STREET-RAILWAY ROADBED Now Being Laid in First Avenue in Asphalt with Granite Tooth

S T R E E T - R A I L W AY

R A D B E D O .

N D MASO . RRATT , As m s o M A c . c . . . S o . C E

AND

0 A ALDEN . . ,

A s o M m ' s c A S oc . E . . . C .

NEW YORK JOHN WILEY SON S.

LONDON : C M HALL LIMITED HAP AN , .

1 8 9 8 . i Co p y r g h t e d , 1898,

BY i‘ HE

S RE E ILW Y PU BLIS HING O Y T T RA A C MPAN ,

E W Y RK N O .

- 7 5 0 2 1

Y R ROBERT DRU MMOND, P RINTER, NE W O K. OF T H E

E PR FACE .

THE subject-m atter of this little b ook is mostly made u p f rom contributions of the authors to the Street Ra ilw a y Jou r

in N ws Am o C E . l n ineer e . S c . n a E . , g g , and Proceedings

m h as during the past two years . So e matter been added and

d is n ot the Whole brought up to ate . It supposed to cover the

ﬁ e ld - bu t entire of street railway track construction , to present

m f rm - in co pact o the main point of the best practice of to day .

A few hints are given which we hope will be fo u n d useful to

engineers , managers , and trackmen .

M. D. P A D O A A N . . . .

S P A 1 98 . s 8 . TEELTON , , Augu t

CONTENTS .

PAGE I CHAPTER .

EARLY TYP E S OF RAIL S

I CHAPTER I .

— THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GIRDER RAIL 13 18

R III CHAPTE .

WHAT GOVERN S THE SHAPE OF RAILS 19 — 33

CHAPTE R IV .

THE T RAIL ADAP TE D TO STRE E T RAILWAYS 34-42

CHAPTER V .

TRACK FASTENING AND JOINTS 43- 59

I CHAPTE R V .

SPECIAL WORK 60—71

CHAPTE R VII.

GUARD -RAIL S 7 2—83

CHAPTER VIII.

S OF S I S S — ADVANTAGE P RAL CURVE AND TABLE FOR SAME . 84 110

IX CHAPTER .

DE SIGN OF SPEC IAL WORK 111- 121

CHAPTER X .

SURVEYS AND LAYING OU T WORK 122—125

XI CHAPTER .

— 131

- ED STREET RAILWAY ROADB .

I C HAPTER .

F I R R I S EARLY TYPE S O G RDE A L .

AN essential feature of a well-equipped street railway is a d goo track . This is a fact that has been brought home with force to m ost managers of electric street railways particularly . And while there have been long strides in the direction of better construction since the advent of rapid transit and heavy cars, we can hardly say that perfection has been attained in this, any more than in other phases of our mundane existence . In the following pages it is the intention to review the ex pe rie n ce of th e past ﬁft e e n years — the era of most rapid devel 0 p m e n t — and to bring together and illustrate the various types m h d of track aterial and construction , indicating t eir goo and bad features . m The most i portant part of the track is the rail , and we

ﬁ rst will therefore follow its development . To Am erica —the U nited States — belongs the honor of in ” t ro d u c in ﬁ rs t g the street railway, or tramway, as it was

n r . fi st called The sectio of rail adopted on the line laid , that in h e Y rk fl t , N w C a , Fourt Avenue o ity, was of the type it m m being nothing ore than a si ple bar of iron , with a groove flan e formed in its upper surface to receive the g of the wheel . Fr m o that time to the beginning of the present era, a period fift m o d ifi e d of nearly y years, this type of rail, though in every conceivable way , was adhered to . The weight ranged fr m o thirty pounds to eighty pounds or more per yard . 2 S ET- I ROADBED TRE RA LWAY .

In nearly every m odification the rail was dependent on som e ff other continuous and longitudinal support for vertical sti ness ,

d f r m m m a in which respect it i fe ed aterially fro the odern r il . In Am erica a s m all lip or flange was added to the u nder side m ofi t h e to keep the rail fro slipping stringer . In England a fla n e d d d second g was a de , and the two increase in depth , thus

n m t ff n addi g aterially to the ver ical sti ess of the rail . This feature probably r e ached its greatest develop m ent in the sec J m L 1 tion used by a es ivesey in Buenos Ayres (Figs . , His a - rail had a tot l depth of two and three eighths inches , and he

— FIG . 1 . THE I S L VE EY RAIL . d id W n r away ith the lo gitudinal st inger , supporting the rail -i on cast ron chairs placed at three feet centers . There were

F — IG . 2. S I O F T HE I ECT ON L VE SEY RAIL . other systems where the two side ﬂa nge s were replaced by a ﬂan e th e single g under the center of section .

n s h As nearly all sectio s were u ed wit wooden stringers, the

m e l a - fastenings consisted ainly of spikes , stapl s, or g screws th e l m h passing through rai . The joint was nothing ore t an a IR R AI S 3 EARLY TYPE S OF G DE R L .

w plain flat bar of iron, three or four inches ide and eight to l ten inches ong, let into the stringer, and gave but a feeble flat sup port to the loose rail ends . The , or tram , rail was lacking in vertical strength even for the co m paratively light E a n d t raffic of those early days . ngineers realized this , tried d iffi c ult to fi n d a remedy in the T or Vignole rail . The y of paving to it and of maintaining the pavement proved too

l n . great an obstac e to its general use , except in suburba lines

FI 5 . I 6 F G . G . .

I R RAI S I S STR NGE L ECT ON .

E m o d iﬁcation it a ven a of , in which the center of the b se was placed to one side of the center line of the web, thus allowing - ﬂ an e the paving stones to rest against both head and bottom g ,

m . though tried , does not see to have been an entire success Since street -railway tracks were laid along the lines of other

t ra fﬁ c t ra fﬁ c vehicular , it is but natural that this should seek t h e t — u t to follow path of leas resistance the rails . B the con sequent wear and tear on the adjacent pavem en t was consider

ff t rafﬁ c able, and the e ect on the track from this street was

' probably e v e n m o re injurious than that from the legitimate wear of the cars . — It may have been with the idea of self protection , or it may d m m have been un er pressure fro the city govern ent, that the street railways of Philadelphia adopted a ﬂa t tram and a wide gage for the accommodation of vehicles . But however it may 4 S E - I D TRE T RA LWAY ROADBE .

b in have een, the step was in the wrong direction . It was an v itation to greater concentration of traffic along the street d iffi c ult o f railway, the y turning out from the track almost compelling vehicles to remain , and to set the pace of any car that might be follo wing- a mat t er of very serious moment No where rapid transit is concerned . one city has been brought to a greater realization of this fact, probably, than t it the one hat introduced . The acceptance of this condition has been , strange to say, almost universal in this country, and by far the greater number of rail sections are found to have the side flange or tram for the exclusive use of vehicular traf fi c m . In this, as in many other matters, our practice has beco e E directly the reverse of that in uropean countries, where the n u use of a grooved rail is universal . Such a rail gives an t broken surface to the pavement, hus insuring a greater free n e traffic dom of moveme t to the gen ral , with less obstruction to the cars . m a d It cannot be denied , however, that there is so e slight fl vantage to the street railway in a anged rail over the grooved , as often made . It is more free from an accumulation of dirt in ob summer and ice in winter, which in the grooved rail struct s the free passage of the wheel fla nge to such an extent m m as to increase, in so e cases, the force required to ove the car fift as much as y per cent . In cities where the streets are h paved wit Belgian blocks , brick, or asphalt, and are kept rea son abl y clean, there can be little objection to the grooved rail . m The greater freedo of movement for the cars, due to a less m obstructed track, and the longer life of the pave ent , with w fe er repairs , consequent on the distribution of the street t raffi c over a larger area, more than compensate for a possible increase in motive power. Before proceeding further it m ight be well to give the nomenclature of the various parts of a rail . There is no m m little confusion in these ter s as co monly used , and we t have gi ven those m ost approved by general usage . The lis n m 5 of a es is given on page . The ordinary sections of T rail are not well adapted for use on paved streets , but considering their greater stiffness over S or R R R I EARLY TYPE GI DE A LS . 5

FI G. 7 .

FI G . 8 .

FI G. 9 .

F 1 IG . 1 . FIG . 10. F S DIAGRAMS SHOWING NAME S O PART .

H H e ad G ro o e G v . T ra m or re a T , t d . F an e a n n r m o ra . Fl , pro e ctio f o b f il g y j dy o B ase or o ﬂ n B . l e a e w r g W e b W .

E e or ro n n f a n o rn e r Fill , i o c t u d g y L a e - n G ug li e . N e N ck .

0 o r flan Li p e . g A a n - n Fl ge a gle . ’ A u a r - n G d a gl e . ’ - - - - - 0 Jo n a e s ce b ar c ann e a e an e a e o r fi sh a e . i t pl t . pli , h l pl t , gl pl t , pl t s - e t t r s Thi la tt e r t e rm p ro pe rly b e lo n gs t o th e j o i nt pl ate us d wih fla ail . K r - - ac o s c e b ar o . T k b lt , pli b lt Be a n n e - r n r r i su a c e of c o a e e e n s c b a a d a . g . The rf t ct b tw pli il 8 S o r h ulde . 0 r - o at a e t o uar o r u roo e ra s . Th , ppli d g d f ll g v d il

’ Sid e -Be a rin a n d ce n ter-be a r z n e r m s a e to ra ls to n c ate g g . T ppli d i i di os on o f r t n r n f r i is a e a e e re nce o c e e o a F . 8 p ii h , i h f e li il . t d w t t g ce n re - e r l r re s e - n a n a l o e s a e ar . t b i g , th id b i g 6 S -R I DBE D TREET A LWAY ROA . the old fi at rails and the superior advan tages their shape f o fers for making joints and fastening to the tie , it is not strange that the early efforts made for a better rail for st reet m odifi e d railways were in the direction of a form of this rail . The fi rst of these special sections actually rolled was section

No . 7 2 m m J C C Pa . of the a bria Iron o pany , of ohnstown , m 18 (Fig . and was ade in 7 7 for the Clay Street Hill line

FI 12 — S I R I G . . I ROLLE D F R T G RDER A L ACTUALLY .

m a m in San Francisco . It y also be a atter of interest to kno w that it was made of steel —steel rails being at that time m m by no means common . The design has so e re arkably — m good features notably, that the co bined width of the head and tram is the same as that of the base, and the sides are in ff the same vertical lines, thus a ording a good rest for paving ﬂan e - stones . The g angles, except that under the head , were m m - s all (7 less than the com on practice of to day .

- h - The bearing surface for fi s plates is ample . The head is broad , and the point of contact between wheel and rail is flan e brought nearly over the center of the web . The upper g is evidently intended only to act in connection with the m w flan e pavement to for a groove for the passage of the heel g , no attem pt being made to provide a track for street vehicles — a m m m d ost co en able feature . It is a notable fa ct that there are but f e w great achieve ments of science or inventio n brought to public n otice that b have not een discovered or invented before, and the fact com es to light only when the later and m ore energetic inventor “ Th e re is m m . akes the a success Hence the old saying, no O h ” new thing unde r t e sun . The successful inventor is none h i ” the less worthy of s reward . The idea of the girder rail , F I I E ARLY TYPE S O G RDER RA LS . 7 so- n ot 187 7 fi rst called , was new in , when the rail was rolled , for we fin d on the Patent Offi ce record s a patent granted to

5 55 6 ,

’ fi zlmfldfzmi fl fi an Fafifl fiz/fi fz /fl w y ,

“6

F — ’ IG 1 BEE R I . . 3 . Rs EARLY A L PATENT A “ . 1859 An m m Sidney Beers, in , on i prove ent in railroads for streets , which shows the girder rail almost exactly as we d m know it to ay . That any such rail was ever ade or use d at that time does not appear, but the inventor certainly antici pated the idea of our girder rails . — A J Mox It is to a later and very energetic inventor . . 8 S R - I T EET RA LWAY ROADBED .

J — ham, of the ohnson Company that we owe , in a large mea s c s m ure, the suc es ful develop ent of the modern girder rail . ﬁrst ff a m 1 88 1 His e orts in rolling such rail were ade in , at

U NITED STATES PAT ENT OFFICE.

W D EY A. BEERS OF BR Y NE Y SI K. N , OOKL N, OR

ME N RAI R IMPROVE NT I L OADS FO R S T REET S .

S eciﬁcation formin art of Le tters Patent No. ate 10 1859. p g p d d May .

To a l l whom it m a y con ce r n : abl e fo rmwhic h may he i nte nd e d fo r o r a p

Be it no n a I SIDNEY A. Bma as of e t o the r ose of a t ra c o r ra fo r k w th t , pli d pu p k t m th n t he a c o at on rd e c ity of Brookl n in the cou nty of Ki gs c o mm d i of o i nary \ e hicies .

a nd S a e at Ne w Qar a e n e n e a ne w e e r 0 is t he o of t he ra i . t t u k , h v i v t d L tt b dy l a nd u se ful Improve m e nt t n t he Constru ction Le tte r d 18 a b racke t pl ante d upo n t he sid e o f Ra il road s ; a nd I d o h e re by d e cl a re th at of th e ra il at i nte rvals a nd e xte ndi ng fro m t h e followi ng is a full a nd e xac t d e sc ripti on t he base to t he tra m t o g ive addi t i onal s up t e reo re e re nce e n h ad to th e ac co m a ort to t he lat te r a s e as nc re ase s re n t h f, f b i g p p , w ll i d t g h

n n ra n a n art o f fi ns s ec rfi to t he ra as a o e . yi g d wi g, m ki g p p il wh l t on and to the e t e rs o f re e re nce a r e e te r e is a ase o f a n con e n e nt i , l t f m k d L t b y v i width e re n o st re n t e n the ra a nd n re h e a r th o . g h il i c ase t e b n n h The natu re of my i n ve ntion co si sts i t e tng . co ns r c on of r se -s nsta i nm ra s W a I c a as n e n on a nd e s re t u ti up ight lf g il h t l im my i v ti , d i of ca s or o e r ron W t he e a o r t rac to se c re e e rs a t e n is t th i , ith h d k u by L tt P t, e xpande d in width s o as t o fo rm a c ar a nd The c onstru ctio n of upright se lf—s u sta i ni ng ca rr a e rac in co na t on of s c t ra s of as o r o e r ro n ca r a nd ea r i g t k mbi i u h wid h il p t th i , with a nd o r as ma b e es ra e t o a ccom mo ria e t rac co ned as se t o r in th e ac f m y d i bl g k mbi , f th d ate s nub pu rpose wh e n la id in publi c stre e ts compa nyi ng spe c nfica t l on a nd d ra wi ngs to in c s r nd h i h w a nd or ig ays . b e lan ubli e e s a g zu s h hw d p t t r n r on n r r o s The figure is a t a sve rse vi e w o sec ti of for o oth e pu p e . th e ra il of s uffi cie nt d e pt h a nd stre ng th to E s uppo rt th e tra ve l t th ou t t he aid of a wood e n SIDNEY A. BE RS st n ng pi e ce Witnesses - m e e r a is the c ro n or ca r t rac . JOHN C. 8m L tt w k , - MAYNA r b is the c rr rac o f a n r oss ra P . RD Le tte a iage t k y d esi J .

— ’ BE E Rs RAIL . 13a . FIG . EARLY PATENT

L l K . Birmingham , Ala . , afterward at ouisvi le , y , and later at J 188 3 h fi rst P . ohnstown , a , where in rails of t is type were rolled to any great extent . The principal early sections of 14 26 re the J oh n son Com pany are shown in Figs . to . They “ ” c e iv e d the nicknam e of Jaybird rails . It was thought , and with good reason , that a very great advance had been made in producing a rail which could be jointed by means of ' - n d which m m Splice bars, a , being in the for of a bea or girder, would have su ffi cie n t vertical strength in itself . d There was a emand , of course, for a grooved rail , and we 22 25 in see it supplied in Figs . and . These have, place of “ the broad base, a bulb , providing only scanty purchase for ” fi sh - the plates . These were called bulb sections, and were doubtless the result of eff orts to decrease the d iffi c u ltie s e n ~ n n countered in rolling the fla ge d sectio s . They were exceed R S OF I R R I EA LY TYPE G RDE A L S . 9

in l n g y unmechanical in desig , though not so much so as the “ ” Bu tte rﬂ 27 Wharton or y rail (Figs . and which was ﬂa n e s devoid of either g or bulb .

F 14. IG .

FI . 15 G .

FI 16 G. .

FI G . 17 .

FI 1 G . 8 . FIG . 19 .

JOHNSO N R I S EARLY A L .

To get th e strongest section there should be an approximate

a a n d equality in the amount of metal in he d base, which n d feature very few of these early sectio s possesse . 10 S -R I TREET A LWAY ROADBED .

Although the necessity for stringers was thus done away w a s d e ﬁ cie n c with , there a y in height, and recourse was had

FIG 20 9 . . FI 1 G .

2 FIG . 2 . FIG 23 . .

FIG 26 FIG 24 . . . FI G 25 . . .

EARLY JOHN SON RAILS . “ t m ﬂat to chairs, which were made ei her by forging fro steel bars or of cast iron , to make the construction suitable for paving .

S R - I 12 T EET RA LWAY ROADBED .

m same strength as the rails , and the eager bearing allowed them soon to wear loose . The multiplicity of parts also

FIG . 30. FIG 31 . . ” " IS F WLE BO X~ GIRDE R R I LEW O R A L .

FIG 32 . .

GIBBON DU P LE X RAIL .

involved in the use of chairs was a bad feature . The tendency

stiﬁ e r . was constantly toward deeper, , and heavier sections E CHAPT R II .

OF THE I -R I TH E DEVELOPMENT G RDE R A L .

' AT the beginning of the present decade the six and seven 35 48 inch sections shown in Figs . to were the most

- approved rails in use, and indeed the seven inch sections con tinne to be largely used on electric roads laid in asphalt or

— FI G . HE I I 34. T MI S R CR M N A L .

- brick pavements, or even in shallow Belgian block pavements where the ties are embedded in concrete . The latter con struction , while not common in this country, is coming more into vogue . These se v e n . in ch sections are also the ones most used on cable and conduit electric roads , where the rail is supported on cast-iron yokes and the pavemen t rests on a con 34 - 1 89 5 crete base . Fig. shows a seven inch rail adopted in by the Metropolitan Street Railway Company of Ne w York 13 14 S -R R TREET AILWAY OADBED .

F I G . 35. FI G . 36 .

FI 3 G 7 . . FIG . 38 . FIG 39 . .

FI . 4 G 0.

I - I I S LATER G RDER RA L SECT ON . THE DEVE LOPME ET OF THE I - I 1 5 G RDER RA L .

FI G . 42. 4 FIG . 3 .

F I G . 46 . FIG 47 . . FI G . 48 .

L I - I S I S ATER G RDER RA L ECT ON . 1 6 S -R I R TREET A LWAY OADBED .

City for use on its lines, most of which will eventually be cable or conduit electric . It is peculiar in having an extended lip attached to the guard , the idea of which is that it will trafﬁ c carry the street which tracks along the rails, and thus t he decrease wear to some extent on the adjacent pavement . M r. J D. C It was designed by ohn rimmins, the builder of the Broadway Cable and other lines of the Metropolitan Street

Railway Company . 49 s the Fig . hows rail used on the new conduit electric roads

9 — S FIG . 4 I R I . . WA H NGTON A L in Washington , where the streets are paved entirely with as hal t p . There is a very serious objection to these seven -inch rails on roads laid in granite -block pavem en t on an ordinary sand base m in that the ties, having little or no sand over the , form a solid bed for the pavement, while that portion between the m ties, having a ore yielding foundation , sinks, and the track “ ” soon presents the appearance of a corduroy road . To overcome this defect and to meet the conditions where even

is i . heavier pavement laid , still deeper rails were requ red Solid rails nine and ten inches high were suggested and called for, but it was not until about six years ago that they were pro d u ce d m m d ifﬁ c ul tie s . Their anufacture presented any , and the rail-makers met with many failures in attempting to roll - I 1 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GIRDE R RA L . 7

m the . Much time, thought , and money have been expended t u - in experimen s, with the res lt that to day these rails are placed on the market at a price but slightly in advance of o r

r So d ifﬁ cu l tie s dina y T rails . great seemed to be the in the way at ﬁ rst that many devices were brought forth to accomplish the purpose without m aking a solid rail . The most ingeniou s ” o - of these was the s called electric rail , which consisted of an — ordinary bulb section and a l shaped base rolled separately,

— F . IG . 5 I I I E LDE D 0. GROOVED RA L W TH ELECTR CALLY W FEET the latter being cut into short sections o f fgfro m four to eight or nine inches and electrically welded to the head portion at v B inter als suited to the tie spacing . y thus rolling the rail in two separate parts a very broad base could be produced , and a large econom y effected in the om ission of the entire lo wer half th e l w of rai bet een the ties . This rail was fully developed and a quantity of it laid , but the inconveniences of handling m D and laying it proved to be any and great . uring the two years following its introduction a reduction in the price of

r ﬁ ft steel rails of nea ly y per cent took place , and rapid strides m were ade in the art of rolling solid , deep sections, which , to 1 8 S - I A TREET RA LWAY RO DBED .

d ifﬁ cu l tie s m gether with the above entioned , rendered it a m m co ercial as well as a practical failure .

Many other sche m es for the production of a deep c o nstru c t s olid ion without resorting to the rail have been devised .

— The idea of a com bination rail the head portion to be re — n e wabl e has been worked out (o u paper) in many d ifferent m ways . But no such sche es which have been offered m ay be

considered practical in the light of experience . In the ﬁ rst place they are objection able on a ccount of m ultiplicity of

FI 51 — I - I R I I I L G . . S E DE D DE BEAR NG A L W TH ELECTR CALLY W FEET .

— a d parts condition which should be avoi ed , in track work

— particularly . In the second place the renewable feature their m — m m funda ental idea is valueless, fro the fact that the per a nent parts becom e so mu ch worn that it is im possible to secure ﬁt th t n e . a good on renewing wearing por ion The , again , the cost of this renewal would probably am ount to as m uch a s the laying of an entirely new track . For these reasons no other rails than the solid , deep sections are seriously considered to day .

20 S E - TRE T RAILWAY ROADBED .

upper surface of the rail is one to be carefully considered in

all its relations to motive power, density and character of street t r fﬁ a c . m , pavement, etc When these circu stances are c on sid

ered , no one can say that any one section is the proper one

for all cities , or even for all the lines in any one city . We will ﬁ rst consider the various inﬂu e n c e s which should l determine the form of that portion of the rai exposed to wear, as follows ° M — I. otive P ow r e . This may be divided into t wo classes

that which is applied to the axles, as with the trolley electric

FI — I FIG 5 — w O S G. 54 . 5 R R I . CENTER BEAR NG LEAN A L . R I A L .

m system , together with gas, co pressed air, or other similar

motors ; and that which is applied externally , as in cable or th e m horse traction . With former it is far more i portant to m have a rail which shall be free fro d irt . Particularly is this

so with electric roads using the rails for a current conductor, m m - u and so e for of half grooved or tram rail sho ld be selected .

- r b t he A center bea ing rail is . y far the most desirable, if only interests of the railroad are considered but there has been

a strong and growing dislike to it on the part of the public, owing to the two grooves formed in the pavem ent along WHAT GOVERN S THE S HAPE OF RA ILS ? 21

l n each rai , and which render it doubly annoyi g to carriage

- fi it s . traf c . There are few cities to day that permit use A rail which approaches the center -bearing rail in freedom 55 from dirt is shown in Fig . , the standard section adopted e n by the N w Orleans Tractio Company. W ith externally applied power it is not so important, i though st ll desirable, to have the rail as free from dirt as in the former case, for, under like conditions, the resistances

- r . are not so g eat , and a full grooved rail may be used t Tr a — t inﬂu e n c . tr ee c e II S ﬁ . This can have but li tle in e towns where it is light and of a misc llaneous character, but in cities where it is more dense and heavier it must be con d e d Th si e r . e ideal condition obtains, as before stated , where

FIG. 57 . FI G 58 .

I S I OF Ru n SECT ON SHOW NG WEAR .

i the surface of the street presents an unbroken face . This s - to be had only with a full grooved rail . With any other sec u - tion there is a guiding sho lder for wagon wheels, compelling them to follow the track . The next best section is of the — half grooved type, in which this shoulder is a minimum , and ff o ers less obstruction to vehicles turning out . The guard or lip should be made substantial to resist bending as well as ﬁ at m wear . The full tram is very objectionable fro the -traﬂic f street point of view, for while it o fers a smooth , easy o n it track to travel , is most severe on a vehicle when turn off ing . 22 S R ET - AI T E R LWAY ROADBED .

The width of tires on light carriages is about one and one - quarter inches, and on delivery wagons about one and one half inches trucks and heavy wagons have much wider tires . ﬂan e s - The usual thickness of g on street car wheels is one inch , and as it is customary to place the wheels on the axles to gage - about one quarter inch less than the track , it will be seen that the least width the full groove in a rail may have is one - h and one eig th inches . This is less than light carriage tires ,

. it and is therefore safe for all vehicles Indeed , when is con sid e re d that it is only the heavy wagons and trucks that fol

- low the street car tracks to any great extent , it would be perfectly safe to make the groove one and one -quarter inches - flan e s m wide . This gives the car wheel g greater freedo of m m f Now u ove ent and o fers less resistance . , if a rail is sed having a groove not wider than one and one-quarter inches and the guard brought up level with the head , and the pavement laid on a solid foundation with its top surface leve l with the ff head of the rail, it will be exceedingly di icult for the wagon t raffi c d istrib to keep to the car tracks, and the wear will be u t e d m over the whole surface of the street, thus aking the h m m life of t e pave ent so uch greater . While it m ay be seen from the foregoin g that the id eal th o 35 shape for e top surface of the rail is the full gr ove (Figs . and n o city which does not specify a fi rst -class pavem ent and does not keep its streets clean shoul d com pel its “ street fi lls railways to lay such a rail , for dirt soon the groove, render t m d iffi c u l t ing the opera ion of cars very much ore , if not dangerous .

- P a vem en t . III . With asphalt there seems to be but one — - section the full grooved . Any other which attracts street m m vehicles is detri ental, in that this pave ent is more yielding

trafﬁ c to a concentrated than any, and is the most costly to m m repair . Broad tra rails have been laid With this pave ent, and they are as m uch out of place as a square peg in a l round ho e . They practically defeat the purpose for which

ﬁ n e m m m t . the pave ent was laid , na ely, a s ooth stree The question as to whether a g rooved rail should be laid in granite pave m ents is one to be settled by the probability of the streets WHAT GOVERNS THE SHAPE OF RAILS ? 23

being kept clean , as well as by the other considerations

mentioned above . The depth of the rail is also governed to som e extent by the

character of the pavement . There is ample stiff ness and - t rafﬁ c strength in a seven inch rail for all ordinary , and there

0 FIG 59 FIG . 6 . . .

SECTION S SHOWING WEAR OF RAIL S . is no occasion for using any deeper section in m acadam or brick pavement . Nor does asphalt require a deeper section , ’ n D except in the cities north of Mason a d ixon s Line . It has been found that in these Northern cities with their cold win ters the jar of t rafﬁ c on the rails breaks up the asphalt when laid directly against the rail . As a precaution against this action it is customary to l ay a line of toothing along each side of each rail , the toothing consisting of an alte rnate header and stretcher of granite blocks . This, as shown pre v io u sl y, requires rails of about nine inches depth . In m acad am pavem ents T rails are Without doubt the

t ra ﬁic most satisfactory sections, for the reason that the street m on acadamized streets is light, and usually follows its own tracks at the sides of the street . A grooved rail would be out m of the question on account of the dirt, and a tra girder rail

at tra ct th e t rafﬁ c would only , street , and ruts would rapidly m for along the rails .

IV e a r — o W . N w . that we have in the deep sections, rails that will make when properly laid , a most substantial track , the question of wear beco m es of even more impor tance than 24 S R -R I R T EET A LWAY OADBED .

formerly . Indeed so substantial may the track now be made in other respects that its life is determined al m ost entirely by m the a ount of abrasion the rails will withstand, and with this or m m the f of the rail head has so ething to do, as well as the t material of which it is made . In this connec ion are shown

ﬁ ve . 56 60. sections of worn rails, Figs to They were taken

FIG 1 FIG . 62. . 6 .

FIG 4 . 63. FIG . 6 .

M R I S I S ODERN A L ECT ON .

twelve or fourteen inches from the ends . In the last four are s . hown , in the lighter lines, the original sections as rolled ? WHAT GOVERNS THE SHAPE or RAILS 25

The actual amount of m etal lost is but a small percentage of the whole section , but there is in each case, and in one case particularly, a noticeable amount of distortion of the section

t ra which must have come from a very heavy vehicular fﬁ c . These rails were re m oved because of their inability to stand t rafﬁ c up under this, as well as the car , and the wear shown must not be taken as indicative of the life of heavier and

6 . FIG. 6 FIG . 65 .

I I S MODERN RA L SECT ON . deeper sections now being laid — exception possibly being made 60 to the section, Fig . , which is given here to show to what m extent rails are someti es allowed to wear . This rail had An about reached the end of its usefulness when removed . other noticeable feature in four out of ﬁ v e of these worn in sections , and one which will be seen practically all worn - street railway rails, is the decided inclination of the top sur u m face of the head from the gage line p . This, no doubt, co es from the coning of the wheels . The majority of rails hereto fore made have either been rolled ﬂat on the head or with an inclination in the opposite direction , which has been given them to facilitate rolling. That it is not impossible to make 26 S -R I R TREET A LWAY OADBED .

rails having an inward slope to the head will be seen by a glance at som e o f the sections sho wn in connection with this m and the previous chapter . Aside fro all questions of better

. m electrical contact, better traction , etc , to be obtained fro a h full earing for the wheel tread , the rail head is bound to m assu e this shape early in its career, and if made so in the ﬁ rst place it is m anifest that the life of the rail is increased m thereby . That this is co ing to be considered the proper m form , the increasing nu ber of sections to which this feature m is being applied would see to indicate . In this connection the following remarks m ade by the writer Am E before the . Soc . of Civil ngineers are quite pertinent In studying the s u bject of the best form of rail and track

u t ra fﬁ c m constr ction for city streets where is heavy, so e aid m a y be had by looking carefully into the existing conditions, and seeing what effect the several section s of rail have had on m o d iﬁ ca tio ns the pave m ents as laid . This may lead to of the u sections which will tend to prevent any inj rious effects . 6 7 - Ne w Fig . shows the rail of the old horse car tracks in

- Y C W . ork ity, hich have by far the greatest mileage to day

— - F LD S R I O N S I G . I 67 . O G . HOR E CAR A L TR N ER

The ti m e for their reconstruction is rapidly approaching , as Ne w York is far behind all the other la rge cities in the m atter t h e of im proved traction . The drawing Very clearly shows objectionable features when the pave m ent is laid to' line with m the top surface of the rail . In many cases the pave ents have gone down , and the entire head of the rail projects above the general street surface .

m . n A o c . E XXX II ra nsa c o s . S C. Vo l . V T ti

28 STREET-RAILWAY ROADBED now being laid in First Avenue in asphalt with granite tooth

. 7 0 ing block, Fig .

0 1 — 1 I I S I S . 7 R S I . 7 . N N F G , A L LA D A PHALT NEW YORK

7 1 Fig . shows part of a track laid with the improved rail Mr . N m mentioned by orth , in asphalt pave ent in One Hun dred and Sixth Street . This is a very broad street no cars h e t rafﬁ c ave ever run on thes tracks, and the street is very

ul light, so there is no guide as to what the results wo d have been under the conditions existing in most of th e streets in the city . 7 2 Fig . shows a part of a cable track in asphalt pavement w in O ne Hundred and Sixteenth Street . The hollo on the

— FI G 72. I OF I S N S . . ECT ON CABLE TRACK A PHALT PAVEMENT

l ve h ic u inside of each track rai shows where the wear, due to

t rafﬁ c lar , has been concentrated . d m It will be a itted , of course, that the most desirable con dition for the surface of a street is one uninterrupted by ruts, a d grooves, or other irregularities . It will also probably be m it t e d that the greatest life Will be had from a pavement

t rafﬁ c where the is distributed over its entire surface , and that the pavem ent will suffer m ost when the t rafﬁc is concentrated m along certain portions . The greatest da age is done to pave ments by trucks and other heavy vehicles , and it is they that are constantly seeking the path of least resistance . This is, ? WHAT GOVERNS THE S HAPE o r RAILS 29

of course, along the rails ; and where the rail is of such form t h e that the tram or guard portion is lower than head , no m atter how little , there is a guiding shoulder which keeps the wheels in the tracks without any effort on the part of the d driver . Comparatively few of the heavy trucks an d rays have the sam e gage o f ~ wh e e l s as the railway tracks but this

in no way prevents their following the tracks, for one wheel

will ride on the shelf of the rail, while the other follows a par

allel path just outside the other rail . As there are many

trucks of each class, it will be found that this concentration of wear has its eff ect in an appreciable trough along the outer 6 10 rail and about to inches away .

The head of a perfect rail should be level, with a groove or flange way only su ffi cie n tly large to pass th e wheel fla nge u m ob st ru c freely, and of s ch shape that dirt, ice, and si ilar fl a n e s m tions will be easily worked out by the g the selves . 34 5 m The groove in the rails (Figs . and 7 ) does this ad irably . 49 in D. . . O Fig is the section of rail adopted Washington , ,

where all the streets are paved with asphalt and kept clean . The wheel ﬂan ge s are necessarily s m aller than those in gen ” eral use elsewhere . Before leavi n g the subject of proper form for the upper sur t face of the rail , atten ion should be called to its importance m th e ﬂa n e in relation to the for and size of wheel g and tread . The variety in design of wheels is as great as in rail section s the m selves — a fact which is of great annoyance to the m anu

u im facturer of special work, tho gh not of great portance in connection with straight track, except so far as the depth of ﬂan e d the g is concerned . The difference between the epth of ﬂan ge and the height of rail head above the tram or bottom of groove represents, theoretically , the amount of wear possi

m m u ble before the rail ust co e p . Flanges are made from ﬁ v e eighths of an inch to one inch deep — generally about three quarters of an inch ; and since this vertical ﬂa n ge space in t h e

- rails varies from one inch to one and one quarter inches, the am ount of wear available is from nothing to ﬁ ve -eighths of an

m ﬂan e inch, depending on which co bination of wheel g and rail section come together . 30 S R -R T EET AILWAY ROADBED .

The question as to just what the life of a rail is when this m atter of wear is considered is a most interesting one . Man ife stly it m us t be gaged ﬁ rs t by the nu m ber of cars which

it in ﬂu e n c e s pass over , not by years . The other are grades, m — curvature, otive power, character of streets clean or dirty, m t rafﬁ c w 60 and the a ount of street . The rail sho n in Fig . had carried abo u t one m illion cars ; it was on a heavy up grade l and in a busy street . The rail on the paral el track carrying the

t rafﬁ c wa s downhill , which equal to the uphill, showed but half

- the wear, and was in fairly good condition when the worn out m section was re oved . There are points in Boston where the rail h eads are being worn down at the rate of about one n quarter of an inch per year . O the Broadway Cable road in Ne w York the total wear since the rails were laid (18 9 2) is ’ - n t r ﬁi not much over one quarter of an i ch . The amount of a c m f in these two cases is not aterially di ferent, but the cause for the great difference in wear m ust be found in the m otive

— a re - power the Boston cars self propelled , the cable cars are f externally propelled . The di ference in weight between the m in ﬂu e n c e l cable and electric cars no doubt has so e a so . If electric cars were placed on the Broadway road to -day it would be a safe prediction that n e w rails would have to be laid within a year . And now what is the proper shape for the lower portion of

— our rail that portion which is not exposed , but which has to withstand all the shocks and strains produced by the t raffi c ? m u su ffi c ie n t over and upon its head It st have area oi. head to allow for we ar and be of a form to remain rigid and unyielding under the strains of t raffi c it m ust have a broad m base to provide a ple bearing on the tie . All of these con m e t d ition s are fully in the deep sections shown . The web flan e s m and bottom g are as thin as it is practical to roll the , and yet are of am ple strength . The surfaces against which the fla nge s of th e channel plates fi n d a bearing have a uniform inclination— a necessary condition in m anufacture and one fit - equally necessary in securing a proper for the joint plates . There is little room for variation in the form of this portion Johnson of the rail . The distinctive feature of the early WH AT GOVERN S THE SHAPE or RAILS ? 3 1

— th e — rails the shoulder under head has disappeared , it being an insurmountable obstacle in the way of securing a good

- joint plate ﬁ t and a broad hearing at that point .

‘ -i 10 -in 53 54 l o n . . The and % . rails shown (Figs and ) were among the earliest designs of deep girder rails, but were

FIG 7 3 . .

I MODERN RAIL SECT ONS .

- - -in in 9 . ih 8 . . 7 never rolled The . , % and rails are all stand 7 4 E n d ards . Fig . is the standard of the West Street Rail m — m way Co pany, of Boston the for of head being designed m m m Mr. by the for er Co issioner of Streets , Carter . The joint shown on this sec tion is peculiar in having a rib ex - tending along the center of the joint plate, in order to pro vide a bearing and to prevent th e plate fro m being drawn in

ﬁ t th e against the rail , whereby the of joint is destroyed . This form of joint was designed by the writer over six years w an d m n ago, when deep rails ere introduced , it is now co i g into general use . Since the above was written there have been added several new sections to our collection , three of which are shown here because they possess some interesting im provements over - A Y 32 STREET R ILWA ROADBED .

I 5 — S R I O F ME T F G . R . 7 T OP o LITAN STRE E T R ILW ANDARD A L A AY ,

NEW YORK .

7 FIG . 77 . FI G . 6 .

STANDARD RAILS OF BROOKLYN HEIGHT S RAILROAD . ? WHAT GOVERN S THE SHAPE or RAILS 3 3

. 7 5 n form er practice . Section Fig is the present sta dard of m Ne w Y the Metropolitan Street Railway Co pany, of ork , and t is used on all of their new conduit elec ric lines . It retains the lines of th e head and tram of their seven -inch section 1 3 shown on page , except that the tram is not quite so wide

- and is dropped one eighth of an inch below the head . The m head is also ade thicker . The depth is increased to nine ff n inches to give greater sti ness, found ecessary under the tre m endous t rafﬁ c on their lines . It is the design of Chief F S E . . ngineer . Pearson 6 7 Sections Fig . 7 and Fig . 7 are the standards of the

N . Y Brooklyn Heights Railroad , Brooklyn , and are the E J O e c ul design of Chief ngineer . Breckenridge . They are p iar in having the web brought m ore central under the head a desirable feature where the car t rafﬁ c is so dense as to

m t rafﬁ c m al ost exclude the wagon fro the tracks . The load is then transm itted m ore directly to the base and without much t he l tendency to cant rail out . It a so gives greater thickness of neck and con sequen tly m u ch more wear when used on u 7 c rves . Section Fig . 7 follows somewhat the Metropolitan d m i ea in the tra . It is contended that trams of this type hold the asphalt in place . E I C HAPT R V.

R AS S S THE T AIL ADAPTED TO TREET RAILWAY .

TH E rail sections considered in the two previous chapters “ ” are called girder rails to distinguish them from the old flat rail, which was in no sense a girder . The rails commonly used on steam roads in this country l th e are ca led T rails, and have the properties of girder, as much as the special street -railway rails to which that term is applied . In fact, they more nearly resemble a girder, in that they are symmetrical about a vertical axis, a property which - only the center bearing type of girder rails possess . The term “ ” T rail is , strictly speaking, a no more accurate one than ” girder rail, but both are accepted by common usage . The T rail is used exclusively on the miles of steam U railroads in the nited States, and so far superior is it to any other section that there is little wonder we fi n d it used in an ever-increasing percentage on the miles of street railways . The number of sections and the variety in d esigns far exceed those of the girder rail , which fact is the more remark able when it is considered how much simpler the sections are , and the al m ost uniform cond itions under which they are employed . 7 9 80 8 1 82 8 3 Figs . , , , , show sections that are standard on m m 84 several of our ost i portant steam roads, and Fig . one of E the sections of the American Society of Civil ngineers . For the s a ke of compariso n I have selected those of about equal W - eight, and which would be suitable for a well built electric t r d ifi e re n ce railvs ay carrying a heavy affi c . The in design is quite marked, even to the unpracticed eye .

S R -R I R T EET A LWAY OADBED .

The conditions on steam roads differ m aterially from those m on street railways, ainly in the fact that the track is

x e posed , so that joints and all other fastenings are accessible, and also in that they are subject to heavier t ra ffi c at higher On w m e t speeds . street rail ays the conditions with in subur ban and interurban lines d iff er from those in t h e cities and m more populous districts, and approach ore nearly to those of the steam roads, in so far as the construction of the roadbed m is concerned . They are often such as to ad it of the use of l m the T rai , and since this section possesses any advantages d l over the girder rail , the privilege of using it is gla y m e braced . The T rail is held in such great favor by street railway m e n that m any su ccessful e fi ort s are being m ade to it m o d ifi e d m m use , though in a for , in city streets in a anner n shown later o . N aturally, therefore, the use of T rail on street railways should be considered under two heads , that in suburban l and interurban ines , or in unpaved track, and that in d city lines, or in paved track . In this or er, then, they will

' b e k nf t a e u p .

The points of superiority of the T over girder rails, b rie ﬂ y stated , are as follows 1 . It is cheaper , for the price per ton is less than the girder rail, and owing to the absence of the tram or groove, m m m and also owing to its sy etrical section , a uch lighter rail h may be used t an in a girder track under similar conditions, at the same ti m e obtaining an equally substantial track . 2 m m . It is easier to lay , for, the section being sy etrical , the m h appl ication of the joints becomes a si pler matter, alt ough - E this requires careful attention in all track laying . asy curves in h e m may be sprung , and sharper ones laid by eans of a t h e n portable bender, with a greater certainty of track keepi g m a its alignm ent than with girder rails . Then there y always be found a greater nu m ber of trackm en fam iliar with the lay m ing of T rails than girder . These points are of vast i por m d m tance , for on the depends the urability of the track, ore than upon the shape of the rail or fastenings or any other feature . R I AS S R R I S 37 THE T A L ADAPTED TO T EET A LWAY .

3 " . It has a cleaner head , owing to the absence of the tram o oﬁ e rs and gro ve of the girder rail . It no attraction to street t ra fﬁc -m m - , and if properly laid in a well acada ized , brick paved , t u in m or asphal ed street , the track will sually be found a uch better condition than with any girder rail .

P The last two conditions contribute , of course , to a better n track in every way for operation , for track frictio s are reduced to a m ini m u m . And since the track surfacing is not h m a ampered by street grades, the outer rail of curves y have m m its proper elevation , and cars may run at the aximu speed at all points . Steam -road practice m ay be followed very closely on inter 8 5 8 6 urban lines where the track is exposed , and in Figs . and are given standard cross -sections of sin gle and double -track construction on the Pennsylvania Railroad , which prob abl y represent the best practice . These sections show in a l m v th e m h d comp ete and co prehensi e manner et od of gra ing, d n n raini g , ballasti g, etc . Below are given extracts from the ’ Pennsylvania Railroad Com pany s general spe ciﬁ c at ion s gov all erning the construction , of which could be followed to n adva tage on that class of electric track under consideration .

P . R. R. S I I I S I R PEC F CAT ON FOR LAY NG OADBED .

Roa dbed —Th e s r a c e o f th e roa e s o u b e ra e to a re ar . u f db d h ld g d d gul a nd n o rm su b - ra d e s o t n ra d a ro m th e c e n e r o a r s th e if , l i llyf u g t g g u t t w d dit c h e s . Ba ll a s t - e re s a b e a n orm e o f six t o e e nc e s o f . Th h ll u if d pth tw lv i h e - ro e n s one o r ra e c e an e ro m s ass n o e r a sc re e n llb k l , l f by p i w t g v d du t g v o f o n e ar e r- nc m e s s re a d o v e r th e ro a e d a n d s r ac e d t o a ru e i h h , p b f q u t d u t r d e u o n th t re o e h s a n d ra s a e a c e e s a t b e a . r t e e g , p Whi h i l id Aft ti il h v e e n ro e r a a n d s u r a c e d t h e a a s m u s b e ﬁ ll e d as s o n o n b p p lyl id f , b ll t t up h w s t a n d a rd pl a n a n d a l so b e twe e n th e m a i n t ra ck s a n d sid i ngs wh e re sto n e a a i s s o n e a a s is t o b e o f n rm s a nd th e s o n e b ll st s u e d . All t b ll t u ifo ize t u se d m u s b e o f a n a ro e u a ro e n n orm n o t a r e r t pp v d q lity, b k u if ly , l g a n e a ass t ro u a 2 -in r n Oh e m a n m e n s a t a c . th ub th t will p h gh 1 i g . b k t th a re n o t w e ll se ttl e d th e su rfa c e o f th e ro adbe d sh a ll b e bro u ght up w ith c n d e r ra e o r so m e o e r s a e m a e r a i , g v l , th uit bl t i l . ' - - h e s a re o b r h e e 7 e . n 0 oss ti s T e ti t e e g ul a rlypl a c e d upo t b a ll ast . Th y m s b e ro e r and e e n a c e d w te n n c e s e e e n t h e e e s u t p p ly v lypl , ith i h b tw dg of e ar n s r a c e at o n s w nt e rm e a e e s e e n s a c e and b i g u f j i t , ith i di t ti v ly p d

I 39 THE T RA IL AS ADAPTED TO STREET RA LWAY S .

th e e n n h e o s e o n o e ra c a n d o n th e r t - an s e ds o t ut id d ubl t k , igh h d id s o n n or or e s o n s n e t rac ne u ara e t t h e ra . g i g th w t i gl k , li d p p ll l wi h il Th s m n o b n o c e n e r an c rc m s an c e s b u t s o d e tie ust t e t h d u d y i u t ; , h ul e b e s e e m s b e m a d e r e th e a e at th e ra s th y twi t d , th y u t t u with dz , th il h i m a h a e a n e e n b e ari n o e r th e h o l e b re a h of t e t e . y v v g v w dt Line a nd S u r a ce — Th e ra c s a b e a in r e n e a n d s r ac e f . t k h ll l id t u li u f th e ra il s a re t o b e l a id an d s pike d a fte r t h e ti e s have b e e n b e dde d in th e a as a nd o n c r e s th e ro e r e e a o n m s b e e n to t h e o te r b ll t u v , p p l v ti u t giv u ra a nd r n r r n th e c r e s e e a on s o b e il c a ri e d u ifo m ly a ou d u v . Thi l v ti h uld m m n e r m t f t o f th e o n of c r a re e e n n c o e c o 50 o 300 . a c d f b k p i t u v tu , d p di g o n th e e re e o f t h e c u r e a n d s e e o f ra n s a n d nc re a se n o rm d g v p d t i , i d u if ly

t o th e a e r o n e re t h e u e e a o n is a ta n e . Th e sa m e l tt p i t , wh f ll l v ti t i d i e n h e r m e tho d s ho uld b e a d opte d n l a vi g t c u ve . o n t — h e o n f th ra s s a b e e act m a e e e n t h e J i 3 . T j i ts o e il h ll x ly idw y b tw o nt - e s a n d th e o n o n o n e n e of ra m s b e o s e th e c e n e r o f j i ti , j i t li il u t Opp it t t h e ra o n t h e o e r ne o f th sam e rac a re n e e rm o m e e r il th li e t k . A F h h it th t s o d b e se e n a n a s an d c are a e n to a rra n e t h e o e n h l h l yi il , k p u u d w g r t g in s b e e e n rails in i re c p ro po rt io n to th e fo ll o in e m pe ra re s a nd g tw d t w g t tu 5 : n f . s n e s a t a e m f d s a c e o in a 50 e . s a e t . t c ra re o O d e . a i p , i ; , d t t tu g 1 5 d g 5 in n in r m f a 1 n d o e r 1 a d e e e s mm e r e at o s 00 e s . a h , , , , 3 7 xt u y d g v 1 5

in m u s b e e e n h n s f th e ra s t a o fo r e a n s o n . . t l ft b tw e e t e e d o il o ll w xp i Th e s c e s m s b e ro e r o n th e n m e r o f o s n s pli u t p p ly put with full u b b lt , ut ,

a n d n u t o l o cks a nd th e n ts ace on ns e o f ra s e c e o n ra s o f , u pl d i id il , x pt il s o n s e r ard a nd n e r e re e s a b e ac e o n th e ixty p u d p y u d , wh th y h ll pl d o s e a nd sc re e Th e ra s m s b e s e o o n th e ut id , w d up tight . il u t pik d b th n s e a n d o s e at e ac tie o n s a t ne s a s e a s o n c r e s a n d i id ut id h , tr igh li w ll u v , th e spike s d rive n in s u c h po siti on a s t o k e e p th e tie s at right an gl e s t o

th e rails .

Sw tches — n u nd i . Th e s i tch e s and f ro s s h o l b e ke pt e ll li e a w g u d w d p i n o o s r a c e . S c s n a s m st b e e r and in o o d or e r g d u f wit h ig l u k pt b ight g d , a nd th e dista n t signa l a n d fa c i ng-po i n t l ock use d f or all swit c he s wh e re ra ns ru n a n th e o n n - r r n a s t s e c e o n s e ac a c ro a s . t i g i t p i , x p t i gl t kb h d D tches — Th r - i . e c o ss se c tio n o f dit c h e s a t th e high e st p o i n t m ust b e o f th e an d e as s o n on th e s an ar ra n an d ra e ar i h ph h i , w dt d t w t d d d w g g d d p a e t h e t rac so as t o ass a e r re e r n e a ra ns an d ll l with k , p w t f ly du i g h vy i o ro ra n th e a as a nd ro a Th e n o f h o th ughly d i b ll t db e d . li e t e b tt om o f t h e tc m st b e m a e a ra e th e ra s a n d e and n e a d e di h u d p ll l with il , w ll tly ﬁ ne d a t th e s an a rd s an ce ro m th e o ts e ra ne c e ssa r r , t d di t f u id il . All y c oss ra ns m s b e in a t r r n e r a s ar a e n rom d i u t put p ope i t v l . E th t k f ditc h e s o r e se e re m st n o t b e e t a t or n e ar th e e n s of th e t e s ro n o n l wh u l f d i , th w up

' th e Mo s o f c s n or on th e a s u t m s b e d e o it m , b lla , b s e d o e r th e ut t u t p v s e s of e m a n m e n s e rm c e s s a b e ro e t id b k t . B dit h h ll p vid d o pro t e c t th e s o e s o f c ts e re n e c e ssar Th e c an n e s o f stre am s fo r l p u , wh y . h l a co nsid e rab l e d istan ce a o e th e roa s o b e e am n e a nd r s r an d b v d h uld x i d , b u h , d ift , o t r e o st c t ons e m o e . tc e s c e ts and b ox a n s h b ru i r v d Di h , ulv r , dr i s hould 40 S R -R I T EET A LWAY ROADBED .

b e c e are o f al l o s ru c o ns an d th e o t e s and n e s o f th e sam e e l d b t ti , u l t i l t k pt o e n to a o a re ﬂo w o f a r at al l m e s p ll w f e w t e ti .

' ' — - n n s r l s e Roa d 07 osszn s . Th e ro a c ro ssi pl a k s h a ll b e se c e pik ; g d g u y d t h e an n o n n d f r s s o u b e in an d o n o s d e o f ra s s e o a . pl ki g i i il h ld Q , ut i il it s o d b ih f r n in ro m th e a e ne e h o o a a d 2 . . e o h l 1, , b l t e t il , . f li u w p 4 g ug T h e e n d s an d in sid e e dge s o f pl an ks s h ould b e b e ve l e d o ff as sh o w n o n n r n s ta d a d pla .

A ﬁ ne exam ple of suburban electric -track construction following steam -railroad practice is that of a Baltim ore road B — D. E C. 8 7 . built by . Banks , . Fig .

It often happens , however, on suburban lines, that the track is laid in or alongside of the public highway, and it is required ﬁll u to the track and keep the s rface to its level . In these

- - FI 87 T I S I O N S B I IN I R . G. . RA L CON TRUCT ON UBUR AN L NE BALT MO E cases the sub -construction should be the same as abo ve de scribed, and the ballast be brought up to the level of the top oﬁ e rs of the rail . This construction less obstruction to travel , R I AS S R R S 41 THE T A L ADAPTED TO T EET AILWAY .

and permits team s to cross at any point ; although it is not ih t raﬁi tended that the track itself shall be used for street c .

T - t l m m When rail rack is aid in acada ized streets , the only change in construction necessary is the use of a layer of ﬁ n e r

T- I I S RA L SECT ON .

u u se c material for the top co rse , with a free of a avy road roller . It is a gradual transition from the open track t o the track in paved streets . With the latter comes not only a change in the general style of construction , but one in the rail itself 42 - STREET RAILWAY ROADBED .

h m an All pavements, save asp alt, require a deep rail, and the ner in which this change is brought about in the T rail is w 8 8 8 9 9 0 ﬁ ve - well sho n by Figs . , , , of six and seven inch rails . Rails of even eight and nine inches have been pro posed .

These all have the characteristic square head . The base increases in width with the height . The ﬁll e t at the lower m m in outer corner of the head is ade as s all as practicable ,

- order to obtain all the bearing possible for the splice bars, a u h n very essential feat re . There is one point , owever, wherei ’ T s d these high show up to a isadvantage , and that is in the t ff . No t d alignment having the lateral s i ness of the gir er rail , ” m a with its tra or lip, the track is apt to present a wavy p n c p e a ra e which braces and tie rods Will hardly prevent . This is a m atter which appeals m ore to the eye of a good trackm an a than to the operator . These r ils have been very successfully laid in the s m aller cities in connection with well -macadam ized m E roads and brick pave ents . ven the shallower granite block m m pave ents ay be laid with this track with success . This construction is becom ing m ore popular as the prejudice to T

Ne w E h a s m m rails wears away . ngland any exa ples of well T - laid rail track in city streets , and in connection with nearly

’ — at Ne w all kinds of pavement notably Haven , Bridgeport, m and Waterbury . There is also a notable exa ple of good road w o bed in the West at Terre Haute , where, ho ever, the constru tion is unusual in that a concrete base is em ployed and steel — a d ties used construction that woul do full justice to any rail .

44 S - I R TREET RA LWAY OADBED . m ent because the whole effort is absorbed by the elasticity of the metal and the vise-like grip of the pavement and sur rounding material . - i e . Rails are u sually hot sawed , . , sawed to length as they com e from the rolls at a bright red heat ; and as it is quite im possible to thus make a perfectly smooth and square cut, the m m practice is to slightly undercut the . The a ount of this t 1 in undercut is abou {3 . , leaving an Opening at the base of 1 i n . m m m about g when the heads abut . The ost co on form of joint is that m ade with two plates in the shape of shallow

a nd channels , placed one on either side of the rail, taking a bearing on the inclined surfaces of the head and base . They are held in position by bolts passing horizontally through

u both plates and the rail . The bolts sed are called track bolts, and have a button head . That portion of the shank next the head , for a distance equal to the thickness of the

- m ﬁ t s joint plate, is of oval for , and as it a hole of the same b e shape, the bolt is prevented from turning when the nut is

on . ing put . The nut is either square or hexagonal Where m there is roo for it to turn , the square nut is preferable in giv ing m ore bearing against the joint -plate and a better grip for “ ” . , W the wrench The hexagonal , or hex nut is used here

- there is less clearance, as is often the case on angle joints on T rails and on the d eep girder rai ls where there are two rows of bolts for in these latter cases it is desirable to get the bolt t as close as possible to the edge of the pla e . The most essential feature of a joint is that the plates m shall have as uch bearing as possible . There is little gained

of e s s a e b th e P e n n s a n a S e e Co a n a o . 00006 ih . e r 1000 lb s . e r t t m d y y lv i t l mp y , b ut p p

h e e ra r ﬁi n th e a e r w e t lb s . a s s a re nc h . n t e u e c o e c ie t b e q u i Dividi g t mp t y l tt , g th e s t ra in p e r s q u a re i n c h p ro duc e d in a ra il d u e t o a c h a n ge o f pro vide d t h e e n ds a re rigidly h e ld a nd th a t th e re c a n b e n o l a te ra l o r ve rtic a l be n din g wh e n n s s n a c h a n e in e e ra re o f w e e t a s ra n c o mp re ss io ta k e s pla c e . A umi g g t mp tu g t i n h h c h is a o o ne =ﬁ fth o f t h e e a s c a n d o n e o f 11 460 1b s . e r s a re c , p q u i , w i b ut l ti limit . h re n h o f r a i -s e e A a a r f a c h o e e r ra s n n h of t e a e s . s e o i t ultim t t gt l t l m tt f t , w v , il a re n o t u s a a h t h e e n re e nd s r a c e s a n e r e c a n d h e re u lly l id wit ti u f butti g p f tly , t is s o me ch a nc e f or a s m a ll mo v e m e n t b y c o mpre s s i on o f th e s m a ll r idge s pro duce d b th e s a w h e n a a n is h h ro a e h a a ra b e n e r n o s ra n y . T , g i , it ig ly imp b bl t t il will u d t i x e e ra re b u t h a th e n f n o ra n b e a t a n a t o n e o f t h e e re e s o i. o o s t m t mp tu , t t p i t t i will

a e ra e e e ra re . S o h a n e r h e s e c o n s e ra o n s is n o t ro a e h a t v g t mp tu t t, u d t id ti , it p b bl t th e s ra n in a ra i e e r e x c e e o ne - h r t h e ﬁ u re e n a o e o r a o 4000 t i l will v d t i d g giv b v , b ut — l e r s a re nc h a s ra n h c h is a s o e h a n e r o f a n k n . b s . p q u i t i w i b lut ly wit o ut d g y i d I I TRACK FA STEN NGS AND JO NTS . 45

flan e s in making any of the g wider than others, for a joint is d like a bri ge in this respect, that the weakest part determines th e t streng h of the whole . That portion of the rail which generally determines the width of the joint -plate flan ge s is w under the head , and whatever idth of bearing may be obtained here should be used at the other points . It is ex t re m e l - fit y important that the joint plates sh ould the rail , and that when drawn up by the bolts the bearing surfaces shall be in contact with the rail with a uniform pressure over their entire surface . In order that the plates may not bend under the strain of the bolts and destroy this bearing, they are u always made convex . This is a proper feat re, but even an arch when not of su ffi cie n t thickness to carry its load will - u fail, as do many joint plates by being p lled in against the he 1 t . 9 web of rail Fig. clearly shows the result of such

— - FIG 9 1 . J I S . . BUCKLED O NT PLATE

action . The bearing instead of being distributed over a sur ff face is concentrated along a line . The e ect of this is to rapidly wear away the parts of the rail and joint in contact, in and thus loosen the joint . O ne cause for this lies in the creased size of the bolt used , without increasing the thickness

re ortion ate l L of the plates p p y . arger bolts are used because E - 46 STR ET RAILWAY ROADBED .

m of their tendency to re ain tight, due to the frictional resist ance of a largely increased thread area . 6 -in Plain or channel plates for . rails should be not less 9 -in 7 . in ih . . than T, thick at the center, those for rails g . , and

- n in . E for 9 i . rails not less than {t ven with these heavy plates there is danger of their being bent in su fﬁ cie ntly to destroy the ﬁt unless some care is exercised in tightening up the bolts . Plates of less thickness than those given above m ff an d d in have a ple vertical sti ness, in or er to prevent this ward bending on deep girder rails having a double row of “ ” bolts the writer devised the ribbed plate shown in Fig . -ih 52 55 65 8 . 9 2 . . . (See also Figs , , , and The % rail (Fig

F — I I - S IG 92. . . R BBED JO NT PLATE

65 ﬁ r t ) was the s section m ade having this type of joint . It

N . Y was laid on the Atlantic Avenue Railroad in Brooklyn , . , 1 8 9 2— 3 in . With this center bearing it is readily seen that bending is prevented and the true bearing of the joint-plate ﬂan e s g insured, even when bolts are tightened up to the limit of their strength . In this connection it m ight be well to explain how rolled - m joint plates should be applied . Rails fresh fro the mills are d covered more or less with a thin coat of black oxi e of iron . I 47 TRACK FAST ENINGS AND JO NTS .

ﬁ n Much of this falls o during the process of straighteni g, loading and unloading but there is always some adherin g to the rail when placed in the track . This, to my mind, is one m of the worst ene ies of the joint, for after the latter is applied and the track is used the jar of passi n g wheels reduces this scale to a thin powder . This powder, working its way out

' - th e l at t e r from between the rail and joint plate , leaves loose, or well started in that direction . This coating of oxide or ” - ﬁ rst scale is also found on the joint plates . Therefore the m m W thing to do is to re ove it fro the bearing surfaces, hich ﬁl e B may be done with a light hammer, a , or a scraper . y the tim e the rail reaches its destination this scale will be found

ﬁ rst only in patches , and probably the tool mentioned is the off best for the purpose, as the scale easily crumbles after a

s m few light blows on the spot . This i a atter which is of n m co siderable i portance, and yet is often , if not always, over looked . The next step is to place th e plates in their proper position

t th e w su fﬁ cie n tl and , pu ting in all bolts, scre them up only y

. C tight to hold the rails snugly are should be exercised here, as well as at each subsequent operation , to see that the plates o h as g on evenly . After the spiking been done and the track surfaced , all bolts should be gone over carefully, pulling every nut up tight . This may be done m ost effectively with a two hea d foot wrench and while pulling on the wrench , tap the

- of the bolt with a one pound hammer . A few blows on the plates and on the head of the rail with a light sledge during b e n e fi cial ff this proceeding will have a e ect . Again , after the fi nall track is y lined and surfaced , every bolt should be gone fi n al over with wrench and hammer . A inspection before fillin m g in will do no har .

If plain channel joints have been used , too much care can not be exercised , in drawing up the bolts , not to bend the plates, for they will do more good when bearing evenly against -ﬁ an e s the rail g , even if the bolts are not as tight as they b e might . m 20 in 38 in Channel joints are used fro . to . long and

. ih with four to twelve bolts The bolts should be either 73 . or 48 S R -R I T EET A LWAY ROADBED .

1 in 6 -in . in diameter . The writer is of the opinion that for . -in 7 . 26 3 6 in in and rails the joint should be to . long, 8 . 1 -in thick, and have six or eight . bolts ; on rails deeper than 7 in t he m . a joint of about sa e length, or even shorter, with two rows of six bolts each . Plain channel bolts should be in m a be 7 in 1 in . thick ; ribbed plates y ) . and the bolts . in diameter . The spacing of the bolts is a matter about which there seems to be considerable diversity of opinion , but that in which the length of plate is divided evenly will give as good results as any . Nu t -locks are frequently used on street -railway tracks ; but while admitting that there are m any excellent devices intended to hold the nuts up to their work which m ay be of service on t O exposed racks, it is my pinion that their use is an unnecessary in expense on tracks that are covered . In these cases there is c h qui kly formed a coating of rust which , wit the grip of the d surroun ing gravel and sand , holds the nut as in a vise, and if the joint becomes loose it is from other causes . The joint m ade as above described and properly applied on rails of seven inches and over will give very satisfactory re

sult s . w The deeper the rail, ho ever, all other things being be ff equal, the better the joint is apt to , for with the sti er rail the tendency to a movem ent between the parts of the joint is

- h - lessened . With the nine inc girders as laid to day this t movement of rack is practically nothing . m m m There are any for s of the bolted and keyed joints, so e h b m of w ich possess considera le erit, and the question of their use is one to be settled by the m anager in each case . We give below descriptions of a few of the most important ones . 9 3 The girder joint (Fig . ) is of tha t class of joints which m grip the base of the rail . In addition to this it perfor s another oﬁic e — that of a chair— and is therefore best adapted to rails of six inches and less in height, although they are used - u on seven inch rails to some extent . There is no do bt that joints of this type would be used much more extensively than they are b ut for the fact that solid deep-rail track can now be bought for about the same price as the shallow and lighter rails with chairs . The girder joint is not so well D 49 TRACK FASTEN INGS AN JOINTS .

ﬁ rst adapted to deep rails : , because it does not hold the rails n d in strict alignment ; a second , because the ties are thrown

so far below the surface .

- F G1 RDE R I . IG.93 . JO NT

- 9 4 The Wheeler rail joint (Fig . ) is made of malleable cast iron

in two parts, and is without bolts . One of the parts, the larger “ one, called the housing, has a bearing surface extending

under the entire width of the base of the rail , and has formed under this ‘ shelf a tapered pocket which receives a wedge

FI 9 4 — R I - I G . J . WHEELER A L O NT .

m th e for ed in lower side of the other part . The housing is provided with lugs engaging holes in the rail -web which pre vent its slipping from a central position when the wed ge por m tion is driven ho e . The whole is well braced by ribs . The manufacturers say : There is no attem pt to assist the web - b m in holding up the rail head , as we elieve all T and tra rails

s tiﬁ t rafﬁ c are or should be enough to carry the , and are as 50 S R - I R T EET RA LWAY OADBED .

s tiﬁ at the ends as at any other portion of the rail length, and that the province of a rail-joint is to prevent motion of rail ends by keeping the bases and webs in perfect alignm ent and m immovable, thus insuring a permanent align ent and surface ” of the head and tram . 9 5 The Weber joint (Fig . ) is peculiar in having, in addition

FI 9 5 — - - I G . I I . . WEBER RA L J O NT APPLIED TO GIRDER RA L

-fittin to the two well g channel joints, an angle which has one n leg extending u der the rails . The space between the vertical leg and one of the joint -plates is fil le d with a piece of sound a l Georgia pine . The bolts p ss through the two plates, the rai , fill e r Of the pine , and the angle . course such a joint is more

ﬁ rst expensive , cost considered , than the ordinary joint ; but it is clai m ed that the ad dition of the angle not only stiﬁ e n s m the whole joint greatly, but also aintains the rails in good

ﬁll e r surface . The elasticity of the pine keeps the whole

joint tight by taking up all loosening effect of wear . The m m Weber joint has ade a re arkable record on open track, where it not only maintains a good surface when applied to n e w track, but on old track with low joints it has brought

the rails up to line and surface, which it is not possible to d - a ttain with the or inary angle joints . Two other joints m ade o n the principle of base support are

52 S R - I R T EET RA LWAY OADBED . make the track practically two continuous rails ? There are two methods now in use which endeavor to reach this end , namely, the process of electrically welding the rail ends - together and that of cast welding . The former process consists in fusing a piece of metal on m each side of the web at the joint by passing through the , when held tightly against the rail, a current of low voltage m m and great volu e . So e attempts have been made to unite d the rail en s directly . The process of electric welding is n ot welding in the ordinary sense, but a melting of the sepa rate pieces together . To do this properly with steel requires ﬁft - the expenditure of about y horse power per square inch . The operation is completed so quickly that a fe w inches t he from point of melting steel the rail is quite cold . The heated portion on slowly cooling passes through an annealing process and leaves a distinct line of d em arkation between two — s conditions of steel which is also a line of weakness . Thi was proved by a considerable percentage of breakages taking place at this point when the track becam e subject to the strains produced by changing temperature . The apparatus used is necessarily cu mbersome and expensive, and it is questionable if the results attained are commensurate with the expense . The “ cast -welded joint consists simply in a m ass of cast

- iron poured around the abutting rail ends, uniting through

is holes in the web . It possible to make a very close union

r between the cast i on and the rail , and with the proper amount of iron a very strong and substantial joint can be produced . The results from this method of joini n g rails have been quite satisfactory and several roads — particularly in the West

- have adopted this type of joint exclusively. The use of shallow gird er rails required the use of some support between the rail and tie in order to secure suffi c ie nt fi rst oh depth for the paving . The provision made with this ct m for flat je in view was si ply the old construction rails, with a longitudinal timber stringer dropped to a depth m m suffi cie n t to acco odate the rail . It was claimed for this construction that a continuous support was provided S I S AN D I S 53 TRACK FA TEN NG JO NT .

under the rail and joints . As the tim ber rapidly decayed m under the joints, the latter clai soon proved its weakness .

The desire for a cheaper construction , and also the laud

FI 9 G . 8 .

F IG . 99 .

I S Fo nms o n I S I S I VAR OU CHA R AND THE R FA TEN NGS .

m m able wish to avoid the use of so uch ti ber in the street, led to the use of metallic chairs . They were at ﬁ rst made of cast iron , but the bad ﬁt s produced with this mate th rial, combined with e many breakages in applying an d 54 S - I TREET RA LWAY ROADBED .

‘ m use, led to its abandon ent in favor of rolled or forged chairs . d stiﬁ If the metal was properly istributed in these, a fairly

FI G 100 . .

FIG .

I S VARIOUS FORMS o n CHAIR S AND THEIR FASTEN NG . structure was obtained , especially in forged chairs in which a

u . 103 bracket was struck p, as shown in Fig and to a more S 55 TRACK FASTENINGS AND JOINT .

E 1 04. notable degree in Fig . xamples of various forms of — 9 8 105 . chairs and their fastenings are shown in Figs .

102. FIG .

103 . FIG .

I S . Va m o u s FORMS OF CHAIRS AND THE IR FASTEN NG In order to support the joint in chair construction the - 56 ST REET RAILWAY ROADBED .

FI 105 G. .

VARIOU S FORMS OF CHAIRS AND THE IR FASTENINGS .

' ‘ - - S . — S I I TIE P I S TIE FIG . 106 . CON TRUCT ON WTH LA E AND ROD I S S 57 TRACK FA STEN NG AND JOINT .

105 girder joint shown in Fig . was introduced , as previously mentioned . The lower girder rails were d ifficu lt to spike properly on m - account of the overhanging tra . The use of a tie plate such 107 diffi cu l t as is shown in Fig . obviated this y to some extent, as well as serving to protect the tie from wear . The gage is prevented from spreading by several methods ; the earliest and yet most comm on is by the use of a tie -rod flat between the webs of the rails . The most usual size is a ” ” 1 ” 1 4 bar 5 by 3 with the ends forged to £ round and threaded ,

O - FIG . I 7 . S I I B I ECT ON W TH MALLEA LE RON BRACE . a nut is placed on each side of the web and tightened up as m required , thus providing a convenient ethod of adjusting the rails while laying track . The rod is of considerable

t . leng h and is liable to stretch somewhat, thus widening the gage . As it is necessarily applied at som e little distance below the head , a leverage is developed which tends to pull an d the inner spike thus widen the gage . Altogether, it is far from a perfect fastening . The construction with tie - 1 . 06 plates and tie rods is shown in Fig . m A malleable iron brace is someti es used , such as is shown

1 08 . in Fig . It provides a support directly under the head , m e fﬁ cie n t l and thus resists the outward thrust ost y, except - DBET) 58 STREET RAILWAY ROA . that it depends for its own stability almost entirely upon the hold of the spikes in the tie .

- A further advance is recorded in brace tie plates , such as

109 1 1 0. is shown in Figs . and This has the advantage of the

108 — SE c r ro N I M B . FIG . W TH ALLEA LE IRON BRACE

I S I S . — Va m o u s Fo r ms O F I S AN D F . T T 109 C FIG . HA R HE R A EN NG

u support under the head , and also tilizes the load on the rail

- to retain the brace tie plate itself in position .

With the substitution of a metallic tie, such as is shown in s 1 1 1 t h e ﬁ xt u re Fig . , use of many of these will be dispensed

with . At present prices there is little difference between the cost - of a ﬁ rst -class wooden tie and a steel tie suited to street rail

way use . With any pavement or track construction using a

I CHAPTER V .

S I R S PEC AL WO K . CURVE .

IT would be safe to assert that there has never been built a street -rail way system that has not had a piece of track that required some special preparation other than that given to plain , straight track before it could be laid in place . Most system s have a considerable percentage of their trackage m ade

w . up of curves, crossings, s itches, etc In nearly every case these curves an d crossings have to be made specially to fi t m ” given locations , and hence the ter special work . m h fi ve In tracks ade wit rails of inches or under, all curves “ 500 ft m a over . radius y be sprung in as the construction proceeds ; and if the track is otherwise well laid the alignm ent may be depended on to remain good . But with all heavier 1000 ft rails, particularly girder rails, no curves under . radius should be laid without fi rst curving the rails with a portable 3 0 ft bender ; and for those under 0 . radius the rails should m be put through a power achine . In no other way is it pos sible to avoid angular joints . The writers are familiar with several cases, and one in particular, where a piece of track

- was laid with seven inch girder rail , in which there are several

e s v a r in 400 ft . 1000 ft . c u rv , y g from to radius , which were ” h sprung i . It was laid by a skillful trackman and engineer

. m n e w fi n e bu t and paved in brick The align ent when was , ’ after one year s t raffi c under a fi ve -minute headway the joints began to show them selves by a slight angle in the line and a perceptible jerk of the car in passing . It would there fore seem the better practice to avoid the habit of “ spring ing in light curves .

- Street railway curves are always designated by the radius, and not by the degree of curvature in hundred-foot chords as on steam roads . The chord method is not generally used 60 R S . 61 SPECIAL WORK . CU VE

d im e n in laying them out, except where they approach the - in con sions of steam road curves . And aside from other n i nc e s v e e , it is manifestly impossible to designate curves by ﬁft — a 180- that method when the radius is under y feet deg . curve . With the higher speeds that have come with mechanical - power, it is desirable to have easier running curves than the simple circular curves heretofore commonly used . This may “ ”

i e . be obtained by compounding, . , starting with a long n radius curve and increasing the curvature, or shorteni g the radius at intervals till the desired curvature is reached for s the central portion of the curve . Thi is done at each end , making usually a curve which is symm etrical about the radial line at its center . Theoretically the most satisfactory curve is a spiral with constantly increasing curvature such, for instance, as the hyperbolic spiral or the logarithmic spiral . But practically a compound curve as described above is better ; h ﬁ u re for it is muc easier to g , and if the compounding is im os properly done , and the curve properly laid , it will be p sible to detect any difference in the m otion of the car in passing either .

As to the method of compounding curves, there has been a m m At considerable i prove ent within the last three years . fi rst - fi ve - three center and center curves were used , all arcs s being about the ame length . But as the demand for greater re fine m e nt arose, a close approximation to the true spiral was obtained in the adoption of compound curves m ade up of arcs fi ve of feet or less . It will be shown later that on three center curves— and the same is true of compound curves having arcs of greater length than the wheel base, combined with large changes in radius— the ends of the car follow a peculiar path which imparts a jerky motion rather unpleasant Oi m to the passengers . course the motor an , with one hand d on the controller and the other on the brake , has a consi er able in flu e nce over the manner in which the car passes around a curve ; and with a little effort— or the lack of it— h e may knock into a cooked hat the greatest re fi ne m e n t s of the n - e gin eer and track layer . 62 S R -R R T EET AILWAY OADBED .

On a double -track road it is well to have th e curves so laid

out as to allow cars to pass each other on them , although on m o h it ost r ads t ere is a rule against , both on account of the r t o greate liability accidents, as well as to prevent a heavy

FIG 2 - H s 1 . DI I o . 1 AGRAM S OWING OVERHANG ON A PA R SIMPLE E S CURV .

’ u t m e e t th e s drain on the power station . B to cases where rule e are not always followed , as well as where there are non , col lisions of cars may be prevented by a little more care in de s m igning the curves . In working out an ease ent for any given case, the outside dimensions and wheel base of all cars to be r m u sed must be dete mined . The ost convenient method of ’ plotting the cu rves is to hav e the outline of a car s horizon tal R R S . 63 SPECIAL WO K . CU VE

d projection cut from cardboard or transparent celluloi , with

the position of th e center of the axles shown , or the center of

- trucks in the case of double truck cars . Having laid down a e curve with its center line , the spac that the car will occupy

F — S I 113 . I S I . G. D AGRAM HOW NG COMPOUND CURVE will be found by placing the template at successive positions on the curve and m arking the outer corners and the inner side at 1 12 the center . Fig . very clearly shows the overhang on a pair m is of si ple curves . It will be noted that there clearance at t he “ center, due to the fact that the curves are not concentric a very common way of laying curves . But at the ends the cars overlap , and if they attempted to pass each other at those 1 13 points there would be a collision . In Fig . it is shown how 6 4 S R -R R A T EET AILWAY O DBED . it is possible to compound the curves to obtai n clearance all m the way . In this diagra note that the compound curve has m the sa e position at the center as the simple curve, and will

ﬁ t m n e c s therefore the sa e location . To obtain this it was e u 5 i sary to cut down the center radius b t ft . The car used s 33 -ft - a . body on a six wheeled radial truck . But the principle involved is the same with any cars . If cars of more than one kind are to be used, of course they should all be tried and a curve found that will suit all . This method m ay - also be used to great advantage in laying out car house curves, ﬁ xe d locating posts and poles, or to clear any obstruction . The several factors that enter into th e problem of overhang and car clearance are The length and width of cars and the shape of their ends ; The wheel base ; The distance between track centers on tangent The curvature ;

The elevation of one rail above the other . ﬁ rst In addition to the two, which relate to the car, should be mentioned the rigidity with which the body is attached to is the trucks laterally . If there any swing of car b ody there will be dan ger where small clearances have been ﬁgu re d on m but this is largely under the control of the motor an . m n The third ite , or distance betwee trucks , plays a very important part, not only on curves , but on straight track . A

7 ft 4 ft 8 in 4 . very common distance on standard ( . } . ) gage is 9 2 0 ” from back to back of head , giving about 35 center to center. With ordinary cars this gives a clearance on straight 1 n 12 in 8 i . track of . to , and reduces possible clearances on ft m m 8 . curves to a inimu . Oars measuring and over in m width are co ing into use , while open cars with running boards are even wider ; and with people standing on the step ,

6 in . there would be a clearance of about , which is entirely too m s all . It is suggested that a distance on centers of not less

550 s . . 1 ft . than 0 . be used To be sure, this adds nearly q yds of pavement per mile to be laid and maintained , but the com pany will be fully repaid in the added security to its passen m gers and cars . In cases Where the railway co pany is made R . R S 65 SPECIAL WO K CU VE .

responsible for th e pavemen t over th e entire width of street n this questio of additional cost will not arise . Where center

iol e is - - d I construction used , the center to center istance should 12 ft be not less than . , and then care should be exercised n ot h n to ave a pole anywhere ear a curve . S R - T EET RAILWAY ROADBED .

A large percentage of the short-radius curves are required

9 0 . i for angles approximating degs , and the accompany ng 1 14 wi diagram (Fig . ) ll be found of much value in selecting the proper curve to be used . The curve d lines indicate the inside rail of a single -track e curve , and the edge of the diagram the center lin s of track . h To illustrate its use, suppose we ave to pass around a corner - 4 ft with a double track curve ; the streets are 0 . and 6 0 ft 1 0 ft between curbs , and the tracks are . between centers, in 1 5 ft making the center of the track one case . and the

- - 25 ft . 1 5 ft 25 ft other from the curb . Following the . and . ﬁ n d 60 lines to their intersection , we it to be just inside of a

- ft . radius curve ; showing that to be the largest radius that could be used in the given case . In designing curves there are numerous other things to consider, chief among which are sewer and water manholes . The position of the former may often be changed by going down three or four feet and building up on a slant . It is seldom possible, however, to alter a water manhole or stop

t m m u cock plug , and hey so eti es prove annoying, and req ire m so e nice work in compounding . Then there are sewer

- - intakes, lamp posts, telegraph , telephone, and electric light poles, and the shape of the curb corner itself, and the question of dodging or removing them to be settled . The direction of ﬂow and amount of surface drainage should also n o t th be considered , for it will do to obstruct or divert it to e damage of abutting pr operty . All of these points require the careful consideration of an engineer .

On 300 ft . curves of radius, and under, it is not safe to de pend entirely on the bearing of the ﬂange against the gage line of the outer rail to keep the cars on the track , and a guard -rail on the inner or short sid e of t h e curve should be

m h d in i . used . The guard is fro i . to g; higher than the hea of the rail, and with its broader bearing against the back of

n -ﬁ an e m l m the i side wheel g prevents derail ent . The e are any m who think that curves fro about 100 ft . radius down should h ave a guard on the outer or long side as well, on the ground that the rear wheels have a tendency to run off on the inside of

68 S R -R R T EET AILWAY OADBED .

‘ rear -whe e l ﬁ a ng e is simply to keep that portion of the truck a fe w inches away from its normal position— a condition that may be illustrated by a pendul u m held to one side by the ﬁ n e r pressure of a g . As the angular distance is small, so is the force required but a sm all percentage of the weight of the

— DI S I SI I OF RIGID FOU R ~ 116 . WH E E L FIG . AGRAM HOW NG PO T ON

TRUCK ON CURVE .

Now n pendulum . if the pendulum be swu g in a circle about its normal position , the centrifugal force will sustain it away So fro m the vertical . with a car, while the tendency of the rear wheels to clim b the inner rail is co m paratively sm all of itself, it is counteracted to a greater or lesser extent, depend ing on the speed , by the centrifugal force acting through the -

oi. car . All which goes to show that an outer guard rail is more of a hinderance than a necessity . Within the last three years the form of the groove in guard m rails h as undergone a decid ed i provem ent . There are shown herewith the three sections of solid guard -rails in use at the 1 1 7 1 18 m . present ti e (Figs , , The idea in all is to have a form of groove that will best fi t the wheel -fi an ge and p resent fla n e its full face to the wear of the g . Since the exact shape of the groove depends upon th e size and shape of the wheel

ﬂa n e g , the diameter of the wheel , the wheel base, and the radius of the curve— all variable factors — it is manifestly im

- possible to have a d iﬁ e re n t guard rail to suit every condition . S I R . U R 69 PEC AL WO K C VES.

The manufacturers have therefore settled on a form which is

best suited to the average conditions . A careful comparison

“ t FIG 11 a V F . 7 . .

FI 118 G . .

S I S o n I - I ECT ON SOL D GUARD RA LS . of the ﬁgu re s will show that there is practically no diff erence the in the contour of the groove . As shape of the groo ve was 70 S R -R R T EET AILWAY OADBED . d ff etermined in a di erent way by each , it is interesting to n ote t h e . 3 the closeness of results The method pursued by No . was to ﬁll the groove of an old curve with plaster of Paris or clay and run a car around, noting the form of groove m ade by

F 11 — I I - IG 9 . I . S S ECT ON OL D GUARD RA L .

a ' m both front and rear wheels, and number of trials were ade

. m n 2 m under different conditions The a ner in which No . ade the determination was by the use of quarter-size models which ﬁ xe d a nd were pivoted to a center run over a clay track . Sec tions of the groove formed were carefully cut and dried , and the ﬁ n al section was the result of a large number of observa S treet Ra ilwa tions . The test is more fully described in the y

ou r n a l J 1 89 5 39 9 . No . 1 J for une , , page was determined by - m observation of numerous worn guard rails, fro which wooden n o templates were taken and compared . It was noticed that, W h a d matter hat the original form of the groove been , the d e ﬁnite l worn groove assumed a shape, depending large y on On the radius of the curve . each section is shown in dotted lines the portion worn away in service . The shape of the worn groove was taken by a template from a curve in use , and it is 2 in assumed that when the groove is worn to a width of . , and 5 th ih . e . head cut down 1 3 , it is time to renew A study of these three sections will show that there is a great waste of 7 1 I R S . S PEC AL WORK . CU VE

u No 2 No 3 metal in the g ard of . and . . When the wear has reached the point indicated by the broken line the guard -rai has about served its usefulness and should be renewed . They h are all of about equal strengt as to the guard turning out, m No 1 and any more etal than shown by . adds nothing but so much more scrap to be thrown away . After all it seems rather absurd to use many re ﬁ n e m e n t s in designing a guard rail groove when one of the main factors ﬁ an e — is the shape of the wheel g is variable, clearly

l 2o — I . S I DIFF FIG . D AGRAM HOW NG ERENCE S SECTIONS

HEE L~FLA E S D S W N G AN TREAD .

120— a s sho wn by Fig . compo ite of sixteen wheel treads and ﬂ n s a ge placed with their gages coincident . These sections in s were taken by templates from wheels ervice . The largest th and smallest were found on e same road . E II CHAPT R} V .

- RAILS SP ECIAL . GUARD . : WORK

IT is a comparatively simple m atter t oZd e te rm in e graphi

- cally the shape of groove in a guard rail , having given the

- I OF R I - FIG 121 S . . . ECT ON A L AND WHEEL FLANGE

ﬂan e . g , diameter of wheel , radius of curve , and wheel base By reversing the operation the maxi m um ﬂan ge may be found that will pass through any groove, having given the radius, 72 - U R R S . S R G A D AIL PECIAL WO K . 7 3

. ﬂan e wheel base, etc It was by such a process that the g

- . 121 v shown in Fig was de eloped . The guard rail taken is o 208 m N . C section of the Pennsylvania Steel o pany, and the broken line shows the lim its of the space in the groove oc c u flan e -fi ve - - pied by the g on a thirty foot radius curve . The flan ge which the groove will allo w to pass on such a short radius curve, it will be noted , is abou t as large as any in use .

The conditions on curves of longer radii being more favorable , fl n m the a ge will pass the freely . The section of rail and -flan e 121 u wheel g shown in Fig . also gives s a clue to the proper gage of tracks to be used on curves— a very much mooted question . It may be well to explain that in this figu re the plane in which the wheel section is shown has been turned so as to coincide with the plane in which the rail section is projected , the line of intersection of the t wo planes h being t e vertical line from the wheel gage . Therefore the relative position of gage of wheel and gage of rail is the 1 m 1 in sa e as on a curve , the distance between them being 3 , . in -fi ve - t - n the case of a thirty foo radius curve . Referring ow to

. a o the diagram (Fig the distance, , between the gage

— DI FOR I I Fr 122. INE s o . L AGRAM F ND NG THE GAGE .

ﬁ u re d lines of the rails along the axle is easily g , and for 4 ft

- - 8 7 5 f 4 f h in 3 t . t 8 i } . gage on a radius curve is . % . Assum ing tha t the wheels have been placed on the axles to gage in m 4 ft 8 in . less than the track , as is custo ary, or . 7} . , and l in . 121 adding {g (twice the distance between gages in Fig . ) 1 4 f in . in n t . 8 . . a c we have 41 , or 1 3 less tha the distance . This would indicate that the track should be that much tight - - - n - gage on a thirty ﬁ ve foot radius curve . O longer radius curves the angle form ed by the axle and a radial line through 74 S R -R R T EET AILWAY OADBED .

-ﬂan e one end is less ; therefore the wheel g has more play, the a o a n d distance approaches the gage, there is less reason m for changing the gage fro that used in straight track . The old theory that the curved gage should be increased

1 in } . , or any amount, should be abandoned , and practically has been . “ Besides the various forms of solid guard -rails shown in 38 46 1 1 19 21 s . 1 7 1 . Figs , , , , , etc , there are everal styles of m - n m co pound guard rails, the four pri cipal ways of aking

123 126 . them being shown by Figs . to The use of these is

FIG I . 125. G 126 . F .

a r s r - W p MAKING GUARD RAILS .

T- limited mostly to rail construction . That shown in Fig.

123 ﬁ rst , the one now generally used, was devised and used by the writer . Its virtue lies in the ease with which it is a T- dapted to a large variety of rail sections, and that the groove has a ﬂoor which prevents buggy -wheels going down

7 6 S -R I E ED TREET A LWAY ROAD .

FIG I3 — E 3 . THR E PART V

1 4 — - FIG . 3 . R Y TH EE PART THROUGH .

13 — E F G 5. R VE RsE V . I . CUR E

1 36 — RI - FIG . . SS GHT HAND CRO OVER .

— - I 7 SS . F G . 13 . LEFT HAND CRO OVER - S I . 7 7 GUARD RAILS . PEC AL WORK

. latter, howeve r, are used only on work of six inches and over

There are a few solid guard sections under six inches , but the ﬁ shin g space is so greatly reduced on the guard side that it is

i m possible to m ake a substantial joint, and they are but little

used . Before going deeper into the question of special work it h as

, been thought , best to illustrate the various simple layouts 125 1 41 giving the names m ost generally used . See Figs . to .

- D The illustrations show single track work entirely . ouble “ track layouts have the same nam es with the p re ﬁ x double ” m m track, and it is custo ary in all cases to describe the by the

- FIG l 38 . I . . D AMOND TURNOUT

— 1 9 I . IG 3 . S F . DE TURNOUT

FIG 1 — H O 40. . T ROWN VER TURNOUT .

T H S . . R B. O initial letters ; for instance, . . meaning single “ - of l w track, right hand branch . The hand is a ays deter mined by the side to which the curve turns off as shown to a

e c u person facing the point of curve . There are many other p liar and complex arrangements of tracks to which no s pe c iﬁ c m ” na es can be given except the general term special work . O utside of the curves the pieces which go to make up a job m of special work are switches, ates, and frogs .

h d e ﬂe c t c a r A switc is a piece having a movable part to the , and the one most commonly used o n street railways is called L a tongue switch . Split switches, orenz switches, and stub m n switches are also used , as on stea roads , but only in Ope

- track or car houses . A switch is automatic when it is so arranged that by means of a piece of rubber or a spring it will 78 S -R I R TREET A LWAY OADBED . automatically return to its former position after allowin g a ” car to trail through . The tongue switch is almost always placed on the inner or short side of the curve, and when placed in the other position it should be designated as an ” An outside tongue switch . outside switch should not be 1 50 20 used on curves of less than or 0 ft . radius unless in connection with an inside tongue switch, or in cases where m m e the curve is used uch or than the straight track . A mate is a piece used in connection with a tongue switch on the Opposite side of the track and has no movable parts . n Correspo ding to the tongue switch , its position is on the out

— FIG 141 I O N . . . SPR NG FROG FOR PE TRACK

a nd side of the curve , when otherwise placed is called an ” inside mate . E A frog is the intersection of any two lines of rails . xcept O in pen track, frogs have no movable parts , the endeavor u sually being to make them as rigid as possible . In cross overs which are used only for emergency and at points where the track in one direction is little used the main line or “ i e . rail of the frog is usually made unbroken , . , with no ﬂan e wa g y for the crossing rail . The wheel is made to climb h over the head of the main rail by inclines on eac side . In open track the same thing is accomplished in a better way by a “ spring frog ” in which the m ain line is practically unbroken and the wheel in taking the sid e track opens its

ﬂ n . a ge w ay by pressing out the spring rail . (See Fig

Frogs, switches, and mates are the vital parts of special work, and there are many ways of making them . In the - - m m days of the light, slow going horse car they were ade al ost - S I . 7 9 GUARD RA ILS . PEC AL WORK

No w universally of cast iron . that metal is used but very w U n little, except in a manner to be described belo . til within the last two or three years these parts were mostly built of m the rails the selves . This construction is used exclusively b u t f on steam roads, there the conditions are altogether di fer ent from street railways . The tracks being exposed , repairs h and renewals are easily and cheaply m ade . But wit the track buried in pavem ents in busy streets their renewal is a m serious and expensive atter, and the longer life there is in a frog the more valuable it becomes . For this reason there is ff m a constant e ort to i prove on their construction , with the result that now we have three d iﬁ e re n t types of ﬁ rst -class “ ” “ ” “ construction , viz . , Manganese , Guarantee , and Ada ” m an tin e Steel .

- - As stated above, cast iron switch pieces have been aban d oued . They do not possess the necessary durability for even the lightest kind of electric -car t rafﬁc ; nor is there any suit able way of joining the several frogs together or to rails .

Built work , if well and properly done, answers the purpose t raffi very well for roads of moderate c . A built frog should last on a road running fifte e n -minute headway about ten years ; when it is easy to figu re that under a minute headway m its life would be less than a year . The writer is fa iliar with h as built work that given very much better service than this . Managers should not co m plain if they are co m pelled to rene w built frogs within a year or two when placed under f m - heavy traf ic . Their stea road brethren have to renew frogs every three or four weeks in places where th e nu m ber of move m ents over them do not exceed those in many places on

. 142 cable or electric roads Fig . shows the detail of a buil t ” frog for a square or girder crossing . The parts of a built t wo - frog are or three pieces of rail , four angle plates, or braces (on small angles two of these are replaced by cast -iron chocks) , making seven large pieces, all of which are held together with from ten to thirty bolts and rivets . A renew ﬁ oor- able tempered steel plate is often used , and this will pro long the life of the frog two or three times its norm al leng th ii care is taken to renew the ﬂoor-plate before the points are 80 S E - I TR ET RA LWAY ROADBED .

m h too uch worn . There has been used a rail section wit solid ﬂoor for building frogs which adds something to the life of a

ﬂo or m frog ; but since the is of the sa e steel as the rail, it does not off er much resistance to the cutting action of the -ﬁ an e s wheel g , and when worn there is no way of repairing the frog . A very good tongue switch may be built of rails, and if the radius is not too shor t it will have a longer life than the frogs in the same job . T rails are particularly well adapted building switches and frogs .

FIG 142 I . . BU LT FROG .

The d ifﬁ c ult mate is the most piece to build substantially, from the fact that there is necessarily a considerable distance

flan e s where the wheels have to be carried on their g entirely . th e floor These rapidly cut into , with the result that the outer edge of the wheel -tread cuts into the head of the m ain rail t at the poin where it leaves, and pounds down the point of the mate . This has resulted in the use to some extent of a m ” m tongue ate, or ate with a movable tongue . This tongue ’ -ofi mate is not objectionable on a running end , but when used facing it is alm ost imperative that som e form of connection be used between the tongue of the mate and the tongue of m the switch so they shall work in unison , usually a si ple con n e c tin g rod placed in a cast-iron box extending entirely This b ox m across the track . 2 without a ple drainage is liable - S I . 8 1 GUARD RA ILS . PEC AL WORK

m m to become ﬁll e d with dirt in su er and ice in winter, and requires constant attention — a feature which renders its use

objectionable . These latter remarks apply with equal force to all kinds of so -called autom atic arrangem ents or other m echanism s which On have to be placed underground . cable or conduit electric

roads where the drainage is well provided for, undergrou nd u machinery is sed without special objection, but on surface roads it should not be used without a good sewer connection

and frequent inspection . Special work of the ﬁ rs t class as made to-day is com prised ” ” in the three types known as Manganese, Guarantee , and “ ” - m ﬁ rst in Ada antine . The of these is shown the typical 1 43 m i frog Fig , which is co posed of four short p eces of rail

Stree t Ry J ournal “ FI 143 — A M G . . S ANGANE E FROG .

held to a center piece, which is a casting of manganese steel , b y means of a mass of cast iron at each joint . It will be seen ,

therefore, that the frog is composed of six separate and m od iﬁ catio n distinct pieces . A late of this construction has the fou r sm all pieces of rail held together by a single mass of cast iron in which is cored a pocket to receive the center cast

m u ing, which is uch red ced in size, and which is held in place by bolts or wedges .

Guarantee special work, so called from the fact that the it manufacturer sold certain guarantees with , is made in a m m m si ilar anner to the later form of anganese work, except m m that the center pieces are ade of te pered steel , and are m retained in the pocket by eans of zinc . It was originally intended that these pieces should be renewable without d is 82 S - TREET RAILWAY ROADBED .

t u rb in th e m n g the m ain body of frog in its bed in the pave e t . But the d ifﬁ c ul ty of m aking anything like a good ﬁ t after the adjacent parts of the frog had becom e worn h as compelled the abandonment of the “ renewable ” feature in all special work . Guarantee frogs are peculiar also in a very generous use of cast iron . (See Fig .

FIG 144 — A E . GUARANT E FROG . d m “ ” In A a antine or Solid Cast Steel special work , as

m m - - its na e i plies, the switch pieces are castings of open hearth l m stee , and each frog, switch , or ate is one solid piece of steel .

— Fn e 5 A A I E o . IG 14 . N F . ADAM NT N Large strides in a dvance have been m ad e in the m anufacture

- d u of open hearth steel ring the past seven years, and it is now possibl e to prod uce c astings of the m ost intricate shape of a l 145 m ﬁ n e tough quality of stee . Fig . is a sa ple , and shows

E V CHAPT R III .

IS SSI OF TH E OF S I R S A D D CU ON ADVANTAGE P RAL CU VE , N S AN D FORMU LZE FOR IR S S TABLE THE U E .

WITH the higher speeds and larger cars which the advent - w of the electric railway brought in street rail ay work , the m m necessity of so e sort of ease ent curve , for the short radii m required , very early beca e evident . The question as to its form has generally been considered as if the paths followed by all parts of the car were necessarily som ewhat sim ilar to the m m align ent of the track . This has led any engineers to believe that a three-centered curve was su fﬁ cie n t for practical m cal cu purposes, besides being so ewhat easier to design and m late . This assu ption as to the path of the car is only true as to the s m all portion of the car which lies between the two - axles or the center pins of a double truck car . The parts of t he d d car outsi e of this area escribe rather peculiar paths, as is shown on the engravings herewith . 1 46 m Fig . is a case which the writer has seen repeated any m ti es in the last few years . The curve is primarily designed - c to enable cars to pass each other on a double track urve, but m is also supposed to act as an ease ent . It will be noticed that there are four changes in the direction o f. rotation of the A an d point , also four abrupt changes in the rate of rotation B of the point . It should be understood that the radii given for the short arcs in these paths are only given in order to convey an idea of the sharpness of curvature at these points,

be e so . as these arcs would not exactly circular, although n arly These changes of direction in the path of A will occur at any

- ﬁ rst ff P . C . C . of a three centered curve , if the radius is su i c ie n tly long to be of any use in preventing the jar of striking P C. . the . of the curve The sudden changes in the rate of 84 E or S I R 85 ADVANTAG P RAL CU VES .

B t o P C. C rotation of the point will be found occur at every . . of a compound curve unless it is of the form of the railway spiral with chords of a length shorter than the wheel base of the car . h m m 147 t e . Fig . shows exactly sa e ain curve shown in Fig 146 t h e , but connected with tangent by a spiral of seven

300 1 50 100 7 5 6 chords having the following radii , , , , 0, 50, 4 “ ” and 0. The spiral is somewhat forced on the last radius in order to keep the center of the curve in exactly the same position while at t h e sam e tim e maintaining the sam e car 8 6 S - I TREET RA LWAY ROADBED .

clearance . The track cur ve does not vary in position at the center

S m 4 in . m 146 of the piral ore than fro that shown in Fig . . N ote that there are but two changes in the direction of. A rotation of the point . One of these is at the point where A m leaves the tangent , fro which there is a gradually de creasing cur vature u ntil it reaches the point of reverse curva m ture . Fro this point the curvature increases gradually until the point A attains its m axim u m rate of rotation parallel to th e main curve . The rate of decrease and increase of curva ture for both these arcs is som ewhat less than that for the B track curve . The point also describes a curve with gradu ally increasing curvature until it reaches its m aximum rate of rotation and follows the sam e path as A. The rate of increase of curvature would be so m ewhat greater than that of the track curve . The car shown in these ﬁg u re s is by no means an extremely long car, as there are other cars known to the writer which 30 ft 38 ft are . long, and others proposed which will be . long

6 ft 6 in . n d and with only . wheel base . The overha g of a ouble truck car is nearly always as much as that shown in the

ﬁ u re s u d w . 146 g . The s den changes of motion sho n in Fig exert a severe racking strain on the car framing which is particularly destructive to open cars, as the connection between f roof and ﬂo or fram ing is necessarily weak . The e fect on the passengers is not pleasant, although this does not appeal so directly to the treasury of the railway . The plan shown in

146 12 . 146 Fig . would cost for material about $ more than Fig , When c a e d it is given for the straight track replaced by the - extra curve of the spiral, and would cost that much only for the most expensive track in use for surface roads . The use of spirals has been largely delayed by the absence of any tables and formulas fer spirals suitable for street-rail e way speeds and curvature . Those pr sented herewith have fi n al been in use for some two years or more, and are the results of a number of other form s which have been tried through a period of about fi v e years . n This form has given universal satisfactio , and it is believed that the tables present su ffi cie n t variety for most cases arising IR R S 8 ADVANTAGE or SP AL CU VE . 7

50 in u sual practice . Table I gives a choice of spirals for

30 ft 17 85 ft . curves of radii from . to In case a special spiral m od iﬁ e d ~ is desired for any reason , these may be by multiply N s 1 o . ing by a suitable factor, in the same way that spirals and s 4 No 3 2 No 5 . have been obtained from spirals . and Spiral . was designed as the spiral of shortest length to enable a certain - - double truck car to pass on a double track curve . While the car used for this purpose was one of the largest - E double truck cars in use on surface roads in the ast, this should be carefully tried with the car in use on the road in question , as indeed it must necessarily be in order to select a radius for the outer curve . Substantially the same chord length was carried throughout the system With a view to ease i m - in giving the necessary nfor ation to the track layers . At switches it is mechanically undesirable to have a greater ft initial radius than 1 00 . This prevents the use of a

ﬁ rst theoretical spiral at such points , but, as shown in the part m m of this chapter, so e ease ent is necessary between the long radius switch and the main curve of shorter radius . The most desirable form for this easem ent appears to be that por tion of a theoretical spiral which lies between the switch t h rad iu s and e radius of the main curve . the Table II was prepared in this way, and choice of easements was m ade in such a manner as to produce the standardization of the crossing frogs . The latter is very desirabl e for such constructions as require the making of S pecial patterns for frogs . This table gives a choice of forty-eight easem ent s for twelve

m 3 ft . 0 ft ff 0 7 . di erent radii fro to radius of center line . For radii greater than this no easement is necessary bet ween the 100 ft switch radius of . and the main curve . The m ost satisfactory way of plotting these curves is to cut out thin celluloid templates of each one which is to be used P C. C Mark each . . of the spiral on the curved edge and the 14 8 . direction of a radial line through this point . Fig . Problem s 3 and 4 can generally be solved accurately enough on a drawing made to scale and in less tim e than by calcula “ ” tion for special curves, as a plan must be made in any 88 S R -R T EET AILWAY ROADBED .

b event in order to have the work made y the manufacturer . u m a If only a few curves are to be drawn p, however, it y be more expeditious to ﬁgu re the curve and plot the poin ts on x the spiral by the and y taken from the table, and connect them with a variable or French curve .

' ‘ 4 — MP LA E I O U T S e 1 8 1 E T . m . . FOR LAY NG CURVE

The problem s given in this chapter contain all the prin c ipl e s necessary for laying out any curve with symmetrical

' m m of m m spirals . The ost usual for unsy etrical curve is 9 shown in Problem , and the application of the latter will enable any such curve to be solved . It is by no means necessary to lay out on the ground every “ ” point on the spiral . If the curve is special work and curved by the manufacturer, the point of spiral, a point about the in the center of the spiral , and the junction of spiral with main curve should be laid out . Points for the latter should m 20 30 ft be laid out fro to . apart, depending on the radius of the curve and the location of the joints . If the curve is to “ S - be prung in by the track layers, every alternate point on the spiral should be laid out and the track -layer furnished fﬁ e - s u c i n t l o f t . with middle ordinates for . chords These

10 11 . . 1 32. can be obtained by Problems and and Table III , p Th e m v ost expeditious way to lay out a spiral cur e, if the ﬁ n al 9; does not exceed two feet, is to set the transit on the off intersection point and lay the tangent distances , then lay out su fﬁ cie n t points on the spirals by the successive offsets x and the long chords . Then bisect the included angle and lay ’

V 8 . out a temporary point , Problem t he t Move transit to the last poin on the spiral , set the vernier to a back reading equal to the spiral angle, set the telescope on a n oﬁ se t from V e q u al to 9: inside the intersection D ﬁ e t e point . e c to and the line of the t lescope should r I R 8 ADVANTAGE o SP RAL CU VE S . 9

’ ’ strike V an d the distance V L R tan This will ﬁ e l d - check the preceding calculations and work . The circular m arc can then be laid out in the usual anner .

E 1 l . PRO B L M . To se ect a spiral (a ) The radius of the main curve m ust be less than the pre u ceding branch of the spiral , m st be more than the next branch would be were it p rod u ce dﬂan d should n early equal th e latter .

6 e ( ) The longer the spiral , the easier the entrance will b . But bear in mind that th e main body of th e curve should be m it circular, the spiral si ply acting as an entrance to . c ( ) A spiral of less than three branches should not be used .

PROBLEM 2 .

E 2 PROB L M . Given : A circular curve with symmetrical i , ﬁ n d the sp rals to tangent and external distances .

0 G = R + x ~ v e r sine

— ° GS z y sine S R ; 90 S - I R TREET RA LWAY OADBED .

Tangent d istance OG tan $11 GS ; ° E a 2 G 41 x v e r xternal dist nce 0 ex sec 5 sine S R.

P ROBLE M 3 .

3 : VS PROBLEM . Given The tangent distance , the inter A s iral ﬁ n d section angle , and the desired length of ip , to the radius of the curve .

1 Approxi m ate R cotangent % A( VS } length of spiral) . l m a Having se ected a spiral by this radius, the exact radius y w be found , if required , by the follo ing formula

cos % A( VS y a; tan 45A)

7 41 sine ( 5 S ) .

' — If ff 0d a it ou . the result is enough di erent from the original t he m 1 radius to require a change in spiral by Proble , a second m m u m trial ust be ade . This r le does not apply for approxi ate radius to the easements in Table II . E 4 : A PROBL M . Given The intersection angle and the

VH ﬁ nd . external distance , to the radius Approxim ate to the radius by ﬁnd in g that for a simple

- 92 STREET RAILWAY ROADBED .

’ ’ N ota — Problems 5 and 6 can then be applied t o x and y if it is desired t o use d e ﬂe ction angl es to lay out the curve .

7 PROBLEM . As these curves will al m ost invariably be laid out on an offset d d e ﬂe ction s varying with the gauge of the roa , the are not

ﬁgu re d in the table .

PROB LE M 8 . S 9 3 ADVANTAGE or SPIRAL CU RVE .

ﬁ n d PROBLEM 8 . Given a circular curve with spirals, to ’ l the dist ance VV , in order to lay out a tangent to the circu ar m u curve, fro which the latter may be laid out in the us al manner . VH see Problem 2;

’ = A V E R ex secant (73

’ ’ V V VH V H.

P ROB LE M 9 .

E 9 m m PROBL M . General solution for unsy etrical curves

° - — — ° OG z R l x R v e r sin e S

o GS z y R sine S ;

— R v e r s in e S

’ ’ G S z : y R sine

VS : t an $410 0 GS —l

’ ‘ ’ ’ VS tan 11AGG O S zl: 94 S ET-R I R TRE A LWAY OADBED .

N ota — i in above ; if A is more than and if A is less than 9 0°

' A = ld

' ’ ’ ’ V L or V L tan éA R ;

’ ’ V B z x —l VL sine VB ver sine

tan 0

if 0 45 ° O‘

If 0 :

R P OBLEM 10 .

10 : PROBLEM . Given The middle ordinate for a chord of ’ h AB R R ﬁn d lengt for and , to the middle ordinate at the P C . C. .

’ " m ﬁ u re D C D Fro the g it is evident that bisects 0 . 017 + DF 2

Ther e ore the m idd le ordina te a t a n P 0 in the s ira 0. . l f y . p e q u a ls one -ha lf the s u m of the mid d l e ord ina tes for the ra d ii on ea ch s id e or the s a m e chor d f . N ota — 1 See remark following Problem 1 .

9 6 S R -R I R T EET A LWAY OADBED .

Rem r - a k. It will be noticed that the solutions of Problems 10 and 1 1 are slightly inaccurate in not allowing for the D ' O’ AB increase of length of over , nor for the inclination of

the middle ordinate found to the true middle ordinate . m 1 1 d d Proble , if applie to the curving of rails, as intende , m S also assu es that each rail forms a piral , whereas they are m si ply lines parallel to one .

su ﬂicie ntl for Both solutions, however, are y accurate any - 5 ft . spiral of chords or greater . con ne ctio n Taken in with Table III, the middle ordi ates 2 3 ft can be easily fo u nd for poin ts on the rails from 5 to . d e apart . The rails being curved to these, exactly what is i consta n tl e . sired will be obtained , . , a curve of y changing

radius, which is only considered a compound curve for the

purpose of calculation . . ' These spirals are ﬁgu re d for a length suitable to the ordi n ar ’ st re e t - y railroad speeds . For greater speeds the writer would advise the use of the regular railroad spirals . Tables in convenient form for these have been published by William

' H Se arl e E C . . , . , and others . — I S I S . 9 TABLE . P RAL 7

— I. RA S TABLE SPI L . 1 I o . SP RAL N .

V r n n e e . S e . ne A gl . i Si .

2 565 0° 42’ 2 06 4 12 7 0 7 80 1 30 12. 0 14 42

I 2 SP RAL No . .

V n e . e r . n e A gl Si .

° ’ 00 0 30 . 00 4 51 235 1 00034 30 . 3 0 0013 7 . 5 3 1 0 . 00 8

7 30 . 00856 0 16 5 1 30 . 0 7 14 0 029 0 . 7 1 0 04 94 8 . 8

I 3 S o . P RAL N .

n e . Ve r S ne . A gl . i

5 236 1 0 000 5 . . 1

10. 468 3 0 137 . 0 6 00548 . 20 8 1 10 51 . 7 . 01 9

25 . 982 15 0340 . 7 21 06642 . 2 1 1 8 OO . 7 05

S I o 4 P RAL N . .

n e . V e r i n n . e S e . A gl S . i

° 42' 0000 0 . 7 2 6 00067 0 4 12 . 0 269 7 0 00 4 . 7 5 0 0 1 1 3 . 0 675 1 42 4 . 0327 3

19 36 . 05794 98 S R - I T EET RA LWAY ROADBED .

— I. R on in TABLE SPI ALS ( C t u ed ) .

I N S o . P RAL 5 .

i Ra d . n e Ve r ne A gl . . Si .

0° 30' 00004 . 1 30 00034 . 3 0 0013 . 7 5 0 00 1 . 38 26 130 7 30 00856 . 10 30 0167 5 . 36 374 14 0 29 . 0 70

S I o . 6 P RAL N .

n V r n e e . S e . A gl . i

O ‘- F O I O J O C I

' O Q O Q O

I o . SP RAL N 7 .

n e V e r . S in e . A gl .

0° 15' 0 45 1 30 2 30 3 45 5 15 7 0

o 8 . SPIRAL N .

V r . n n n e e S e . S e . A gl . i i

1890 0° 10' 0° 10' 9 45 0 20 0 30 630 0 3 0 16 49 3 1 0

472}1 0 40 1 40 378 0 50 2 30 3 15 1 0 3 30 270 1 10 4 40 236

1 00 S - A R TREET R ILWAY OADBED .

I TABLE I.

’ x t n — m w E pta na z0 . These ease ents were designed With a vie to combining a very easy-running curve with expedition and m economy in the anufacture of the frogs . The latter is e ﬁ e c te d by making the four crossing frogs ex a c tly alike for diff erent distances between track centers within d e certain limits . This is done by a opting a standard distanc

. Ma t"C m

F 49 IG . 1 . 149 0 (Fig . ) and varying the easement to meet this con dition .

D . B T . 0 t For the outer curve of a . use tha easement n which corresponds to the distance betwee track centers 0 . If the required distance is not included in the table a new ﬁ u re d t h e easement must be g , or distance of track centers must be changed in the special work to agree with the nearest T B . . . 0 . one given For the inner curve of a S . any ease ment may be used which corresponds to the center radius de sired . II 101 TABLE .

— ’ on tinu ed . TABLE II. C

’ C ENTER RADIU S 30 0

n e A gl .

50 10° 0' 0 10° 0' 0" 30

n e A gl .

10° 0' 0” 15 43 20

n A g l e .

75 7 ° 50' 0” 7 ° 50’ 0 45 4 41 45 12 3 1 45 30

n e A gi .

7 ° 50' 1 1 38 16 38

’ CENTER RADIU S 32 6

n A gle .

50 10° 0’ 0" 10° 0’ 0" 32}1

n A gle .

° ' " ° 10 0 0 10 0’ 0 6 26 0 16 26 0 - I 102 STREET RA LWAY ROADBED .

1 — Con tinu e d TABLE 1 .

' CENTER Ra m u s 32

n e A gl .

5 ° ' 0 700 7 ° 50' 7 7 50 . 5 8 20” 12 58 20

n A gle .

’ CENTER RADIUS 35 O

0 r / l g 8y2 h l A g e .

7 ° 50' 1 1 25 15 55

n e A gl .

7 ° 50’ 12 40 18 4240

n e A gl .

6 ° 30’ 1 112 9 33 13 37 18 37

104 S RE -R I R T ET A LWAY OADBED .

— ntinu ed BL 11 . o TA E C .

’ CENTER RADIU S 40

n A gle .

7 ° 50’ 11 25 15 55

n e A gl .

7 ° 50' 13 5 19 38

n e A gl .

6 ° 30’ 9 34 13 40 18 26

n e A gl .

6 ° 30’ 10 12 15 8 21 19

’ CENTER RADIUS 42

Angle .

° ’ 6 30 8 . 534 9 00 12 20 II 1 05 TABLE .

— 00 n tin u ed . TABLE II.

’ CENTER RADIU S 42

n e A gl .

6 ° 30' 10 9 14 58

n e A gl .

6 ° 30’ 9 2 12 25 16 38

n e A gl .

6 ° 30’ 9 32 13 35 18 40

’ CENTER RADIUS 45 0

n A gle .

6 ° 30' 9 0 12 20

Ra d n e . A gl .

6 ° 30' 10 21 15 26 106 S R - I T EET RA LWAY ROADBED .

— ’ B II. on tznu ed TA LE C .

’ CENTER RADIUS 45

n A gle .

6 ° 30’ 9 12 12 48 17 25

n e A gl .

° ' ° ' 1021» 6 30 6 30 833} 3 18 9 48 4 24 14 12 50 5 21 20” 3 692 19 33 20 45

' CENTER RAD IU S 50 0

n e A gl .

6 ° 30’ 8 40 11 33

( g! 2 H G : 19 I 10 l l n e A gl .

102i 6 ° 30’ 6 ° 30’ 831 3 9 9 39 624 4 11 30 13 50 30 50

n e A gi .

6 ° 30’ 9 42 1 3 33 18 05

108 S R -R R T EET AILWAY OADBED .

— 11. Co n tinued TABLE . j

' CENTER RADIUS 60

n e A gl .

6 ° 30' 8 15 10 21

n A gle .

° '

6 30 0. 592 9 40 13 29

n A gl e .

6 ° 30' 8 51 1 1 41 14 59

n A gle .

11 584 ° ' . 6 30 9 26 12 57 17 6

’ CENTER RADIUS 6 5

n A g le .

6 ° 30' 8 12 10 11 II 109 TABLE .

— 11 Con tinued . TABLE .

’ CENTER RADIU S 65

n e A gl .

0 5 7 . 3

n l A g e .

e Angl .

6 ° 30' 10 0

22. 7 36 14 0 44 28 . 1 18 29

' CENTER Ra m o s 70

n e A gl .

6 ° 30' 9 49 13 37 1 10' S R -R W R T EET AIL AY OADBED .

’ II —00 ntz nu ed TABLE . .

’ CENTE R RADIUS 70

n e A gl .

6 ° 30’ 9 39 13 9 16 56

n A gl e .

6 ° 30’ 10 6 14 6 18 35

1 12 S R ET-R R T E AILWAY OADBED .

0 were exact duplicates of others, making only 6 d ifferent e frogs . Ther need not be more than three d ifi e re n t sets of branch-ofi frogs of each hand to fill the needs of the most ex m tensive syste for such frogs . In Table II of the preceding chapter is given a set of switch easements which enables u s to take care of different distances of track centers, if such occur, while at the same t m ime insuring the easiest possible entrances to the ain curve . ff If special work be required for a number of di erent places , w the following method is a convenient one to follo . First look over the system and determine the location and of m L u s radius the inimum radius curve . et assume for the 40 ft purpose of illustration that this would be one of about . s iraliz e d l m if the curve is properly p . We wil then assu e a

a m 45 ft . r dius so ewhat larger, say , for the radius of the inner curve and such an easement taken from Table II as appears b a suita le to s . With the usual sizes of cars and distances of track centers car -clearance will be obtained if the outer curve fi ve o f has a radius feet greater than that the inner, if the be n fi xe s latter properly compounded at the e ds . This the v 50 ft radius of the outer cur e at . , with the easement corre s on d in d p g to the istance of track centers . This completes fi rst - -ofi AA our standard double track branch up to the line , 150 Fig . . It will be noticed that this one layout gives u s t wo standard o 3 a n d o 1 9 frogs , N . 1 N . , for use in such pieces as shown in 128 129 1 30 1 33 1 34 Figs . , , , , , if these should occur on the road in question .

Having established such a standard , make a tracing on cloth AA P C 0 w t he and with as a . . . line dra center lines of a m o m 55 ft th e f 35 ft . nu ber curves, say fro . to for inner curve

ft u . 40 ft 60 . and from . to for the outer c rve Having then a -oﬁ s plan of the location where a branch is required , howing all obstructions which are to be cleared, put on the center n s lines of the tracks to be co nected . Also ketch , roughly, the position in which it seems possible to lay the center line of the curve . Then place the tracing on top of the plan and make the straight track on the tracing coincide with that on I r I 1 13 DES GN o S PEC AL WORK .

e the plan . Move the tracing along the straight line until som one of the center lines on the tracing appears to coincide as closely as seem s po ssible with the location desired for the

inner curve . Prick through the center for this c u rve and the P ’ C O. s centers and . . for the inner curve of the standard -oﬁ branch . Proceed in the same way for the outer curve and draw them both in on the paper plan . Finish the free ends S ET- I R 1 14 TRE RA LWAY OADBED .

an d th e ﬁ n al m ~ of the curves with spirals, plan will be so e 151 what as shown in Fig . .

— 151 I SH I I A P o r U R . FIG . . D AGRAM OW NG F N L LAN C VE

Checking the car -clearance with th e celluloid template described in Chapter IV com pletes the operation . If all the streets were of about the sam e width and intersected at about the same angle it would not be necessary to have more than this one standard . It may be necessary to establish one or two more .

If the location of trolley wire be desired , it can be easily found by the use of a template of the essential elem ents of m i e th e the proble , . . , the wheel base and horizontal projection

of the trolley pole . the Having a plan of the curve, for which location of trolley

1 16 S R - R T EET RAILWAY OADBED . should be set in towards the center of the curve an additional a m ount equal to Elevation height of trolley-wire above rail Gage

In designing a car-house layou t these standard frogs and possibly standard switches cannot be used if more than one entering track is to be provided . There should be as far as 1 1 DESIGN or SPEC IAL WORK . 7

in possible an entering curve for each track inside the house , ﬁ re order that the cars may be quickly gotten out in case of .

This would involve a large number of. frogs and switches in the m ain -line track if the curves were to start directly from n h the latter . It is also desirable to avoid faci g switches , w ile the con ditions som etimes require that the curves should leave the main line in such a way as to make the switches face the

t raffi c The th e direction of . best plan in this case is to have curves start from a gauntlet track ofi se t about six inches from m w the ain line . This involves only one facing s itch in the m d ain line instea of one for each curve, and removes the latter switches and mates from all the wear due to t he main -line t raffi c n , thus insuri g them a much longer life . If the frogs m b e - are ade, as they should , jump over or unbroken ” main line , the main line will receive very little w. ear from

th e - t rafﬁ c car house , and the continuity of the rail will not be l broken by the throats of the frogs . This p an is shown in 153 u Fig . . Another plan , which is sed in case there is in front of the car-house plenty of room which is not n eeded for car l storage, is to put in a adder or series of them . This is a a nd n c simpler cheaper plan , but is o ly available in the ase of An is wide streets or very cheap real estate . illustration 154 m shown in Fig . . It is i possible to take up every case t which may occu r in the design of special work , but the mos ' u su al c ase s t h e have been covered , and same principles may be m applied to nearly any co bination which is desired . A word more might be added as to the desirability of avoid in n h h g faci g switc es w enever possible . They are especially dangerous in positions in which they are rarely used in one m direction , thus leading the otorman to be more careless in

h a re approaching them , since t ey nearly always set in the di d - rection esired . A left hand crossover is especially dangerous

r and should be prohibited as a gene al rule . The position pro d u c e d is 155 by a misplaced switch shown in Fig . . This acci dent occurred twice within a few days on a road of which the k d writer had personal nowle ge , in one case involving loss of

. ﬁ rst t c o v life The was with elec ric ca rs, and the switch was ered with water and was said to have been opened and left by 1 18 S R - I R T EET RA LWAY OADBED .

F — IG . 153 o u e CU RV E S IN U N . . CAR H s LEAD G FROM A GA TLET TRACK

1 20 S R -R R E T EET AILWAY OADB D .

- - the crew of a snow plow . The second was with horse cars a nd seemed to have been pure carelessness, as the switch was

in plain sight .

FI — G . 155 . P SI I OF S ON MIS S O T ON CAR A PLACED WITCH .

The position which m ay occur at a left -hand branch -oﬁ is 1 56 shown in Fig . . It is rarely possible to avoid the u se of

FI — - - G. 156 . P SI I OF Ca n O O T ON s N LEFT HAND BRANCH OFF .

- -oﬁ m the left hand branch , although it may so etim es be done in . 1 57 by the method shown Fig . This problem generally has to be left for the operating department to handle by always requiring the employés to shift and block the switch -off In for the main line after using the branch . fact this should always be the rule for any facing switch , but as far as n the writer has knowledge it is rarely strictly e forced . The requirement that the switch should be blocked is essential , as m a u s a wagon y shift a switch enough to trip the wheels, th S N or S DE IG PECIAL WORK . 121

fully throwing the tongue . Most makes of switches may be easily blocked with a small piece of iron wedged between

FIG — . 157 . M H I I L - - FF ET OD AVO D NG EFT HAND BRAN CH O . l guard and movab e tongue . This crude devic e is bette r than an elaborate lever arrangement, which is sure to be d i clogge with mud or ce . E X CHAPT R .

S R S A D T U VEY N LAYING OU T H E WO RK .

THE surveys required for an electric railroad will d epend altogether upon the class of road to which it belongs . For a the interurban road , owning its own right of way and p roa chin d r an d p g in construction a steam railroa , the su veys track -e ngineering features will be so si m ila r to the l atter that there is little more to be said than is already covered by so m e

ﬁ e ld - scores of books . For laying tracks in city stree ts it is desirable to obtain a knowled ge of all su bte rranean structures which may lie within t some lit le distance of the bottom of the track structure , in order that their safety and future exis tence may be provided for. Sometimes this information may be obtained from the

fi rs t d city authorities, but more often the knowle ge of hidden pipes is ob tained when the ground is opened u p for track laying . For the location of turnouts ( ii a single -t rack road) the e n gine e r requires some knowledge of the location of grades which a re h the ca r r heavy enoug to limit the speed of , and in orde to locate the power house and d esign the feed er system it is also necessary to have some knowled ge of the c o nfigu ra tion m and grades of the syste . In the absence of public maps which will give all this in for mation , the quickest and cheapest way to proceed is to run a random transit line through the streets on which the road is in t r to be laid . If the location of the track the stree is al eady fi xe d by ordinance or otherwise, this line may be the tangents fi nal for the track , but it is not worth while to attempt to do anything towards laying out the shorter-radius curves in the 122

1 24 S -R R TREET AILWAY OADBED .

of which the crossing is to be built . The style of crossing for a s team railroad is often changed to agree with the beliefs or fancies of the particular ofﬁ cial in charge of the section of

track crossed , and it is well to secure a written assent to the m style of construction before ordering the aterial . It may be said here that it is the practice for the various supply co m panies to furnish plans for all special work re

quired . This practice has m uch to be said both for and

it m m m rl ce s against . It is al ost i possible to co pare p for d plans of special work rawn by different engineers, as the

amount of material can be made to vary quite largely . This

s iral iz e d is especially true of work drawn up with p curves, as all should b e ; and as a general rule the cu rve which contains m l f the ost track wil be the easier riding one , while the di fer l ence of cost wil appear to be much greater than it really is . - - L Thus take two curves of forty foot center radius . et one

have spirals on both ends twenty feet long, and the other d ifi e re nce spirals thirty feet long . The in price between the fi ft e e n d two curves will be about ollars, but the second one u will displace abo t ten feet more straight track , leaving the real d ifi e re n ce about seven and a half dollars for the longer m d ifi e re n ce Spiral . This is Well worth the oney, but the is enough to ins u re the p u rchase of the curve with the shorter m t spiral . If the road is of so e leng h , an engineer will be required to look after the m any questions which require his m to st ru c skill , and he should be co petent design the track m ture and special work . For the s aller roads there is no question but that they receive better service from the m e n engaged exclusively in this work by the supply com panies ff m than they could a ord to engage for the sel ves . fi n all Af ter the plans are y settled upon for the track , the points should be given for line and grade . Points should be fi ft given about y feet apart on straight track , and close enough together on curves to insure having at least two points opposite each rail . It is best on paved streets to run this line o n an offset outside the outer rail rather than An attempt to run the center line . offset should be chosen 125 SURVEY S AND LAYING OUT THE WORK . large enough to put the points out of danger from being

disturbed by the work . At special work a point should be set Opposite to the heel

and toe of a switch , and enough points around the curve to establish the position of each joint of the adjacent rail . If spiral curves are to be used , a point should be set at the

m . beginning, iddle , and end of the spiral portion of the curve m the All this should be done , if ti e permits, in advance of - m track laying gangs . It is a waste of ti e and energy, which could be better employed , to attempt to set up a transit , or m even lay out the work by tape measure ents, while the track gang is laying the track .

If the engineer is to supervise the work , as he should, he can do so much better while not attempting to carry on sur y eying operations at the same time . If the actual laying out is carried on by a transitman who is not expected to look after construction , he can do much faster and better work by being in advance of the track gang .

After the road is completed , a skeleton map should be prepared for the operating department , showing all turnouts, h crossovers, and connections , with the distance between t em . The latter need not be drawn to scale in order to red uce the

s . m a plan to ome reasonable dimensions A convenient p, in - n addition to this, is a small scale one showi g a complete plan ff of the city or cities, with di erent rails and dates of laying, d iﬁ e re n t E shown by character or color of the lines . ach piece of special work is numbered , and a table is prepared n and placed on plan showing date laid, drawing umber, ’ manufacturer s order, and drawing number and class of construction . A column is left for notes as to repairs and renewals on each piece, the whole making a very neat and convenient record of the track structure . E XI CHAPT R .

S I I PEC FICAT ONS .

IT is obviously impossible to give spe ciﬁ cation s which will meet all the conditions found in practice .

Those presented are intended to secure , under the usual

fi rs t- s conditions of roadbed and city paving, a thoroughly cla s m su b stit u track . The construction could be i proved by the tion of a concrete foundation and the use of steel ties . Some of the patented joints, welded or otherwise , would doubtless d be considered esirable by many engineers , but in the pres ence of their vast variety one hesitates to express a personal - preference for other than the usual splice plate, especially for the present purpose . Tie -plates might be added ; but as the movement of the m rail on the tie is so li ited by the paving, their value is much - reduced below that for open track . Tie rods might be sub - stituted for the brace tie plates, but the arguments in favor of the latter seem so conclusive to the writers that no hesitation is felt in recommending them . The varieties of paving which m ay be required by the city in fi n ite authorities are almost . For asphalt paving with concrete base the use of steel ties m would be recom ended . The use of wood in such a position as for railway ties in a buried track is only to be defended on m the score of econo y, and the cost of wooden and steel ties are fast approaching each other in m any localities . The desire to avoid the use of wood as far as possible led to the use of the concrete filling for the recesses of the rail . m For this might be substituted specially oulded brick, or - second quality or second hand brick with nearly as good results . 126

1 28 S - I TREET RA LWAY ROADBED .

No plowing will be allowed which disturbs the material b e - low six inches abo ve sub grade . 6 SU B - I S — If . DRA N . considered necessary by the engineer, a trench will be dug in the center of the roadway to such depth m and grade as he shall prescribe . After thoroughly co pacting t re n ch a - the bottom of the , inch porous tile drain shall be laid and such connection m ade with the sewers or other drains

m a re ﬁll e d as the engineer y direct . The trench is then to be ﬁllin v with clean gravel g , in layers not exceeding twel e inches E in thickness . ach layer is to be thoroughly compacted by ramming before another layer is added .

- — - 7 . I SU B PREPAR NG GRADE . The sub grade shall then be thoroughly rolled to the satisfaction of the engineer with a roller weighing not less than pounds per inch of roller . If any portions of the su b -grade cannot be reached by the roller, such portions shall be sprinkled with water and m m y thoroughly co pa cted by ra ming . If any spongy or ege table matter, or material which cannot be rolled , is found in v m th e the exca ation , it ust be removed and space below sub

ﬁlle d ﬁl grade with clean gravel ling . The roadbed shall be h m in a moist condition w en rolled , and if dry ust be mois tened by the contractor .

— - 8 AS . U 0 n . BALL T p the sub grade, prepared as above de ﬁ v e scribed , there shall be spread a layer inches thick of

- broken stone ballast, composed of stones not larger than two

- and one half inches in their largest dimension . This layer shall be thoroughly compacted by rolling with the roller here m tofore described , or by ra ming in such places as cannot be reached with the roller . F E — U 9 DIS I U I O TI s . . TR B T ON pon this layer of ballast the ties shall be distributed and spaced at intervals of t inches on centers . The join ties will be spaced inches on centers and arranged as shown on plan furnished by the engineer . L — 1 1 I . . AY NG TRACK The rails shall then be placed on the - on ties and the splice plates bolted . Care must be taken not to handle the rails in such a manner as to bend them or mar

ﬂan s the heads or ge . The rails will be spiked with four spikes I I I S 129 SPEC F CAT ON .

h tie - t o t e . ! _ Spikes will be staggered at least two and one half d m n inches in the tie, an d riven in such a an er as to hold the tie at right angles to the track, except when otherwise directed . Brace tie -plates will be used and spiked to the tie with three spikes at intervals of feet . The rails will be laid with be staggered joints, and no joint shall more than twelve inches from a line d rawn at right angles to the center of the opposite m - rail . Care ust be taken to place the splice plates squarely m m m in position , and any scale or rust ust be re oved fro the

- bearing surfaces of plates and rail . The heads of the bolts must be struck with a two -pound ham mer while pressure is - n t h e l applied on a thirty inch wre ch to tighten bo ts . The rail ends must be placed in as close contact as possible . The rails mus t not be bolted up for m ore than fi ve rail lengths in fi n i h d advance of the s e paving . The gauge of the track shall not vary more th an one -sixteenth of an inch from the t standard on this road , which is fee inches . — 12. IA In SPEC L WO RK . laying frogs , switches, and other special work , special care will be taken to maintain line, sur l face, and gauge . The atter will be widened on curves if so directed by the engineer, but not otherwise . The straight , " 1 b . track gauge at switches and mates will prefera ly be 1 6 tight fi t W If the special work does not appear to , no attempt hat ever must be m ade to force it except by direction of the e u in e e r g . — 1 3 . ISI TAMP I e RA NG TRACK AND N . After the preparation i m of the track as prev ously described, the entire track ust then be raised to the fi nish e d g rade and aligned to the lines m given by the engineer . The space under the ties ust then fill e d - n ot be with broken stone ballast, composed of stones larger than one and on e -half inches in their largest di m e h m sions . This shall be ta ped under the ties in such a m anner b as to secure an even , solid earing throughout the entire length and width of the tie . Care must be taken in raising and tam pi ng the track not m o r - to defor the rails splice bars . The space between the ties fill e d m m is to be with the sa e ballast and thoroughly ram ed . 1 30 S - I TREET RA LWAY ROADBED .

14 I — . BOND NG . The rails are to be bonded with the d m bon , applied in the following anner :

1 5 J OIN Ts — . . The joints are to be gone over again and each u bolt tightened p , striking the head of each bolt with a two m m h pound ha er, while steady pressure is applied to t e end of

- a thirty inch wrench until they cannot be further tightened .

— 1 6 . I r I I PREPA RAT ON o RA L FOR PAV NG . The recesses under the head and tram of the rail will be fi ll e d with co n crete in such a m anner as to present a vertical surface for the m paving to rest against . This concrete shall be co posed of m one part Rosendale ce ent, parts sand , and parts of w 1 ” broken stone, no piece of hich shall be larger than in its m greatest di ension . 1 6 I — . PAV NG . O ver the entire portion of the street to be repaved will be spread a layer of clean sharp gravel , not m larger than 4 in its largest di ension, and thoroughly com pact e d until its upper surface is eight inches belo w the fi n ish e d E m grade . special care must be taken to thoroughly co pact that portion between the t ies . A layer of bedding sand will the n be S pread over the gravel of su ffi c ie nt thickness to bring the grani t e blocks that are to be em bedded in it to the proper m m grade after they are thoroughly ra ed . The blocks are to w h fi n e be covered it clean , , and dry gravel or coarse sand , which shall be raked and s wept until all the joints becom e fill e d m fi rm therewith . The blocks shall then be ra med to a , unyielding surface to agree with the section of track as fur n ish e d o m m b e by the engineer . N ra ing will done within

fifte e n feet of the face of the paving that is being laid . The fi n e blocks will again be covered with a layer of clean , , or dry w gravel or coarse sand , and raked and s ept until the joints are l t m m fi l e d therewi h . The blocks shall then be ra med until ade solid and secure . Finally , the paving shall be covered with a ” layer at least 1 in thickness of fi n e dry screened gravel . 1 S S — 7 . MEA UREMENT . The work will be measured and paid for under the following prices a re ( ) Per foot of single track , including all excavation , fill in - g, preparation of the sub grade , ballasting, paving, and tra ck-laying

132 STREET -RAILWAY ROADBE DJ

III TABLE .

' MI O I S 10 S . DDLE RD NATE , CHORD

M O . a . M. M s . a s O . a s . O . . . R diu R diu R diu DEX IN .

m e r can Soc e t o f n ne e rs Re m ar s e o re A i i y Civil E gi , k b f S an a r ra Se c o n of t d d il , ti a m ore T -ra co n struc on in B lti , il ti ost on S an ar ra in B , t d d il race m a e a e on B , ll bl ir ro o n S an ar ra in B kly , t d d il e n os re s e se ra in Bu Ay , Liv y il Ch a i rs : Fi rst c ast iron Typ e s o f o s a e o f Ch rd , T bl e aran c e Car Cl ,

Advant a ge o f spira l Ca r cl e a ra n ce o n Ca r-h ouse C o m po un din g D e signi n g E a se m e n t Ga ge on No m e n c la ture o f P ro ble m s in layi ng o u t T able o f Ta ble s a n d form ulae f or use o f spiral Turnouts

Gage o n c urve s ra e s ff e c t of G d , E Gra di n g Guard -rail s

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 1 34 I X NDE .

Jo ints : Girde r Ribbe d

W e lde d Wh e e l e r

ne - o r Li w k . Ma s Ma n p , ki g Mate Mo tive p o we r N e w O r e a ns Ra s in l , il

N e w o r : ro ad a ra il in Y k City B w y . C o nstruc tio n o f th e B ro a dway c abl e road Ca bl e t ra c k in asph a lt in Thi rd Ave nue cable road Fl a t rail in Old ho rse -c a r ra il in Ra il s l aid in asph alt in Sta n da rd rail in o m e nc a u re r e s N l t Cu v . Pa rts o f rail s - s Nut l o ck . a e n fo r ra s a r P t t il , E ly n Pa ve m e t . n iﬁ a i n f - n R. R S e c c t o s or a n r e ns a a . o a b e d P l i , p l yi y v g d a e a a ra in Phil d lphi , Fl t il Ra s o s o n in il B t , Bo x -gi rd e r B ro ad wa y ro o n in B kly , e n e r- e a r n ra C t b i g il . C o m bina tio n ra il Ele ctric ra il Fla t rail in Ne w Yo rk City o n Gibb dupl e x . Gi rde r rail De e p se c tio ns D e ve l opm e nt o f Firs t actua lly roll e d L a t e r se ctions

Guard -ra il rs -c r ra s in e w o r Ho e a il N Y k . :

Jc u sc a ar h , E ly L aid in a sphalt in N e w Yo rk Life o f