The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1903-01-28
STEEL TRACK ROADS
EXPERIMENTING WITH THEM IN NEW
YORK CITY.

ne.xc SAVING IN TauiaGc on This
Style of Roadway.
The rural, commercial and Industrial
interests OF this country have been SO
much accustomed to depend upon ca
nails and railroads to transport their
products to market that they have Ia
D:fually neglected the arteries over
which nearly all traffic originatcs-yiz,
the common highway. Farmers and
other people living in the country are
mere interested than other citizens lii
the construction and maintenance OF
good highways, yet until few years
ago they displayed obstinate antlpathy
10 help any movement in favor OF I'LL
proving the couNtry's highways.
The first systematic movement made
to improve the country's highways was
originated by bicyclists WI that
form Of amusement was an active llv-
inc force, says a writer in the Automo-
bile Magazine. The bicycle fantasy
has passed, but it has been succeeded
by even a stronger movement-that OF
automobiling-and the people interest
ed in horselcss carriages are agitating
strenuously in favor of improved high
ways. and the influence they exercise
as class promises to produce I'M
portant results. All they need is the
cooperation of farmers and others In
terested in having good roads to haul
their produce over.
The Automobile Club Of America has
inaugurated movement which is CAL
culated TO effect revolution in inland
transportation if it meets with the sup
port it deserves. A few months ago
General Roy Stone, who has made
special study of roadmaking, in an adj
dress before the Automobile Club or
America strongly advocated the use OF
steel plates for making highways. His
arguments were so convincing that
MIR. 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,
a street noted for its heavy traffic, ana
tests of the road We're recently made.
The results were q remarkable demon
stration of the value of the system.
It was found by actual experiment
that tractive force 60 per cent great
cr was required to draw a load upon
the rough stone pavement than upon
the track or that, taking the power nec-
essary to draw the load upon the pave
ment as the standard, exactly 311a per
cent of it was saved by using the rails.
In starting the load the advantage III
favor Of the rails was even greater, as
but one-half or onc-third Of the usual
force was required.
The steel rails used in building these
highways are forty feet in length ana
q foot in width. The upper surface is
not polished. It is a rough finish, but
not corrugated nor especially rough
ened in any way. The section OF the
rails is like that Of an ordinary chan
mel bar. the turned down portions at
either side being about one and half
inches in depth. Coarse broken stone
laid in q trench about fifteen inches
deeD and Of the same width constitutes
the bed upon which the rails rest A
drain tile at the outer edge Of the bot
tom of each trench insures sufficient
drainage.
On ton of the broken stone a layer
of gravel or very fine stone and stone
dust is laid, in which the rails lmbed
themselves firmly. Joints, consisting
of fat plates of steel riveted to each
rail under the wide tread and heavy
fish plates. bolted to the turned down
nortions Of the rails on each side, az
ford a continuous and smooth surface.
70 prevent spreading of the rails there
arc inserted in the roadbed at intervals
steel ties bent so as to clasp the rails
and hold them securely in place.
Every person familiar with teaminS
is aware OF the great reduction OF Whet1
resistance that results from the WheelS
Of wagon being run on the plates at
tachcd to street car rails. II the Gay
ever comes that the country ROADS are
laid with steel runways, the saving to
people who have to haul freight over
the roads will be immense. Expert
mcnts made by engineers of high repu'
tation have shown that 4 horse can
haul OH an iron or steel track fifty-four
times the load it can haul III sand, thlr-
ty-six times as much as on al earth
road, thirty-three times as much rs on
8 stone trackway. twenty-five times as
much as OH a plank road in good order
and nine times as much as Oh Sood
macadam road. Most Of the roads that
farmers have to haul their produce over
are earth roads, so the change to steel
would increase the haulaSe eighteen
times. The introduction Of such an I'M
provement ought to draw the cordial
cooperation Of every person who wishes
to sec our agricultural communities
prospering rs they should prosper
General Stone says that this style OF
roadway can be laid down for about
c..oOo , ,,>;1o o,,J t1,iS cha r0 ctpr OF