The American Railway: Its Construction, Development, Management, and Appliances

Transcriber'S Note

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=.

A superscript is denoted by ^x for example 12^1.

Details on minor changes can be found at the end of the book.

The American Railway

[Illustration: THE LAST SPAN--READY TO JOIN.]

The American Railway

_Its Construction, Development,_ _Management, And Appliances_

By

THOMAS CURTIS CLARKE JOHN BOGART M. N. FORNEY E. P. ALEXANDER H. G. PROUT HORACE PORTER THEODORE VOORHEES BENJAMIN NORTON ARTHUR T. HADLEY THOMAS L. JAMES CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS B. B. ADAMS, JR.

With An Introduction By

Thomas M. Cooley

Chairman Of Interstate Commerce Commission

_With More Than 200 Illustrations_

New York

Charles Scribner'S Sons

1889

Copyright, 1888, 1889, By

Charles Scribner'S Sons

Trow'S Printing And Bookbinding Company, New York.

Contents.

PAGE _INTRODUCTION_ xxi

BY THOMAS M. COOLEY, _Chairman Interstate Commerce Commission_.

The Building Of A Railway 1

BY THOMAS CURTIS CLARKE, _Civil Engineer_.

Roman Tramways of Stone--First Use of Iron Rails--The Modern Railway created by Stephenson's "Rocket" in 1830--Early American Locomotives--Key to the Evolution of the American Railway--Invention of the Swivelling Truck, Equalizing Beams, and the Switchback--Locating a Road--Work of the Surveying Party--Making the Road-bed--How Tunnels are Avoided--More than Three Thousand Bridges in the United States--Old Wooden Structures--The Howe Truss--The Use of Iron--Viaducts of Steel--The American System of Laying Bridge Foundations under Water--Origin of the Cantilever--Laying the Track--How it is Kept in Repair--Premiums for Section Bosses--Number of Railway Employees in the United States--Rapid Railway Construction--Radical Changes which the Railway will Effect.

Feats Of Railway Engineering 47

BY JOHN BOGART, _State Engineer of New York_.

Development of the Rail--Problems for the Engineer--How Heights are Climbed--The Use of Trestles--Construction on a Mountain Side--Engineering on Rope Ladders--Through the Portals of a Cañon--Feats on the Oroya Railroad, Peru--Nochistongo Cut--Rack Rails for Heavy Grades--Difficulties in Tunnel Construction--Bridge Foundations--Cribs and Pneumatic Caissons--How Men work under Water--The Construction of Stone Arches--Wood and Iron in Bridge-building--Great Suspension Bridges--The Niagara Cantilever and the enormous Forth Bridge--Elevated and Underground Roads--Responsibilities of the Civil Engineer.

American Locomotives And Cars 100

BY M. N. FORNEY, _Author of "The Catechism of the Locomotive," Editor "Railroad and Engineering Journal," New York_.

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1830--Evolution of the Car from the Conestoga Wagon--Horatio Allen's Trial Trip--The First Locomotive used in the United States--Peter Cooper's Race with a Gray Horse--The "De Witt Clinton," "Planet," and other Early Types of Locomotives--Equalizing Levers--How Steam is Made and Controlled--The Boiler, Cylinder, Injector, and Valve Gear--Regulation of the Capacity of a Locomotive to Draw--Increase in the Number of Driving Wheels--Modern Types of Locomotives--Variation in the Rate of Speed--The Appliances by which an Engine is Governed--Round-houses and Shops--Development of American Cars--An Illustration from Peter Parley--The Survival of Stage Coach Bodies--Adoption of the Rectangular Shape--The Origin of Eight-wheeled Cars--Improvement in Car Coupling--A Uniform Type Recommended--The Making of Wheels--Relative Merits of Cast and Wrought Iron, and Steel--The Allen Paper Wheel--Types of Cars, with Size, Weight, and Price--The Car-Builder's Dictionary--Statistical.

Railway Management 149

BY GEN. E. P. ALEXANDER, _President of the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia_.

Relations of Railway Management to all Other Pursuits--Developed by the Necessities of a Complex Industrial Life--How a Continuous Life is Given to a Corporation--Its Artificial Memory--Main Divisions of Railway Management--The Executive and Legislative Powers--The Purchasing and Supply Departments--Importance of the Legal Department--How the Roadway is Kept in Repair--The Maintenance of Rolling Stock--Schedule-making--The Handling of Extra Trains--Duties of the Train-despatcher--Accidents in Spite of Precautions--Daily Distribution of Cars--How Business is Secured and Rates are Fixed--The Interstate Commerce Law--The Questions of "Long and Short Hauls" and "Differentials"--Classification of Freight--Regulation of Passenger-rates--Work of Soliciting Agents--The Collection of Revenue and Statistics--What is a Way-bill--How Disbursements are Made--The Social and Industrial Problem which Confronts Railway Corporations.

Safety In Railroad Travel 187

BY H. G. PROUT, _Editor "Railroad Gazette," New York_.

The Possibilities of Destruction in the Great Speed of a Locomotive--The Energy of Four Hundred Tons Moving at Seventy-five Miles an Hour--A Look ahead from a Locomotive at Night--Passengers Killed and Injured in One Year--Good Discipline the Great Source of Safety--The Part Played by Mechanical Appliances--Hand-brakes on Old Cars--How the Air-brake Works--The Electric Brake--Improvements yet to be Made--Engine Driver Brakes--Two Classes of Signals: those which Protect Points of Danger, and those which Keep an Interval between Trains on the Same Track--The Semaphore--Interlocking Signals and Switches--Electric Annunciators to Indicate the Movements--The Block Signal System--Protection for Crossings--Gates and Gongs--How Derailment is Guarded Against--Safety Bolts--Automatic Couplers--The Vestibule as a Safety Appliance--Car Heating and Lighting.

Railway Passenger Travel 228

BY GEN. HORACE PORTER, _Vice-President Pullman Palace-Car Company_.

The Earliest Railway Passenger Advertisement--The First Time-table Published in America--The Mohawk & Hudson Train--Survival of Stage-coach Terms in English Railway Nomenclature--Simon Cameron's Rash Prediction--Discomforts of Early Cars--Introduction of Air-brakes, Patent Buffers and Couplers, the Bell-cord, and Interlocking Switches--The First Sleeping-cars--Mr. Pullman's Experiments--The "Pioneer"--Introduction of Parlor and Drawing-room Cars--The Demand for Dining-cars--Ingenious Devices for Heating Cars--Origin of Vestibule-cars--An Important Safety Appliance--The Luxuries of a Limited Express--Fast Time in America and England--Sleeping-cars for Immigrants--The Village of Pullman--The Largest Car-works in the World--Baggage-checks and Coupon Tickets--Conveniences in a Modern Depot--Statistics in Regard to Accidents--Proportion of Passengers in Various Classes--Comparison of Rates in the Leading Countries of the World.

The Freight-Car Service 267

BY THEODORE VOORHEES, _Assistant-General Superintendent, New York Central Railroad_.

Sixteen Months' Journey of a Car--Detentions by the Way--Difficulties of the Car Accountant's Office--Necessities of Through Freight--How a Company's Cars are Scattered--The Question of Mileage--Reduction of the Balance in Favor of Other Roads--Relation of the Car Accountant's Work to the Transportation Department--Computation of Mileage--The Record Branch--How Reports are Gathered and Compiled--Exchange of "Junction Cards"--The Use of "Tracers"--Distribution of Empty Cars--Control of the Movement of Freight--How Trains are Made Up--Duties of the Yardmaster--The Handling of Through Trains--Organization of Fast Lines--Transfer Freight Houses--Special Cars for Specific Service--Disasters to Freight Trains--How the Companies Suffer--Inequalities in Payment for Car Service--The Per Diem Plan--A Uniform Charge for Car Rental--What Reforms might be Accomplished.

How To Feed A Railway 298

BY BENJAMIN NORTON, _Second Vice-President, Long Island Railroad Company_.

The Many Necessities of a Modern Railway--The Purchasing and Supply Departments--Comparison with the Commissary Department of an Army--Financial Importance--Immense Expenditures--The General Storehouse--Duties of the Purchasing Agent--The Best Material the Cheapest--Profits from the Scrap-heap--Old Rails Worked over into New Implements--Yearly Contracts for Staple Articles--Economy in Fuel--Tests by the Best Engineers and Firemen--The Stationery Supply--Aggregate Annual Cost of Envelopes, Tickets, and Time-tables--The Average Life of Rails--Durability of Cross-ties--What it Costs per Mile to Run an Engine--The Paymaster's Duties--Scenes during the Trip of a Pay-car.

The Railway Mail Service 312

BY THOMAS L. JAMES, _Ex-Postmaster General_.

An Object Lesson in Postal Progress--Nearness of the Department to the People--The First Travelling Post-Office in the United States--Organization of the Department in 1789--Early Mail Contracts--All Railroads made Post-routes--Compartments for Mail Clerks in Baggage-cars--Origin of the Present System in 1862--Important Work of Colonel George S. Bangs--The "Fast Mail" between New York and Chicago--Why it was Suspended--Resumption in 1877--Present Condition of the Service--Statistics--A Ride on the "Fast Mail"--Busy Scenes at the Grand Central Depot--Special Uses of the Five Cars--Duties of the Clerks--How the Work is Performed--Annual Appropriation for Special Mail Facilities--Dangers Threatening the Railway Mail Clerk's Life--An Insurance Fund Proposed--Needs of the Service--A Plea for Radical Civil Service Reform.

The Railway In Its Business Relations 344

BY ARTHUR T. HADLEY, _Professor of Political Science in Yale College, Author of "Railroad Transportation_."

Amount of Capital Invested in Railways--Important Place in the Modern Industrial System--The Duke of Bridgewater's Foresight--The Growth of Half a Century--Early Methods of Business Management--The Tendency toward Consolidation--How the War Developed a National Idea--Its Effect on Railroad Building--Thomson and Scott as Organizers--Vanderbilt's Capacity for Financial Management--Garrett's Development of the Baltimore & Ohio--The Concentration of Immense Power in a Few Men--Making Money out of the Investors--Difficult Positions of Stockholders and Bondholders--How the Finances are Manipulated by the Board of Directors--Temptations to the Misuse of Power--Relations of Railroads to the Public who Use Them--Inequalities in Freight Rates--Undue Advantages for Large Trade Centres--Proposed Remedies--Objections to Government Control--Failure of Grangerism--The Origin of Pools--Their Advantages--Albert Fink's Great Work--Charles Francis Adams and the Massachusetts Commission--Adoption of the Interstate Commerce Law--Important Influence of the Commission--Its Future Functions--Ill-judged State Legislation.

The Prevention Of Railway Strikes 370

BY CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, _President of the Union Pacific Railroad_.

Railways the Largest Single Interest in the United States--Some Impressive Statistics--Growth of a Complex Organization--Five Divisions of Necessary Work--Other Special Departments--Importance of the Operating Department--The Evil of Strikes--To be Remedied by Thorough Organization--Not the Ordinary Relation between Employer and Employee--Of what the Model Railway Service Should Consist--Temporary and Permanent Employees--Promotion from one Grade to the Other--Rights and Privileges of the Permanent Service--Employment during Good Behavior--Proposed Tribunal for Adjusting Differences and Enforcing Discipline--A Regular Advance in Pay for Faithful Service--A Fund for Hospital Service, Pensions, and Insurance--Railroad Educational Institutions--The Employer to Have a Voice in Management through a Council--A System of Representation.

The Every-Day Life Of Railroad Men 383

BY B. B. ADAMS, JR., _Associate Editor, "Railroad Gazette," New York_.

The Typical Railroad Man--On the Road and at Home--Raising the Moral Standard--Characteristics of the Freight Brakeman--His Wit the Result of Meditation--How Slang is Originated--Agreeable Features of his Life in Fine Weather--Hardships in Winter--The Perils of Hand-brakes--Broken Trains--Going back to Flag--Coupling Accidents--At the Spring--Advantages of a Passenger Brakeman--Trials of the Freight Conductor--The Investigation of Accidents--Irregular Hours of Work--The Locomotive Engineer the Hero of the Rail--His Rare Qualities--The Value of Quick Judgment--Calm Fidelity a Necessary Trait--Saving Fuel on a Freight Engine--Making Time on a Passenger Engine--Remarkable Runs--The Spirit of Fraternity among Engineers--Difficult Duties of a Passenger-train Conductor--Tact in Dealing with Many People--Questions to be Answered--How Rough Characters are Dealt with--Heavy Responsibilities--The Work of a Station Agent--Flirtation by Telegraph--The Baggage-master's Hard Task--Eternal Vigilance Necessary in a Switch-tender--Section-men, Train Despatchers, Firemen, and Clerks--Efforts to Make the Railroad Man's Life Easier.

Statistical Railway Studies 425

Illustrated With Thirteen Maps And Nineteen Charts.

BY FLETCHER W. HEWES, _Author of "Scribner's Statistical Atlas_."

Railway Mileage of the World--Railway Mileage of the United States--Annual Mileage and Increase--Mileage Compared with Area--Geographical Location of Railways--Centres of Mileage and of Population--Railway Systems--Trunk Lines Compared: By Mileage; Largest Receipts; Largest Net Results--Freight Traffic--Reduction of Freight Rates--Wheat Rates--The Freight Haul--Empty Freight Trains--Freight Profits--Passenger Traffic--Passenger Rates--Passenger Travel--Passenger Profits--General Considerations--Dividends--Net Earnings per Mile and Railway Building--Ratios of Increase--Construction and Maintenance--Employees and their Wages--Rolling Stock--Capital Invested.

_Index_ 449

List Of Illustrations.

Full-Page Illustrations.

_Title._ _Designer._ _Page_

THE LAST SPAN (Frontispiece) A. B. Frost v

ALPINE PASS. AVOIDANCE OF A TUNNEL _From a photograph_ 5

BIG LOOP, GEORGETOWN BRANCH OF THE UNION PACIFIC, COLORADO _From a photograph_ 11

SNOW-SHEDS, SELKIRK MOUNTAINS, CANADIAN PACIFIC J. D. Woodward 19

RAIL MAKING Walter Shirlaw 39

LOOP AND GREAT TRESTLE NEAR HAGERMAN'S, ON THE COLORADO MIDLAND RAILWAY J. D. Woodward 51

PORTAL OF A TUNNEL IN PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTION Otto Stark 65

AT WORK IN A PNEUMATIC CAISSON--FIFTY FEET BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE WATER Walter Shirlaw 73

BELOW THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE J. H. Twachtman 83

THE ST. LOUIS BRIDGE DURING CONSTRUCTION M. E. Sands & R. Blum 95

A TYPICAL AMERICAN PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE _From a photograph_ 111

INTERIOR OF A ROUND-HOUSE M. J. Burns 130

VIEW IN LOCOMOTIVE ERECTING SHOP J. D. Woodward & R. Blum 135

Diagram Used In Making Railway Time-Tables 161

THE GENERAL DESPATCHER M. J. Burns 165

MANTUA JUNCTION, WEST PHILADELPHIA, SHOWING A COMPLEX SYSTEM OF INTERLACING TRACKS W. C. Fitler 169

DANGER AHEAD! A. B. Frost 189

INTERLOCKING APPARATUS FOR OPERATING SWITCHES AND SIGNALS BY COMPRESSED AIR, PITTSBURG YARDS, PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD _From a photograph_ 211

PULLMAN VESTIBULED CARS _From a photograph_ 247

IN A BAGGAGE-ROOM W. C. Broughton 255

"SHOW YOUR TICKETS!" Walter Shirlaw 261

FREIGHT YARDS OF THE NEW YORK CENTRAL & HUDSON RIVER RAILROAD, WEST SIXTY-FIFTH STREET, NEW YORK W. C. Fitler 285

FREIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS--SOME TYPICAL TRAINS W. C. Fitler 291

AT A WAY-STATION--THE POSTMASTER'S ASSISTANT Herbert Denman 321

TRANSFER OF MAIL AT THE GRAND CENTRAL STATION, NEW YORK Herbert Denman 327

SORTING LETTERS IN CAR NO. 1--THE FAST MAIL Herbert Denman 333

A BREAKDOWN ON THE ROAD A. B. Frost 405

IN THE WAITING ROOM OF A COUNTRY STATION A. B. Frost 413

THE TRIALS OF A BAGGAGE-MASTER A. B. Frost 417

Illustrations In The Text.

PAGE First Locomotive 2

Locomotive of To-day 3

A Sharp Curve--Manhattan Elevated Railway, 110th Street, New York 7

A Steep Grade on a Mountain Railroad 8

A Switchback 9

Plan of Big Loop 10

Profile of the Same 10

Engineers in Camp 14

Royal Gorge Hanging Bridge, Denver and Rio Grande, Colorado 16

Veta Pass, Colorado 17

Sections of Snow-sheds (3 cuts) 18

Making an Embankment 21

Steam Excavator 21

Building a Culvert 22

Building a Bridge Abutment 22

Rock Drill 23

A Construction and Boarding Train 24

Bergen Tunnels, Hoboken, N. J. 25

Beginning a Tunnel 26

Old Burr Wooden Bridge 28

Kinzua Viaduct; Erie Railway 30

Kinzua Viaduct 31

View of Thomas Pope's Proposed Cantilever (1810) 34

Pope's Cantilever in Process of Erection 35

General View of the Poughkeepsie Bridge 36

Erection of a Cantilever 37

Spiking the Track 38

Track Laying 41

Temporary Railway Crossing the St. Lawrence on the Ice 44

View Down the Blue from Rocky Point, Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad; showing successive tiers of railway 49

Denver and Rio Grande Railway Entering the Portals of the Grand River Cañon, Colorado 54

The Kentucky River Cantilever, on the Cincinnati Southern Railway 55

Truss over Ravine, and Tunnel, Oroya Railroad, Peru 56

The Nochistongo Cut, Mexican Central Railway 57

The Mount Washington Rack Railroad 58

Trestle on Portland and Ogdensburg Railway, Crawford Notch, White Mountains 58

A Series of Tunnels 59

Tunnel at the Foot of Mount St. Stephen, on the Canadian Pacific 60

Peña de Mora on the La Guayra and Carácas Railway, Venezuela 61

Perspective View of St. Gothard Spiral Tunnels, in the Alps 62

Plan of St. Gothard Spiral Tunnels 63

Profile of the Same 63

Portal of a Finished Tunnel; showing Cameron's Cone, Colorado 64

Railway Pass at Rocky Point in the Rocky Mountains 67

Bridge Pier Founded on Piles 68

Pneumatic Caisson 70

Transverse Section of Pneumatic Caisson 71

Pier of Hawkesbury Bridge, Australia 75

Foundation Crib of the Poughkeepsie Bridge 76

Transverse Section of the Same 76

Granite Arched Approach to Harlem River Bridge in Process of Construction 77

The Old Portage Viaduct, Erie Railway, N. Y. 78

The New Portage Viaduct 79

The Britannia Tubular Bridge over the Menai Straits, North Wales 80

Old Stone Towers of the Niagara Suspension Bridge 82

The New Iron Towers of the Same 82

Truss Bridge of the Northern Pacific Railway over the Missouri River at Bismarck, Dak.--Testing the Central Span 87

Curved Viaduct, Georgetown, Col.; the Union Pacific Crossing its own Line 88

The Niagara Cantilever Bridge in Progress 90

The Niagara Cantilever Bridge Completed 91

The Lachine Bridge, on the Canadian Pacific Railway, near Montreal, Canada 92

The 510-feet Span Steel Arches of the New Harlem River Bridge, New York, during Construction 97

London Underground Railway Station 98

Conestoga Wagon and Team 101

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 1830-35 101

Boston & Worcester Railroad, 1835 102

Horatio Allen 103

Peter Cooper's Locomotive, 1830 104

"South Carolina," 1831, and Plan of its Running Gear 105

The "De Witt Clinton," 1831 105

"Grasshopper" Locomotive 106

The "Planet" 107

John B. Jervis's Locomotive, 1831, and Plan of its Running Gear 108

Campbell's Locomotive 109

Locomotive for Suburban Traffic 110

Locomotive for Street Railway 110

Four-wheeled Switching Locomotive 113

Driving Wheels, Frames, Spurs, etc., of American Locomotive 114

Longitudinal Section of a Locomotive Boiler 115

Transverse Section 115

Rudimentary Injector 116

Injector Used on Locomotives 117

Sections of a Locomotive Cylinder 118

Eccentric 118

Eccentric and Strap 118

Valve Gear 119

Turning Locomotive Tires 121

Six-wheeled Switching Locomotive 122

Mogul Locomotive 123

Ten-wheeled Passenger Locomotive 123

Consolidation Locomotive (unfinished) 124

Consolidation Locomotive 124

Decapod Locomotive 125

"Forney" Tank Locomotive 126

"Hudson" Tank Locomotive 127

Camden & Amboy Locomotive, 1848 129

Cab End of a Locomotive and its Attachments 133

Interior of Erecting Shop, showing Locomotive Lifted by Travelling Crane 137

Forging a Locomotive Frame 138

Mohawk & Hudson Car, 1831 139

Early Car 139

Early Car on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 140

Early American Car, 1834 140

Old Car for Carrying Flour on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 141

Old Car for Carrying Firewood on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 141

Old Car on the Quincy Granite Railroad 141

Janney Car Coupler, showing the Process of Coupling 142

Mould and Flask in which Wheels are Cast 143

Cast-iron Car Wheels 144

Section of the Tread and Flange of a Car Wheel 145

Allen Paper Car Wheel 145

Modern Passenger-car and Frame 147

Snow-plough at Work 154

A Type of Snow-plough 155

A Rotary Steam Snow-shovel in Operation 156

Railway-crossing Gate 157

Signal to Stop 162

Signal to Move Ahead 162

Signal to Move Back 163

Signal that the Train has Parted 163

Entrance Gates at a Large Station 167

Central Switch and Signal Tower 168

Interior of a Switch-tower, showing the Operation of Interlocking Switches 171

Stephenson's Steam Driver-brake, patented 1833 192

Driver-brake on Modern Locomotive 192

English Screw-brake, on the Birmingham and Gloucester Road, about 1840 193

English Foot-brake on the Truck of a Great Western Coach, about 1840 193

Plan and Elevation of Air-brake Apparatus 196

Dwarf Semaphores and Split Switch 202

Semaphore Signal with Indicators 203

Section of Saxby & Farmer Interlocking Machine 204

Diagram of a Double-track Junction with Interlocked Switches and Signals 205

Split Switches with Facing-point Locks and Detector-bars 206

Derailing Switch 207

Torpedo Placer 213

Old Signal Tower on the Philadelphia & Reading, at Phœnixville 214

Crossing Gates worked by Mechanical Connection from the Cabin 217

Some Results of a Butting Collision--Baggage and Passenger Cars Telescoped 218

Wreck at a Bridge 219

New South Norwalk Drawbridge. Rails held by Safety Bolts 220

Engines Wrecked during the Great Wabash Strike 222

Link-and-pin Coupler 224

Janney Automatic Coupler applied to a Freight Car 224

Signals at Night 225

Stockton & Darlington Engine and Car 229

Mohawk & Hudson Train 231

English Railway Carriage, Midland Road. First and Third Class and Luggage Compartments 232

One of the Earliest Passenger Cars Built in this Country; used on the Western Railroad of Massachusetts (now the Boston & Albany) 233

Bogie Truck 233

Rail and Coach Travel in the White Mountains 234

Old Time Table, 1843 235

Old Boston & Worcester Railway Ticket (about 1837) 236

Obverse and Reverse of a Ticket used in 1838, on the New York & Harlem Railroad 236

The "Pioneer." First Complete Pullman Sleeping-car 240

A Pullman Porter 241

Pullman Parlor Car 243

Wagner Parlor Car 244

Dining-car (Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad) 245

End View of a Vestibuled Car 249

Pullman Sleeper on a Vestibuled Train 250

Immigrant Sleeping-car (Canadian Pacific Railway) 251

View of Pullman, Ill. 252

Railway Station at York, England, built on a Curve 257

Outside the Grand Central Station, New York 258

Boston Passenger Station, Providence Division, Old Colony Railroad 259

A Page from the Car Accountant's Book 277

Freight Pier, North River, New York 280

Hay Storage Warehouses, New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, West Thirty-third Street, New York 282

"Dummy" Train and Boy on Hudson Street, New York 287

Red Line Freight-car Mark 288

Star Union Freight-car Mark 288

Coal Car, Central Railroad of New Jersey 289

Refrigerator-car Mark 289

Unloading a Train of Truck-wagons, Long Island Railroad 290

Floating Cars, New York Harbor 295

Postal Progress, 1776-1876 313

The Pony Express--The Relay 314

The Overland Mail Coach--A Star Route 315

Mail Carrying in the Country 316

Loading for the Fast Mail, at the General Post-Office, New York 324

At the Last Moment 326

Pouching the Mail in the Postal Car 329

A Very Difficult Address--known as a "Sticker." 331

Distributing the Mail by States and Routes 332

Pouching Newspapers for California--in Car No. 5 335

Catching the Pouch from the Crane 339

George Stephenson 345

J. Edgar Thomson 349

Thomas A. Scott 350

Cornelius Vanderbilt 352

John W. Garrett 355

Albert Fink 366

Charles Francis Adams 367

Thomas M. Cooley 369

"Dancing on the Carpet" 386

Trainman and Tramps 387

Braking in Hard Weather 389

Flagging in Winter 391

Coupling 392

The Pleasant Part of a Brakeman's Life 395

At the Spring 397

Just Time to Jump 403

Timely Warning 407

The Passenger Conductor 409

Station Gardening 416

In the Yard at Night 419

A Track-walker on a Stormy Night 421

A Crossing Flagman 423

A Little Relaxation 424

Maps.

Mileage compared with Area 429

Railways, 1830, 1840, 1850, and 1860 430

Railways, 1870 431

Railways, 1880 432

Railways, 1889 433

Five Railway Systems 434, 435

Charts.

Principal Railway Countries 425

Mileage to Area in New Jersey 426

Total Mileage and Increase, 1830-1888 429

Mileage by States, 1870 431

Mileage by States, 1880 432

Mileage by States, 1888 433

Largest Receipts, 1888 435

Largest Net Results, 1888 435

Freight Rates of Thirteen Trunk Lines, 1870-1888 436

Wheat Rates, by Water and by Rail, 1870-1888 438

The Freight Haul, 1882-1888 439

East-bound and West-bound Freight, 1877-1888 439

Freight Profits, 1870-1888 440

Passenger Rates, 1870-1888 441

Passenger Travel, 1882-1888 442

Passenger Profits, 1870-1888 442

Average Dividends, 1876-1888 443

Net Earnings and Mileage Built, 1876-1888 444

Increase of Population, Mileage, and Freight Traffic, 1870-1888 446

Introduction.

By Thomas M. Cooley.

The railroads of the United States, now aggregating a hundred and fifty thousand miles and having several hundred different managements, are frequently spoken of comprehensively as the railroad system of the country, as though they constituted a unity in fact, and might be regarded and dealt with as an entirety, by their patrons and by the public authorities, whenever the conveniences they are expected to supply, or the conduct of managers and agents, come in question. So far, however, is this from being the case, that it would be impossible to name any other industrial interest where the diversities are so obvious and the want of unity so conspicuous and so important. The diversities date from the very origin of the roads; they have not come into existence under the same laws nor subject to the same control. It was accepted as an undoubted truth in constitutional law from the first that the authority for the construction of railroads within a State must come from the State itself, which alone could empower the promoters to appropriate lands by adversary proceedings for the purpose. The grant of corporate power must also come from the State, or, at least, have State recognition and sanction; and where the proposed road was to cross a State boundary, the necessary corporate authority must be given by every State through or into which the road was to run. It was conceded that the delegated powers of the General Government did not comprehend the granting of charters for the construction of these roads within the States, and even in the Territories charters were granted by the local legislatures. The case of the transcontinental roads was clearly exceptional; they were to be constructed in large part over the public domain, and subsidies were to be granted by Congress for the purpose. They were also, in part at least, to be constructed for governmental reasons as national agencies; and invoking State authority for the purpose seemed to be as inconsistent as it would be inadequate. But, though these were exceptional cases, the magnitude and importance of the Pacific roads are so immense that the agency of the General Government in making provision for this method of transportation must always have prominence in railroad history and railroad statistics.

Not only have the roads been diverse in origin, but the corporations which have constructed them have differed very greatly in respect to their powers and rights, and also to the obligations imposed by law upon them. The early grants of power were charter-contracts, freely given, with very liberal provisions; the public being more anxious that they be accepted and acted upon than distrustful of their abuse afterward. Many of them were not subject to alteration or repeal, except with the consent of the corporators; and some of them contained provisions intended to exclude or limit competition, so that, within a limited territory, something in the nature of a monopoly in transportation would be created. The later grants give evidence of popular apprehension of corporate abuses; the legislature reserves a control over them, and the right to multiply railroads indefinitely is made as free as possible, under the supposition that in this multiplication is to be found the best protection against any one of them abusing its powers. In very many cases the motive to the building of a new road has been antagonism to one already in existence, and municipalities have voted subsidies to the one in the hope that, when constructed, it would draw business away from the other. The anomaly has thus been witnessed of distrust of corporate power being the motive for increasing it; and the multiplication of roads has gone on, without any general supervision or any previous determination by competent public authority that they were needed, until the increase has quite outrun in some sections any proper demand for their facilities.

Roads thus brought into existence, without system and under diverse managements, it was soon seen were capable of being so operated that the antagonism of managers, instead of finding expression in legitimate competition, would be given to the sort of strife that can only be properly characterized by calling it, as it commonly is called, a war. From such a war the public inevitably suffers. The best service upon the roads is only performed when they are operated as if they constituted in fact parts of one harmonious system; the rates being made by agreement, and traffic exchanged with as little disturbance as possible, and without abrupt break at the terminals. But when every management might act independently, it sometimes happened that a company made its method of doing business an impediment instead of a help to the business done over other roads, recognizing no public duty which should preclude its doing so, provided a gain to itself, however indirect or illegitimate, was probable. Many consolidations of roads have had for their motive the getting rid of this power to do mischief on the part of roads absorbed.

In nothing is the want of unity so distinctly and mischievously obvious as in the power of each corporation to make rates independently. It may not only make its own local rates at discretion, but it may join or refuse to join with others in making through rates; so that an inconsiderable and otherwise insignificant road may be capable of being so used as to throw rates for a large section of the country into confusion, and to render the making of profit by other roads impossible. It is frequently said in railroad circles that roads are sometimes constructed for no other reason than because, through this power of mischief, it will be possible to levy contributions upon others, or to compel others, in self-protection, to buy them up at extravagant prices. Cases are named in which this sort of scheming is supposed to have succeeded, and others in which it is now being tried.

Evils springing from the diversities mentioned have been cured, or greatly mitigated, by such devices as the formation of fast-freight lines to operate over many roads; by allowing express companies to come upon the roads with semi-independence in the transportation of articles, where, for special reasons, the public is content to pay an extra price for extra care or speed; and by arrangements with sleeping-car companies for special accommodations in luxurious cars to those desiring them. These collateral arrangements, however, have not been wholly beneficial; and had all the roads been constructed as parts of one system and under one management, some of them would neither have been necessary nor defensible. They exist now, however, with more or less reason for their existence; and they tend to increase the diversities in railroad work.

The want of unity which has been pointed out tended to breed abuses specially injurious to the public, and governmental regulation was entered upon for their correction. Naturally the first attempts in this direction were made by separate States, each undertaking to regulate for itself the transportation within its own limits. Such regulation would have been perfectly logical, and perhaps effectual, had the roads within each State formed a system by themselves; but when State boundaries had very little importance, either to the roads themselves or to the traffic done over them, unless made important by restrictive and obstructive legislation, the regulation by any State must necessarily be fragmentary and imperfect, and diverse regulation in different States might be harmful rather than beneficial. It must be said for State regulation that it has in general been exercised in a prudent and conservative way, but it is liable to be influenced by a sensitive and excitable public opinion; and as nothing is more common than to find gross abuses in the matter of railroad transportation selfishly defended in localities, and even in considerable sections, which are supposed to receive benefits from them, it would not be strange if the like selfishness should sometimes succeed in influencing the exercise of power by one State in a manner that a neighboring State would regard as unfriendly and injurious.

The Federal Government recently undertook the work of regulation, and in doing so accepted the view upon which the States had acted, and so worded its statute that the transportation which does not cross State lines is supposed to be excluded. The United States thus undertakes to regulate interstate commerce by rail, and the States regulate, or may regulate, that which is not interstate. It was perhaps overlooked at first that, inasmuch as Government control may embrace the making of classifications, prescribing safety and other appliances, and naming rates, any considerable regulation of State traffic and interstate traffic separately must necessarily to some extent cause interference. The two classes of traffic flow on together over the same lines in the same vehicles under the management of the same agencies, with little or no distinction based on State lines; the rates and the management influenced by considerations which necessarily are of general force, so that separate regulation may without much extravagance be compared to an attempt in the case of one of our great rivers to regulate the flow of the waters in general, but without, in doing so, interfering with an independent regulation of such portion thereof as may have come from the springs and streams of some particular section. This is one of many reasons for looking upon all existing legislation as merely tentative.

No doubt the time will come when the railroads of the country will constitute, as they do not now, a system. There are those who think this may, sufficiently for practical purposes, be accomplished by the legalization of some scheme of pooling; but this is a crude device, against which there is an existing prejudice not easily to be removed. Others look for unity through gradual consolidations, the tendency to which is manifest, or through something in the nature of a trust, or by means of more comprehensive and stringent national control. Beyond all these is not infrequently suggested a Government ownership.

Of the theories that might be advanced in this direction, or the arguments in their support, nothing further will be said here; the immediate purpose being accomplished when it is shown how misleading may be the term _system_, when applied to the railroads of the country as an aggregate, as now owned, managed, and controlled.

* * * * *

Every man in the land is interested daily and constantly in railroads and the transportation of persons and property over them. The price of whatever he eats, or wears, or uses, the cost and comfort of travel, the speed and convenience with which he shall receive his mail and the current intelligence of the day, and even the intimacy and extent of his social relations, are all largely affected thereby. The business employs great numbers of persons, and the wages paid them affect largely the wages paid in other lines of occupation. The management of the business in some of its departments is attended by serious dangers, and thousands annually lose their lives in the service. Other thousands annually are either killed or injured in being transported; the aggregate being somewhat startling, though unquestionably this method of travel is safer than any other. The ingenuity which has been expended in devices to make the transportation rapid, cheap, and safe may well be characterized as marvellous, and some feats in railroad engineering are the wonder of the world. With all these facts and many others to create a public interest in the general subject, the editor of _Scribner's Magazine_, some little time ago, applied to writers of well-known ability and competency to prepare papers for publication therein upon the various topics of principal interest in the life and use of railroads, beginning with the construction, and embracing the salient facts of management and service. He was successful in securing a series of papers of high value, the appearance of which has been welcomed from month to month, beginning with June, 1888, with constant and increasing interest. These papers have a permanent value; and, in obedience to a demand for their separate publication in convenient form for frequent reference, the publishers now reproduce them with expansions and additions. A reference to the several titles will convince anyone at all familiar with the general subject that the particular topic is treated in every instance by an expert, entitled as such to speak with authority.

The Building Of A Railway.

By Thomas Curtis Clarke.

Roman Tramways of Stone--First Use of Iron Rails--The Modern Railway created by Stephenson's "Rocket" in 1830--Early American Locomotives--Key to the Evolution of the American Railway--Invention of the Swivelling Truck, Equalizing Beams, and the Switchback--Locating a Road--Work of the Surveying Party--Making the Road-bed--How Tunnels are Avoided--More than Three Thousand Bridges in the United States--Old Wooden Structures--The Howe Truss--The Use of Iron--Viaducts of Steel--The American System of Laying Bridge Foundations under Water--Origin of the Cantilever--Laying the Track--How it is Kept in Repair--Premiums for Section Bosses--Number of Railway Employees in the United States--Rapid Railway Construction--Radical Changes which the Railway will Effect.

The world of to-day differs from that of Napoleon Bonaparte more than his world differed from that of Julius Cæsar; and this change has chiefly been made by railways.

Railways have been known since the days of the Romans. Their tracks were made of two lines of cut stones. Iron rails took their place about one hundred and fifty years ago, when the use of that metal became extended. These roads were called tram-roads, and were used to carry coal from the mines to the places of shipment. They were few in number and attracted little attention.

The modern railway was created by the Stephensons in 1830, when they built the locomotive "Rocket." The development of the railway since is due to the development of the locomotive. Civil engineering has done much, but mechanical engineering has done more.

The invention of the steam-engine by James Watt, in 1773, attracted the attention of advanced thinkers to a possible steam locomotive. Erasmus Darwin, in a poem published in 1781, made this remarkable prediction:

"Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam! afar Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car."

[Illustration: First Locomotive.]

The first locomotive of which we have any certain record was invented, and put in operation on a model circular railway in London, in 1804, by Richard Trevithick, an erratic genius, who invented many things but perfected few. His locomotive could not make steam, and therefore could neither go fast nor draw a heavy load. This was the fault of all its successors, until the competitive trial of locomotives on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, in 1829. The Stephensons, father and son, had invented the steam blast, which, by constantly blowing the fire, enabled the "Rocket," with its tubular boiler, to make steam enough to draw ten passenger cars, at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour.

Then was born the modern giant, and so recent is the date of his birth that one of the unsuccessful competitors at that memorable trial, Captain John Ericsson, was until the present year (1889) living and actively working in New York. Another engineer, Horatio Allen, who drove the first locomotive on the first trip ever made in the United States, in 1831, still lives, a hale and hearty old man, near New York.

The earlier locomotives of this country, modelled after the "Rocket," weighed five or six tons, and could draw, on a level, about 40 tons. After the American improvements, which we shall describe, were made, our engines weighed 25 tons, and could draw, on a level, some sixty loaded freight cars, weighing 1,200 tons. This was a wonderful advance, but now we have the "Consolidation" locomotive, weighing 50 tons, and able to draw, on a level, a little over 2,400 tons.

And this is not the end. Still heavier and more powerful engines are being designed and built, but the limit of the strength of the track, according to its present forms, has nearly been reached. It is very certain we have not reached the limit of the size and power of engines, or the strength of the track that can be devised.

After the success of the "Rocket," and of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the authority of George Stephenson and his son Robert became absolute and unquestioned upon all subjects of railway engineering. Their locomotives had very little side play to their wheels, and could not go around sharp curves. They accordingly preferred to make their lines as straight as possible, and were willing to spend vast sums to get easy grades. Their lines were taken as models and imitated by other engineers. All lines in England were made with easy grades and gentle curves. Monumental bridges, lofty stone viaducts, and deep cuts or tunnels at every hill marked this stage of railway construction in England, which was imitated on the European lines.

[Illustration: Locomotive of To-day.]

As it was with the railway, so it was with the locomotive. The Stephenson type, once fixed, has remained unchanged (in Europe), except in detail, to the present day. European locomotives have increased in weight and power, and in perfection of material and workmanship, but the general features are those of the locomotives built by the great firm of George Stephenson & Son, before 1840.

* * * * *

When we come to the United States we find an entirely different state of things. The key to the evolution of the American railway is the contempt for authority displayed by our engineers, and the untrammelled way in which they invented and applied whatever they thought would answer the best purpose, regardless of precedent. When we began to build our railways, in 1831, we followed English patterns for a short time. Our engineers soon saw that unless vital changes were made our money would not hold out, and our railway system would be very short. Necessity truly became the mother of invention.

The first, and most far-reaching, invention was that of the swivelling truck, which, placed under the front end of an engine, enables it to run around curves of almost any radius. This enabled us to build much less expensive lines than those of England, for we could now curve around and avoid hills and other obstacles at will. The illustration opposite shows a railroad curving around a mountain and supported by a retaining wall, instead of piercing through the mountain with a tunnel, as would have been necessary but for the swivelling truck. The swivelling truck was first suggested by Horatio Allen, for the South Carolina Railway, in 1831; but the first practical use of it was made on the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, in the same year. It is said to have been invented by John B. Jervis, Chief Engineer of that road.

The next improvement was the invention of the equalizing beams or levers, by which the weight of the engine is always borne by three out of four or more driving-wheels. They act like a three-legged stool, which can always be set level on any irregular spot. The original imported English locomotives could not be kept on the rails of rough tracks. The same experience obtained in Canada when the Grand Trunk Railway was opened, in 1854-55. The locomotives of English pattern constantly ran off the track; those of American pattern hardly ever did so. Finally, all their locomotives were changed by having swivelling trucks put under their forward ends, and no more trouble occurred. The equalizing levers were patented in 1838, by Joseph Harrison, Jr., of Philadelphia.

[Illustration: Alpine Pass. Avoidance of a Tunnel.]

These two improvements, which are absolutely essential to the success of railways in new countries, and have been adopted in Canada, Australia, Mexico, and South America,[1] to the exclusion of English patterns, are also of great value on the smoothest and best possible tracks. The flexibility of the American machine increases its adhesion and enables it to draw greater loads than its English rival. The same flexibility equalizes its pressure on the track, prevents shocks and blows, and enables it to keep out of the hospital and run more miles in a year than an English locomotive.[2]

[Illustration: A Sharp Curve--Manhattan Elevated Railway, 110th Street, New York.]

Equally valuable improvements were made in cars, both for passengers and freight. Instead of the four-wheeled English car, which on a rough track dances along on three wheels, we owe to Ross Winans, of Baltimore, the application of a pair of four-wheeled swivelling trucks, one under each end of the car, thus enabling it to accommodate itself to the inequalities of a rough track and to follow its locomotive around the sharpest curves. There are, on our main lines, curves of less than 300 feet radius, while, on the Manhattan Elevated, the largest passenger traffic in the world is conducted around curves of less than 100 feet radius. There are few curves of less than 1,000 feet radius on European railways.

[Illustration: A Steep Grade on a Mountain Railroad.]

The climbing capabilities of a locomotive upon smooth rails were not known until, in 1852, Mr. B. H. Latrobe, Chief Engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, tried a temporary zigzag gradient of 10 per cent.--that is 10 feet rise in 100 feet length, or 528 feet per mile--over a hill about two miles long, through which the Kingwood Tunnel was being excavated. A locomotive weighing 28 tons on its drivers took one car weighing 15 tons over this line in safety. It was worked for passenger traffic for six months. This daring feat has never been equalled. Trains go over 4 per cent. gradients on the Colorado system, and there is one short line, used to bring ore to the Pueblo furnaces, which is worked by locomotives over a 7 per cent. grade. These are believed to be the steepest grades worked by ordinary locomotives on smooth rails.

Another American invention is the switchback. By this plan the length of line required to ease the gradient is obtained by running backward and forward in a zigzag course, instead of going straight up the mountain. As a full stop has to be made at the end of every piece of line, there is no danger of the train running away from its brakes. This device was first used among the hills of Pennsylvania over forty years ago, to lower coal cars down into the Nesquehoning Valley. It was afterwards used on the Callao, Lima, and Oroya Railroad in Peru, by American engineers, with extraordinary daring and skill. It was employed to carry the temporary tracks of the Cascade Division of the Northern Pacific Railroad over the "Stampede" Pass, with grades of 297 feet per mile, while a tunnel 9,850 feet long was being driven through the mountains.

[Illustration: A Switchback.]

With the improvement of brakes and more reliable means of stopping trains upon steep grades, came a farther development of the above device, which was first applied on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in Colorado, and has since been applied on a grand scale on the Saint Gothard road, the Black Forest railways of Germany, and the Semmering line in the Tyrol. This device is to connect the two lines of the zigzag by a curve at the point where they come together, so that the train, instead of going alternately backward and forward, now runs continuously on. It becomes possible for the line to return above itself in spiral form, sometimes crossing over the lower level by a tunnel, and sometimes by a bridge. A notable instance of this kind of location is seen on the Tehachapi Pass of the Southern Pacific, where the line ascends 2,674 feet in 25 miles, with eleven tunnels, and a spiral 3,800 feet long.

[Illustration: Plan of Big Loop.]

The "Big Loop," as it is called, on the Georgetown branch of the Union Pacific, in Colorado, between Georgetown and a mining camp called Silver Plume, has been chosen to illustrate this point. The direct distance up the valley is 1¼ miles and the elevation 600 feet, requiring a gradient of 480 feet per mile. But by curving the line around in a spiral, the length of the line is increased to 4 miles and the gradient reduced to 150 feet per mile. Zigzags were used first for foot-paths, then for common roads, lastly for railways. Their natural sequence, spirals, was a railway device entirely, and confirms the saying of one of our engineers: "Where a mule can go, I can make a locomotive go." This may be called the poetry of engineering, as it requires both imagination to conceive and skill to execute.

* * * * *

[Illustration: Profile of the Same.]

There is one thing more which distinguishes the American railway from its English parent, and that is the almost uniform practice of getting the road open for traffic in the cheapest manner and in the least possible time, and then completing it and enlarging its capacity out of its surplus earnings, and from the credit which these earnings give it.

[Illustration: Big Loop, Georgetown Branch of the Union Pacific, Colorado.]

The Pennsylvania Railroad between Philadelphia and Harrisburg is a notable example of this. Within the past few years it has been rebuilt on a grand scale, and in many places relocated, and miles of sharp curves and heavy gradients, originally put in to save expense, have been taken out. This system has been followed everywhere, except on a few branch lines, and upon one monumental example of failure--the West Shore Railroad, of New York. The projectors of that line attempted in three years to build a double-track railroad up to the standard of the Pennsylvania road, which had been forty years in reaching its present excellence. Their money gave out, and they came to grief.

II.

We have thus briefly reviewed the development of our railways to show what they are, and how they came to be what they are, before describing the processes of building, in order that the reasons may be clearly understood why we do certain things, and why we fail to do other things which we ought to do.

In the building of a railway the first thing is to make the surveys and locate the position of the intended road upon the ground, and to make maps and sections of it, so that the land may be bought and the estimates of cost be ascertained. The engineer's first duty is to make a survey by eye without the aid of instruments. This is called the "reconnoissance." By this he lays down the general position of the line, and where he wants it to go if possible. Great skill, the result of long experience, or equally great ignorance may be shown here. After the general position of the line, or some part of it, has been laid down upon the pocket map, the engineer sends his party into the field to make the preliminary survey with instruments.

In an old-settled country the party may live in farm-houses and taverns, and be carried to their daily work by teams. But a surveying party will make better progress, be healthier and happier, if they live in their own home, even if that home be a travelling camp of a few tents. With a competent commissary the camp can be well supplied with provisions, and be pitched near enough to the probable end of the day's work to save the tired men a long walk. When they get to camp and, after a wash in the nearest creek, find a smoking-hot supper ready--even though it consist of fried pork and potatoes, corn-bread and black coffee--their troubles are all forgotten, and they feel a true satisfaction which the flesh-pots of Delmonico's cannot give. One greater pleasure remains--to fill the old pipe, and recline by the camp-fire for a jolly smoke.

[Illustration: Engineers in Camp.]

A full surveying party consists of the front flag-man, with his corps of axe-men to cut away trees and bushes; the transit-man, who records the distances and angles of the line, assisted by his chain-men and flag-men; and lastly the leveller, who takes and records the levels, with his rod-men and axe-men. The chief of the party exercises a general supervision over all, and is sometimes assisted by a topographer, who sketches in his book the contours of the hills and direction and size of the watercourses.

One tent contains the cook, the commissary, and the provisions; another tent or two the working party, and another the superior engineers, with their drawing instruments and boards. In a properly regulated party the map and profile of the day's work should be plotted before going to bed, so as to see if all is right. If it turns out that the line can be improved and easier grades got, or other changes made, now is the time to do it.

After the preliminary lines have been run, the engineer-in-chief takes up the different maps and lays down a new line, sometimes coinciding with that surveyed, and sometimes quite different. The parties then go back into the field and stake out this new line, called the "approximate location," upon which the curves are all run in. In difficult country the line may be run over even a third or fourth time; or in an easy country, the "preliminary" surveys may be all that is wanted.

The life of an engineer, while making surveys, is not an easy one. His duties require the physical strength of a drayman and the mental accuracy of a professor, both exerted at the same time, and during heat and cold, rain and shine.

An engineer, once on a time, standing behind his instrument, was surrounded by a crowd of natives, anxious to know all about it. He explained his processes, using many learned words, and flattered himself that he had made a deep impression upon his hearers. At last, one old woman spoke up, with an expression of great contempt on her face, "Wall! If I knowed as much as you do, I'd quit ingineerin' and keep a grocery!"

A large part of the financial difficulties of our railways results from not taking time enough to properly locate the line. It must be remembered that a cheaply constructed line can be rebuilt, but with a badly located line nothing can be done except to abandon it entirely.

[Illustration: Royal Gorge Hanging Bridge, Denver and Rio Grande, Colorado.]

It is well therefore to consider carefully what is the true problem of location. It is so to place and build a line of railway that it shall get the greatest amount of business out of the country through which it passes, and at the same time be able to do that business at the least cost, including both expenses of operating and the fixed charges on the capital invested. The mere statement of this problem shows that it is not an easy one. Its solution is different in a new and unsettled country from that in an old-settled region. In the new country, the shortest, cheapest, and straightest line possible, consistent with the easiest gradients that the topography of the land will allow, is the best. The towns will spring up after the road is built, and will be built on its line, and generally at the places where stations have been fixed.

[Illustration: Veta Pass, Colorado.]

In a mountainous country, like Colorado, the problem is how to reach the important mining camps, regardless of the crookedness and increased length given to the line. The Denver and Rio Grande has been compared to an octopus. This is really a compliment to its engineers. It sucks nutriment from every place where nutriment is to be found. To do this it has been forced to climb mountains, where it was thought locomotives could never climb. In one place, called the Royal Gorge, the difficulties of blasting a road-bed into the side of the mountain were so great that it was thought expedient to carry the track upon a bridge, and this bridge was hung from two rafters, braced against the sides of the gorge. In surveying some parts of the lines the engineers were suspended by ropes from the top of the mountains and made their measurements swinging in mid-air.

The problem of location is different in an old-settled country, where the position of the towns as trade-centres has been fixed by natural laws that cannot be overruled. In this case the best thing the engineer can do is to get the easiest gradient possible consistent with the topography of the country, and let the curves take care of themselves; always to strike the important towns, even if the line is made more crooked and longer thereby; to so place the line in these towns as to accommodate the public, and still be able to buy plenty of land; also to locate for under or over, rather than grade crossings.

[Illustration: Sections of Snow-sheds.]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

In all countries, old and new, mountainous and level, the rule should be to keep the level of track well above the surface of the ground, in order to insure good drainage and freedom from snow-drifts.

The question of avoidance of obstruction by snow is a very serious one upon the Rocky Mountain lines, and they could not be worked without the device of snow-sheds--another purely American invention. There are said to be six miles of stanchly built snow-sheds on the Canadian Pacific and sixty miles on the Central Pacific Railway. The quantity of snow falling is enormous, sometimes amounting to 250,000 cubic yards, weighing over 100,000 tons, in one slide. It is stated by the engineers of the Canadian Pacific, that the force of the air set in motion by these avalanches has mown down large trees, not struck by the snow itself. Their trunks, from one to two feet in diameter, remain, split as if struck by lightning.

* * * * *

[Illustration: Snow-sheds, Selkirk Mountains, Canadian Pacific. The winter track under cover; the outer track for summer use.]

After the railway line has been finally located, the next duty of the engineers is to prepare the work for letting. Land-plans are made, from which the right of way is secured. From the sections, the quantities are taken out. Plans of bridges and culverts are made; and a careful specification of all the works on the line is drawn up.

[Illustration: Making an Embankment.]

The works are then let, either to one large contractor or to several smaller ones, and the labor of construction begins. The duties of the engineers are to stake out the work for the contractors, make monthly returns of its progress, and see that it is well done and according to the specifications and contract. The line is divided into sections, and an engineer, with his assistants, is placed in charge of each. Where the works are heavy, the contractors build shanties for their men and teams near the heavy cuttings or embankments. It is the custom to take out heavy cuttings by means of the machine called a steam shovel, which will dig as many yards in a day as 500 men.

[Illustration: Steam Excavator.]

On the prairies of the West the road-bed is thrown up from ditches on each side, either by men with wheelbarrows and carts, or by means of a ditching-machine, which can move 3,000 yards of earth daily. In this case the track follows immediately after the embankment, and the men live in cars fitted up as boarding-shanties, and moved forward as fast as required. If the country contains suitable stone, the culverts and bridge abutments are built by gangs of masons and stone-cutters, who move from point to point. But the general practice is to put in temporary trestle-work of timber resting upon piles, which trestle-work is renewed in the shape of stone culverts covered by embankments, or iron bridges resting on stone abutments and built after the road is running.

[Illustration: Building a Culvert.]

[Illustration]

The pile-driver plays a very important part therefore in the construction of our railroads, and has been brought to great perfection. It is worked by a small boiler and engine, and gives its blows with great rapidity. It drags the piles up to leaders and lifts them into place by steam-power, so that it is worked by a small gang of men. Finally, it is as portable as a pedler's cart, and as soon as it has finished one job it is taken to pieces, packed upon wagons, and moved on to the next job.

[Illustration: (Rock Drill.)]

Tunnels are neither so long nor so frequent upon American railways as upon those of Europe. The longest are from two to two and a half miles long, except one, the Hoosac, about four miles. Sometimes they are unavoidable. The ridge called Bergen Hill, west of Hoboken, N. J., is a case in point. This is pierced by the tunnels of the West Shore, of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western, and of the Erie, the last two of which, as shown on page 25, are placed at different levels to enable one road to pass over the other.

[Illustration: Rock Drill.]

It is by our system of using sharp curves that we avoid tunnels. It may be said, in general terms, that American engineers have shown more skill in avoiding the necessity of tunnels than could possibly be shown in constructing them. When we are obliged to use tunnels, or to make deep cuttings in rocks, our labors are greatly assisted by the use of power-drills worked by compressed air and by the use of high explosives, such as dynamite, giant powder, rend-rock, etc. Rocks can now be removed in less than half the time formerly required, when ordinary blasting-powder was used in hand-drilled holes.[3]

[Illustration: A Construction and Boarding Train.]

III.

From data furnished by Mr. D. J. Whittemore, chief engineer of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul system (which had a total length of 5,688 miles on January 1, 1888), the length of open bridges on these lines was 115-91/100 miles, and of culverts covered over with embankment, 39-2/10 miles. "Everything," says Mr. Whittemore, "not covered with earth, except cattle guards, be the span 10 or 400 feet, is called a bridge. Everything covered with earth is called a culvert. Wherever we are far removed from suitable quarries, we build a wooden culvert in preference to a pile bridge, if we can get six inches of filling over it. These culverts are built of roughly squared logs, and are large enough to draw an iron pipe through them of sufficient diameter to take care of the water. We do this because we believe that we lessen the liability to accident, and that the culvert can be maintained after decay has begun, much longer than a piled bridge with stringers to carry the track. Had we good quarries along our line, stone would be cheaper. Many thousands of dollars have been spent by this company in building masonry that after twenty to twenty-five years shows such signs of disintegration that we confine masonry work now only to stone that we can procure from certain quarries known to be good."

[Illustration: Bergen Tunnels, Hoboken, N. J.]

Mr. Whittemore is an engineer of great experience, skill, and judgment, and there is food for much reflection in these words of his: First--that it is better to use temporary wooden structures, to be afterward renewed in good stone, rather than to build of the stone of the locality, unless first-class. Second--that a structure covered with earth is much safer than an open bridge; which, if short and apparently insignificant, may be, through neglect, a most serious point of danger, as was shown in the dreadful accident of 1887 on the Toledo, Peoria, and Western road in Illinois, where one hundred and fifty persons were killed and wounded, and by the equally avoidable accident on the Florida and Savannah line, in March, 1888. Had these little trestles been changed to culverts covered with earth, many valuable lives would not have been lost.

[Illustration: Beginning a Tunnel.]

It was safely estimated that there were, in 1888, 208,749 bridges of all kinds, amounting in length to 3,213 miles, in the United States.[4]

The wooden bridge and the wooden trestle are purely American products, although they were invented by Leonardo da Vinci in the sixteenth century. From the above statistics it will be seen how much our American railways owe to them, for without them over 150,000 miles could never have been built.

The art of building wooden truss-bridges was developed by Burr & Wernwag, two Pennsylvania carpenters, some of whose works are still in use after eighty years of faithful duty (p. 28). A bridge built by Wernwag across the Delaware in 1803 was used as a highway bridge for forty-five years, was then strengthened and used as a railway bridge for twenty-seven years more, and was finally superseded by the present iron bridge in 1875.

These old bridge-builders were very particular about the quality of their timber, and never put any into a bridge less than two years old. But when we began to build railways, everything was done in a hurry, and nobody could wait for seasoned timber. This led to the invention of the Howe truss, by the engineer of that name, which had the advantage of being adjustable with screws and nuts, so that the shrinkage could be taken up, and which had its parts connected in such a way that they were able to bear the heavy concentrated weight of locomotives without crushing. This bridge was used on all railways, new and old, from 1840 to about 1870. Had it been free from liability to decay and burn up, we should probably not be building iron and steel bridges now, except for long spans of over 200 feet; and as the table opposite shows, the largest number of our spans are less than 100 feet long.

The Howe truss forms an excellent bridge, and is still used in the West on new roads, with the intention of substituting iron trusses after the roads are opened.

After 1870, the weights both of locomotives and other rolling stock began to be increased very rapidly. This, together with the development of the manufacture of iron, and especially the invention of rolled beams and of eye-bars, gave a great impetus to the construction of iron bridges. At first cast-iron was used for the compression members, but the development of the rolling-mill soon enabled us to make all parts of rolled iron sections at no greater cost, and rolled iron, being a less uncertain material, has replaced cast-iron entirely. Iron bridges came in direct competition with the less costly Howe truss, and during the first decade of their construction every attempt was made to build them with as few pounds of iron as would meet the strains.

[Illustration: Old Burr Wooden Bridge.]

S. Whipple, C.E., published a book in 1847 which was the first attempt ever made to solve the mathematical questions upon which the due proportioning of iron truss-bridges depends. This work bore fruit, and a race of bridge designers sprang up. The first iron bridges were modelled after their wooden predecessors, with high trusses and short panels. Riveted connections were avoided, and every part was so designed that it might be quickly and easily erected upon staging or false works, placed in the river. This was very necessary, for our rivers are subject to sudden freshets, and if we had adopted the English system of riveting together all the connections, the long time required before the bridge became self-sustaining would have been a serious element of danger.

Following the practice of wooden bridge building, iron bridges were contracted for by the foot, and not by the pound as is now the custom. To this accidental circumstance is greatly due the development of the American iron bridge. The engineer representing the railway company fixed the lengths of spans, and other general dimensions, and also the loads to be carried and the maximum strains to be allowed. The contracting engineer was left perfectly free to design his bridge, and he strained every nerve to find the form of truss and the arrangement of its parts that should give the required strength with the least number of pounds weight per foot, so that he could beat his competitors. When the different plans were handed in, an expert examined them and rejected those whose parts were too small to meet the strains. Of those found to be correctly proportioned, the lowest bid took the work.

By the rule of the survival of the fittest all badly designed forms of trusses disappeared and only two remained: one the original truss designed by Mr. Whipple, and the other, the well-known triangular, or "Warren" girder, so called after its English inventor.

It speaks well for the skill and honesty of American bridge engineers that many of their old bridges are still in use, designed for loads of 2,500 pounds per lineal foot, and now daily carrying loads of 4,000 pounds and over per foot. Sometimes the floor has been replaced by a stronger one, but the trusses still remain and do good service. The writer may be permitted to point to the bridge over the Mississippi River at Quincy, Ill., built in 1869, as an example. Most bridge-accidents can be traced to derailed trains striking the trusses and knocking them down. Engineers (both those specially connected with bridge works, and those in charge of railways) know much better now what is wanted, and the managers of railways are willing to pay for the best article. The introduction of mild steel is a great step in advance. This material has an ultimate strength, in the finished piece, of 63,000 to 65,000 pounds per square inch, or forty per cent. more than iron, and it is tough enough to be tied in a knot, or punched into the shape of a bowl, while cold. With this material it is as easy to construct spans of 500 feet as it was spans of 250 feet in iron.

Bridges are now designed to carry much heavier loads than formerly. The best practice adopts riveted connections except at the junction of the chord-bars and the main diagonals, where pins and eyes are still very properly used. Plate girders below the track are preferred up to 60 or 70 feet long, then riveted lattice up to 125 feet. The wind strains also are now provided for with a considerable excess of material, amounting in very long spans to nearly as much as the strains due to gravity. Observing the rule that no bridge can be stronger than its weakest part, a vast deal of care and skill has been applied in perfecting the connections of the parts of a truss, and many valuable experiments have been made which have greatly enlarged our knowledge of this difficult subject. The introduction of riveting by the power of steam or compressed air is another very great improvement.[5]

[Illustration: Kinzua Viaduct; Erie Railway.]

Valleys and ravines are now crossed by viaducts of iron and steel, of which the Kinzua viaduct, illustrated here, is an example. A branch line from the Erie, connecting that system with valuable coal-fields, strikes the valley of the Kinzua, a small creek, about 15 miles southwest of Bradford, Pa. At the point suitable for crossing, this ravine is about half a mile wide and over 300 feet deep. At first it was proposed to run down and cross the creek at a low level by some of the devices heretofore illustrated in this article. But finally the engineering firm of Clarke, Reeves & Co. agreed to build the viaduct, shown above, for a much less sum than any other method of crossing would have cost. This viaduct was built in four months. It is 305 feet high and about 2,400 feet long. The skeleton piers were first erected by means of their own posts, and afterward the girders were placed by means of a travelling scaffold on the top, projecting over about 80 feet. No staging of any kind was used, nor even ladders, as the men climbed up the diagonal rods of the piers, as a cat will run up a tree.

[Illustration: Kinzua Viaduct.]

The Manhattan Elevated Railway, about 34 miles long, is nothing but a long viaduct, and is as strong and durable as iron viaducts on railways usually are, while from the slower speed of its trains it is much safer.

It may not be out of place for the writer to state here what, in his belief, is the next series of steps to be taken to insure safety in travelling over our bridges: Replace, wherever possible, all temporary trestles by wood or stone culverts covered with earth. Where this cannot be done, build strong iron or steel bridges and viaducts with as short spans as possible and having no trusses above the track where it can possibly be helped. Cover these and all new bridges with a solid deck of rolled-steel corrugated plates, coated with asphalt to prevent rusting. Place on this broken stone ballast, and bed the ties in it as in the ordinary form of road-bed.

By this means the usual shock felt in passing from the elastic embankment to the comparatively solid bridge will be done away. Has a crack formed in a wheel or axle, this shock generally develops it into a break, the car or engine is derailed, and if it strikes the truss the bridge is wrecked. The cost of this proposed safety floor is insignificant, compared with the security resulting from it.

* * * * *

The improvements in the processes of putting in the foundations of bridges have been as great as those above water. All have shortened greatly the time necessary, and have made the results more certain. The American system may briefly be described as an abandonment of the old engineering device of coffer-dams, by which the bed of the river is enclosed by a water-tight fence and the water pumped out. For this we substitute driving piles and sawing them off under water; or sinking cribs down to a hard bottom through the water. In both cases we sink the masonry, built in a great water-tight box (called a caisson) with a thick bottom of solid timber, until it finally rests on the heads of the piles sawn to a level, or on the top of a crib which is filled with stone, dumped out of a barge. Sometimes it is filled with concrete lowered through the water by special apparatus.[6]

Another process, developed within the last twenty years, is to sink cribs through soft or unreliable material to a harder stratum by compressed air. This is an improvement on the old diving-bell. The air, forced into the bell-shaped cavity, expels the water and allows the men to work and remove the material, which is taken up by a device called an air-lock. The crib slowly sinks, carrying the masonry on its top.

By this means the foundations of the Brooklyn bridge and of the St. Louis bridge were sunk a little over 100 feet below water. A recent invention is that of a German engineer, Herr Poetsch, who freezes the sand by inserting tubes filled with a freezing mixture, and then excavates it as if it were solid rock.

The process of sinking open cribs through the water by weighting them and dredging out the material was followed at the new bridge recently built over the Hudson at Poughkeepsie, where the cribs were sunk 130 feet below water, and at the bridge building over the Hawkesbury River, in Australia. The Hawkesbury piers are sunk to a depth of 175 feet below water, and are the deepest foundations yet put in. The writer (who derives his knowledge from being one of the designing and executive engineers of both these bridges) sees no difficulty in putting down foundations by this process of open dredging to even much greater depths. The compressed-air process is limited to about 110 feet in depth.

IV.

The most notable invention of latter days in bridge construction is that of the cantilever bridge, which is a system devised to dispense with staging, or false works, where from the great depth, or the swift current, of the river, this would be difficult, or, as in the case of the Niagara River, impossible to make. The word cantilever is used in architecture to signify the lower end of a rafter, which projects beyond the wall of a building, and supports the roof above. It is from an Italian word, taken from the Latin _cantilabrum_ (used by Vitruvius), meaning the _lip of the rafter_. If two beams were pushed out from the shores of a stream until they met in the centre, and these two beams were long enough to run back from the shores until their weight, aided by a few stones, held them down, we should have a primitive form of the cantilever, but one which in principle would not differ from the actual cantilever bridges. This is another American invention, although it has been developed by British engineers--Messrs. Fowler & Baker--in their huge bridge now building across the Forth, in Scotland, of a size which dwarfs everything hitherto done in this country, the Brooklyn bridge not excepted.

The first design of which we have any record was that of a bridge planned by Thomas Pope, a ship carpenter of New York, who, in 1810, published a book giving his designs for an arched bridge of timber across the North River at Castle Point, of 2,400 feet span. Mr. Pope called this an arch, but his description clearly shows it to have been what we now call a cantilever. As was the fashion of the day, he indulged in a poetical description:

"Like half a Rainbow rising on yon shore, While its twin partner spans the semi o'er, And makes a perfect whole that need not part Till time has furnish'd us a nobler art."

[Illustration: View of Thomas Pope's Proposed Cantilever (1810).]

The first railway cantilever bridge in the world was built by the late C. Shaler Smith, C.E., one of our most accomplished bridge engineers. This was a bridge over the deep gorge of the Kentucky River.[7] The next was a bridge on the Canadian Pacific, in British Columbia, designed by C. C. Schneider, C.E. A very similar bridge is that over the Niagara River, designed by the same engineer in conjunction with Messrs. Field & Hayes, Civil Engineers. This bridge was the first to receive the distinctive name of cantilever.

The new bridge at Poughkeepsie has three of these cantilevers, connected by two fixed spans, as shown in the illustration (pg. 36). The fixed spans have horizontal lower chords, and really extend beyond each pier and up the inclined portions, to where the bottom chord of the cantilever is horizontal. At these points the junctions between the spans are made, and arranged in such a way, by means of movable links, that expansion and contraction due to changes of temperature can take place. The fixed spans are 525 feet long. Their upper chord, where the tracks are placed, is 212 feet above water. These spans required stagings to build them upon. These stagings were 220 feet above water, and rested on piles, driven through 60 feet of water and 60 feet of mud, making the whole height of the temporary staging 332 feet, or within 30 feet of the height of Trinity Church steeple, in New York. The time occupied in building one of these stagings and then erecting the steel-work upon it was about four months.

The cantilever spans were erected, as shown in the illustration on page 37, without any stagings at all below, and entirely from the two overhead travelling scaffolds, shown in the engraving. These scaffolds were moved out daily from the place of beginning over the piers, until they met in the centre. The workmen hoisted up the different pieces of steel from a barge in the river below and put them into place, using suspended planks to walk upon. The time saved by this method was so great that one of these spans of 548 feet long was erected in less than four weeks, or one-seventh of the time which would have been required if stagings had been used.

[Illustration: Pope's Cantilever in Process of Erection. (From his "Treatise on Bridge Architecture.")]

At the Forth Bridge, all the projecting cantilevers will be built from overhead scaffolds, 360 feet above the water. It contains two spans of 1,710 feet each. When spans of this length are used, the rivets become very long--seven inches--and it would be impossible to make a good job by hand riveting. Hence a power-riveter is used in riveting the work upon the staging. A steam-engine raises up a heavy mass of cast-iron, called "the accumulator;" the weight of this in descending is transmitted through tubes of water, and its power increased by contracting the area of pressure, until some twenty tons can be applied to the head of each rivet. One rivet per minute can be put in with this tool.

* * * * *

It will be seen that most of the great saving of time in modern construction of bridges and other parts of railways is due to improved machinery. The engineer of to-day is probably not more skilful than his ancestor, who, in periwig and cue, breeches and silk stockings, is represented in old prints supervising a gang of laborers, who slowly lift the ram of a pile-driver by hauling on one end of a rope passed over a pulley-wheel. The modern engineer has that useful servant, steam, and the history of modern engineering is chiefly the history of those inventions by which steam has been able to supersede manual labor--such as pile-drivers, steam-shovels, steam-dredges, and other similar tools.

[Illustration: General View of the Poughkeepsie Bridge.]

* * * * *

After the road-bed of a railway is completed and covered with a good coat of gravel or stone-ballast, and after all the temporary structures have been replaced by permanent ones, that part of the work may be said to be done, requiring only that the damages of storms should be repaired. But the track of a railway is never done. It is always wearing out and always being replaced.

[Illustration: Erection of a Cantilever.]

Some of the early English engineers, not appreciating this, endeavored to lay down solid stone walls coped with stone cut to a smooth surface, on which they laid their rails. They called this "permanent way," as distinguished from the temporary track of rails and cross-ties used by contractors in building the lines. But experience soon showed that the temporary track, if supported by a bed of broken stone, always kept itself drained and was always elastic, and remained in much better order than the more expensive so-called "permanent way." When the increase in the weight of our rolling stock began to take place, dating from about 1870, iron rails were found to be wearing out very fast. Some railway men declared that the railway system had reached its full development. But in this world the supply generally equals the demand. When a thing is very much wanted, it is sure to come, sooner or later. The process of making steel invented by, and named after, Henry Bessemer, of England, and perfected by A. L. Holley, of this country, gave us a steel rail which at the present time costs less than one of iron, and has a life five or six times as long, even under the heavy loads of to-day. We are now approaching very near the limit of what the rail will carry, while the joints are becoming less able to do their duty. Bad joints mean rough track. Rough track means considerably greater expenditure both for its maintenance and that of all the rolling stock, as the blows and shocks do reciprocal damage, both to the rails and to that which runs on them. Hence all railway managers are now devoting more care and attention to their tracks.

In laying track on a new railway, if it be in an old-settled country where other railroads are near and the highways good, the ties are delivered in piles along the line where wanted, and the haul of the rails is comparatively short. The ties are laid down, spaced and bedded, adzed off to a true bearing, and the rails laid upon them; the workmen being divided into gangs, each doing a different part of the work. After the track is laid, the ballast-trains come along and cover the roadbed with gravel. The track is raised, the gravel tamped well under the ties, and the track is ready for use.

[Illustration: Spiking the Track.]

[Illustration: Rail Making.]

The road is then divided into sections about five miles long. On each section there is a section-boss, with four to six laborers. Their duty is to pass over the track at least twice a day in their hand-car, to examine every joint, and where one is found low or out of line, to bring it back to its true position by tamping gravel under it and moving the track. They have also to see that all ditches are kept clear of water, a most essential point, as without good drainage the ground under gravel ballast becomes soft, and the mud is churned up into the gravel, and the whole soon gets into bad order.

They have to see that the fences are all right, that trees and telegraph poles do not fall across the track, that wooden bridges do not burn down, that iron and stone bridges are not undermined by freshets, and always to set up danger signals to warn the trains.

[Illustration: Track Laying.]

It is admitted by competent judges, that the track of the Pennsylvania Railroad is the best in this country, and one of the best in the world. It is kept up to its high standard of excellence by a system of competitive examinations.

About the first of November, in each year, after the season's work has been done, a tour of inspection is made over all the lines, on a train of cars expressly prepared, consisting of two or more cars not unlike ordinary box cars with the front end taken out. Each car is pushed in front of an engine, and goes slowly over the line, by daylight only, so that the inspecting party may have a full view of the road.

The Pennsylvania road is divided into Grand Divisions, Superintendents' Divisions, of about 100 miles long, Supervisors' Divisions, of about 30 miles, and Subdivisions, of 2½ miles.

The examining committee for each Supervisor's Division consists of the supervisors of other divisions. As they pass along, they mark on a card. One sub-committee marks the condition of the alignment and surfacing of the rails; another the condition of the joints and the spacing of the ties; another the ballast, switches, and sidings; another the ditches, road-crossings, station grounds. The marks range from 0 to 10, 0 being very bad, 5 medium, and 10 perfection. When the trip is done these reports are all collected and the average is taken for each division.

As an inducement to the supervisors and the foremen of the Subdivisions to excel on their division, premiums are given as follows:

$100 to the supervisor having the best yard on his Grand Division.

$100 each to the supervisors having the best Supervisor's Division on each Superintendent's Division of 100 miles.

$75 to the foreman having the best subdivision of 2½ miles on each Grand Division.

$60 to each foreman having the best subdivision on his Superintendent's Division, including yards.

$50 to the foreman having the best subdivision on each Supervisor's Division.

In addition to the above there are two premiums of honor given by the general manager, which bring into competition with each other those parts of the main line lying on either side of Philadelphia, viz.:

$100 to the supervisor having the best line and surface between Pittsburg and Jersey City.

$50 to the second best ditto.

If a supervisor or foreman of subdivision receives one of the higher premiums, he is not allowed to be a competitor for any others premiums, except the premiums of honor.

The advantages of these inspections and premiums are these: Every man knows exactly what the standard of excellence is, and strives to have his section reach it. Under the old system, a man never got off of his own section, and had no means of comparison, and like all untravelled persons, became conceited.

The standard of excellence becomes higher and higher every year. Perfect fairness prevails, as the men themselves are the judges. The officers of the road make no marks, but usually look on and see that there is fair play.

This brings the officers and men nearer together, and shows the men how all are working for the common good. An agreeable break is made in the monotony of the men's lives. They have something to look forward to better than a spree.

It is by the adoption of such methods as these that strikes will be prevented in the future. It encourages an _esprit de corps_ among the men, and educates them in every way.

This system was first devised and put in operation on the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1879, by Mr. Frank Thomson, General Manager, to whom the credit of it is justly due.

V.

I have thus endeavored to trace the history of the building of a railway; and it must have been seen, from what has been said, that the evolution of the railway and of its rolling stock follows the same laws which govern the rest of the world: adaptation to circumstances decides what is fittest, and that alone survives. The scrap-heap of a great railway tells its own story.

Our railways have now reached a development which is wonderful. The railways of the United States, if placed continuously, would reach more than half-way to the moon. Their bridges alone would reach from New York to Liverpool. Notwithstanding the number of accidents that we read of in the daily papers, statistics show that less persons are killed annually on railways than are killed annually by falling out of windows.

Railways have so cheapened the cost of transportation that, while a load of wheat loses all of its value by being hauled one hundred miles on a common road, meat and flour enough to supply one man a year can, according to Mr. Edward Atkinson, be hauled 1,500 miles from the West to the East for one day's wages of that man, if he be a skilled mechanic. If freight charges are diminished in the future as in the past, this can soon be done for one day's wages of a common laborer.

The number of persons employed in constructing, equipping, and operating our railways is about two millions.

The combined armies and navies of the world, while on peace footing, will draw from gainful occupations 3,455,000 men.

Those create wealth--these destroy it. Is it any wonder that America is the richest country in the world?

The rapidity with which it is possible to build railways over the prairies of the West is extraordinary. It is true that the amount of earth necessary to be moved is much less than on the railways of the East. In Iowa and Wisconsin, the amount runs from 20,000 to 25,000 yards per mile, while in Dakota it is only 12,000 to 15,000 yards per mile. After making all due allowance for this, the result is still remarkable.

[Illustration: Temporary Railway Crossing the St. Lawrence on the Ice.]

The Manitoba system was extended in 1887 through Dakota and Montana, a distance of 545 miles. A small army of 10,000 men, with about 3,500 teams, commanded by General D. C. Shepard, of St. Paul, a veteran engineer and contractor, did it all between April 2 and October 19. All materials and subsistence had to be hauled to the front, from the base of supplies. The army slept in its own tents, shanties, and cars. The grading was cast up from the side ditches, sometimes by carts, and sometimes by the digging machine.

Everything was done with military organization, except that what was left behind was a railway and not earth-work lines of defence. Assuming that this railway, ready for its equipment, cost $15,100 per mile, or $8,175,000, and if it be true, as statisticians tell us, that every dollar expended in building railways in a new country adds ten to the value of land and other property, then this six months' campaign shows a solid increase of the wealth of our country of over eighty millions of dollars. Had it been necessary for our Government to keep an army of observation of the same size on the Canadian frontier, there would have been a dead loss of over eight millions of dollars, and the only result would have been a slight reduction of the Treasury surplus.

It must be remembered that this railway was built after the American system: when the rails were laid, so as to carry trains, it was not much more than half finished; the track had to be ballasted, the temporary wooden structures replaced by stone and iron, and many buildings and miles of sidings were yet to be constructed. But it began to earn money from the very day the last rail was laid, and out of its earnings, and the credit thereby acquired, it will complete itself.

And this is only one instance out of many. The armies of peace are working all over our country, increasing our wealth, and binding all parts into a common whole. We have here the true answer to the Carlyles and the Ruskins who ask: "What is the use of all this? Is a man any better who goes sixty miles an hour than one who went five miles an hour?" "Were we not happier when our fields were covered with their golden harvests, than now, when our wheat is brought to us from Dakota?"

The grand function of the railway is to change the whole basis of civilization from military to industrial. The talent, the energy, the money, which is expended in maintaining the whole of Europe as an armed camp is here expended in building and maintaining railways, with their army of two millions of men. Without the help of railways the rebellion of the Southern States could never have been put down, and two great standing armies would have been necessary. By the railways, aided by telegraphs, it is easy to extend our Federal system over an entire continent, and thus dispense forever with standing armies.

The moral effect of this upon Europe is great, but its physical effect is still greater. American railways have nearly abolished landlordism in Ireland, and they will one day abolish it in England, and over the continent of Europe. So long as Europe was dependent for food upon its own fields, the owner of those fields could fix his own rental. This he can no longer do, owing to the cheapness of transportation from Australia and from the prairies of America, due to the inventions of Watt, the Stephensons, Bessemer, and Holley.

With the wealth of the landlord his political power will pass away. The government of European countries will pass out of the hands of the great landowners, but not into those of the rabble, as is feared. It will pass into the same hands that govern America to-day--the territorial democracy, the owners of small farms, and the manufacturers and merchants. When this comes to pass, attempts will be made to settle international disputes by arbitration instead of war, following the example of the Geneva arbitration between the two greatest industrial nations of the world. Whether our Federal system will ever extend to the rest of the world, no one knows, but we do know that without railways it would be impossible.

When we consider the effects of all these wonderful changes upon the sum of human happiness, we must admit that the engineer should justly take rank with statesmen and soldiers, and that no greater benefactors to the human race can be named than the Stephensons and their American disciples--Allen, Rogers, Jervis, Winans, Latrobe, and Holley.

Footnotes:

[1] It is proper here to say that English engineers now appreciate the merits of the American swivelling truck or bogie. In the article on Railways in the last edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica," speaking of locomotives, the author of the article, who is an English engineer of high authority, says: "American practice, many years since, arrived at two leading types of locomotive for passenger, and for goods traffic. The passenger locomotive has eight wheels, of which four in front are framed in a bogie, and the four wheels behind are coupled drivers. _This is the type to which English practice has been approximating._" The italics are ours.

[2] The statistics of ten leading English and ten leading American lines, given by Dorsey, show the following results: 1. The cost per year of the rations, wages, fuel of an American locomotive is $5,590; of an English locomotive, $3,080. 2. Average yearly number of train-miles run by American locomotive, 23,928; English locomotive, 17,539. 3. Yearly earnings: American locomotive, $14,860; English locomotive, $10,940, although the English freight charges are much greater than those of the United States.

[3] The writer has obtained many of the statistics used in this article from A. M. Wellington's "Economic Theory of Railway Location," a perfect mine of valuable information upon all such matters.

[4] The amount of permanent wood and iron truss bridges, and of temporary wooden trestles on the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul is as follows:

Truss bridges, 700 spans, average 93 feet, 12-4/5 miles. Trestle " 7,196 " " 77 " 103-1/10 " ------ -------- Total, 7,896 115-9/10 "

The approximate total number of bridges in the United States was in 1888:

Iron and wood truss bridges, 61,562 spans, 1,086 miles. Wooden trestles, 147,187 2,127 " -------- ------ Total, 208,749 3,213 "

Probably three-fourths of the truss bridges are now of iron or steel, and may be considered perfectly safe so long as the trains remain upon the rails and do not strike the side trusses. The wooden trestles are a constant source of danger from decay or burning or from derailed trains, and should be replaced by permanent structures as fast as time and money will allow.

[5] See following article on "Feats of Railroad Engineering," page 86.

[6] For fuller description of work in a caisson see "Feats of Railway Engineering," page 69.

[7] See "Feats of Railway Engineering," page 55.

Feats Of Railway Engineering.

By John Bogart.

Development of the Rail--Problems for the Engineer--How Heights are Climbed--The Use of Trestles--Construction on a Mountain Side--Engineering on Rope Ladders--Through the Portals of a Cañon--Feats on the Oroya Railroad, Peru--Nochistongo Cut--Rack Rails for Heavy Grades--Difficulties in Tunnel Construction--Bridge Foundations--Cribs and Pneumatic Caissons--How Men work under Water--The Construction of Stone Arches--Wood and Iron in Bridge-building--Great Suspension Bridges--The Niagara Cantilever and the enormous Forth Bridge--Elevated and Underground Roads--Responsibilities of the Civil Engineer.

There are one hundred and fifty thousand miles of railway in the United States: three hundred thousand miles of rails--in length enough to make twelve steel girdles for the earth's circumference. This enormous length of rail is wonderful--we do not really grasp its significance. But the rail itself, the little section of steel, is an engineering feat. The change of its form from the curious and clumsy iron pear-head of thirty years ago to the present refined section of steel is a scientific development. It is now a beam whose every dimension and curve and angle are exactly suited to the tremendous work it has to do. The loads it carries are enormous, the blows it receives are heavy and constant, but it carries the loads and bears the blows and does its duty. The locomotive and the modern passenger and freight cars are great achievements; and so is the little rail which carries them all.

The railway to-day is one of the matter-of-fact associations of our active life. We use it so constantly that it requires some little effort to think of it as a wonderful thing; a creation of man's ingenuity, which did not exist when our grandfathers were young. Its long bridges, high viaducts, and dark tunnels may be remarked and remembered by the traveller, but the narrow way of steel, the road itself, seems but a simple work. And yet the problem of location, the determination, foot by foot and mile by mile, of where the line must go, calls in its successful solution for the highest skill of the engineer, whose profession before the railway was created hardly existed at all. Locomotives now climb heights which a few years ago no vehicle on wheels could ascend. The writer, with some engineer friends, was in the mountains of Colorado during the summer of 1887, and saw a train of very intelligent donkeys loaded with ore from the mines, to which no access could be had but by those sure-footed beasts. Within a year one of that party of engineers had located and was building a railway to those very mines. No heights seem too great to-day, no valleys too deep, no cañons too forbidding, no streams too wide; if commerce demands, the engineer will respond and the railways will be built.

The location of the line of a railway through difficult country requires the trained judgment of an engineer of special experience, and the most difficult country is not by any means that which might at first be supposed. A line through a narrow pass almost locates itself. But the approach to a summit through rolling country is often a serious problem. The rate of grade must be kept as light as possible, and must never exceed the prescribed maximum. The cuttings and the embankments must be as shallow as they can be made--the quantities of material taken from the excavations should be just about enough to make adjacent embankments. The curves must be few and of light radius--never exceeding an arranged limit. The line must always be kept as direct as these considerations will allow--so that the final location will give the shortest practicable economical distance from point to point. Many a mile of railway over which we travel now at the highest speed has been a weary problem to the engineer of location, and he has often accomplished a really greater success by securing a line which seems to closely fit the country over which it runs without marking itself sharply upon nature's moulding, than if he had with apparent boldness cut deep into the hills and raised embankments and viaducts high over lowlands and valleys.

[Illustration: View Down the Blue from Rocky Point, Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad; showing successive tiers of railway.]

But roads must run through many regions where very different measures must be taken to secure a location practicable for traffic. For instance, a line at a high elevation approaches a wide valley which it must cross. The rate of descent is fixed by the established maximum grade, and the sides of the valley are much steeper than that rate. Then the engineer must gain distance--that is to say, he must make the line long enough to overcome the vertical height. This can often be accomplished by carrying it up the valley on one side and down on the other. Tributary valleys can be made use of if necessary, and the desired crossing thus accomplished. But at times even these expedients will not suffice. Then the line is made to bend upon itself and wind down the hillside upon benches cut into the earth, or rock, curving at points where nature affords any sort of opportunity, and reaching the valley at last in long convolutions like the path of a great serpent on the mountain side. These lines often show several tiers of railway, one directly above the other, as may be seen in the illustrations on pages 49 and 51.

The long trestle shown in the illustration opposite is an example of an expedient often of the greatest service in railway construction. These trestles are built of wood, simply but strongly framed together, and are entirely effective for the transport of traffic for a number of years. Then they must be renewed, or, what is better, be replaced by embankment, which can be gradually made by depositing the material from cars on the trestle itself. The trestle illustrated is interesting as conforming to the curve of the line, which in that country, the mountains of Colorado, was probably a necessity of location.

* * * * *

Where the direct turning of a line upon itself may not be necessary, there may and often must be bold work done in the construction of the road upon a mountain side. It must be supported where necessary by walls built up from suitable foundations, often only secured at a great depth below the grade of the road. Projecting points of rock must be cut through, and any practicable natural shelf or favorable formation must be made use of, as in the picture on page 61. In some of the mountain locations, galleries have been cut directly into the rock, the cliff overhanging the roadway, and the line being carried in a horizontal cut or niche in the solid wall.

[Illustration: Loop and Great Trestle near Hagerman's, on the Colorado Midland Railway.]

The Oroya and the Chimbote railways in South America demanded constant locations of this character. At many points it was necessary to suspend the persons making the preliminary measurements from the cliff above. The engineer who made these locations told the writer that on the Oroya line the galleries were often from 100 to 400 feet above the base of the cliff, and were generally reached from above. Rope ladders were used to great advantage. One 64 feet long and one 106 feet long covered the usual practice, and were sometimes spliced together. The side ropes were ¾ and 1¼ inches in diameter, and the rounds of wood 1¼ inches in diameter, and 16 inches and 24 inches long. These were notched at the ends and passed through the ropes, to which they were afterward lashed. These ladders could be rolled up and carried about on donkeys or mules. When swung over the side of a cliff and secured at the top, and when practicable at the bottom, they formed a very useful instrument in location and construction. For simple examination of the cliff, and for rough or broken slopes not exceeding 70 to 80 degrees, an active fellow would, after some experience, walk up and down such a slope simply grasping the rope in his hands. If required to do any work he would secure the rope about his body, or wind it around his arm, leaving his hands comparatively free for light work.

The boatswain's chair--consisting of a wooden seat 6 inches wide and two feet long, through the ends of which pass the side ropes, looped at the top, and having their ends knotted--is a particularly convenient seat to use where cliffs overhang to a slight degree. The riggers were generally Portuguese sailors, who seemed to have more agility and less fear than any other men to be found. At Cuesta Blanca, on the Oroya, a prominent discoloration on the cliff served as a triangulation point for locating the chief gallery. Men were swung over the side of the cliff in a cage about 2½ feet by 6 feet, open at the top and on the side next the rock. This was a peculiar cliff about 1,000 feet high, rising from the river at a general slope of about 70 degrees. The grade line of the road was 420 feet above the river. The Chileno miners climbed up a rope ladder to a large seam near the grade, where they lived; provisions, water, etc., being hoisted up to them. The first men sent over the cliff to begin the preliminary work were lowered in a cage and took their dinners with them, for fear they would not return to the work, and that unless a genuine start was made others could not be induced to take their places. It is safe to say that 80 per cent. of the sixty odd tunnels on the Oroya and the seven tunnels on the Chimbote lines were located and constructed on lines determined by triangulation, and the results were so satisfactory that the method may be depended upon as the best system for determining topographical data or for locating and constructing the lines in any similar locality.

[Illustration: Denver and Rio Grande Railway Entering the Portals of the Grand River Cañon, Col.]

Where the rocks close in together, as in some of the cañons of our Southwest, the railway curves about them and finds its way often where one would hardly suppose a decent wagon road could be built. The portals of the Grand River Cañon, as here shown, present such a line, passing through narrow gateways of rock rising precipitously on either side to enormous heights.

When such a cañon or a narrow valley directly crosses the line of the road, it must be spanned by a bridge or viaduct. The Kentucky River Bridge, shown below, is an instance. The Verrugas Bridge, on the Lima and Oroya Railroad in Peru, is another. This bridge is at an elevation of 5,836 feet above sea-level. It crosses a ravine at the bottom of which is a small stream. The bridge is 575 feet long, in four spans, and is supported by iron towers, the central one of which is 252 feet in height. The construction was accomplished entirely from above, the material all having been delivered at the top of the ravine, and the erection was made by lowering each piece to its position. This was done by the use of two wire-rope cables, suspended across the ravine from temporary towers at each end of the bridge.

[Illustration: The Kentucky River Cantilever, on the Cincinnati Southern Railway.]

On the line of the same Oroya Railroad is a striking example of the difficulties encountered in such mountain country and of the method by which they have been overcome. A tunnel reaches a narrow gorge, a truss is thrown across, and the tunnel continued. Nature's wildest scenery, the deep ravine, the mountain cliffs, and the graceful truss carrying the locomotive and train safely over what would seem an impossible pass, here combine to give a vivid illustration of an engineering feat.

[Illustration: Truss over Ravine, and Tunnel, Oroya Railroad, Peru.]

The location of a part of the Mexican Central Railway through the cut of Nochistongo is peculiarly interesting. Far underneath the level of this line of railway there was skilfully constructed, in 1608, a tunnel which at that period was a very bold piece of engineering. It was designed to drain the Valley of Mexico, which has no natural outlet. This tunnel was more than six miles long and ten feet wide. It was driven through the formation called _tepetate_, a peculiar earth with strata of sand and marl. It was finished in eleven months. At first excavated without a lining, it was afterward faced with masonry. It was not entirely protected when a great flood came, the dikes above gave way, and the tunnel became obstructed. The City of Mexico was flooded, and it was decided that, instead of repairing the tunnel an open cut should be made. The engineer who had constructed the tunnel, Enrico Martinez, was put in charge of this enormous undertaking, and others took his place after his death. The cut is believed to be the largest ever made in the world. For more than a century the work was continued. Its greatest depth is now 200 feet. It was cut deeper, but has partially filled with the washings from the slopes. The cost was enormous, more than 6,000,000 dollars in silver having been actually disbursed! Wages for workmen were then from 9 to 12 cents a day. All convicts sentenced to hard labor were put at work in the great cut. The loss of life was very great. Writers of the time state that more than 100,000 Indians perished while engaged in the work.

[Illustration: The Nochistongo Cut, Mexican Central Railway.]

[Illustration: The Mount Washington Rack Railroad.]

When a line of railway encountered a grade too steep for ascent by the traction of the locomotive, the earlier engineers adopted the inclined plane. Such planes were in use at important points during many years. Notable instances were those by which traffic was carried across the Alleghany Mountains, connecting on each side with the Pennsylvania railway lines. These old planes are still visible from the present Pennsylvania Railroad where it crosses the summit west of Altoona. The planes were operated by stationary engines acting upon cables attached to the cars. These cables passed around drums at the head of the planes, the weight of the cars on one track partially balancing those on the other. Similar planes were in use also at Albany, Schenectady, and other places.

[Illustration: Trestle on Portland and Ogdensburg Railway, Crawford Notch, White Mountains.]

Another effective expedient is the central rack rail. No better or more successful example of this method of construction can be given than the Mount Washington Railway, illustrated above. The road was completed in 1869. Its length is 3-1/3 miles and its total rise 3,625 feet. Its steepest grade is about 1 foot rise in every 3 feet in length; the average grade is 1 in 4. It is built of heavy timber, well bolted to the rock. Low places are spanned by substantial trestle work. The gauge of the road is 4 feet 7½ inches, and it is provided with the two ordinary rails and also the central rack rail, which is really like an iron ladder, the sides being of angle iron and the cross-pieces of round iron 1½ inches in diameter and 4 inches apart. Into these plays the central cog-wheel on the locomotive, which thus climbs this iron ladder with entire safety. Very complete arrangements are made to control the descent of the train in case of accident to the machinery. The locomotive is always below the train, and pushes it up the mountain. Many thousands of passengers have been transported every year without accident.

[Illustration: A Series of Tunnels.]

The rack railroad ascending the Righi, in Switzerland, was copied after the Mount Washington line. Some improvements in the construction of the rack rail and attachments have been introduced upon mountain roads in Germany, and this system seems very advantageous for use in exceptionally steep locations.

* * * * *

When a line of railway meets in its course a barrier of rock, it is often best to cut directly through. If the grade is not too far below the surface of the rock, the cut is made like a great trench with the sides as steep as the nature of the material will allow. Very deep cuts are, however, not desirable. The rains bring down upon their slopes the softer material from above, and the frost detaches pieces of rock which, falling, may result in serious accidents to trains. Snow lodges in these deep cuts, at times entirely stopping traffic, as in the blizzard near New York, in March, 1888. A tunnel, therefore, while perhaps greater in first cost than a moderately deep cut, is really often the more economical expedient.

[Illustration: Tunnel at the Foot of Mount St. Stephen, on the Canadian Pacific.

(The glacier 8,200 feet above the Railway.)]

[Illustration: Peña de Mora

on the La Guayra and Carácas Railway, Venezuela.]

And here is as good a place, perhaps, as any other in this chapter, to say that true engineering is the economical adaptation of the means and opportunities existing, to the end desired. Civil engineering was defined, by one of the greatest of England's engineers, as "the art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man," and that definition was adopted as a fundamental idea in the charter of the English Institution of Civil Engineers. But the development of engineering-works in America has been effected successfully by American engineers only because they have appreciated another side of the problem presented to them. A past president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a man of rare judgment and remarkable executive ability, the late Ashbel Welch, said, in discussing a great undertaking proposed by an eminent Frenchman: "That is the best engineering, not which makes the most splendid, or even the most perfect, work, but that which makes a work that answers the purpose well, at the least cost." And it may be remarked, as to the project which he was then discussing, that after a very large expenditure and an experience of eight years since that discussion, the plans of the work were modified and the identical suggestions made by Mr. Welch of a radical economical change were adopted in 1888.[8] Another eminent American engineer, whose practical experience has been gained in the construction and engineering supervision of more than five thousand miles of railway, said, in his address as President of the American Society of Civil Engineers: "The high object of our profession is to consider and determine the most economic use of time, power, and matter."

[Illustration: Perspective View of St. Gothard Spiral Tunnels, in the Alps.]

That true economy, which finally secures in a completed work the best results from the investment of capital, in first cost and continued maintenance, is an essential element in the consideration of any really great engineering feat.

* * * * *

The difficulties involved in the construction of a tunnel, after the line and dimensions have been determined, depend generally upon the nature of the material found as the work advances. Solid rock presents really the fewest difficulties, but it is seldom that tunnels of considerable length occur without meeting material which requires special provision for successful treatment. In some cases great portions of the rock, where the roof of the tunnel is to be, press downward with enormous weight, being detached from the adjacent mass by the occurrence of natural seams.

At other places soft material may be encountered, and the passage then is attended with great difficulty. Temporary supports, generally of timber, and of great strength, have often to be used at every foot of progress to prevent the material from forcing its way into the excavation already made.

In long tunnels the ventilation is a difficult problem, although the use of compressed air drills has aided greatly in its solution.

[Illustration: Plan of St. Gothard Spiral Tunnels.]

Among the great tunnels which have been excavated, the St. Gothard is the most remarkable. It is 9¼ miles long, with a section 26¼ feet wide by 19-2/3 feet high. The work on this tunnel was continuous, and it required 9¼ years for its completion.

The Mont Cenis tunnel, 8-1/3 miles in length, was completed in 12 years.

[Illustration: Profile of the Same.]

The Hoosac Tunnel, 4¾ miles in length, 26 feet wide and 21½ feet high, was not prosecuted continuously; it was completed in 1876. These tunnels are notable chiefly on account of their great length; there are others of more moderate extent which have peculiar features; one, illustrated on the preceding page, is unique. This tunnel is a portion of the St. Gothard Railway, and not very far distant from the great tunnel referred to above. In the descent of the mountain it was absolutely necessary to secure a longer distance than a straight line or an ordinary curve would give; the line was therefore doubly curved upon itself. It enters the mountain at a high elevation, describes a circle through the rock and, constantly descending, reappears under itself at the side; still descending, it enters the mountain at another point and continues in another circular tunnel until it finally emerges again, under itself, but at a comparatively short horizontal distance from its first entry, having gained the required descent by a continued grade through the tunnels. The profile above shows the descent, upon a greatly reduced scale, the heavy lines marking where the line is in the tunnel.

[Illustration: Portal of a Finished Tunnel; showing Cameron's Cone, Colorado.]

[Illustration: Portal of a Tunnel in Process of Construction.]

The remarkable success achieved by engineers in securing suitable foundations at great depths is, of course, hardly known to the thousands who constantly see the structures supported on those foundations, but in any fair consideration of such engineering achievements this must not be omitted. The beautiful bridge built by Captain Eads over the Mississippi River at St. Louis, bold in its design and excellent in its execution, is an object of admiration to all who visit it, but the impression of its importance would be greatly magnified if the part below the surface of the water, which bears the massive towers, and which extends to a depth twice as great as the height of the pier above the water, could be visible.

[Illustration: Railway Pass at Rocky Point in the Rocky Mountains.]

The simplest and most effective foundation is, of course, on solid rock. In many localities reliable foundations are built upon earth, when it exists at a suitable depth and of such a character as properly to sustain the weight. Foundations under water, when rock or good material occurs at moderate depth, are constructed frequently by means of the coffer-dam, which is simply an enclosure made water-tight and properly connected with the bottom of the stream. The water is then pumped out and the foundation and masonry built within this temporary dam. When the material is not of a character to sustain the weight, the next expedient is the use of piles, which are driven into the ground, often to a very considerable depth, and sustain the load placed upon them by the friction upon the sides of the piles of the material in which they are driven. It is seldom that dependence is placed upon the load being transferred from the top to the point of the pile, even though the point may have penetrated to a comparatively solid material. Wood is generally used for piles, and where the ground is permanently saturated there seems to be hardly any known limit to its durability. The substructure of foundations, where it is certain that they will always be in contact with water, can be, and generally is, of wood, and the permanency of such foundations is well established. An exception to this, however, occurs in salt-water, particularly in warmer countries, where the ravages of the minute _Teredo Navalis_, and of the still more minute _Limnoria Terebrans_, destroy the wood in a very short period of time. These insects, however, do not work below the ground-line or bed of the water. In many special cases hollow iron piles are used successfully.

[Illustration: Bridge Pier Founded on Piles.]

The ordinary method of forcing a pile into the ground is by repeated blows of a hammer of moderate weight; better success being obtained by frequent blows of the hammer, lifted to a slight elevation, than results from a greater fall, there being danger also in the latter case of injuring the material of the pile. The use of the water-jet for sinking piles, particularly in sand, is interesting. A tube, generally of ordinary gas-pipe, open at the lower end, is fastened to the pile; the upper end is connected by a hose to a powerful pump and, the pile being placed in position on the surface of the sand, water is forced through the tube and excavates a passage for the pile, which, by the application of very light pressure, descends rapidly to the desired depth. The stream of water must be continuous, as it rises along the side of the pile and keeps the sand in a mobile state. Immediately upon the cessation of pumping, the sand settles about the pile, and it is sometimes quite impossible to afterward move it. The water-jet is used in sinking iron piles by conducting the water through the interior of the hollow pile and out of a hole at its point. The piles of the great iron pier at Coney Island were sunk with great celerity in this way. The illustration opposite shows one of the piers of a bridge founded upon wooden piling.

In many cases it would be impossible to drive piling in such a way as to insure the durability of the structure above it. This is particularly true of the foundations of structures crossing many of our rivers, where the bottom is of material which, in time of flood, sometimes scours to very remarkable depths; the material often being replaced when the flood has subsided. The expedient adopted is the pneumatic tube, or the caisson. Both are merely applications of the well-known principle of the diving-bell. In the former case hollow iron tubes, open at the bottom, are sunk to considerable depths, the water being expelled by air pumped into the tubes at a pressure sufficient to resist the weight of the water. Entrance to the tubes is obtained by an air-lock at the top, the material is excavated from the inside, and sufficient weight placed upon the tube to force it gradually to the desired depth. When that depth is attained, the tubes are filled with concrete, and thus solid pillars of hydraulic concrete, surrounded by cast-iron tubing, are obtained.

The pneumatic caisson is an enlargement of this idea of the diving-bell. The caisson is simply a great chamber or box, open at the bottom; the outside bottom edges are shod and cased with iron so as to give a cutting surface; the roof and sides are made of timber, thoroughly bolted together, and of such strength as to resist the pressure of the structure to be finally founded upon it. The chamber in the open bottom is of sufficient height to enable the laborers to work comfortably in it. This caisson is generally constructed upon the shore in the vicinity of the structure and towed to the point where the foundation is to be sunk. Air is supplied by powerful pumps and is forced into the working chamber. The pressure of the air of course increases constantly as the caisson descends; it must always be sufficient to overbalance the weight of the water and thus prevent the water from entering the chamber.

Descent to the caisson is made through a tube, generally of wrought iron, and having, at a suitable point, an air-lock, which is substantially an enlargement of the tube, forming a chamber, and of sufficient size to accommodate a number of men. This air-lock is provided with doors or valves at the top and at the bottom, both opening downward, and also with small tubes connecting the air-lock with the chamber below and with the external air above. Entrance to the caisson is effected through this air-lock. The lower door, or valve, being at the bottom, closes and is kept closed by the pressure of the air in the caisson below. After the air-lock is entered the upper door or valve is shut, and held shut a few moments, and the tube connecting with the outer air is closed; a small valve in the tube connecting with the caisson is then opened gradually and the pressure in the air-lock becomes the same as that in the chamber below; as soon as this is effected the valve, or door, at the bottom of the air-lock falls open and the air-lock becomes really a part of the caisson.

[Illustration: Pneumatic Caisson.]

A sufficient force of men is employed in the chamber to gradually excavate the material from its whole surface and from under the cutting edge, and the masonry structure is founded upon the top of the caisson and built gradually, so as to give constantly a sufficient weight to carry the whole construction down to its final location upon the stable foundation, which may be the bed-rock or may be some strata of permanent character.

The problem of lighting the chamber was until recently of considerable difficulty. The rapid combustion under great pressure made the use of lamps and candles very troublesome, particularly on account of the dense smoke and large production of lampblack.

The introduction of the electric light has greatly aided in the more comfortable prosecution of pneumatic foundation work.

[Illustration: Transverse Section of Pneumatic Caisson.]

The removal of rock, or any large mass, from the caisson is effected through the air-chamber; but the removal of finer material, as sand or earth, is accomplished by the sand pump or by the pressure of the air. A tube, extending from the top of the masonry and kept above the surface by additions, as may be required, enters the working chamber and is controlled by proper valves. Lines of tubing and hose extend to all portions of the chamber. A slight excavation is made and kept filled with water. The bottom of the tube, or the hose connected with it, is placed in this excavation, and, the material being agitated so as to be in suspension in the water, the valve is opened, and the pressure of the air throws the water and the material held in suspension to the surface, through the tube, from the end of which it is projected with great velocity and may be deposited at any desired adjacent point. This method, however, exhausts the air from the caisson too rapidly for continuous service. The Eads sand-pump is therefore generally used. This is an ingenious apparatus, somewhat the same in principle as the injector which forces water into steam-boilers. A stream of water is thrown by a powerful pump through a tube which, at a point near the inlet for the excavated material, is enlarged so as to surround another tube. The water is forced upward with great velocity into the second tube, through a conical annular opening, and, expelling the atmosphere, carries with it to the surface a continuous stream of sand and water from the bottom of the excavation.

This system has been used successfully in the foundations of piers and abutments of bridges in all parts of the world. The rapidity of the descent of the caisson varies with the material through which it has to pass. The speed with which such foundations are executed is remarkable, when one remembers with what delicacy and intelligent supervision they have to be balanced and controlled. In some instances it has been necessary to carry them to great depths, one at St. Louis being 107 feet below ordinary water level in the river.

The pressure of air in caissons at these depths is very great; at 110 feet below the surface of the water it would be 50 pounds to the square inch. Its effect upon the men entering and working in the caisson has been carefully noted in various works, and these effects are sometimes very serious; the frequency of respiration is increased, the action of the heart becomes excited, and many persons become affected by what is known as the "caisson disease," which is accompanied by extreme pain and in some cases results in more or less complete paralysis. The careful observations of eminent physicians who have given this disease special attention have resulted in the formulation of rules which have reduced the danger to a minimum.

[Illustration: At Work in a Pneumatic Caisson--fifty feet below the surface of the water.]

The execution of work within a deep pneumatic caisson is worth a moment's consideration. Just above the surface of the water is a busy force engaged in laying the solid blocks of masonry which are to support the structure. Great derricks lift the stones and lay them in their proper position. Powerful pumps are forcing air, regularly and at uniform pressure, through tubes to the chamber below. Occasionally a stream of sand and water issues with such velocity from the discharge pipe that, in the night, the friction of the particles causes it to look like a stream of living fire. Far below is another busy force. Under the great pressure and abnormal supply of oxygen they work with an energy which makes it impossible to remain there more than a few hours. The water from without is only kept from entering by the steady action of the pumps far above and beyond their control. An irregular settlement might overturn the structure. Should the descent of the caisson be arrested by any solid under its edge, immediate and judicious action must be taken. If the obstruction be a log, it must be cut off outside the edge and pulled into the chamber. Boulders must be undermined and often must be broken up by blasting. The excavation must be systematic and regular. A constant danger menaces the lives of these workers, and the wonderful success with which they have accomplished what they have undertaken is entitled to notice and admiration.

[Illustration: Pier of Hawkesbury Bridge, Australia.]

Another process, which has succeeded in carrying a foundation to greater depths than is possible with compressed air, is by building a crib or caisson, with chambers entirely open at the top, but having the alternate ones closed at the bottom and furnished with cutting edges. These closed chambers are weighted with stone or gravel until the structure rests upon the bottom of the river; the material is then excavated from the bottom through the open chambers, by means of dredges, thus permitting the structure to sink by its weight to the desired depth. When that depth is reached, the chambers which have been used for dredging are filled with concrete, and the masonry is constructed upon the top of this structure. The use of this system has enabled the engineer to place foundations deeper than has been accomplished by any other device, one recently built in Australia being 175 feet below the surface of the water. The illustrations above and on page 76 show this method of construction.

[Illustration: Foundation Crib of the Poughkeepsie Bridge.]

Even more remarkable than the pneumatic caisson is this method of sinking these great foundations. The removal of material must be made with such systematic regularity that the structure shall descend evenly and always maintain its upright position. The dredge is handled and operated entirely from the surface. The very idea is startling, of managing an excavation more than a hundred feet below the operator, entirely by means of the ropes which connect with the dredge, and doing it with such delicacy that the movement of an enormous structure, weighing many tons, is absolutely controlled. This is one of the latest and most interesting advances of engineering skill.

* * * * *

[Illustration: Transverse Section of the same.]

While it is true that the avoidance of large expenditure, when possible, is a mark of the best engineering, yet great structures often become absolutely necessary in the development of railway communication. Wide rivers must be crossed, deep valleys must be spanned, and much study has been given to the best methods of accomplishing these results. In the early history of railways in Europe substantial viaducts of brick and stone masonry were generally built; and in this country there are notable instances of such constructions. The approach to the depot of the Pennsylvania Railroad, in the city of Philadelphia, is an excellent example. Each street crossed by the viaduct is spanned by a bold arch of brick. Upon a number of our railways there are heavy masonry arches and culverts, and at some places these are of a very interesting character. The arches in the approach to the bridge over the Harlem Valley (recently completed) are shown above. They are of granite, having a span of 60 feet. The illustration shows also the method of supporting the stone work of such arches during construction. Braced timbers form what is called the centre, and support the curved frame of plank upon which the masonry is built, which, of course, cannot be self-supporting until the keystone is in place; then the centre is lowered by a loosening of the wedges which support it, and the stone work of the arch is permitted to assume its final bearing. It is generally considered that where it is practicable to construct masonry arches under railways there is a fair assurance of their permanency, but some engineers of great experience in railway construction advance the theory that the constant jar and tremor produced by passing railway trains is really more destructive to masonry work than has been supposed, and that it may be true that the elements of the best economy will be found in metal structures rather than in masonry. It is a fact that repairs and renewals of metal bridges are much more easily accomplished than of masonry constructions.

[Illustration: Granite Arched Approach to Harlem River Bridge in Process of Construction.]

In this country the wooden bridge has been an important, in fact an essential element in the successful building of our railways.

Timber is also used extensively in railroad construction in the form of trestles; one example of which has been alluded to on page 50. There were also constructed, years ago, some very bold viaducts in wood. One of the most interesting is shown above, being the viaduct at Portage, N. Y. This construction was over 800 feet long, and 234 feet high from the bed of the river to the rail. The masonry foundations were 30 feet high, the trestles 190 feet, and the truss 14 feet; it contained more than a million and a half feet, board measure, of timber. The timber piers, which were 50 feet apart, are formed by three trestles, grouped together. It was framed so that defective pieces could be taken out and replaced at any time. This bridge was finished in 1852 and was completely destroyed by fire in 1875. The new metal structure which took its place is shown on the opposite page, and is an interesting example of the American method of metal viaduct construction, an essential feature of that construction being the concentration of the material into the least possible number of parts. This bridge has ten spans of 50 feet, two of 100 feet, and one of 118 feet. The trusses are of what is called the Pratt pattern, and are supported by wrought-iron columns, two pairs of columns forming a skeleton tower 20 feet wide and 50 feet long on the top. There are six of these towers, one of which has a total height from