64 
MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
titr or nearly so, that of the turnpike road heme- eight 
times as great as that of the railroad. While, therefore, 
the ratio between the effective power of a horse on a 
railroad, and on a macadamized road, when both are on 
a level, is as eight to one ; this ratio is reduced to three 
to two when the road is on an ascent of one in twenty, 
and to seventeen to thirteen when the ascent is one in 
ten. It is, therefore, evident, of course, that to get the 
full benefit of the power employed upon a railroad, the 
gradients should be as easy as possible. If, however, 
the cost of reducing the read to this state, that is of 
making the extra cuttings and embankments, be great, 
the interest of this extra charge may exceed the saving 
in the cost of the motive power — in this case it would 
evidently be unwise to expend money for such a pur¬ 
pose, the interest of which must bo met either by an 
increased charge upon the conveyance of mods and pas¬ 
sengers, or by a general tax upon the whole community. 
Taking this view of the subject it is evident that the 
solution of the question must depend upon the quantity 
of goods and passengers conveyed. If the traffic is 
heavy, a small saving per ton or per passenger in the 
cost of traction, may be sufficient to cover a large 
amount of interest i but when the traffic is small, and 
when the cost of locomotive power bears but a small 
proportion to the sum chargeablo as interest, or to the 
cost of maintaining the road, it is evidently desirable 
to reduce these items to a minimum. 
Ill comparing the cost of constructing a macadamized 
road or a railroad when the gradients are the same, all 
that is required is to detenuiuethe relative cost of cover¬ 
ing tlie former with metal, and of laying down the rails 
on the latter—tlie items for fencing-drainage, including 
bridges, culverts, &c., will be the same, or nearly the 
same in each, the advantages being a little in favour of 
the railroad, as, from its narrowness, the width of 
bridges, culverts, &c., would not he so great as upon the 
turnpiko read. Now the cost of broken stone depends 
on a variety of circumstances. Sir. Bradv, in his evi¬ 
dence before the Committee of the Legislative Assembly, 
savs that it is worth 10 shillings per square yard, or for 
a road 18 feet wide, £3 per running yard, or £5280 per 
mile. This statement, however, must have reference to 
the vicinity of Sydney, and cannot be admitted as an 
element in determining the cost of such work elsewhere. 
On the Southern Road the surveyor estimates the cost 
of macadamizing at trom £2500 to £3500 per mile. It 
will, however, he safer to calculate the actual amount 
of labour which would be expended in preparing and 
spreading metal of good quality, and this may lie 
roughly stated as follows : — 
1st. (Suarrviiuj ^—A man should quarry 24 cube yards 
per day: and this quantity will not vary much, 
whether it be necessary to use powder or not. I he 
cost of quarrying a yard of metal will, tliereiore, be 
about two-fifth of the daily wages of a labourer. 
2nd. Breaking . — A man will break about half a yard 
of good metal per dav, or, perhaps, more, say tliree- 
fiftli of a yard. The cost them of breaking will be 
IS of the daily wages of a labourer. 
3rd.'— Cost of Carting .—This would depend upon a 
variety of circumstances, but taking an average lead 
of two iniles, the cost per yard might be put at 4s. Od. 
whilo that of spreading might amount to Is. bd. 
Summing up these various items it would seem that 
the cost of quarrying and breaking would amount to 
about 12s. Gd, per cube vard, labour being valued at 
Gs, Gd. per day ; add to this 4s. Gd. for cartage. Is. bd. 
for spreading! and tlie cost, per cnbe yard, would be 
18s. Id. If tbe average thickness of metal be taken ..t 
six inches, and the width of the road at six yards, one 
cube yard will cover a running yard of road, and tbe 
cost of metalling will be about £1,013 per mile. 
Mat then will be the cost of a single line of rail 
way, including, of course, a sufficient number of sidings, 
&c. to accommodate the traffic in both directions ; these 
latter may be assumed Oh an average to increase the length 
of the single way, from 1760 yards to 2000 yards per mile, 
and the cost of the work will resolve itself into that of the 
following items:— 
First, Rails and Chairs. 
Second, Stone Slocks, or Wooden Sleepers, as bearers 
for the chairs. 
Third, Fixing Chairs and laying the road. 
Fourth, Making good the Ballasting and Roadway be¬ 
tween the rails. 
1st.— Hails and Chairs. 
As a 35-lb rail was considered to be sufficient for the 
Liverpool and Manchester Railway, when worked by loco¬ 
motive engines, the same weight of rail will he amply suf¬ 
ficient for a mere horse track, then 2 x Si U* -140,000 
lbs or say 63 tons, will be the weight of rails required for 
each mile of road; and this at £12 per ton will amount to 
£736. The chairs if placed at dre feet apart, will weigh 
about 20 tons, and, allowing for breakages, may be charged 
at £10 per ten, making a lotalfor chairs and rails, of £956 
or say £1000 per mile. 
2nd _ Stone Blocks, or Wooden bleepers. 
In many parts of the country it would be advisable to 
use stone blocks to carry the ehaiis; these were formerly 
used very generally on the railroads In England, but it was 
found that the jar of the heavy engine upon them caused 
displacements and breakages; this, however, would not be 
the ease in a mere horse road, and the cost for repairs 
would be verv much lessened by the employment of stone 
instead of wood, but if stone blocks cannot be procured, 
then cross sleepers at every five feet, carrying a longitudi¬ 
nal bearer 8x6, would answer every purpose. When such 
bearers are used, the rails might be made very much lighter-, 
but, without making any allowance for this, the cost of 
sleepers and rails would not exceed £500 per mile. 
1,200 Bleepers at Is. 6d.£90 
1.000 Cube feet of squared timber, 8x6 
at 2a .. 400 
£490 
Say £500 by proper arrangements, by making use of steam 
power, and by applying a variety of mechanical expedients 
to the preparation of the timber, this cost might be very 
much reduced. The cost then of the materials of the 
road would not exceed £1,500. 
3rd_ Fixing Chairs, and laying Hath. 
The cost of the labor of doing this may be put at £o00 
per mile. 1 believe that the charge for this, on the locomo¬ 
tive railroad, is about £500, but, looking to the extra care 
and attention which is required on such a road, I do not 
think that I have under-estimated the cost. 
4th._ Making, good the Ballasting and hoadway 
between the Rails. 
A very heavy item in fixing the rails on a locomotive 
railway is the " Ballast,- as it Is called, or the bed upon 
which the sleepers rest. This should. If possible, be com¬ 
posed of gravel, or some material which, while it admits of 
being moved so as to be forced under the sleepers, forming 
thus a solid bed for them, Is porous so as not to retain 
moisture, and not susceptible of being acted on by the 
weather. Gravelis in fact the best kindot ballast, and of 
this material it is usual to place a thickness of 1-6 to 2-0 
under the sleepers. This, however, which is almost a 
matter of necessity when locomotives are used, would be a 
needless expenditure when the road is intended for horse- 
power In the former case the toad has not only to mth- 
atnnd the action of the load, that is of the goods and the 
truck in which they are conveyed, and this at a speed at 
least double of that which could ever be attained on a horse 
road, but it has to withstand the action of the power itself, 
in the shape of the locomotive engine, which may be re¬ 
presented as equal to a load of from four to six tons upon 
each wheel, moving with a velocity of from 25 to .,» miles 
per hour. No i recaution can be too great to take, which 
may enable the road to withstand the action of such a force, 
whether we look to the permanency of the road itself, or to 
the fatal effects which must necessarily ensue from any 
failure which might cause the train to leave the rails ; but 
in a horse road the action of the disturbing forces is so 
slight, that when the road is laid upon cross sleepers, with 
longitudinal bearers these might be placed at once on the 
surface of the ground; and when stone blocks are employed 
they might be bedded in the soil, no particular precautions 
being taken to insure their stability. I find that in the 
