478 



NEW COMPOUND RAIL. 



this could not be the case, as practically it has no joints, being of uni- 

 form strength throughout its length. In this view of the case I 

 cannot he far astray in estimating, that the improved rail compared with 

 the common rail would not require more than half the number of 

 track men to keep it in repair, and that in this service a saving of not 

 less than :;^120 per mile would annually be effected. 



Again, the ends of the common rail bars laid in the ordinary way, 

 being deficient in strength, are invariably the first portions of the iron 

 to laminate and give way, it may very reasonably be argued that the 

 wearing surface of the improved rail, being equally supported at all 

 points, would not be so much exposed to percussive blows and unequal 

 wear as the common rail, and would, as a natural consequence, last 

 longer. However just this conclusion may be, it will at ance be ap- 

 parent, that the improved rail may undoubtedly claim very much 

 greater durability and usefulness for other reasons. The lower half 

 being an exact counterpart of the upper, by simply inverting both 

 when the wearing surface of the upper is destroyed, we have a fresh 

 surface brought into play, which in all probability may last quite 

 as long as the first. In view of both these circumstances we may, ia 

 all fairness, claim that the improved rail will serve its purpose not less 

 than double the period that the common rail would endure, and hence 

 the annual deterioration of the latter should be reckoned as being very 

 much greater than the former. To illustrate the financial value of 

 these advantages possessed by the improved rail, I present an ap- 

 proximate estimate of the annual saving it would efPect. 



Assuming that the improved rail, including wrought iron cores,, 

 weighs 80 lbs. per yard, and that the common rail weighs 65 lbs. per 

 yard exclusive of chairs, the first cost of a rail track constructed with 

 the former will exceed one with the latter by about {§^800 per mile : 



