V„1.VII.— No.29. 



AND HOllTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



227 



road, turn nut to pass each other when meeting 

 upon tlie same line, or where a slower moving 

 train is overtaken by a quicker one. The siding 

 places, or tmnouts employed for that (lurpose in 

 Englanil, are hut a very imperfect and bungling 

 contrivance. They can only be placed at certain 

 distances and are of no use to the carnages meet- 

 ini' between tlios& places ; their management is 

 extremely tedious and troublesome, and though, 

 for want of a better and more convenient method, 

 they may answer in some degree for the slowest 

 transports, they will be of no service at all for 

 quick conveyances, on account of the great loss 

 of time attending every such operation, and of the 

 danger of the carriages ruiuiing foul of each oth- 

 er, because the momentum inertim of such masses 

 cannot be stopped so quickly and easily upon a 

 rail-way as upon a common turnpike road. 



6tldy. As the principal advantage of rail-ways 

 and their great superiority over canals consists in 

 the quickness of conveyance and in the ])ossibility 

 of employing mechanical power instead of horses, 

 the application of locomotive and stationary steam 

 engines has been proposed and partly introduced 

 in England for the propelling of all sorts of vehi- 

 cles upon iron rail-ways. But of all the trials 

 which till now have been made, not one has yet 

 succeeded to such a degree as to answer fully the 

 Kinguine expectations of their projectors. The 

 greatest speed which with either of these engines 1 

 can be given to a chain of heavy loaded carriages 

 without the most imminent danger of dashing both 

 rails and wagons to pieces, does hardly exceed six 

 miles an hour ; and as the greatest part of the 

 power of the locomotive engines is absorbed by 

 their own weight, and of the stationary engines 

 by the weight and friction of the long ropes or 

 chams, the expense of fuel is vei-y considerable, 

 and sur|)asses the expense of horses, wherever a 

 ton of coals costs more than eight shiUings. 



Being perfectly acquainted with all the newest 

 mechanical inventions, by a residence of nine 

 years in England, and strongly impressed with the 

 high importance of this particular subject, I have 

 for these twenty years past, applied myself with 

 the greatest assiduity, to the imjnovement of rail- 

 ways, and by constant study aiid after many ex- 

 pensive experiments, I have at iast succeeded in 

 bitting upon, an entirely new plan, by which all 

 the difficulties and inconveniences here enumera- 

 ted are completely removed, and the conveyance 

 upon rail-ways is brought to a degree of perfec- 

 tion, which, till novy, was scarcely thought pos- 

 sible. 



The principal advantages of this new plan, are 

 as follows : 



The rails are constructed in such a manner, that 

 the carriages move along them with the greatest 

 facility, and without any sensible lateral friction, 

 though the wheels are regularly kept upon their 

 track. By this means, and by a more advantage- 

 ous, yet simple, construction of the wagons, the 

 resistance is so much reduced, that upon a dead 

 level the power of one horse is sufficient to draw 

 -with ease and in a good pace, a load of twelve to 

 fourteen tons upon several carriages linked toge- 

 ther. 



The fijimdation of the rails is fixed in a much 

 more solid ma.jner, and, as the horses do not walk 

 between the rails, but on the outside of them, and 

 upon a separate path which is somewhat lower, 

 tbeir trampling camiot injure the foundation, nor 



can they throw any sand or mire upon the rails, 

 which of course will never be obstructed. 



The peculiar construction of the carriages al- 

 lows tliem not only to turn without the least diffi- 

 cidty in any deviating direction and Lipon a curved 

 rail-way of the shortest radius, (f. i. of 20 feet,) 

 but also to leave the rails and to be conveyed over 

 common roads like any ordinary wagon. These 

 carriages, therefore, can go on without interruption 

 through towns and villages, and over bridges, 

 where the rails cannot be continued, remaining 

 loaded till they arrive at their final destination. 



By a very simple and easy contrivance my car- 

 riages can also be turned off the rails at any point 

 where it will be found necessary, either to avoid 

 other wagons meeting on . the same track, or to 

 pass by those which they have overtaken, and re- 

 turn again into their first line, so that no siding 

 places, turning plates, nor any other apparatus of 

 that kind are necessary for such an operation, 

 which can be yjerformed almost as quickly and 

 easily as upon a common turnpike road. 



Tliis very important improvement affi^)rds the 

 advantage, that a double track of rails will be suf- 

 ficient for the most frequented traffic or inter- 

 course, for which, in the common way, five or six 

 parallel tracks would be required, and that any 

 number of slow and heavy wagons can pass on 

 the same line, and at the same time, with as many 

 light and quick carriages, in the same, or in an 

 opposite direction. 



To employ the power of steam with the great- 

 est advantage, and with the least possible expense, 

 for the propelling of all sorts of carriages upon 

 rail-ways, I have discovered a new principle by 

 which the power and motion of the stationary en- 

 gines, established at considerable distances or in- 

 tervals and working without interruption, can be 

 imparted to any number of loaded carriages pass- 

 ing upon a rail-way from one engine to the other 

 wilhnut ropes or chains or any other intermediate ap- 

 paratus, and with any (reasonable) velocity. 



A rail-road constructed anywhei-e upon this new 

 plan, and with all these improvements, and new 

 inventions, (the reality of which is partly proved 

 by experiments maiie upon a jiretty large scale, 

 partly founded on the most infallible principles, 

 and for the success of which I will make myself 

 responsible) cannot fail to have a decided superi- 

 ority over canals, as well as over common rail- 

 ways of the present construction used in Great 

 Britain. 



This superiority has already been acknowledged 

 by a committee of the Royal Academy of Sci- 

 ences, and by one of the Agricultural and Poly- 

 technical Societies at Munich, who, after having 

 examined my |)lan and assisted at the experiments, 

 have made and published very favorable reports. 

 And though there is in this country a strong iji- 

 terested party for canals, yet all rur proprietors and 

 capitalists, and also the majority of both houses of 

 our representative assembly, are so well instructed 

 and disposed that my plan for uniting the two 

 greatest navigable rivers in Germany, the Da- 

 nube and the Rhine (through the Main) by means 

 of an iron rail-way of my invention, is about to be 

 adopted. 



But I am convinced that nowhere in the world, 

 the introduction of this new plan of rail-ways 

 could aflTord such immense advantages as in the 

 Uiuted States, where the most rapid and prodi- 

 gious progress in every branch of ititernal im- 

 provement, industry and commerce, protected by 



the wisdom of an eidightcned aiul liberal govern- 

 ment, and supported liy the iiid)lic spirit of an en- 

 terprising nation, are already the admiration of all 

 Europe, and where, to arrive at the highest degree 

 of national wealth and prosperity, nothing more is 

 wauling, an<l nolhing can be more desirable, than 

 the greatest possible nuiltiplication ami facilitation 

 of internal counnimicalions. 



By adopting this plan instead of the ordinary 

 ELiglish system, the iron rail-way between Balti- 

 more and the Ohio, the construction of which is 

 already decided upon, might be established with 

 nmch greater advantage, and with a saving of 

 nearly two millions of dollars. 



Jt lias lately been proposed to unite the Chesa- 

 peake Bay with the Ohio by a canal between 

 Georgetown and Pittsburg, and the expense of 

 this canal is previously estimated at 22,575,426 

 dollai's, of which sum nearly oue-half will be re- 

 quired for the middle section alone, on account of 

 the great number of locks and a most expensive 

 tinmel by which this part of the canal is to be 

 conducted over the higliest point below the sum- 

 mit of the Backbone mountain. As lar as I am 

 able to judge by the report transmitted by a mes- 

 sage from the President of the United States and 

 published at Washington last year, it appears to 

 me that a double track of iron rail-ways with a 

 sufficient nund)er of stationary engines, executed 

 in the most complete and solid manner, would an- 

 swer the pmpose infinitely better and save about 

 two-thirds of that sura and ai much of the time 

 required for the conveyance of all articles from 

 one point to the other. Light vehicles with pas- 

 sengers and mails might be transported upon this 

 rail-way with the greatest safety and convenience 

 in 36 hours by day and night. Besides, there 

 would be the very imiwrtant advantage, that the 

 rail-way could be used the whole year with very 

 few internqitions, whereas the navigation upon ca- 

 nals in that climate is generally confined to eight 

 months. If, however, my plan would be adopted 

 only for the middle section upon the length of se- 

 ventytwo and a half miles, a saving of seven to 

 eight millions might easily be made, and the traffic 

 carried on i.vitii nuich greater ex|iedition. But as 

 in this case, the loading and unloading from the 

 canal to the rail-way, and from the rail-way to the 

 canal, would be rather troublesome, and attended 

 with extraordinary delays and ex|)enses, I should 

 recommend the construction of a rail-road for the 

 whole line between Georgetown and Pittsburg, 

 by which about 15 millions of dollars would be saved, 

 the whole ivork finished in a much shorter lime, the ex- 

 pense of enlertdining and repairs greatly diminished, 

 the transports rendered more expeditious and conven- 

 ient, and the annual income to the proprietors and 

 share-holders might be doubled even with lotocring the 

 tolls. 



The Chevalier JOSEPH DE BAADER, 



Kni^lit (if llip nr'Icr ofincrll ofllie navariail crouu, Counsellor 

 ol mines and Professor oCpraclical iMeoliaiiics al the Uiiiver- 

 sil)' ol Miinidi, member oi Uie Royal LJavariaji Aeatlemy of 

 Sciences, nrul of several foreign learned societies; One of 

 tlie Dircciors of the Hoard of Ajricidture, and of the Poly- 

 technrcal ?^ocie'v at Munich. 

 Munich, 19tk March, 1828. 



A gentleman with a team of dogs has travelled 

 from Boston to Providence, where he was seen 

 going at the rate of five miles an hour. 



Last year 10,444 casks and 689 half casks of 

 Flax-seed were inspected in New York city, worth 



$96,000. 



