The weekly Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1852-1855, 1854-02-02
lEar tle Lancaster Gazelte.

Ger IRoN RAILS FOR RAILRoADS.--The
;mnor,ant question has heretofore been pro-
nonnded and its discussion is now engaging
nnbIie attention-"Whg cGa not cast iron
rails be used on raitroads! -
An interesting article on this subject Will
be found in the American Railroad Times OF
the 18th inst, taken from the Mining Mag
a.ins in which the substitution OF cast iron
rails Tor those now in use, is strongly urged,
and the Inconsistency Of using only mailed
be rails obtained from foreign Sources, and
at greatly increased expense, in preference
to cast rails, which can be made in many
cases along TIE routes requiring their use,
is happily presented.
In speaking OF cast iron the writer re-
marks: 1t forms a part Of almost all ma
chinery, and is subjected to enormous
strains. With it We construct houses and
build bridges. 1t is gwen the preference
over wrought iron for railrord car wheels,
which when running at sixty miles an hour,
make about nine hundred revolutions per
minute--the cast iron wheels humping the
road with the momentum due to that veloci.
ty. All these Things a.e constantly present.
ing the important inquiry, whether cast iron
rails may not be safely used on roads! II is
known to be vastly cheaper than rolled
iron and can be made at a profit for one
third the price of rolled iron. 1t requires no
very great expenditure to prepare the works
requisite for its manufacture, but may be
run into bars directly from tho ore, which
abounds along many Of the projected rail-
ways OF this country.
The idee of adhering exclusively to mall,
cable iron, derived from foreign sources, /.
thus commented upon in the article alluded
10. "Descend one Of those English mine:
where for ages the work Of excavation has
been going on; 90 d jwn a thousand feet OF
more, traverse these cayerns for miles un'
der the earth, until you are told the ocean il
rolling above your head, and at the farthes
extremitics Of these internal caverns yol
will find men plying the pick axe, and ex'
tracing ore. You will find railroad track
throughout one Of these abodes Of Pluto AN
Vulcan, leading to the Shaft. Here ca
is flied with ore. Inquire the destination
Of this car. The answer-cnlculated to as
tonish n citizen Of Wythe, V. would b
this: II is 10 be sent several miles to tn
Shaft; then to be raised up a thousand fee
to the surface OF tho earth; then hauled
the Foundry to be made into pig metal;the
TO the rolling mill TO be converted into bars
then TO the sea coast 10 be shipped to tn
other continent. After crossing the Al
Iantic Ocean, some three thousand miles,
is to go up James and Appomattox Rivers
u be discharged at Port Walthal;to be hau
ed by railroad to Richmond, and thence b
wagons from the depot to the canal; theme
along the canal TO Lynchburgh, and theme
4 by railrond and wagons to Wythe count,
: Virginia, to be distributed along the Lynch
burgh&'' Tennessee railroad which runs owe
great iron deposits Of that country, wheI
iron lies upon the surface, Of u much supt
A rior quality, and has to be removed out o
: its way in excavating for its track"
This subject addresses itself to the cit
: zens and capitalist Of Southern Ohio, wit
peculiar force. Extensive Railways are a
a ready commenced, and others are p~rojecte
TO pass through mineral region of unto
wealth; Where iron ore Of superior exec
lence, has TO be removed, in some instaI
ces, in grading the railroad tracks. tn
rails for these roads are being procured
g brond, as is now the Custom throughout Il
y country, while by the substitution OF ca
iron rails, abundant supplies could be ha
ut One.third the expense, along the lines
i most of our Railroads. If there is anythin
in this idea, 50 specious in appearance
9 should we not seek to profit from 1t in II
= construction hereafter Of the Hooking VaH
Railroad? A. s.. w.
g Athens, January 81, 1854.