204 REPORT—1858. 
are connected by brackets of angle-iron, which are bolted to and through both rails 
and brackets at the joints, the brackets being bolted down on cross sleepers at the 
joints; thus securing the gauge. 
The advantages of the system are,—Ist, a maximum depth of rail, with a minimum 
elevation; 2nd, a continuous bearing on timber ; 3rd, great lateral stiffness; 4th, a 
really reversible rail without risk of damage or crystallization, with the lower table 
perfect, when the upper is worn out; 5th, great safety, by reason of the rail being 
secured without chairs and keys; 6th, diminished cost of maintenance, and rapid 
shifting of rails. 
As to the wheel, practically, a driving wheel, at 50 miles per hour, is equivalent 
to a large Nasmyth’s hammer, wherever any inequality exists between rails and 
wheel: the incessant leap of the wheel from point to point is a heavy blow. 
To obviate this disadvantage, it is desirable to render the wheel elastic. The im- 
proved wheel is so constructed, that a continuous hollow in the internal periphery of 
the tire is overlapped by a continuous hoop-spring, on which the wheel rests in such 
a mode that the only dead-weight is in the tire. The tire is formed with an internal 
front rib ; and when the wheel is forced in upon the spring by cold pressure, a false 
rib is fixed at the back, and the wheel is secure. The wheel thus treads on an elastic 
cushion all round the periphery. It cannot be strained on mischievously tight, as by 
shrinking hot; and the metal is in a state of rust. 
The advantage in saving wear of tire is found to be considerable, and it is obvious 
the saving must extend to the rails also. 
The commercial advantages are considerable. In the permanent way the cost of 
the whole of the chairs is saved, and a portion of the timber, while the fastenings are 
about the same cost in either case. The saving of labour, and heating, and tools in 
the construction of the wheels is considerable ; and the quantity of material is dimi- 
nished. Both permanent way and wheels have now been a considerable time in 
practical use, which is extending as the system becomes known. 
On a few Facts connected with the Manufacture of Pig Iron in the neighbour- 
hood of Leeds. By W. J. ARMITAGE. 
The author first quoted an extract from the ‘Geological Survey,’ in reference to the 
peculiarities of the coal-fields of Yorkshire, and then proceeded to point out the posi- 
tion occupied by the valuable seam of coal in the districts of Bradford and Leeds. 
The superficial seams of coals worked in the immediate neighbourhood of Leeds he 
gave in the various orders in which they occur :— 
lst. The stone or cannel bed. 2nd. The Middleton bed. 
3rd. The Beeston thin bed. 4th. The Beeston thick bed. 
5th. The Crow coal. 
Below the latter seam, that portion of the strata especially connected with the 
manufacture of iron in the North Yorkshire district was arrived at. A section of 
this part of the strata gave the following results :— 
1st. Loose vein of sandstone, 9 to 18 feet thick. 
2nd. Black bed ironstone, lying in a bed of shale, 3 to 4 feet thick. 
3rd. Black bed coal, 2 feet thick. 
4th. Various measures of shale and stone, roof of better bed coal, consisting of 
black shale, with numerous fish remains, and small white nodules of 
ironstone, 120 feet. 
5th. Better bed coal, 1 to 2 feet. 
6th. Floor of indurated fire-clay, 2 to 3 feet. 
From this portion of the strata, comprised within the short space of forty yards, the 
materials employed in the manufacture of the iron were derived. The black bed 
ironstone furnished the ore, the better bed coal the fuel, the black bed was used for 
the engines, and from the valuable bed of fire-clay were made the fire-bricks and 
blast-furnace linings. The ironstone occurred in detached nodules of various sizes, 
deposited in five distinct layers, which were designated top balls, flat stone, upper 
rough measure, middle balls, and lower rough measure. In some localities their 
course was difficult to trace in the surrounding shale; in others, where the seam. 
was termed good, the ore produced 1000 tons of stone per acre, and this was about 
