MKTAL RAILWAY TIES. ;};i!) 



i>i' ini'liil irai-k Continued. 



SECTION NO. 3.-AUSTKA I.ASIA. 



\l,l... 



Queensland X2 



South Australia l,-,o 



Total metal track !!! 



Total track (7 colouies) j2 ooo 



SECTION NO. 4. ASIA. 



Miles. Miles. 



British India 13,655 Japan 5 



Sumatra 90 Asia Minor ;tu!l 



Java 500 



Straits Settlements 25 Total metal track 14,586 



China 2 Total track 22,000 



SECTION NO. 5. SOUTH AMERICA, ETC. 



Argentine Republic 3,638 Mexico 220 



Chile 1 



Brazil 135 Total metal track 4.416 



Venezuela 218 Total track 21,500 



West Indies 204 



SECTION NO. 6. NORTH AMEEICA. 



United States 12 



Canada 



Total metal track 12 



Total track (United States and Canada) 190,000 



Percentage of metal track mileage. 



Metal track. Total track. 



MOa. Miles. 



Section No.l 13,404 137,000 10 



Section No.2 2,326 ! 5,600 i 40 



Section No.3 234 ; 12,000 ! 2 



Section No. 4 14,580 22,000 66.3 



Section No.5 4,416 21,500 21 



Section No.6 12 i 100,000 



Total 34,863 I 388,100 



Total mileage of railways with metal track miles.. 34,863 



Total mileage of railways of the world (exclusive of United States and 



Canada) miles.. 198,000 



Percentage of railways with metal track (exclusive of United States :md 



Canada) percent.. 17.6 



It is not necessary in this general review of the subject to go iuto the details of the practice 

 and experience of foreign railways, as such details have been given very fully in the reports 

 already referred to. As the latest examples of this experience, however, it will be of interest to 

 present some particulars from reports recently made by Mr. Reuson, resident engineer of the 

 Netherlands State railways (Holland), and Mr. Schrafl, engineer of the Gotthard Eailway 

 (Switzerland). On both of these lines metal ties have been in use for several years, and have been 

 improved upon from time to time in the light of practical experience, while very careful ins'esti- 

 gations have been made as to their efficiency and economy. 



On the Netherlands State railways the first metal ties were laid in 1865, and are still in good 

 condition. They are, in fact, expected to last from three to eight years more. In 1880, however, 

 Mr. J. W. Post was commissioned to make an investigation of the subject. This resulted in a 

 series of extensive and practical tests on main lines, the design of the ties being modified and 

 improved from time to time. The first ties of this series (1881) were the lightest and least 

 successful, but they lasted longer than good oak ties, while the annual charge for tbeir renewal 

 was only half that for the oak ties. The maintenance expenses were higher, but, on allowing for 



