Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1903-02-28
STEEL TRACK ROADS
EXPERIMENTING WITH THEM IN NEW
YORK CITY.

How These Highways of Steel Are
Built and What The, Cost-Thc I'm
men.e Saving In HauInS. ON THE
style of Rond>vny.
The rural commercial and industrial
interests of this country lave been 50
much accustomed TO depend upon ca
mails and railroads to transport their
products to I..Arkct that they have hal
bitually neglected til" arteries over
which nearly all rallic origiiat"s-yiz.
the common highway. Farmers and
other people living in the country are
more interested than other citizens in
the construction and maintenance of
good highways. yet until few years
ago they displayed obstinate antipathy
to help amy movement in favor of im-
proving the country's highways.
The first systematic movement made
TO improve the country'S highways was
originated 10y bicycliSts when that
form of amusement WIS an active liv-
ing force, says writer i'll the Ahtono-
bile Magazine. The bicycle fantasy
has pas: ed. but it has been succeeded
by even Il stronger movement that of
autonlobiliIr and the people interest
ed in h"rSplrsS carriages are agitatinS
strcnuously in favor Of improved high
ways, and the influence thcy exercise
as "a class promises to produce i'm
portant results. All they need is the
cooperation of farmers and others in
tercstcd in having good r"adS TO haul
their produce over.
The Automobile Club of America has
inaugurated a movement which is cal
culatcd to effect a revolution in inland
transportation IL 1t meets with the sup
port it deserves. \ few months ago
General Roy Stone, who has made
special study of rOadmaking. in an ad-
dress before the Automobile club of
America strongly advocated the use of
steel plates for ma ing highways His
arguments were SO convincing that
Mr.. Charles NJ. Schwab president Of
the United States Steel corporation, of
fered to provide at his own expense
steel sufficient to lay mile OF the
roadway recommended by General
Stone. One block OF that steel has
been laid in Murray street, New York.
Il street noted for its heavy traffic. and
tests of the road were recently made.
The results were n remarkable demon
stration of the value of the system.
1t was found by actual experiment
that Il tractive force GO per cent great
or was required to draw n load upon
the rough stone pavement than upon
the track or that, taking the power nee
cSsary to draw the load upon the pave
ment as the standard exactly 81. per
cent of it was saved by using the rails.
In starting the load the advantage i'll
favor of the rails was even greater, as
but onc-half or onc-third of the usual
force was required.
The steel rails used in building these
highways are forty feet in length and
a foot in width. The upper surface is
not polished. 1t is n rough finish, but
not corrugated nor especially rough
encd In any way. The section of the
rails is like that of an ordinary chan
mel bar. the turned down portions mt
either side being about one and a half
inches in depth. Coarse broken stone
laid in trench about fifteen inches
deep and of the same width constitutes
the bed upon which the rails rcst. A
drain tile at the outer edge of the bot
tom of each trench insurcs sufficient
drainage.
ON top of the broken stone layer
of gravel or very fine stone and stone
dust is laid in which the rails imbed
themselves firmly. Joints, consisting
of Hat plates of steel riveted. to each
rail under the wide tread and heavy
fish plates bolted to the turned down
portions of the rails OH each side. af-
ford a continuous and smooth surface.
To prevent spreading of the rails there
are inserted In the rOadbed mt intervals
steel ties bent so as to clasp the rails
and hold them securely in place.
Every person familiar with teaming
is aware of the great reduction OF wheel
resistance that results from the wheels
Of y wagon being run OH the plates at
tachcd to street car rails. II the day
ever comes that the country roads nre
laid with steel runways, the saving to
people who have to haul freight over
the roads will be immense. Expert.
ments made by engineers of high repu-
tation have shown that horse can
haul on an iron or steel track fiftyfour
times the load it can haul in sand thir
ty-SiX tirIcS as much as on an earth
road, thirty-threc times as much as on
a stone trackway, twenty-five times as
much as on Il plank road in good order
and nine times as much as on good
macadam road. Most OF the roads that
farmers have To haul their produce over
are earth roads, so the change tn steel
would increase the haulagc eighteen
times The introduction of such an i'm
provcment ought to draw the cordial |
cooperation of every person who wishes
TO see our agricultural communities
prOsperng as they should prosper.
General Stone says that this style of
roadw;S can he laid down for about
$1,000 mile and that this character OF |
road is rs practicable for country as
city use ana that the cost would be no .
more than for ordinary stone roads.
Petroleum For Road Protection.
The vast amount of damage that has I
been done To roads in the east and CEN