604 



KEPOllT — 1884. 



in at proper intervals. Earth taken from ditches or elsewhere must bo 

 damped over the banks, and not loft at or near tlio ends of the ties, but 

 distributed over the slope. Earth taken out of the ditches in cuts,, must 

 not be thrown on the slope. The channels or streams for a considerable 

 distance above tlie road should be examined, and brush, drift, and other 

 obstructions removed. Ditches, culverts, and box drains should bu 

 cleaned of all obstructions, and the outlets and iidets of the same kept 

 open to allow a free flow of water at all times.' 



All sidings .should be kept in as good order as practicfible, but it is 

 not necessary that they be kept up to the standard of main track.s, 

 second-c'ass rails and ties, or partly worn material from the main trucks, 

 being usually used for their construction. 



In reforence to turn-outs and crossings from one track to another, the 

 general arrangement is very well illustrated by the standards of Iho 

 Pennsylvania Kailroad, also the standard third track connections of the 

 same road. The old-fashioned stub switch is now entirely out of date. 

 It will of cour.so be found on many roads, but now switches of this 

 kind are not being introduced anywhere in first-class work. The term 

 'switch' is an American word, and indicates any arrangement of 

 movable rails, used for the jjurposo of transferring a train from one 

 track to another. In the stub switch, where the lines of rails sepai'ate, 

 each pair of the four rails arc brought as closely together as will just 

 allow the flanges of the wheels to run between them. The last pair 

 of rails of the single track are then connected together to gauge by 

 bars, and have only the rear ends fixed to the ties, the other ends 

 being made so as to swing back and forth horizontally, by means of a 

 lever in front of either pair of the diverging lines, so that a continuous 

 connection can be made with either one or the other. The ends of these 

 movable rails, which are called switch rails, rest on slide plates which 

 receive and partially secure them, limiting their movement, or the 

 * throw ' of the switch, to the distance between the rails of the diverging 

 lines. A small opening or space must always be left between the end of 

 the switch rail and the next rail, to allow not only for expansion and con- 

 traction under changes of temperature, but also the creeping of the rails 

 under service, both of which causes tend to close up the space, and hold 

 the switch rails so tightly in place that they cannot be moved and the 

 switch opened. But the want of continuity in the track causes severe 

 shocks and jars to passing trains, not only uncomfortable to passengers, 

 but also battering down the ends of the rails, rapidly destroying them 

 and the ties below, and causing much trouble. In addition to these dis- 

 advantages, inherent in the form of switch, it possesses no elements of 

 safety. If placed for the wrong track, a train approaching from the side 

 of the diverging linos must be derailed. 



The great advances which have been made in the scientific operating 

 of railroads in this country, and the vastly increased traffic, demanding 

 greater comfort and greater safety, have necessitated some form of 

 switch that would pass trains smoothly and easily, free from the shocks 

 and jars experienced with the old form, easily operated without risk of 

 being locked by changes of temperature or creeping of rails, and, at 

 least on the main tracks, ol a switch that even if set wrong would nob 

 derail a train. These wants have been met by the split or point switch. 



The split switch as made in America is of the same type as has been 

 used almost altogether in Europe, but there may be some differences 



