The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1897-05-06

hole in tho ground, Z William. ii
Vanderbilt ejaeulatcd when Frank
lin ,. Gowen, II urging him to COME
to The financial aid OF the Reading,
cited the extensive mining posses.
sioasof that company as valuable
asset.
Goal mines produced the RAN
roads,, retorted Mr.. Gowen with
some asperity.
Whether or not this assertion
made any impression on the mind
or Mr.. Vanderbilt, it stated ana In
teresting fact. The primitive rail
way appears to have been the prod
uct of the coal mines in Great Brit
AN. History records that in the
early part of the sixteenth. century
rails of timber were laid at the col
her1es near Newcastle-upon- TYNE.
over which, by means of bulky carts
provided with rollers, one horse
gould draw four or five tons. / For
fully 200 years the use Of these rail.
roads was confined to the collieries.
improvements DEVELOPED slowly.
The first change was in SECURING the
wooden rails by means OF pegs to
cross ties or sleepers ESaced two or
three feet apart. The rails were 6
inches high and 6 inches broad. On
top of each rail a strip of hard wood
was fastened, which could be re.
newed whenever occasion warranted
without disturbing the remainder
of the structure. 81
Flat iron bars were first substitute
ed for this temporary stripsof wood
in 1873, and about 80 years later
cast iron bars were forged for that
purpose. These cast iron bars were
each 5 feet long, inches wide and
1 "a inches thick, with holes for
spikes, to secure them to the wood.
Toward the close of the eighteenth
century the practiceswas adopted OF
casting the rails with a perpendicu-
lar ledge on tho outer edge, to. pre-.
vent the wheels from leaving the
track. Subsequently the ledge was
transferred to the inner side of the
rail.
1t was not until 1850 that the pres
ent type of Fail and car wheel APP
peared. Flanged rails and hatwheels
were discarded and the tango trans
ferred to the tire of thewheels. Mr..
Jesup introduced at that period rails
cast in lengths of Is feet, with the
top 1 3-4 inches wide. They were Of
the fish belly pattern, deeper in the
middle than at the ends. After va
rious experiments it was found adj
visable to set the ends of the rails in
cast iron chairs, which were bolted
to the wooden or stone ties, and into
which the rails were secured by a
key or wedge. Cast iron, however,
proved torbe too brittle for the pas
sage of heavy loads at high rates of
speed, and about the year 1920 NAL
leable iron was substituted, and the
length of the rails was increased.
The idea of using steam as a mo-
tive power on the tramways in the
English collieries was first preached
by James Watt in 1884, when he APP
piled for patent for steam car
riage. In 1904 Richard Trevethic
built locomotive engine, which
was tried upon the Merthyr and
Tydvil railway in Wales and which
drew wagons containing ten tons of
coal each at rate of five miles an
hour. w. eHassell Wilson, in his
Railway History" says that in
1912 Blenkinsop's engines began run
uing between Middleton collieries
and Leeds-a distance of 3 1-2 miles
and continued in use for several
years, being the first instance of the
regular employment of steam loco
motives for commercial purposes.
1t was in 1914 that George Stephen
sons first steam engine was placed
on the Killingworth railway. 1t
drew 80 tons at the rate of four
miles an hour upon an incline OF
one foot in $50. improvements in
locomotiY yes followed aGadually.
When the StOcKt0n and Darlington
railway was opened for public use
| in 1926, one of Stephenson s locomo-
tives drew train composed of %
wagons filled with passengers and
IL wagons loaded with coal, making
total weight of about 90 tons, in
GLIDING the engine and tender, at an
average speed of about five miles an
hour, but attaining maximum rate
of IL miles. New York Times.