57 
maintained, the greater these undulations become. After they have 
taken place, and have been allowed to continue, the rails soon acquire 
a permanent set, and are found to be like those represented in No. 2. 
If the labor is inadequate to maintain the track under the service, the 
rails soon take the form shown in No. 3, which will be recognized as 
being a common type of a permanent set in rails, though rapidly disap- 
pearing in the best maintained tracks. 
In both the latter forms the rails will be found loose on the ties under 
the spikes, and are pressed down by every pair of wheels that passes 
them. The ties not only have to sustain the load upon the wheels, but 
also to receive the dynamic shock of the falling rail and load ; and, as 
a consequence, there is a very rapid abrasion of the ties and a chafing- 
out of the throat of the spikes. The softer the wood the faster will be 
the cutting. 
The inspection of thousands of miles of railroad track each year has 
given me excellent opportunities of studying this phase of tie-destruc- 
tion. The sections of many of the steel rails which are in the tracks 
are too light for the present traffic, and must soon be worn out, and the 
ties are cut down with great rapidity. The section of our rails are being 
made heavier, but not as much with reference to stiffness as is desirable. 
So far as I know, the stiffest section in proportion to the weight of any 
rail yet used, is the 80-pound section, designed and now used by the 
New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company, and under 
heavy traffic it shows a decided advantage over the lighter and weaker 
sections. 
It will be unnecessary to remark upon the other two statements, as 
they have already been sufficiently considered. 
ADHESION OF SPIKES IN TIES OF VARIOUS WOODS. 
In the following experiments the White Oak and Chestnut ties used 
were taken from the Boston and Albany Railroad track, near Aliston, 
Mass. The Cedar tie was green, having been cut in the spring, and the 
tests were made on it in August. It had not been in service, nor had 
the Yellow Pine or Hemlock. The Oak tie and one of the Chestnut ties 
had been in the track only two years and three months, and they were 
of good sound second-growth timber. The other Chestnut tie had been 
in service four years and three months. The results obtained from these 
experiments are of far more practical value thau if from new ties. 
Maj. F. H. Parker, commanding officer of the Watertown Arsenal, 
kindly allowed the testing-machine to be used to make the tests, which 
were conducted by Mr. James Howard, C. E., in charge of the machine, 
a fact of itself guaranteeing the care used in making the experiments. 
The Boston and Albany Railroad Company sent Mr. John Twigg, an 
experienced spiker, to drive the spikes in the ties, the conditions of 
every-day practice being maintained as nearly as possible. When the 
ties were taken out of the track a spike was left iu each end, as origin- 
