2 8o RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. 



one side of a line of rails, and a cartway on the other. With 

 this arrangement the railway trucks may be loaded or unloaded, 

 either from the raised loading-bank or direct from carts and 

 drays drawn up alongside the trucks, according to the description 

 of merchandise presented. 



Fig. 429 shows a type of umbrella roof sometimes erected 

 over a narrow loading-bank outside of a goods-shed. It is 

 simple and economical in construction, and provides good accom- 

 modation for loading and unloading under cover packages and 

 goods of secondary importance. 



The above sketches illustrate some of the many arrangements 

 for goods-sheds, and can be modified and extended in several 

 ways. The leading dimensions,' widths of loading-banks, cart- 

 ways, and gauge of lines, will have to be adjusted to suit cir- 

 cumstances. 



Looking at a goods-shed merely as a medium for the con- 

 venient transfer of merchandise between the railway and the 

 roadway, the inference is soon drawn that the removal of the 

 goods into trucks or carts should be effected as speedily as 

 possible, otherwise a large extent of shed-room will be required 

 for carrying on a moderate amount of work. Every effort should 

 be made to clear the goods from the loading-bank as soon as 

 they have been properly unloaded and checked. Any laxity in 

 this respect will cause an outcry for increased accommodation, 

 which a little more energy and careful organization would have 

 prevented. 



Timber plank floors are generally preferred for inside loading- 

 banks. Inside cartways should be formed either of granite setts 

 or wooden-block paving ; the latter is better, being less noisy, 

 and, if occasionally sprinkled with sand, will afford a good foot- 

 hold for the horses. A macadamized roadway under cover is 

 never satisfactory, as it is always dry, and never binds together 

 into a compact even surface. Sliding or rolling doors are the 

 best for goods-sheds, as they are more out of the way, and under 

 better control during high winds. 



Cranes of appropriate strengths, and worked by hand or 

 other motive-power, should be distributed in suitable positions 

 throughout the shed. They should be placed so that they can, 

 when required, lift direct out of a railway truck on the one side, 

 and deposit into a cart or dray on the opposite side of the loading- 

 bank. 



