AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Ill 



Fuj.l 



The wood locomotive, to perform the same labor, (it run the 

 freight,) costs from 18 to 21 cents. The wood on the tender costs 

 $5.75 per cord. [-^ silver medal awarded. 



Hilliard'^s Lock Joints 



For uniting bars on railroad tracks, dispensing with joint ties, 

 railroad chairs, and other support and fastenings at the joints. 

 J. R. Hilliard, Paterson, N. J. 



Men of experience and adepts 

 in charge of track admit there 

 is more expense at tlie junction 

 of the rails, and more hazard, 

 than at other points. Notwith- 

 standing the expense incurred, 

 there will be an uneven surface 

 at the joints, by the present 

 method. Heavy joint ties and 

 railroad chairs are insufficient. 

 The consequences are most de- 

 structive to engine machinery, 

 cars, and even the track itself. 

 To obtain a smooth, continuous 

 surface of rail, many inventions 

 and improvements have been 

 made. 



Tlie inventor informs us that 

 the Lock Joint was first applied 

 to several bars in tlie track of 

 the New-York and Erie rail- 

 road, at Huyler's station, four miles south of Paterson, about eight 

 mouths ago. Several bars were afterwards introduced in the track 

 of the same road, between Huyler's and Paterson stations, around 

 the " Weasel curve," one of the most acute on the whole line. 

 Several bars have also been laid down upon the New- York Central 

 railroad, at Syracuse, Rochester and Pittsford. All these portions 

 of track are laid without joint ties and railroad chairs. No sup- 

 port other than is aflbrded by the joint, is essential or necessary. 

 While the joint resists downward and lateral pressure, the expan- 



nilliard's Lock Joint. 



