HIGH SPEED RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING. XLI. 



The Manchester and Liverpool Express Mono-rail electric 

 line is, except for experimental purposes, the first in the 

 field, and apart from its special mono-rail form, it is a good 

 representation of the class. As also I had special oppor- 

 tunities by attendance at the House of Commons Committee 

 last year, and by intercourse with its promoters and 

 opponents, I shall briefly describe it : — The length of the 

 line, which is a double one, is 34 miles 33*60 chains. The 

 grades are practically level, except at each end, where 7 

 chains of 1 in 25 at Manchester, and 8 chains of 1 in 30 at 

 Liverpool, are purposely introduced for acceleration and 

 retardation purposes. There is one curve of 30 chains 

 radius, and only three sharper than 40 chains. Ten of the 

 curves are less than 80 chains radius. The construction, 

 up to the top of the sleepers, which are to be 9 ft. x 10 in. 

 x 5 in., is the same as that of an ordinary railway. On 

 each of the sleepers, which number 1,6-10 to the mile, is 

 constructed a triangular braced trestle of built steel, strid- 

 ing 3 ft. at foot, 4 ft. 6 in. high, supporting on top the 

 single 100 lb bull headed rail, which bears the load, and 

 gives its name to the system. At each side, on the slope 

 of the trestle, two 30 flb guide rails are set horizontally, 

 making a total weight of rails, for each line of way, of 

 220 lbs. to the yard. The formation is 26 ft. wide, and the 

 two lines of way are 12 ft. 6 in. apart, centre to centre. 

 The clearance between cars is only 1 ft. 6 in. The electrical 

 equipment includes, besides these, four rails as feeders, one 

 at each side of each line of trestles. The predicament 

 therefore, of a fettler, between the two, surprised by the 

 approach from each direction of cars only 18 inches apart 

 at a speed of 161 feet in a second, on the top of these 

 fence-like, and electrically charged trestles, can only be 

 compared to that of the man who had hold of the tiger's 

 tail, and did not know whether to hold on or to let go. 



