Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1848-12-28
I'd. WidLh Of Planking.

have prevailed with regard to the most
suitable gauge for the width, as well OF
plank as of railroad tracks. On most of
the latter, the rails are laid four feet
eight and q half inches, on others four
feet six inches apart; in New Jersey,
Ohio, and Mississippi, four feet six inch
es South Carolina, Georgia, and Flor
ida, five feet in Louisiana, and on the
Portland and Montreal road, five feet
six inches New York and Erie road,
six feet while on the Great Western
railway, in England, from London to
Bristol, the width is seven feet.
But while the superiority of the wider
track for railroads is generally admitted,
the reverse holds good as applicable to
( plank roads; for all experience has
shown most conclusvely, that for sin
gle track eight feet is preferable to any
greater width. At the commencement
of the system in Canada, plank road
track was made from sixteen to twenty
four for n double, and from nine to
twelve feet for single track. But the
engineers of that country are discardlng
the greater width, and adopting sixteen
feet for double and eight feet for
single track, as the standard BREADTH
1t is well known that travel will concen-
trate within narrow range on all roads,
and on those of plank is found seldom
or never TO be extended over a greater
breadth than seven or eight feet at the
centre. 1t follows, then, that all over
eight feet for single track, is, for all
practical purposes, labor and material
thrown away. AS the travel converges
to the centre of an eight foot track, the
superintendent weight of the vehicles
will rest there, pressing and keeping the
superstruclure firmly and evenly down
on the bed while on wider tracks, say
nine or twelve feet, the inclination of We
hicles to either side would tilt up aud
loosen the opposite ends of the plank
On the Toronto road, after seven years
use, the top surface of the plank was
found to be worn in the centre to the
breadth of seven feet only, and to the
depth of fve-elghts of an inch the rest
of the surface. say four feet, (the entire
track being twelve feet was almost as
untouched as when the planks came
from the saw. Of course one-thrd OF
this planking was useless, and one-third
of the expenditure on account of it a
dead loss. In Canada, through and in
the vicinity Of the principal towns, the
sixteen foot double track is still used !;
but in New York ii is being abandoned
in almost all cases, and two eight feet
single tracks substituted. Mr.. Alvord
is so strongly impressed with the belief
tina, eight fee is abundantly sufficient
for the width of plank track, that were
he called upon to build road fifty feet
wide, he would construct it in separate
eight feet tracks. ct would certainly
be little more pleasant for an unsteady
driuer to have a wider track but econ
omy in building prevents it, while the
real usefulness Of the road is not i'm
paired" In Canada, the ends Of the
plank are mostly pinned or spiked to
the stills; but this is now deemed use
less by the New York engineers and a
Detroit writer says the only use Of pins
or spikes is to keep the planks from
being foated off, where the track should
chance 10 be submerged in wafer. The
panks on the Canada roads, whether of
pine, hemlock, or oak, are sawed three
inches in thickness, aud generally from
eight to fifteen inches in width but the
eng Ineer of the Salna road, in speaking
) OF the proper thickness of the plank, re-
commends that where two tracks are
maze alongside each other, one for
loaded wagons going to markeD should
be laid with four-inch plank, and the
, other (for generally empty or light ones
relWmng) with plank only three inches
in thickness In those cases where the
: amount Of travel is sufficient to ,cear out
. the plank before it would have time to
roi out, then four-inch plank should be
} used otherwise three inches will do,
but not less.
!, Sd. SHs--or Sleepers-or Stringsrs.
A diversity Of opinion has prevailed
, in regard to this part of the structure.
"The sleepers" says the New York
, Senate report, " both in size and in num-
! Der, have varied and changed since the
l first introduction of plank roads. AT
, first five or six were placed under Is
5 # road, and were inches square. But
2 they have been gradually reduced, both
| in size and number, SO that now, under
an 8 #. track, two sleepers inches
} square, are considered abundantly suffi-
= cient; as the roads laid upon the light
a sleepers at present used, are as solid, and
y endure as well as any roads ever built"
About mile OF single track plank road
K is being laid down around the depot OF
g the Detroit railroad, and the engineer
= writes to us that he uses plank of three
e inches in thickness, and, as the founda-
e ton is somewhat unsettled, his stills are
3 by 8 inches, laid Enthusiastically
o he would use 4-inch square sill. On
the Salna road, A by a scantlng is used
# for stringers sills of this size will, more
e readily than larger ones, settle with the
# rest of the superstructure, leaving the
plank to rest closely on the earth, thus
= excluding air and decreasing the liablli-