13 



35,000 ties of the " Post " (old) type, 35,000 ties of a type Invented by 

 the chief engineer of the road, and 5,000 ties of the ^' Bernard " type. 

 Some '' Bernard '' ties were also laid in 1886-'87. 



The Grand Central Eailway has also had satisfactory results with 

 metal ties. In 1873 the superintendent of x^^rnianent way reported that 

 he was fully satisfied with the experience then acquired with metal ties, 

 but he was unable to adopt them further at that time owiog to a great 

 advance in the price of iron. In his reports for 1886 and 1887 he stated 

 that the favorable results had been still more marked, and during 1887 

 there were 6,000 metal ties laid. 



Metal ties of the '• Coblyn'' type, for light railways, have been defi- 

 nitely adopted by the Societe Anonyme des Chemins de Fer J^cono- 

 miques, and have also been tried on the lines of the Societe ISTationale 

 des Chemins de Fer Yicinaux, the ^Netherlands lines, the Liegeois and 

 Luxembourg division (on Belgian territory) of the Netherlands State 

 Eailway, and on the Liege and Seraing line. Metal ties have been tried 

 on the Belgian division of the Northern Eailway of France, includiug 

 5,500 ties of the ^'Bernard" type. 



Germany. — On the State Eailways a number of different systems of 

 metal track of longitudinal and transverse types have been tried for 

 several years, and some types have been regularly adopted on certain 

 divisions. The investigations and trials are still in progress. In 1887 

 the State Eailway system had a length of about 13,193 miles, witli about 

 23,662 miles of track; of this amount about 5,530 miles had metal traciv— 

 3,131 miles being laid with cross-ties and 2,399 miles with longitudinals. 

 Very careful records of the trials have been kept. In the year 1880-'87 

 there were laid 868,262 new cross-ties and 64,091 longitudinals. In Feb- 

 ruary, 1888, 500,000 "Post*' ties were being made for German lines. 



For the Ehenish Eailway system 308,000 ties (10,775 tons) were pur- 

 chased in 1877-'79. On the Left-Bank-of-the-Ehine Eailway, which 

 comprises 1,681 miles, there are 913 miles with metal cross-ties and 

 211 miles with longitudinals, the balance being on wooden cross lies. 

 The first cross-ties were laid in 1876 and the first longitudinals in 1872. 

 Since 1879 metal sleepers only have been used. On the Elberfeld di- 

 vision of the Prussian State Eailways (1,616 miles) there are 790.5 miles 

 laid with wooden ties, 762.5 with iron ties, and 93 miles with iron lon- 

 gitudinals. They were laid in different years between 1869 and 1880. 



The experience with iron longitudinals and cross-ties was very favor- 

 able, but still better results have been obtained since steel was intro- 

 duced. Wooden ties are still used in great numbers, partly on account 

 of their lower first cost and partly on account of the policy of the Prus- 

 sian Government to keep up the supply of timber by domestic cultiva- 

 tion and forest management. 



Austria.— In this country, longitudinal systems of metal track have 

 been extensively used. The N^orthwestern Eailway has a total of 59^ 

 miles of track laid with tiie " Ilohenogii'er " system of longitudinals, 

 and the economy over wood is reported to be noticeable. These longi- 



