METAL RAILWAY TIER. 



399 



Statistics of metal track — Continued. 

 SECTION" NO. 3.--AUSTEALASIA. 



Queensland 



South Australia. 



Miles 



82 



152 



Total metal track 234 



Total track (7 colonies) 12,000 



SECTION NO. 4 —ASIA. 



Miles 



British India 13,655 



Sumatra 90 



Java 500 



Straits Settlements r 25 



China 2 



Japan 



Asia Minor. 



Miles. 



5 



309 



Total metal track 14 ? 586 



Total track 22,000 



Argentine Republic 3,638 



Chile 1 



Brazil 135 



Venezuela „ 218 



West Indies 204 



SECTION NO 5.— SOUTH AMERICA, ETC 



Mexico 



220 



Total metal tiack 4,416 



Total track 21,500 



SECTION NO. 6 -NORTH AMEEICA. 



United States. 

 Canada 







Total metal track 12 



Total track (United States and Canada) 190,000 



Percentage of metal traclc mileage. 



Section No. 1. 

 Section No 2 

 Section No 3 



Section No 4 

 Section No. 5 

 Section No. G 



Total . 



Metal tiack. 



Miles. 



13, 404 



2,326 



234 



14, 586 



4,416 



12 



34, 863 



Total track. 



137, 000 



5,600 



12, 000 



22, 000 



21, 500 



190, 000 



388, 100 



Per cent of 

 metal tiack 



10 

 40 



2 

 6G 3 

 21 







9 



Total mileage of railway s with metal track miles . . 34, 863 



Total mileage of railways of the world (exclusive of United States and 



Canada) miles . 198,000 



Percentage ot railways with metal track (exclusive of United States and 



Canada) percent.. 17.6 



It is not necessary in tliis general review of the subject to go into the details of the practice 

 and experience of foreign railways, as such details have been given very fully m the reports 

 already referred to. As the latest examples of this experience, however, it will be of interest to 

 present some particulars from reports recently made by Mr. Eenson, resident engineer of the 

 Netherlands State railways (Holland), and Mr. Schrail, engineer of the Gotthard Eailway 

 (Switzerland). On both of these lines metal ties have been in use for several years, and have been 

 improved upon from time to time in the light of practical experience, while very careful investi- 

 gations have been made as to their efficiency and economy. 



On the Netherlands State railways the first metal ties were laid in 1865, and are still in good 

 condition. They are, in fact, expected to last from three to eight years more. In 1880, however, 

 Mr. J. W. Post was commissioned to make an investigation of the subject. This resulted in a 

 series of extensive and practical tests on main lines, the design of the ties being modified and 

 improved from time to time. The first ties of this series (1881) were the lightest and least 

 successful, but they lasted longer than good oak ties, while the annual charge for their renewal 

 was only half that for the oak ties. The maintenance expenses were higher, but, on allowing for 



