424 



F A R M L: R S ' REGISTER 



with its objects. In the way of canals, the Union 

 canal in Pennsylvania, and ihe Chesappal<e and 

 Ohio canal, are examples olopposite errors on this 

 subject, it being now generally conceded, thai the 

 fornrier, had it been constructed ot larser eeciion, 

 and with larger locks, so as to have, adnniied ofihe 

 passage ol'snch boats as are used on I he Schuylkill 

 and Susquehannah canals, could not have Jailed 

 to have been a productive work, whilst the dimen- 

 sions of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal seem not 

 to have been warranted b)' any trade to be aniici- 

 pated on it. To make a double track rail-road 

 where a single track rail-road is sufficient, is evi- 

 dently an equally grave error ; but not more so than 

 others which may arise in works of this descrip- 

 tion, (rom inattention to their otijects and the best 

 means of attaining them. A few words will be 

 sufficient lo show what serious mistakes maybe 

 committed on this head. 



It has been above observed, that short ascending 

 and descending grades present no serious impedi- 

 ment, at high velocities, to (he most valuable ap- 

 plication of locomotive power. They, are, conse- 

 quently, not seriously objectionable on rail-roads 

 lor passenger transportation exclusively, on whicli 

 high velocities will always be aimed at, and 

 where the whole adhesion of the engine is not 

 required. It is oiherwise, however, on rail-roads 

 designed for freight. On these it is most essential 

 thai the company should be able to transport 

 cheaply, and this, in rail-road transportation, is 

 only to be effected by carrying heavy loads at slow 

 velocities. Now, at very reduced rates of speed, 

 the limit to the useliil effect of the engine is its 

 adhesion, and the load which this will admit of 

 its taking becomes diminished, therefore, precise- 

 ly as the maximum grade of the road increases, 

 whether tliis be a longer or shorter one. 



This being the case, it follows, that on roads 

 desiined for the transportation of heights, a much 

 greater expense is justifiable to avoid undulations 

 or to diminish the grades of the roads, where as- 

 cents and descents are unavoidable, than on roads 

 destined for passengers. On these last, undula- 

 tions not exceeding twelve or fifteen (f^et per mile 

 would be scarcely an objection; whilst on roads 

 designed for the transportation of freight at low 

 velocities, they would almost diminish the load 

 conveyed one half. 



In these last, however, the expense which is jus- 

 tifiable to improve the grades of the road, must 

 be materially influenced by the amount of trade 

 to be anticipated on it. If this is but limited, it is, 

 o( course, better that the road should be le>-s per- 

 fect, and cost of transportation in consequence en- 

 hanced, than that an increased first cost, more 

 than commensurate with the object, should be in- 

 curred in reducing it ; and, on the other hand, the 

 largest outlay may properly be incurred in improv- 

 ing the profile of a rail-road, in a case where the 

 trade to be accomntiodaied is of proportionate mag- 

 nitude. Giving lo these considerations their pio- 

 per weight, it will be seen of how much impor- 

 tance it is ih'it engineers, however well informed 

 in the science and practice of their profession, 

 shouli! be also men of discriminating minds and 

 sound judgment. Their employers are otherwise 

 exposed lo the greatest losses, not from a defi- 

 ciency in their knowledge, but a misapplication 

 of the resources oftheir profession, the error being 

 equally great to construct an improvement inade- 



quate, or more than adequate, or superior or inferior 

 in character, to what :is objects may justily. 



The expose of the Chevalier de Gerstner gives 

 some staiisiical views in relation to the rail-roads 

 of our country, which may be interesting to most 

 of our readers. Alter having made a tour of in- 

 spect ion over most of the lines, in the course of 

 which he was received with the greatest kindness 

 by the president-j, directors, and engineers ol' the 

 diflereni works, who, he mentions, not only gave 

 him their printed reports, but laid belore him with 

 the greatest liberality their books and accounts, in 

 order that he might have every kind ol inlbrma- 

 lion, he gives the following as the result ol his ex- 

 amination : 



"According," says he, " to the facts collected 

 during my travels since my arrival in New York, 

 ihere are now, over three thousand miles of rail- 

 roads completed and in operation in the United 

 States : four hundred and twenty-five locomotives, 

 of which the greatest number were made in the 

 country, run on the several rail-ioads ; and 1 be- 

 lieve that up to the end ol' 1839 the length of rail- 

 roads in the United Stales may amount to Icjur 

 hundred thousand one hundred miles. The capital 

 expended on the rail-roads now in operation is 

 about sixty millions of dollars, or at an average of 

 twenty thousand dollars per mile, for which sum 

 the rail-roads, with the buildings, have been con- 

 structed, and the necessary locomotives and cars 

 bought. 



" Several rail-roads have been undertaken with 

 insufficient means, and the shareholders found 

 themselves under the necessity of employing the 

 incoiTie of the first years in building engine houses, 

 &c., and purchasing locomotives and cars. In 

 consequence of this, the shareholders got during 

 that time no dividend, but the rail-road still yield- 

 ed a good income. Other rail-roads, when fin- 

 ished, paid li-om five to ten per cent, income to 

 the stockholders. Others have not yet paid any 

 dividend for want of a sufficient number of pas- 

 sengers and freight. The average result of the 

 rail-roads now in operation in the United States is, 

 that they give a yearly interest of five and a half per 

 cent, on the capital invested. This result may be 

 regarded as very satisfactory, because the greatest 

 part of the lines have only been a few years in 

 operation. 



"In all lines, ihere is a yearly increase of at 

 least fifteen to twenty per cent, in the gross in- 

 come, so that even those lines which do not pay 

 now will give in a few years a handsome dividend. 

 Accordingly to these statements, based on the 

 communications collected in this country, I have 

 no doubt that the large capital invested in rail- 

 roads in the United States will not only produce 

 an incalculable benefit to the country, but also pay 

 I he shareholders a handsome dividend, which, 

 under good management, by the constant progress 

 of population and trade, must Hkewise from year 

 lo year increase." 



The above opinions, founded on the careful ex- 

 aminations made by the Chevalier de Gerstner, 

 are certainly calculated lo give great confidence in 

 the investments hitherto made in rail-roads in our 

 country. If the average net profits accruing on 

 the whole capital stock invested in them has been 

 already five and a half per cent., even though it 

 has been necessary in many cases to appropriate 

 it to improving the rail-roads, building engine 



