Rail (architecture)

“ The mechanical question there is no need to argue. If the proper form of rail be adopted, it will simply have the effect of an iron banding inlaid in stone, as plain as the brass banding round a portable writing-desk, and the paving board of a parish has as much right to lay a piece of iron as of wood or stone paving, subject only to actions for damages if their mode of paving inflicts personal injury on passengers,—and laying a tramway in Parliament Street could not be more mischievous than the tramway on Westminster Bridge. ”

“ Surface Railway Structure of the New York City Railway Company.—This is an electric surface railway of the ordinary type, the rail and slot being bedded in concrete, with cast-iron yokes every 5 ft. There are manholes every 100 ft., and cleaning-out holes every 15 ft. Power conduits are bedded in the concrete on the east side of the east track. ”

“ Wooden sleepers continued to be used, the rails being secured by spikes passing through the extremities, but about 1793 stone blocks also began to be employed—an innovation associated with the name of Benjamin Outram, who, however, apparently was not actually the first to make it. This type of rail (fig. 1) was known as the plate-rail, tramway-plate or barrow way-plate—names which are preserved in the modern term “plate layer” applied to the men who lay and maintain the permanent way of a railway. ”

“ Rail manufacturers are now able to roll a section of rail combining the vertical stiffness of the ordinary flange, or flat-bottom, rail with the running-head and continuous wheel-flange groove, considered the most suitable for heavy tramway traffic. ”

“ The spaces between the sleepers were filled in with gravel or broken stone to form a roadway or hauling path for the horses. A little later double rails were introduced, by placing a second or upper timber on the top of the lower one, as in Fig. 228.
This double rail arrangement not only strengthened the framework, but by increasing the height allowed a greater [Pg 184] quantity of suitable material to be placed over the sleepers to protect them from wear by the horses’ feet. It can be easily understood that a wooden tramway could not be very durable. ”

“ It must be understood that a properly laid rail will not, in any way, interfere with the ordinary uses of the street or road—that it will only be a stripe of iron paving substituted for stone—it will subserve all the purposes of wheels running on it, but will not prevent wheels from being turned off it at any point required, without needing the expensive and troublesome appliances called switches and turn-tables used on railways proper. ”

“ The earliest cast-iron railway was laid down before the middle of the eighteenth century, about one hundred years after the first wooden 'tram-ways.' Half a century later we find the first rail-and-wheel combination as we know it on modern tramways and railways, where the wheel carries an inner flange and runs upon the head of a narrow metal rail. This is the form which experience has proved to be best adapted for safety, speed, and economy in power. The improvements made since the beginning of the nineteenth century have been in matters of detail. ”

“ The thirty-and forty-storied buildings in our big cities, the underground railways, the tubes under the rivers, the tremendous suspension bridges, the automobile carriages and business trucks,—not to mention the railroad trains that are to run on one rail at a speed of a hundred miles an hour. ”

“ An age in which the American demands the exquisite and the monumental in his architecture, palatial homes, palatial shops, palatial hotels, demands that the railroad station be something more than the mere expression of a commercial utility. Stone, the sturdy and durable building material of all the ages, has become the expression of these buildings from without. Within, they are gay with rare marbles and mural paintings. There is nothing too fine for the railroad passenger terminal of to-day in the United States. ”

“ It is evident that the rail which would last for very many years under the small traffic, would have a very short life under the frequent traffic. Hence the reason why it is found expedient to give a large increase of material in the heads of rails carrying the heavy, constant train service of many of our main lines. ”

“ The introduction of this section of rail has contributed greatly to the increased efficiency and durability of the permanent way for street traffic; and as the ends of the rails can be secured by ordinary fish-plates, there is the great acquisition of even joints and increased smoothness in the running of the tramcars. This rail can be rolled of various weights to suit the rolling loads. On some tram-lines a moderately heavy section has been adopted, and secured to transverse sleepers of rolled iron or steel laid on a bed of concrete. ”

“ When we build a bridge we wish its roadway to remain as level as possible while a load passes, so that no hills and hollows may waste tractive power: levelness is secured by a design which is rigid as well as strong. If a railroad has weak, yielding rails, a great deal of energy is uselessly exerted in bending the metal as the wheels pass by. A stiff rail, [7] giving way but little, avoids this waste. To create forms which in use will firmly keep their shape is accordingly one of the chief tasks of the engineer and the architect.
Rubber strip suspended plank-wise, and joist-wise. ”

“ The introduction of electricity facilitated the construction of monorail systems of roads, which had long been the dream of railroad constructors, since this power192 could be applied with so much more flexibility. The defects of the parallel rail system are apparent both in construction of the roadbed and the operating of trains. It is almost impossible to lay and maintain the rails in exact parallels, and even more difficult to keep each rail at the proper height at all points. ”

“ Steel rails are not riveted to railroad ties but the spikes are driven close to each rail so that the heads hook over the edge and hold the rail down without absolutely preventing its movement forward and backward. ”

“ The steel rails, which are laid in the chairs, are of the single-headed section, 30 feet in length, and weigh 900 lbs., or 90 lbs. per lineal yard. It may be mentioned that over bridges, and for some other special purposes, about 10 miles of rails have been laid upon the London and North-Western Railway which are 60 feet in length.
Each 30 feet rail rests on ten sleepers, and is secured in its place by creosoted oak keys 6 inches long, 33⁄8 inches wide, and 21⁄8 inches thick, driven between the rail and the chair, outside the rail. ”

“ In its course up the valley the railway on one side sometimes rises above the level of the carriage-road on the other, sometimes finds itself considerably below it. In climbing the pass, the rail of course never ceases to ascend; while the more humble road bows to the obstacles it encounters, and rises and falls according to the nature of the ground. At last, Nature seems determined to put a stop to the encroachments of steam, and the railroad finds itself directly facing a lateral valley, the bottom of which lies far below it. ”

“ The reason that ordinary railway tracks are an obstruction to common travelling-carriages is, that it is necessary that the rails should be raised above the surface of the ground, because railroad wheels are constructed differently from ordinary wheels in having two circumferences of different diameters, the smaller circumference being intended to rest on the rail (and called the tread) , and the larger circumference running on the side of the rail. ”

“ To incline the rail base may be used, when the rail is not bevelled, wedges one 290foot long and six inches wide, spiked with the rail to the tie. When the chairs are of cast-iron, they may be cast to the required slope. ”

“ We now have a kind of rail which conforms to the condition already mentioned, namely, that of being capable of being laid down in front of the wheel of the truck or vehicle, and of being picked up again when the weight has passed over any particular part. The hoop, in fact, constitutes a rolling railway, and the larger it can with convenience be made, the nearer is the approach which it presents to a straight railway track as regards the absence of resistance to the passing of a loaded truck-wheel over it. ”

“ The expense of a little additional weight of cast iron, in the first instance, will be greatly compensated in the end, by avoiding frequent repairs, and will thereby be amply repaid, while the expense of laying the road, and other contingencies, are much the same in the light as in the heavy rail. The mode of fixing is another point of great importance in the construction of a substantial railway. In the early123 practice of laying railways, the value of this new discovery was for a time lost to the public, owing to the intricacy and difficulty of this part of the design. ”

“ Next the centre line of rail is unfolded, or developed, on a board, with position of risers thereon. Then the centre falling line of rail is drawn, resting on the corners of the full-size steps and continued across the well. And here it is where good taste and judgment is required, so as to get a good falling. After the falling line has been drawn it will be seen at once if any improvement can be made in the position of the risers. The development of tangents is next drawn to suit the falling line of rail. ”

“ Long trains brought up to the end of the track, loads of ties and rails the former were transferred to teams and sent one or two miles ahead and put in place on the grade, then spikes and rails were reloaded on platform cars and pushed up to the last previously laid rail and with an automatic movement and celerity that was wonderful, practiced hands dropped the fresh rails one after another on the ties exactly in line. ”

“ The centre rail not only aids the train in going round curves, but also adds largely to its safety. Each vehicle is provided with four horizontal pulleys, each of about eight inches diameter, playing around vertical axes fixed upon the frame of the vehicle, and placed two and two at each of its extremities, and on each side of the centre rail. By the tightening of these pulleys, the flanges of the wheels, instead of gliding along the outer rails, press strongly against them, and thus the train is able to overcome curves unaccomplishable by any other means. ”

“ This seems a scanty allowance; nevertheless it is not probable that more than a few hundred miles of rail will be built for centuries. The habits and poverty of the people, and in many districts the topography of the country, are such as to render railways unsuitable. ”

“ The Reporter is therefore to recommend an edge rail warranted to work with two tons, including the wagon, of the weight of 140 lb. per lineal yard of finished double railway. Lighter dimensions might indeed be found to answer; but for a public railway, the rails should be made of a greater strength than is barely sufficient for a given weight, as this cannot always be kept within bounds, or regulated to a nicety. ”

“ With a deep rail it is preferable to place the nuts inside, so that the platelayer inspecting his length can see both rows of nuts as he walks along between the rails. With shallow rails the nuts must be placed outside and the cup-heads inside, to give ample clearance to the wheel-flanges. ”

“ Fig. 343 shows an arrangement of sleepering largely adopted for steel flange rails 26 feet long, and weighing 79 lbs. per yard. The length of a rail is more a question of convenience of handling, facility of transhipment, and general use, than of actual manufacture. There is no difficulty in rolling rails up to 50 feet in length, or more; but very long rails are extremely ungainly things to move about, and are more exposed to receive permanent bends or kinks in unloading, besides requiring greater spaces at the joints to allow for contraction and expansion. ”

“ A good fitting chair—especially when keyed on the inside—provides a most effectual support to the rail both vertically and laterally, and maintains the rail to accurate gauge. By giving proper clearance space at the tops of the chair-jaws, a bull-head rail can be taken out by simply driving out the wooden keys, and a new rail inserted without in any way disturbing the chairs or spikes. To change a flange rail necessitates the slackening and removal of a large number of the spikes and crab bolts. ”

“ The gain in leg-space will be great, the centre gangway giving a clear 4 feet, and there will be fewer cross seats. Each train will hold about 338 passengers; the ventilation of the cars will be perfect; and the height sufficient for a giant. As the District tunnels are 25 feet in diameter, and 15 feet 9 inches from the rail level to the crown of the arch, there will be about 2 feet of head-room, about 2 feet 6 inches between each train, and the same between the trains and the sides of the tunnels. ”

“ But important changes in roadway and equipment are conditions of its effective use. Heavier locomotives make greater demands on the road structure which carry them. To obviate large maintenance expenses attendant upon frequent repair and replacement the roadway must be made more durable. [67] To this end rails of heavier section, [68] and of increased length are adopted. [69] Anti-creepers are freely used to prevent rail movement. [70] Larger ties are selected; and they are treated to prevent deterioration. [71] Ballast is made deeper and heavier, and of gravel or stone rather than of cinders. ”

“ The flange rail, Fig. 265, was designed to give a broad, direct bearing on the sleepers, and thus avoid the necessity of using chairs. Rails of this section have been laid down on many of our lines at home, and are very largely used on the Continent, in the United States of America, and in our colonies generally. This section is, also, nearly always adopted for narrow-gauge railways. Having fewer parts, it makes a cheaper road than the bull-head rail, but is not considered so strong or suitable for heavy and fast traffic. ”