140 



THAT'S IT ; 



the approaching train, and the 

 direction in which they point. 





■sacra 









lilliii^ 



452. 



453. 



Boards perforated with holes, 

 20, are sometimes employed, the 

 holes being designed to make 

 the signal more clearly distin- 

 guishable at a distance. Beneath 

 the round board 

 is placed a cross 

 board at right 

 angles. When 

 the disc of the 

 round board is 

 seen, only the 

 edge of the cross 

 board is pre- 

 sented to the 

 train ; and the 

 round or the 

 cross board may 

 mean either danger, caution, or 

 all right, according to the code 

 adopted by the particular Com- 

 pany, in which the engine drivers 

 and the signal men are made 

 perfect before they undertake 

 their duties. 



There are various other signals 

 used by night and in fogs, such 

 as a steady white light means 



safety ; a steady green light means 

 caution ; a green light waved 

 about means great caution ; a red 

 light held steadily means danger \ 

 or stop ; a red light moved about 

 means great danger, or stop im- 

 mediately. 



The engine-driver has nothing to do with the 

 direction of the engine : he only regulates its 

 speed, and controls the steam ; the stoker attends 

 to the fire. In order to direct engines, switches 

 are employed, hy which the trains are conveyed 

 from one set of rails to another. These switches 

 are under the care of points-men, with whom 

 great responsibility lies. They have to attend 

 to the points upon the passing of trains, to give 

 them safe conduct on to their proper rails. 



For the purpose of transferring engines and 

 carriages from one line of rails to another, other- 

 wise than by the means of points, turn- tables 

 are employed. These are laid in the ground 

 level with the railway, and are made to revolve, 

 so that the engine or carriage, when placed 

 thereon, can be turned as required. 



The first railroad constructed in the United 

 States was at Quincy, Mass., connecting the 

 granite quarries with tide water. It was / 

 about three miles in length. The Baltimore 

 and Ohio was the first passenger railroad. 

 It was opened in 1830, a distance of 15 miles, 

 with horsa-power. Next in order of time 

 came the Mohawk and Hudson, from Albany 

 to Schenectady, 16 miles, opened for travel 

 also with horse power, in the summer of 

 1831 ; the first locomotive used in this coun- 

 try was on that road, in 1831. Locomotives 

 were in operation in South Carolina, and upon 

 the Ohio and Baltimore road in 1832. There 

 are in the United States 174 railroads, of which 

 22 are in progress of construction ; 58 only 

 pay dividends from 2 to 7$ per cent, per an- 

 num. The longest road is the New York Cen- 

 tral, 557 miles ; total cost and equipment, 

 $32,000,000, and last dividend 8 per cent. 

 The shortest is the Erie and Northeast, 20 

 miles ; cost $750,000, and dividend 10 per 

 cent. The system of railways in the United 

 States, embracing about 23,242 miles, cost 

 about $ 5,700 per mile ; that of Great Britain , 

 embracing 3,334 miles, cost $194,135 per 

 mile. The whole railway debt of this country 

 is $134,286,000 ; that of Great Britain is $639^- 

 996,000. 



Th j majority of the locomotives employed 

 upon the Canadian railroads have been made 

 in the United States, and exported into that 

 province under an ad valorem duty of V2\ 

 per cent. 



Express trains in England run at the rate 

 of 60 miles per hour, and many of the heavy 

 freight trains carrying coal on the great North 

 ern Railway run at the rate of 40 milea pel 

 hour — a higher speed than that of our ex 

 press trains. 



