142 



THE BOOK OF THE LANDED ESTATE. 



Fio. 16. 



This description of railway is frequently adopted in Canada and the 

 United States, from motives of economy in the cost of the first con- 

 struction. Timber being plentiful 

 in those countries, it is used for 

 the purpose of rails, and a small 

 narrow bar of iron is fastened 

 to these wooden rails, as shown 

 at a a ; this forms a better running 

 surface for the wheels of engines 

 and trucks. The iron bars are 

 generally made two inches wide 

 and aboiit three quarters of an 

 inch in depth, and in lengths 

 of from, fifteen to eighteen feet. 

 The top of the iron rail is made 

 somewhat convex. They are 

 fastened to the wooden rail by 

 means of screws through the bar 

 into the timber. 



The wooden rails are usually 

 made eight inches deep and six inches broad, and of any length. The 

 rails are either supported by stone blocks or wooden sleepers ; as a rule, 

 the wooden sleepers are more preferable, especially on embankments, 

 and also from the fact that they cause less shake to the waggon pass- 

 ing over them. The sleepers being slightly elastic, give way to a cer- 

 tain extent, and cause the waggon to run much more smoothly. The 

 sleepers are generally made nine feet long, nine inches broad, and five 

 inches thick ; but of course these lengths and sizes must be regulated 

 by the width of the axle of the trucks to run on the line, and also by 

 their size or weight. 



The wooden rails are fixed into a notch in the sleepers by means of 

 a wedge, as shown at c in the sketch. 



The sleepers can be either laid on the natural surface, or into a 

 trench dug out to receive them, and then securely fixed there by beating 

 the soil about it ; but generally it is better to fix it with stones on each 

 side, and have the space about it filled in with loose stones. This causes 

 a drainage about the sleeper, and assists in making it last longer. 



It is a great matter to have a thorough drainage under the tramway, 

 especially if horses are to be the motive power, as it is necessary to have 

 a dry footpath for them ; but in any case it is well to have the soil about 

 the timber work made dry. 



In fig. 17 is shown a mode of rails for passing trucks from one line of 



