large and constant 

 there is an advantage in having separate goods-sheds for the 

 inwards and outwards work. 



The following diagram sketches will illustrate some of the 

 many types of goods-sheds in use on railways : 



Fig. 421 shows a shed suitable for general merchandise at a 

 small roadside station. For economy of construction, the line of 

 rails and cartway are both placed outside the building. A small 

 goods-office is built at one end, in which is fixed the pedestal 

 and lever indicator of the cart-weighing machine. The roof is 

 projected outwards over the doorways for the railway trucks and 

 for carts. The railway truck doorways are spaced to correspond 

 to the length of the trucks. A narrow platform, about 3 feet 

 wide, is formed outside the shed alongside the trucks for the 

 convenience of the men when loading or unloading. 



Fig. 422 represents a rather larger shed, with the line of rails 

 inside the building and cartway outside. With this type the 

 railway trucks are entirely under cover, and can be unloaded or 

 loaded more conveniently. It has also the additional advantage 

 that the trucks and their contents can be left secure when the 

 shed is locked up at closing time. 



