u 



tiidinals liave bei'ii laid in small sections year by year siuce 187G 5 tlie 

 earlier ones were of iron, but the latter ones are of steel. The " HeindP' 

 system of longitudinals is in use on a number 01 roads; the first were 

 laid in 1883, and at the end of 1887 there was an aggregate of about 

 Ittl miles laid with this system of track, a considerable portion being on 

 mountain divisions and including 0.634 miles on the Arlberg tunnel line. 



Sicitzerland. — The Central Kail way had 100,000 metal ties in use at 

 the end of 1881, and proposed to lay 30,000 per annum till its whole 

 system had been thus laid. The Western aud Simplon Eailways began 

 using metal ties in 1883, and have been very well satisfied with them. 

 The Gotthard Railway uses theiu very extensively, and they have also 

 been adopted on the Mount Pilatus Eack-Eailway. In February, 1888, 

 the Hoerde Works reported that the^^ were delivering 100,000 "Post" 

 ties to the Gotthard Hail way aud 100,000 to the Western Railway. 



Italij. — Metal track has been used very little, if at all, and oak ties 

 are obtainable in ample quantities aud at a moderate price } and as there 

 are extensive timber resources such track will not be necessary for 

 many years. It has been proposed, however, to lay steel ties on some 

 sections of the Mediterranean Railway system. The Government has 

 used steel ties for short military railways in its African campaigns. 



Spain. — The line from Bilbao to Las Arenas has 7.1 miles laid with 

 steel cross-ties, and it is believed that they will prove more economical 

 than wood. The line is 1-metre gauge. The Almanza, Valencia and 

 Tarragona line has 2~A miles laid with the De Bergue system of cast- 

 Iron plates connected by tie-rods. This system is found to give greater 

 economy, and the gauge is maintained better than with wooden sleep- 

 ers. The division between Valencia and Tarragona was laid with this 

 track in 1800, aiul the division between Almanza and Valencia in 1873. 



Siceden. — On the State Railways about two-thirds of a mile were laid 

 with metal ties, for experimental purposes, in Jnne, 1880. This is the 

 only case Avhere they have been used in Sweden or Norway. 



Denmarl'. — On the State Railways steel cross-ties were laid for about 

 18 miles in 1883-81; but the results, as reported to me in 1888, have 

 not been entirely satisfactory, owing to the insnffiL-ient weight and 

 strength of the ties. 



Russia.'^ — Metal ties have only been used to a very limited extent, on 

 two branch lines, and even there they have not been sufficiently used 

 to enable any reliable conclusions to be drawn from the experiments. 



AFRICA. 



Cape Colon}/. — The Gape Government Railways have some sections of 

 the lines laid with cast-iron bowls ; they are arranged in [)airs and con- 



* The metal ties laid on the Moscow Kursk Railway wore removed because their maiu- 

 teuance was found more expensive than that of wooden ties. It is claimed that at 

 present prices for wood and for metal in Russia, the metal ties, weiijliiiig 105.S pounds, 

 with an estimated duration of thirty-five years, were t\^o and a hall" times as expen- 

 sive as the pine ties impregnated with chloride of ^inc, lasting ten. years, and one 

 and one-half as expensive as oak impregnated and la.stiug six years. Conditions in 

 Russia, however, are exceptional as regards lahor and material. — B. E. F. 



