146 Hudson and MohaivJc. Rail Road. 



The rails are pieces of wood from twenty one to twenty four feet 

 long, and six inches square, hewed out of Norway and white pine* 

 brought from the vicinity of Seneca lake, and which, in its quality, 

 is considered, by the engineer, equal to yellow pine. These rails 

 are placed in the iron chairs, and are wedged with wooden wedges 

 on the outer side into a perfectly true line. On these lie the iron 

 rails which are made of the best of wrought iron, and were maoufac- 

 tured at Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. 



They are are two inches and a half wide at bottom, and rounded 

 off to one inch and seven eighths on the top. Their thickness is 

 only nine sixteenths of an inch. The weight is twenty one tons 

 per mile. These bars are tongued and grooved, and are secured 

 to the wooden rail by iron spikes driven through oval openings. 

 The expansion and contraction of the metal are provided for in 

 these openings, and also by the tongues and grooves. Where the 

 bars join, an iron plate is placed underneath and it is remarked that 

 although addidonal strength is gained by this, yet the iron rails seem 

 to wear faster at these places than at any others. After the road was 

 used, these bars upon examination made by the writer, were found 

 to be magnetic. 



At the distance of twenty one feet, tie pieces, as a farther security, 

 are laid down, to bind the rails to each other and keep them in 

 proper parallelism. Broken stone is also laid down between, and at 

 the side of the rails, and this is again covered with earth. 



Upon the embankments stone blocks have not yet been put down, in 

 order to give time for them to settle. When any settling is observed, 

 the limbers, on which the rails at present rest, are pryed up and se- 

 cured, and the level is maintained. 



The other track, which is on the south side of the one now in use, 

 is in a state of active preparation. 



Passengers are carried upon this road in coaches, drawn by horses, 

 and by the locomotive engines, whose powers are not yet conclu- 

 sively tested. The DeWitt Clinton, on the plan of Mr. Hall, is an 

 American engine, from the West Point foundry, and the Robert Ful- 

 ton, an English engine, is from the shop of Robert Stephenson. The 

 former is about eleven feet six inches in length, and mounted on iron 

 wheels of four feet eight inches diameter. The boiler contains 

 one hundred and fifteen gallons of water, and will sustain a pressure 



* Piniis resinosa and Pinus Strobus of Linnjeus, the latter known in England as the 

 Weyinoulli pine. 



