The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-08 00:00:00

RAILWAY TRACK-LAYING MACHINE.

In a recent article on the Union Pacific Railway
we alluded to this machine, of which we now give
a description from the San Francisco Bulletin:—

The rear of the machine is a large platform car on

low wheels, flanged to fit the rails. On this is built
a high skeleton frame to hold the machinery and
support the forward frame. From this frame and
rear car projects another heavy frame, as lJng as an
ordinary freight car, and projecting like a nose.
One end of this nose is attached by hinges to the
solid frame, and the other rests on a low platform
truck, in form and shape like a railroad four-
wheeled hand truck. The outline of the machine,

then, is that of the centre and one end of a wooden
truss bridge, the rear and floor having been cut
away. In the centre of the main platform is an
engine and boiler of twenty to thirty horse-power—
we forget the exact figure. This works the whole
apparatus. First it propels the car by making

drivers of the main wheels ; next it conveys power

at the same speed to an endless chain running
around the concave wheels of the forward truck.

The object of these endless chains is to supply an

endless track over the loose ties as they are thrown

to the ground, and before they have received the

iron. The chain rails answer the do'ible purpose
of sustaining the truck and giving it an eve❑ tram-
way to run over, and of gripping the ties rnd press-

ing them somewhat into the loose soil. On the top
of the square frame of the main car is a platform
for the pilot. Standing there he can see the stakes
ahead and keep the machine true to its direction
should any irregularity in the road make it diverge
right and left. In making a curve he can give the
exact direction to the truck which will correspond
with the radius of the curves given him by the
civil engineer of the road. When he reaches
the point where the engineer's stake shows
a change of gradient he can depress or raise
the forward frame to suit the change if neces-
sary. We will go back some distance and ap-
proach the machine with the supply car, and

describe the mode of handling rails, ties, and chair.
At the nearest siding to the place where the track-
layer is at work a number of freight ears are sta-
tioned, each loaded with 21 rails, 120 tics, and a
corresponding number of chairs in this form : 4
iron rollers, 3 feet long, are laid transversely on
each side of the cars ; on each set of rollers 12 rails
are laid ; across these piles of rails 120 sleepers are
stacked. Near the front of each car 24 chairs on
wire rings are thrown on the top of the ties. The
engine detailed to wait on the construction party
detaches three cars and runs them before it down
the level to the track-layer. In the rear of the
track-layer, and attached to it, are three empty
platform cars. When the supply train touches the
construction train a stout rope attached to a drum
at the top of the track-layer frame is carried aft to
the rear of the first load of rails and ties. The
drum is set in motion and guided by a touch of a
mallet from the men, the whole mass of rails, ties,
and chairs, rolls from car to car until it reaches the
one next the track-layer. The next and the next
loads are transferred in the same manner to their
respective cars, and the supply train runs back to
the sliding spoken of, shunts the empty cars, takes
up another load, and so on. Four men belonging
to the track-layer mount the first platform; each
seizes a tic and throws it longitudinally into a low
trough at the back of the track-layer. In this
trough is a stout endless chain, which takes hold of
the tie and carries it up the back and over the

whole machine, and shoots it out in front. As it
leaves the trough a stout fellow seizes it, twists it

round, and throws it transversely on to a small
level platform in front of him. On each side of
that platform stands a man who walks along the
graded road as the machine travels. As soon as a
tic touches the platform each one seizes an end and
lifts and drops it on to the ground into the place
marked for it by the two guiding cords which
the surveyor's man has placed for them. Four
men are engaged in throwing ties into the
trough, and, of course, when the fore part of
the car is cleared they have to travel some dis-
tance to carry each tie to the trough. But
practically the endless chain is carrying a continuous
line of ties when the machine is working. One
man receives them all when the chain discharges
them in front, and has so received every tie that
has passed through the machine. From the Vallejo
terminus over the hill, through the tunnel, and
across marsh and prairie, one stout young labourer,
Charles Zimmerman by name, has caught, lifted,
and turned every tie that has been laid on the road,
and he is proud of it. his great ambition is to
handle every tie between Vallejo and Sacramento.
It is an arduous task. Railroad men know how
many ties it takes to lay three-quarters of a mile
of a road, a day's work often done by the machine,
and these particular ties vary in weight from -751bs.
to 1201b5., according to seasoning, and some of them
1401bs. and 1501bs. Sharp eyes as well as stout
muscles are needed, for the endless chain delivers
them fast, and a moment's hesitation might cause
a broken thigh ; as it is, Zimmerman's fingers get
trapped now and then. We may say, however,
here that not a single accident to life, limb, or joint
has occurred. One man's foot was hurt se much
as to lay him up for three weeks, and one had his
fingers badly squeezed ; but both recovered and
went back to work. Yet to stand by the machine
when working, and see men mixed up with heavy
material such as rails and ties, running forward
literally at railroad speed, gives it the appearance
of a very dangerous employment for those con-
cerned. When the ties are once thrown to the
ground in front of the track-layer they are done
with ; the machine grips them. We will, therefore,
go back to the rails and describe the method of
handling them. When the four men on the freight
truck next the engine have thrown off the last tie
the whole concern stops. We timed one of these
stoppages, and we will describe what took place in
two minutes and twenty seconds--the time which
elapsed between the stoppage of the machine and
the next stage of the work, when none of the men
knew there was any particular reason for hurry-
ing. Two of the four men pick up iron levers from
the rear of the track-layer—its platform is the rest-
ing place for all tools that are temporarily laid out
of hand—and each goes to the rear end of one of
the piles of twelve rails on rollers ; the other takes
a sledge and guides the rollers. The lever start s