235 



4 feet Si inches, and I think it worth while recording the fact 

 ,.that between May 31st and June 3rd of this year the gauge of 

 11,500 miles of railway was changed to the standard with 

 scarcely any impediment to traffic. 



Up to the present time the only standard article accepted i& 

 the freight-car axle, and it is expected shortly that a standard 

 size of wheel and shape of tyre will be agreed to. One 

 important feature in the shape of the tyres likely to be intro- 

 duced and adopted is that the portion under ordinary circum- 

 stances in contact with the rail shall be cylindrical for a width 

 of two inches, and the remainder coned as usual for use when 

 running round curves. 



It is customary in the United States, where timber is com- 

 paratively cheap and good ballast scarce, to use a larger number 

 of sleepers per mile and a less quantity of ballast than usual ; 

 but there is a decided determination among the leading 

 American engineers not to use light rails either for narrow 

 gauge or so-called light railways. Economy is to be sought for 

 elsewhere than in either rolling-stock or permanent way. The 

 principal economy is, therefore, to be found in the first cost of 

 laying out and grading the line. It is interesting -to note the 

 results accruing from attempts to avoid heavy gradients by 

 increasing the magnitude and cost of the earth and other works. 

 Some of the Main Trunk Lines cross the ranges at very high 

 levels, notably the Baltimore and Ohio line, which crosses the 

 Appala chain range at an elevation of 2,706 feet by grades of 

 1 in 45 eleven miles long on one side, and seventeen miles long 

 on the other, with curves of 600 feet radius. 



The Pennsylvania Railway originally crossed the same range 

 at an elevation of 2,160 feet with the gradients of 1 in 37 and 

 1 in 49, but these grades have been much improved since that 

 time. The Erie Railway was originally most carefully laid out 

 to get over a summit of 1,374 feet, and heavy expenses, 

 amounting to £14,000 per mile, were incurred in obtaining a 

 maximum grade of 1 in 88. 



The New York Central has maximum grades of 1 in 56, with 

 sharp curves ; and its rival — the West Shore line — has 

 a low summit level, with grades of 1 in 264 and 1 in 176, but 

 the cost has been so great that it is feared the line will have to 

 be absorbed by its rival, the New York Central. On all 

 economical railways of the standard gauge moderately steep 

 grades have been successfully adopted. The largest private 

 company in the States, or in the world, is the Chicago, Mil- 

 waukee, and St. Paul. It owns and operates 5,000 miles of 

 line. 



The plan adopted in the United States is to locate the line 

 carefully in the first instance, with the view to subsequent 



