226 



VISIT TO THE WORKS OF THE GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY. 



[1855- 



faction to the eye by the play of colour on its face that it tends 

 to dissatisfy one with a material in itself uniiupeachaLle but 

 relatively inferior. The girders to be used at the viaduct being 

 of 96 feet span are of different construction to those we have 

 already described. Instead of the two single web girders as at 

 the Humber, here we have single tubular girders, TO" high^ 

 and 7'0" wide, with the track on the top of it and projecting 

 sidepaths as before, giving a full width of floor of 1(5'0", each 

 girder weighing somewhere about 50 tons. 



In the same style of masonry and of material from the same 

 quarries we came, at about a mile further westward, to a 25 

 fjot arched cuh ert, with a vertical height of 6'0" to springing, 

 and containing, I was told, about 3,000 cubic vards, with an 

 embankment over of about 194,000 yards, crossing a valley 

 1,500 feet wide. I observed here an excellent expedient for 

 securing a double use to these culverts, for after allowing suf- 

 ficient height for the passage of the stream, by making a set 

 off on the face of each side wall a bearing is obtained, joisting 

 laid and planked, and a roadway thus provided above the 

 waterway. We subsequently visited a 15 foot arched culvert 

 of similar character IJ miles further westward, coming, at 

 about 31 miles from Toronto, to what is called " the Lindsey 

 cut," a work which has given much trouble in consequence of 

 the character of the material — hard cemented gravel — through 

 which it is made. Of this I have secured a specimen, and 

 although probably most of us have encountered material some- 

 what approaching it in difficulty of working, few of vis have 

 been tried by a cut in it such as this, 50 feet in depth and 

 containing 173,000 yards. 



In succession to this cut and immediately beyond it we 

 entered another 60 feet in depth, containing, we were told, 

 about 25,000 yards, in limestone rock of excellent hydraulic 

 quality, the cement from which, setting somewhat slowly but 

 with great tenacity and hardness, has been generally used 

 throughout the works. 



Immediately beyond this again, after passing over the em- 

 bankment filled from these cuts, we came to another (called 

 Scots) which, containing upwards of 192,000 yards, it was 

 a relief to find, of pure sand, although as it approached to 

 quick, it seemed to give some indication of trouble 



Passing a 15 foot arched culvert similar to those already 

 described, at 36 J miles, we reached the summit between Toronto 

 and Gueljjh, which is 991 feet above the level of Lake Ontario. 

 Here is a cut in indurated gravel from which some 36,000 

 yards have been taken. 



Three miles further westward is another 25 feet arched 

 culvert, built in limestone of highly fossillated character. The 

 style of this masonry was even heavier than that of those pre- 

 viously visited, but like those, it was finished with bold self- 

 faces and drave arrises, the arch stones being, if I remember 

 rightly, tooled. I name this because I think this style of 

 masonry highly applicable to works of this nature, and far 

 superior (by reason of the play about the face, relieved as it is 

 by the wide arrises which define the strict outline of all angles) 

 far superior to any higher finish or tooled faces which in my 

 judgment impart tameness when adopted in massive structures. 



At 40 miles from Toronto we come to the Eramosa Valley 

 Viaduct over the river of that name and near the Village of 

 Rockwood. The full width of this structure is 570 feet, com- 

 prising 8 spans of 60 feet each, the full width of valley being 

 1200 feet, crossed at an elevation of 45 feet above water line. 

 The stone used in this structure is obtained in the immediate 

 vicinity; the whole district around it, on the east side of the 

 river, presenting a bare broken face of highly fossillated lime- 



stone rock, abounding, we were told, in caverns of large capa- 

 city and interesting character, well worthy of the visit, which 

 want of time obliged us to decHne. At Eramosa the style of 

 masonry consists with that of the other structures, but the 

 colour of the stone, which varies from grey to purple, and 

 passes in parts into a lighter oehieous tint gives it a distinctive 

 and peculiar aspect as compared with the other viaducts, and 

 one which, although preferred by some of my companions, I 

 did not admire so much as the warm and even face of the 

 Georgetown material. 



The quantity of stone laid in the Eramosa stmcture, (the 

 masonry of which is fully completed), was 5000 yards, the 

 embankment connected with it containing 80,000, and the 

 weight of metal in the girders being about 125 tons. 



Passing on to Guelph, (where the road seems to me to have 

 been located somewhat strangely, although doubtless with good 

 reason, right through the heart of the town), we find the most 

 peculiar structur:' on the whole line, and one indeed for which 

 few, if any, precedents can be found. This peculiarity is due 

 to the crossing of the Speed River at right angles on and over 

 the line of a street which is approached at each end and on 

 each side of the river by other streets, also at right angles. In 

 crossing the river therefore at this point it was necessary to 

 preserve the common road on the same site as that to be occu- 

 pied by the railway and to connect that roadway at each end 

 with the streets abutting upon it. This has been affected by 

 the viaduct in question, which is 580 feet in length, comprising 

 six spans of 60 and one centre span over the river of SO feet. 

 But instead of solid piers of the usual width, there are two 

 rows of i:)iers, leaving a transverse opening of 20 feet wide 

 between them, spanned by short transverse v.'roiight iron beams 

 to receive the longitudinal girders or tubes in the direction of 

 the rail and roadway, so that throughout the length of some 

 600 feet the railway will be above the road for which a head- 

 way of about 20 feet will be left clear of the transverse beams 

 before mentioned; in fact, except that this work is on terra 

 firma it illustrates the same conditions of use as the new Sus- 

 pension Bridge at Niagara, with the carriage way immediately 

 beneath the railroad. That any local neces.sity exists for re- 

 taining the road in its old position or for forcing the location 

 of the railway to its site is not very apparent, but Municipali- 

 ties are not alwaj-s as considerate as they should be, and seem 

 sometimes disposed to test their strength by the pressure of 

 some unreasonable prejudice. 



At 53 J miles from Toronto, and 6 miles beyond Guelph, we 

 visited what is called the " Jack hill cut," in indurated clay 

 and hard pan, of a depth of 40 feet and contents of 161.000 

 yards. So close and compact is this material that the sides of 

 the gully stand for the full 40 feet at a perfectly fair and ver- 

 tical face ; and I traced on part of it which had been excavated 

 from nearly 2 years since, the marks of the pick as sharp and 

 clean as though they had been recently made rather than stood 

 exposure through two winters. 



In connection with these deep cuts, I availed myself of the 

 opportunity for noticing the effects of the then recent heavy 

 fall of snow in relation to the probable obstruction of traffic. 

 The general depth of snow over the surface of the country 

 was from two to three feet, and it drifted very considerably in 

 places, sufficient to illustrate fully the circumstances of our 

 average winters. I found almost universally that cuts from 5 

 to 15 feet were comparatively choked by drift, and that as the 

 depth above 20 or 25 feet increased, the deposit was diminished. 

 In the cut at Jack's hill, 40 feet in depth, although the snow 

 was two feet deep at the summit of the sides, there was cer- 



