The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-05-30

study goes on all the time. the Or
pineers being constantly on the lon,
out. Al the disposal OF the excava,at
material. or spoil. is the greatest IA
tor in determining the rapidity OF -.
work. it was necessary first Of al -.
look after the dirt trains. especial.
since trackage in Culebra ,t
Is constantly diminishing.
The dirt is piled by the shoye,S .-
fiat cars. These are hauled 10 TIA
dumps and there unloaded by -s-
Lidgerwood u~nloader. This cor.-f-
vance unloads a twenty-car train AZ
time, dumping eight hundred tons >
ten minutes. On a car next u t..,
engine is a large revolving drum up
windlass, controlling a cable ATTACHED
to a huge pillow which stands AZ Oh.
rear of the last Of the twenty cars
that the train. This p.u~
sweeps the entire width OF the tram
The drum next to the locomotlya
revolved by steam power. the caa..
is wound around il. the pillow * p....i
toward the engine, the dirt is>ploR-t
off over the side. and the train
ready to go back for another load
The cars have a SidebOard on Or
side. but not. Of curse, on the Other
This resulted in the bulk Of load rr-t-
ing on the wheels under that side fur
nished with the sideboards. as the dirt
would be piled higher on that side
The floor of the car was extended
eleven inches over the wheels on ths
other side, and now the load is equally
distributed. This device has increased
the capacity of the cars. saved Wear
and tear on the rains which =
money. and also has enabled the U.pN
to throw the dirt further away from
the track.
h is but one of the scores &C
devices that have been employed 81.
correct some time-wasting or equip
Woodworking error or weakness 20
connection with these dirt trains. For
instance, the breaking OF a LidgeT-
wood cable under a sudden strain
formerly caused much trouble aui
wasted a great deal Of time. Now l
link weake r than the rest of the cabl,
is attached next to the pillow. # any
thing breaks this weak piece Will 60.
and as it is next to the pillow and not
covered with dirt, and as extra links
are always at hand, the repair Work
takes but a few minutes.
After the IidgerwOod pillow re-
moves all the dirt from a train. L
spreader must be used to force the
spoil down owe the overwhelming
embankment- Fifty-one improve
ments have been made on this
s%preader since it was first brought Ia
the Isthmus. All these things explain
why the units of cost a been re
duced to such a remarkably 10"
figure.
The calendar year 1909 was follow
ed by a record surprising even that
of 1908, if the lOck and dam con
Struction be considered in addition -
the excavation. while the calendar
year 1910 witnessed a no less remark
able result Approximately thirty
three million cubic yards Of ~excaNajrl
material was handled, nearly foUr
million yards of wet material Vas
pumped into the dams, and a milton
and a half yards of concrete was
laid. While the excavations fell or
some four million yards as compared
with 1908, the total results were
larger.
It is difficult to convey an idea "'
how much more rapidly the canal
work is progressing than was hoped
70 rat the beginning. When Congress
first authorized the construction Or
the canal 1t ws estimated that the eT-
cayation would amount to 103, 100000
cubic yards. The optimists predicted
hat this could be done in nine years.
while the pessimists refused to believe
that it ever could be dom Yet IN
your years the excavation actuallE
done reached a total Of 100. 00o,0oo
cubic yards, or in other words the
canal diggers did more, BY twenty-five
per cent, in our years than the most
sanguine engineer believed could bo
done in nine years. The average an
nua excavation has been about thirty
two million yards, while the ayerag'
as predicted at the beginning was less
than twelve million.
Most Heartlcss and TyrannicaI.