80 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. 



posals for manufacturing it, is reproduced in Plate I. It is a most in- 

 teresting relic. 



At the time that this rail was ordered, the section (Fig. 1) was in use 

 on the best railroads in England, and modifications of it with the 

 u fish- bellied " stem had been imported and laid on several American 

 roads. 



Fig. 1. — Birkensbaw's patent Malleable Rail, 1820. (Full size). 



Fig. 2 shows the shape of the wooden rail capped with strap-iron, 

 which was in general use almost everywhere in the United States as 

 late at least as 1839. 



Fig. 2. — Strap-rail, £ inches tbick ; laid on wooden stringers. In use on American 



Railroads, 1830-40. 



I shall be glad if those interested in the matter and who have access 

 to old rail piles will collect short sections, say 2 or 3 inches long, of the 

 rails used on the roads in various States during early times and pre- 

 serve them for future reference. 



