The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1858-07-03
1)ubllt improvements.
Ft"m the Amer can Mcrchant.l
RAILROADS..
!. ll.sToRY OF RAILROADS.

III England rs a substitute for common
roads earl y i'll the 18th century. The
earliest records of thcir existence is in
the life Of Lord Keeper North, wherein
1t appears that about the year 1910 they
were used at NcwcastIc-on-Tyuc for
transporting conl from the mines to the
river. and enabled one horse to draw from
four to five chnldrons. Subsequently,
these wooden rails were covered with
plates Of iron but the introduction of
rails wholly of iron seems not to have
!akcn place until llGS.#
Aprojection or fangc on the outer side
Of the rails kept the wheels Of the car
riagcs upon them. They were called
!" tramroadS," and the objection to them
was the great amount IF friction against
the side ilanse by the wheel.
In 1889 was constructed The first pub
lie railroad in England, at ughLorough,
by Mr.. William Jcssop; and ne intro
duccd cast iron cdge-railS, and wheels
with the flangcs cast upon them instead
of on the rail. Tram Dads were, how
ever, in use up to lSUS. The first rail-
road built in the l'nitcA States was in
1871, from Quincy to point on Massa-
rhnSctts Bay, three miles IN length, for
the purpose of conveying granite to Bos-
ton from the quarrics of Quincy. The
rails used were of wood, The first
charter granted to Railroad Company
was TO the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Conn any, and the first passenger rail
road in operation was thirteen miles on
the same road in 1880, from Baltimore
to Elkrid &c. The Mohawk aud Hudson
River Railroad was opened for public
travel with horse power in the summer
1881. And on this road in the same
year locomotives were first used in this
country; i'll 1882 they were used on the
Baltimore and Ohio and South Carolina
Railroads. In 1898 there were but
three miles Of railroad in the United
States, now there are over twenty-six
thousand miles.
After the experiment of making wooden
tramroads, the supcrstructure of most of
our first railroads were made BY placing
a thin fiat bar Of iron on longitudinal
tinlbcrs, which rested on stout blocks,
protected from displacement by frost by
filling the trenches below with small
broken stone. In some cases the iron
bar was placed ON continuous stone sills.
This method was abandoned in conse-
qucnce Of the want OF elasticity in the
foundation: and after much practical
experience, the present form of trans
verse wooden slecpcr>, laid on broken
stone or gravel bed, was adopled as the
best foundation, and is now in common
use.
g In 1903 mallcnblc iron rails were
first tried, but not approved Of In
lSOS they were introduced into some
coal works Of Cumberland, and used
with complete succcss."f Since then
they have been formed of a great variety
of shapes. The principal are lst.
The fiat rail used on branch coal roads
and on roads where horse power is used,
and where economy is considered essen
,ials. ID. The rail called the g fish
bcllicd," from the rounded profile of its
under side. The form of this rail is
indicated by theory as almost perfect for
strength; but on account Of the instead
mess, from requiring high support, it
is now generally abandoned. Sd. The
n rail, or inverted U. This rail is ad-
nirably adapted for strength and secur-
ity, but is more complex for rolling than
the rail commonly in use, namely, the
inverted T rail- and has only been
used to Il moderate extent, and prnci-
pally in England. 18th. The inverted
,,,I al LODI buf 1tlyo
form. This form was found by Pro-
fcssor Barlow to possess the maximum
strength from Q lven quantity of ma
tcrial. This rail il used in Eng land, but
has been found to be deficient IN stability.
The 7, (uvcrtcd) rail is the one gcncr-
ally used in this country ard for the
facility in rolling, strength and stability,
is decidedly the best form. The weight
commonly used is about sixty pounds to
the yard; but heavier rail Is more
economical in the end and the wei ght
of rails has been increasing from thirty
five pounds, the weight first used, to
that Of sixty pounds to the yard
The cars first used were coach bodies
of the ordinary form, placed on truck
OF 1Our WncclS aiIcfWaluS the bouios
were enlarged and the form changed,
and, finally, the car now in use was in
vented, consisting of a body capable of
carrying sixty passengers, placed on two
separate trucks attached loosely TO the
body, so as to permit them separately to
adapt themselves to the curves and
inequalities of the track.
Il.-IETRonuCrON OF LOCOMOTIVES.
After full trial of horse power and
stationary stcam-engincs, the plan of an
engine, and which the present locomo-
tivcs is in. many respects only an i'm
provemcnt of, was invented. There has
been some controversy as to who should
have the credit Of the invention. 1t
appears, however, that in 1893 DIR.
Robinson, then student in the Eniver-
sity Of Glasgow, suggested TO Watt the
application of the steam engine to wheel
carriages; and in 1889, Murdoch, of
whom Trcvithick was a pupil, made a
model Of a scanl-carriage. In l1Ji
Watt described such an application III
his patent.
In 1908, Oliver Evans, of philadcl-