NEW ENGLAND FARMEH. 



Published by JOHN B. RUSSKI<L, at Ihe comer of Congress and I,iiidall Streets, (Six doors from t^e Post Office) Boston. — THOMAS G. FF.SSF.NDEN, I'ditor. 



~ FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 1825. " """ ~ 



VOL. IH. 



No. 40. 



Railways are a much mora recent mvenlion 

 than catials: ami for [larticular juirposes, such 

 as Ihe convevatice ofcoil, stone or other heavy 

 eommoditres (Invn a short inrlinc d phme, sloping 

 at an atiffle ol" three nr fourileafrees, Ihey are de- 

 cidedly superior. As a inpans of general com- 

 rniinicalinn, they are cheaper in the fir^t citlay 

 than canals, more commodious )n some rpspects, 

 anil adapted to a greater v-iriel y of situations — 

 but so long as horse power was the only power 

 en^oloyed. it iiay be doubted whether the bal- 

 ance of advantage was not \n favor of canals. — 

 We are quite satisfied however, that, Ihe inlro 

 duction of the locomotive steam power has given 

 a decided superiority lo railways. Indeed w(- 

 are convinced, and we hope, by and b^', to con- 

 vey Some share of Ihe conviction lo (he 

 minds of our readers, that the general use ol 

 railways and steam carriaP|'S, Tt all kinds of in 

 ternal communications',' Ojj^ns up prosjiects ol 

 almost boundless improrement, and is destined 

 perhaps, to work a greater change on the slate 

 «f civil society, than even the grand discovery 

 of navigation. 



Iron railways are of two dpscriptiens. The 



;t rail or tram road consists of cast iron plates 



about three feet long, four inches broa<l, and 



I^Rlf an inch or an inch thick, with a fianch or 



larncd up e'\ge on the inside to guide the w heels 



of the carriage. — These places rest at each end 



Ml stone sleepers of three or four hundred 



nrelght, sunk into Ihe earth, and they are joined 



o each otherso as to fbim a continuous horizon- 



al pal h way. They are of course double, and 



he distance belwecn the opposite rails is from 



J. to 4t feet, according to the breadth of the car 



jr wagon to be employed. The edge rail, 



which is found lo be superior lo the tram rail, 



? made either of wrought or cast iron. If Ihe 



alter is used, the rails are about o feet long, 



or 4 inches broad, and from one lo two inches 



hick, and they are joined at their ends bv cast 



netal sockets attached to ihe sleepers- The 



pper edge of the rail is generally made with a 



ipnvex surface, to which the wheel of ilie car 



* adapted, by a groove made somewhat wider. 



When wrought iron is used (which is found to, 

 be almost equally cheap with the cast metal, 

 aid greatly preferable in many respects ;) the 

 birs are made of smaller size, of a wedge shape 

 ■■\i:d \2 or 13 leet long, but they are sui)ported 

 l>v slofp(i!5»at the distance of every three feet. 

 The w.iggons generally used rnu upon tour 

 iheels of i'rom two to three feet dinnieter, ^ind 

 ciuy from 20 to 50 cwt.— Four or live of these 

 »re, tliswi.i by one horse. On Ihe dead level 

 i-ai'v-iav coMSh i-.c'ed by Mr John Gti' '.en for Sir 

 htci. Hope, near Miissejburg, which is one of the 

 most perlVcl in Bnlain, a single horse will draw 

 five loaded wagons, each containing 30 cwt. ol 

 rotils, at the rale of four miles an hour — in all 

 li tons exrlu-ive of the wagons, which weigh 

 3 tons mare. Reducing the velocity to twn 

 miles an hour by Professer Leslie's rule, the 

 borsp should drag 12 tons or 15 tons including 

 the wagons. Mr Stevenson observes, that, "an 

 ordinary horse, upon a well constructed edge 

 railway, on a level line of draught will work 

 with about ten tons of goods." Mr Palmer, ai^ 

 English engineer., gives the following as Ihe el 

 feet of a single horse's draught upon the differ- 

 ent railways at 2^ miles an hour : 



JVn\'hl of load Wtighl of the load 

 *■ drawn, in lbs. & wagon, in lbs. 



Lanelly tram road 4,602 



Surry, do. 6,750 



Penrin edge rail 10,084 



Cheltenham tram road 8,679 

 New branch of do dusty 11,765 



Do. clean 14,070 

 Edse 



Newcastle. \ 17,773 



railways near) 

 Newcastle. \ 



8,850 

 9,000 

 13,050 

 15,500 

 18,300 

 21,900 



25,500 



This table shows ibe great superiority of the 

 odsre rails. The engineer observes, too, thai 

 the vehicles are made in a vry rude mannei-. 

 and that were more c^re emi loyed in their con 

 siruction the load might be much increased. 



Railways are generilly made double, one for 



goingrand the other for returning. The breadth 



'of ground required for n single railway, is from 



j 9 lo 12 feet; for a doable one from 15 (o 25. — 



The expense of a double road, including the 

 price of the ground, may be estimated generally 

 at from 3000/. to 5000?. per mile, or from 07ic 

 hnlf to one third of the expense of a canal. Mr 

 Stephenson says ' the lirst expense of a canal will 

 be found lobe double if not treble, the expense 

 of a railway : such are the difficulties of passing 

 through a weM cultivated country, and of espec- 

 ially procuring a sufficient supply of water in 

 manufacturii.j' districts, that four limes the ex- 

 pense wi!"i in most cases be nearer the in:irk-' — - 

 We speak here of railways of the ordinary kind 

 for the transportation of goods ; but it is prob- 

 able that one destined to serve the purpose of a 

 sjreat national thoroughfare, for vehicles of all 

 kinds, quick and slow, would cost at least twice 

 as much. Even in this case, however, the orig- 

 inal outlay would certainly not amount to more 

 ihan hall' or a third of what would be required 

 for a canal of such magnitude as to afford the 

 same amount of commercial accommodation. 



A railway from Glasgow to Berwick, 125 

 miles long projected 1810, was surveyed by Mr 

 Telford, and estimated to cost 365,700/.; or 

 2026/ per mile. The estimated expense of a 

 riilway from Birmingham to Liverpool, distance 

 104 miles, surveyed within these few months, 

 is 350,000/. or .3365/. per mile. That of one from 

 Crawford Canal to the Peak Forest Canal in 

 Derbyshire, 32 miles long, is 150,000/ or 4,700/. 

 per tnile. A recent Carlisle paper slates, that 

 the expense of a railway between that city and 

 New Castle was estimated at 252,000/. or 4000/. 

 per mile; and that of a canal at 888,000/. or 

 14,000 per mile. A railway projected to ruD 

 from Manchester to Liverpool, 33 miles baa 

 been esiimated to cost 400,0t>0/. which is no 

 less than 13,000/. per mile ; but this includes a 

 large amount for warehouses, and locomotive 

 engines. Lastly, a railway from Daikeith to 

 Edinburgh, including a branch orFisherro har- 

 bour, 91 miles long altogether, will cost, accor- 

 ding to Ihe recent estimate of John Grieven, 

 36,862/. or 3983/. per mile, including the es- 

 uense of five locomotive and one stationary 

 steam engine^ 



