Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-04-26
RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION
By Frederic J. Haskin

great supply of topographic knowledge
at hand 1t is much easier for the en-
gineers to select the most feasible roufe
than 1t would otherwise be.
1t is not improbable that the flying
machine will yet be made part OF
the equipment of the surveying corps
of railroads. With a bird's-eye View OF
stretch of territory the engineer can
do In a day what might take weeks to
do with the ordinary facilities Aided
by the highly developed view cameras
of the present he could make such y
record of construction conditions as
would be otherwise impossible. Seri-
ous-minded railroad men are already
discussing this method of using the fly
ing machine, and 1t probably win be
one of the earliest commercial uses to
which these machines are put.
The tendency of the year In new con-
struction, as we'll as in repair work,
has been to make roadbeds safer. The
rail question has become the one OF
prime Importance, and most of the
railroads are writing out the specifica-
lions in their rail orders much as the
physician writes out prescriptions for
his patient. The vadinum rail, the
manganese rail and the nickel rail are
all meeting with favor. They cost about
$50 ton, as compared with $2S for the
ordinary steel rail, but in safety and
durability they are said to justify the
difference. In steel rails the OPEN
hearth process rails are meeting with
the more favor. and their production
has gone forward by leaps and bounds.
While the production of the other kinds
has been falling behind former rec
ords. New manganese frogs have been
made and 1t is found that one of them
outlasts five of the ordinary kind.
A rail-testing plant recently has been
established which NIL CHI f,.o& ~
a rail can stand. 1t is a circular track
with long revolving arm, on each
end of which is a 33-inch wheel. 1t is
possible to put vertical pressure of
n,5O0 pounds on this and to drive ir
around the circular track at the rate
of sixty miles an hour. 1t is also pos
sible to bring a pressure of 1880
pounds to bear on the fianges of the
wheel and the side of the rail. This
pressure corresponds to that of train
against the outside rail in taking n
curve. BY thus testing the rails all
defective ones can be eliminated. as
we'll as all others which would not
stand the strain of the heaviest traffic
conditions.
The next important item in maintain
ing safe roadbed Is the question Of
ties, and the roads now building and
under contemplation are giving 1t a
weighty consideration. 1t takes five
times as long to grow a tie as IL re-
quires to wear 1t out. Furthermore, the
constant enlargement of the rolling
stock makes the wooden tie more and
more inadequate to the strain that is
put upon 1t, to say nothing of the con-
slant digging up of the ballast to take
up wornout and defective ties. The
steel tie and the concrete tie are being
tried by various roads, but in neither
instance has a complete verdict in their
favor been arrived at. To meet the
situation another tie has been brought
out 1t Is steel tie with socket at
each end for block of wood some ten
inches across and perhaps twice as
long. The rail rests on this block as
on the ordinary fooden tie. These
wooden cushions are said to overcome
all the Objectionable features of the
steel concrete ties, and the steel part
overcomes the Objectionable features of
the atwood tie.
Another new Improvement on the
railroad right of way is friction mt
for fish plates. Many OF the accidents
of railroads come from the working
loose of the fish plate nuts. The thread
of the new bolt and nut is lust a little
waved. By it's use it is absolutely inn
possible for the nuts to work loose, as
they can be. removed only with
wrench.
The railroads are rather holding off
on the terminal question just now.
Some of the leading railroaders believe
that the future will pronounce it's YER
dict against the one big terminal and
in favor of a number Of smaller way
stations, especially in big cities where
it is many miles from the outskirts to
the heart of the city. They hold that
electrification will solve the problem of
the loss of time frequent stops involve.
Unexpected tests OF strength are
sometimes developed on railways The
little town of East Branch, N. Y, was
recently treated to a novel sight. A
new railroad had not been paying some
of its obligations. so the sheriff levied
on one of. it's engines. He and his
deputies padlocked it to the rails with
log chains and plastered it's sides with
notices. The superintendent of the
road and fifteen men, with two engines.
went to the rescue of the impounded
iron horse. Hearing that they were
coming, the sheriff fired 1t UP and
thought he was ready. BY the time
they arrived steam was up. The rail-
road men attached a three-link chain
to the drawhead and opened the throt-
ties of their two engines. But tho
sheriff's engine, with the reverse lever
thrown and it's throttle wide open,
added to the aid given by the log
chains which held it fast, was able to
stand it's ground. The superintendent
chain broke, but they backed up and
tried it again. This time a long and
steady pull severed the log chains and
the struggling engine away.
Copyright, 1909. by Frederic J. Haskin)