R 0 
mills," &c. “ The common make of a cart is allowed to use 
the railway if the wheels are cylindrical, and there be no 
greater load on each pair than 28 cwt. A great deal is done 
with these carts in carrying timber, barks, grain, &c., as, 
with the same cart, they can carry these articles into and 
through the streets of the town.” 
The other railways in Scotland, however, are chiefly of 
the edge kind. In the principal collieries of the north of 
England, also, the flat rail has been almost entirely super¬ 
seded by the edge rails, and the latter are now generally 
admitted to be decidedly superior in the ease of draught 
which they occasion; the edge of the bar presenting less 
friction, and being less liable to clog up with dust and mud, 
or to be obstructed with stones driven off the road upon the 
surface of the rails. The edge rail consists merely of a rect¬ 
angular bar of cast-iron, three feet long, three or four inches 
broad; and from one-half inch to one thick; set in its edge 
between sleeper and sleeper, and bearing on the sleepers at 
its extremities. The upper side of the rail is flaunched out 
to present a broader bearing surface for the wheels, and the 
under side is also cast thicker than the middle, for the sake of 
strength. But the greatest strength is evidently attained by 
casting the rail not rectangular, but deeper in the middle 
than at the ends, to resist better the transverse strain. The 
ends may be safely reduced nearly to one-third of the depth 
in the middle, and still be equally strong. To unite the rails 
together, and at the same time preserve them in their places, 
and in their upright position, and to bind them also to the 
sleepers, they are set in a cast-iron socket or chair, which is 
attached firmly to the sleeper. This socket embracing the 
extremities of the adjacent rails, which are here made to over¬ 
lap a little; a pin is driven at once through the rails and 
through the socket, and binds the whole together. This is 
the general method of uniting the edge rails, but the shape 
and dimensions of the metal chair and of the overlap of the 
rails are varied according to the judgment and taste of the 
engineer. Fig. 7, represents a section of an edge railway 
with the sleepers and waggons, &c.; and figs. 8, 9, 10, 
is an enlarged section of a rail and sleepers with a plan. 
Since edge railways have come into more general use, an 
essential improvement has been made in their construction by 
the use of malleable iron, in place of cast-iron, in forming 
the rails. The advantage of malleable iron rails is, that they 
are less subject to breakage than cast-iron; a circumstance of 
importance in this case, where it is not easy to avoid those 
jolts and sudden shocks which cast-iron is least of all capable 
of withstanding, and though they should happen to give 
way, they are easily repaired. They can also be laid in 
greater lengths, and requiring therefore fewer joints, they 
can be bent with ease to the curvature of the road ; when 
worn out they are of greater value; and lastly, their first cost 
is very little, if at all, greater than that of cast-iron rails. 
Malleable iron is, no doubt, less able to withstand exposure, 
decaying more readily under the influence of air and mois¬ 
ture ; but hitherto this inconvenience has not been felt, and, 
on the whole, the malleable iron is now decidedly preferred. 
These rails are laid and joined in the same manner as the 
cast-iron, only in greater lengths. Malleable iron, we 
believe, was first introduced in railways by Mr. George 
Grieve, at Sir John Hope’s collieries, near Edinburgh, where 
it was first tried on the lighter work which is done under 
ground. The rails consisted of square bars one inch or one 
and one-fourth inch square, nine feet long, resting on one or 
two sleepers in the middle, and resting and made fast to 
sleepers at the extremities; a simple knee being formed on 
each end of the bar, and the two knees of each two adjacent 
rails jammed into one socket in the sleeper. The use of these 
rails was' found so beneficial, that they have since entirely 
superseded the flat cast-iron rail in general use at the time of 
their invention. For heavier loads the rails are made 
deeper. The following account of their construction has 
been given by an engineer (Mr. Neilson, of Glasgow), who 
has formed several of the kind. 
One of them is on the property of the Earl of Glasgow, 
commencing at the -Hurlet extensive coal and lime-works, 
A D. 18 t 
and extending to the Paisley canal, a distance of about two 
miles. It is formed of flat bar iron two and one-fourth inches 
deep, by nearly three-fourths of an inch thick, and the rail 
in lengths of nine feet, each rail being supported at every 
three leet by a sleeper and cast-iron chair. The joinings are 
formed by a cast-iron dovetailed socket suited to receive 
the jointed ends of the bar, and a dovetailed glut or key, by 
which means the several rails are joined as if into one con¬ 
tinued bar.” 
An improvement has lately been made in the construction 
of malleable iron rails, which promises to be of essential 
utility. It consists in the use of bars, not rectangular, but of 
a wedge form, or swelled out on the upper edge. In the 
rectangular bar there is evidently a waste of metal on the 
under surface, which, not requiring to be of the same thick¬ 
ness as where the waggon-wheel is to roll, may be evidently 
reduced with advantage, if it can be done easily. The bar 
may then be made deeper, and broader at the top than 
before, so as with the same quantity of metal to be equally 
strong, and present a much broader bearing surface for the 
wheel. This has been accomplished by Mr. Birkinshaw, of 
the Bedlington iron-works, who has obtained a patent for 
these broad topped rails. The peculiar shape is given them 
in the rolling of the metal, by means of grooves cut in the 
rollers, corresponding with the requisite breadth, and depth, 
and curvature of the proposed rail. Mr. B. recommends his 
rails to be of 18 feet in length. We have seen one of these 
patent rails at Sir John Hope’s colliery; and it certainly 
forms the most perfect iron rail which has hitherto been con¬ 
trived; combining very simply and ingeniously in its form 
the qualities of lightness, strength, and durability. It is 
twelve feet long, two inches broad along the top, about half 
an inch along the bottom, and still thinner between. It rests 
on sleepers at every three feet, and at those places the rail is 
two inches deep, while in the middle point between the 
sleepers it is three inches deep. Fig. 11 is a longitudinal 
section of this rail, and figs. ] 2 and 13 are transverse sec¬ 
tions at the sleepers, and at the middle point between each 
sleeper. All these inequalities, we believe, are produced on 
the metal by means of the rollers; and this circumstance is 
well deserving of attention, as it may obviously be applied 
nob merely to the formation of railways, but to a variety of 
other purposes in the arts. The moulding and shaping of 
the metal in this manner is quite a new attempt in the iron 
manufacture, and it is not easy to say how far such an 
invention may yet be carried by the skill of British artists. 
The waggons used on railways are of various sizes, but of 
nearly the same general shape, and all set on four wheels 
from two to three feet diameter. They are made to carry 
from 20 to 50 cwt. exclusive of the waggon itself, which 
weighs from 12 to 15 cwt. The axles of the fore and hind 
wheel are fixed three feet asunder or more, so that the rail is 
never loaded with more than one-fourth of the waggon at 
once. According to Mr. Wilson, “ The size of the coal 
waggons of Kilmarnock colliery are, on an average, mean 
length 80 inches, mean breadth 45 inches, and depth 30 
inches. Each contains 40 bushels, equal to 32 cwt. of 
fine coal, and 35 cwt. of blind or malting coal. The 
weight of the waggon, exclusive of the coal, is 13 cwt. Each 
waggon, including two pair of wheels and axles, costs from 
about £13 to £15, aud are mostly lined with sheet iron.” 
In Sir John Hope’s railway the waggons are also nearly of the 
above dimensions. In the Sirhoway railway each waggon 
carries two and one-half tons. 
No accurate estimate can be made of the expense of a 
rail-road, as compared with a canal, because both must 
depend on circumstances constantly varying, and which 
can seldom be common to either; but it may be stated in 
general terms, with regard to canals, that the deep cuttings 
and high embankments to preserve the levels, or, in default 
thereof, the substitution of numerous bridges and locks; the 
reservoirs necessary for collecting and preserving water; the 
repairs required for their locks and banks; the latter of which 
are constantly subject to injury from floods or frosts; the 
cost and feed of horses; the building and repairs of boats; 
these 
