120 
STATEMENT OF WEIGHTS, COST, ETC. 
12 cents lo 14 cents per cubic yard; for every additional 100 feet add a third of a cent. One 
man shovels into a car 15 yards to 18 yards per day. 
STATEMENT OF WEIGHTS, COST, &C. 
Locomotives weigh from 12 tons to 30 tons, generally from 20 tons to 24 tons. They cost from 
$5,000 to $8,500, freight-engines being rather more expensive than passenger-engines. This 
includes the cost of an ordinary eight-wheel tender. 
A tender on sixteen wheels , carrying about 2,500 gallons of water, will weigh about 28,000 
pounds empty. 
A tender on eight wheels , of 1,250 to 1,500 gallons capacity, weighs 14,000 pounds empty. 
A tank on eight wheels , holding 3,000 gallons water, will weigh less than an eight-wheel tender, 
and cost $650. 
A tank on six wheels , of 2,500 gallons capacity, costs $550. 
Baggage-cars generally weigh 16,000 pounds, and cost $1,200. 
Passcvger-ca.rs for 50 passengers weigh 12,000 pounds, and cost $2,000. 
Passenger-cars for 75 passengers weigh 14,000 pounds, and cost $2,500. 
Freight-cars on eight wheels weigh 14,000 pounds, cost $650, and are of about eight tons to 
ten tons capacity. 
Passengers are usually allowed from 50 pounds to SO pounds of baggage each. 
The weight of passengers may be estimated at 150 pounds each. 
On the New England roads the average cost of the transportation of freight is 1^ cent per ton 
per mile. 
The transportation of passengers costs about 1^ cent each per mile. 
This is the average of the actual running cost, and does not cover depreciation of the road; to 
provide for this, and to secure a fair profit, it is generally stated that the freights and fares charged 
must be double the amounts given above. 
In Massachusetts the average cost of repairing locomotives is (per annum) 6^ cents per mile run. 
For repairing tracks, exclusive of iron renewals. 11J cents. 
The average durability of iron in Massachusetts is not more than ten years. Old rails are re-rolled 
at a cost of $25 per ton; the ends may be rewelded for $5 per ton. In this connexion it may be 
remarked that the ends of the rails first give way, as a general rule; they are repaired by cutting 
off the injured part of the upper flange and welding on a piece of “Swedes” bar-iron. Small 
injuries in the middle part of the rail may be repaired, economically, in the same manner. 
The average waste of steam while engines are at rest, stopping on the road, steaming up, &c., 
is one-third of the whole amount generated. 
In Massachusetts, engines usually run with a pressure of 100 pounds in the boiler. The 
strength of the boiler is from 350 to 500 pounds. 
Rails are now rolled from 18 feet to 23 feet in length; on the New England roads they average 
about 60 pounds to the yard; 90 pounds to the yard is recommended by many engineers as the 
proper weight for the Pacific railway. 
A cast-iron wheel of the ordinary size will safely bear a weight of l£ ton. 
BRIDGES. 
The railway wooden-truss bridges cost from $30 to $35 per running foot. 
200 feet has been found to be about the maximum length that it can safely have; many engi¬ 
neers prefer reducing the spans to 50 feet. 
Iron bridges have been successfully and economically used on some railways, and cost $40 per 
foot. 
Many engineers prefer, whenever it is possible, using culverts and high embankments to the 
