Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1903-03-19

HOW THE TRACK IS LAID.
being that there are slight ridges along
the outside edges OF the wearing sur
face, which tend to keep the wagon
wheels in the track. The rails came
in 40-foot lengths and were riveted to-
gether by mean of three splice plates,
one on the under side of the main web
of the channel, having three riyets for
each rail, countersunk on the top sur
face. The other two plates connect
the fanges, each with W. rivets to
a flange. The rails are spaced 5h feet
apart, center to center, and every 1877
feet ~longitudinally they are tied to-
gether with A-inch rods, bolted
through the outside fianges. The
foundation for the rails is ~ inches
of broken stone resting on the old paw
ing blocks replaced by the rails. The
under surfaces of the rails were coated
with tar and the rails then bedded on
a thin layer of fine gravel.
In addition to this roadway in Muir
ray street, which will be subjected to
the heaviest kind of traffic, it is pro-
posed TO lay another stretch of the
steel road on Seventh avenue, in the
neighborhood of Northumberland
twentieth street. There the pavementis
an old macadam, and there will neces-
sarily be notifications of the founda-
ton and the methods of construction
to suit the locality. A trial will also
be made on some dirt road, for the
advantages of the steel rail are con-
sidered to be as great for a country
road as for city streets.
AT the present price of steel it is
stated that the rails can be furnished
for $4,000 per mile. The cost of con
struction would, of course, vary with
local conditions, and as the work so
far lone is experimental and work
men had to be taught how best to per-
form the various operations of laying
the track, no reliable estimate has
been made as to the total cost of lay
ing this roadway.
A thorough series of traction tests
are to be carried on in connection with
the roadway in Murray street, and the
other places whs~e the rails are laid.
A dynamometer will be used and the
tractive force necessary to draw a
truck over the granite paving Will be
compared with that necessary to draw
it along the steel roadway. In addition
to this test, records have been made
showing the mount and weight of
traffic on the street previous to the
improvement, and further observa-
tons will be taken from time to time
TO see whether there is any increase
in the traffic passing up this street.
Gen. Stone has made a very exhaus-
tive study of steel highways, and has
had several patents issued to him in
regard to constructive details. These
he states are to be entirely free to the
city of New York to make use of.
should the experiments prove as sue
cessful as is hoped. In rolling rails for
further experiments it is proposed to
make use of a special roll having slight
projections on its surface, perhaps an
inch square. The last time the rail
goes through the rolls this will be put
on and will leave corresponding de-
pressions in the finished rail. The OBJ
ject of this it to reduce to a minimum
the danger from horses slipping, and
is an important consideration. How
ever, it is claimed that the use of steel
rails will so reduce the amount of
tractive force required that under
ordinary conditions there will not be
much danger from that source. An
other proposed modification is to have
the bead along the outer edges of the
tread tluted so as to prevent wheels
from skidding as they leave the track.
In some cases it might also be advan-
tageous to have the fanges of the rail
fiaring outward from the web on both
sides, thus preventing a wider base.
There have been a few experiments
on a small scale in this country with
steel trackways, conducted by the
bureau of road inquiry, but lack Of
means to procure the desired shape of
rail has hampered the bureau in its
Investigations. One of these rails was
with an eight-inch trackway on a
gravel foundation, the weight of steel
being about 100 tons per mile of single
track road, furnished at S35 per ton.
The most extended use of steel rails
for roadways for which data is avail
able is in Spain on the road between
Valencia and Grao, where about two
miles of flint stone roadway was re-
placed by steel rails some ten years
ago at a total cost of SO. 500. The sur
face of the rails was placed somewhat
lower than the paved road, at the
sides. The cost of maintenance of this
road, over which a traffic of 5000 vehi-
Giles passed daily, was at once greatly
reduced. and the result was considered
satisfactory in other ways. 1t seems
probable that such a roadway as this
would be greatly appreciated by mar
ket gardeners in the vicinity of large
cities.-N. Y. Tribune.
Cows should never be watered
through a hole in the ice. Ice water
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