Railways. common. One of the earliest, if not the first trial of a locomotive on an incìine of 1 in 12, was made in Scotland in 1862, by Mr. George Gray, on his private line near Bathgate. Gauge and Earth-works.-In the early stage of railway operations, the gauge or width between the raisl excited considerable discussion. When way-leaves, or tramways, were introduced in the coal districts, their gauge was adapted to the common road-wagons that were to be put upon them, and it happened that the gauge between the wheels of these wagons was 4 ft. 8 inches. Accustomed to this width, George Stephenson believed that it was most economical in construction, not only as regarded the engines and car riages, but more particularly of the railway itself." This gauge was accordingly adopted on most of the earlier-made railways, and, notwithstanding the keen contests of engineers, who were generally favorable to a 5 ft. or 5 ft. 3 in. gauge-Brunel contending for 7 ft.-this original 4 ft. 8 in. gauge-measured from the inside of one rail to the inside of the other-was irrevocably fixed by a public act, 1846, as applicable to all the railways in England and Scotland, the Great Western and certain branches excepted, on which the gauge was regulated at 7 feet. Owing to inconvenience in communicating with other lines, and from other causes, the Great Western has found it advisable to conform to its neighbors, and has now relaid its lines on the standard gauge. By the same act, the gauge in Ireland was fixed at 5 ft. 3 inches. The government of India fixed the gauge of all the railways in that country at 5 ft. 6 inches. But a movement in an opposite direction has set in within the last few years, and the battle of the gauges is renewed. A horse tramway at Festiniog in Wales, constructed in 1832 for the conveyance of slates from a quarry, and laid with a 1 ft. 11 in. gauge, was, in 1863, transformed into a loco motive railway for passengers and goods, and was found to work with perfect safety, and with remarkable economy. The success of this experiment has awakened the attention of many engineers to what they believe to be the needless extravagance of the standard gauge; and railways with gauges varying from 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. 6 in. are now in operation in the Isle of Man, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Queensland, Peru, Chili, Brazil, Canada, and the United States, where a vast mileage is built or in course of construction. The great argument for the narrower gauge is the obvious economy both in first cost and in working. It is calculated that, on an average, companies have to haul over their lines seven tons of dead-weight in order to carry one ton of goods; and in the case of passenger carriages the excess is even greater. With the whole apparatus on a smaller scale, this waste is greatly reduced. Another advantage of the narrow gauge is, that much sharper curves may be adopted than are possible on the broader one, and thus the route may be chosen to much greater advantage. While it may be an open question whether the narrow gauge is adequate for a thickly peopled district, where "express" trains may be indispensable, and where traffic may at times be exceptionally heavy, it is, without doubt, especially suitable for sparsely peopled districts and half-developed territories. Indeed, it affords the means of supplying the benefits of railway communication where otherwise they would be hopeless. After careful investigation, the Indian government of the late lord Mayo decided to adopt the meter gauge, about 3 ft. 3 in., for the greater part of an extensive series-1500 m.-of state railways, and considerable progress has already been made in their construction. In Canada there are over 6,000 m. of railway with a guage of 4 feet 81⁄2 inches. Ballast. This is the name given to the mass of broken stones or dry gravel on which the sleepers are placed, and which serves to keep them steady. Material for ballast is generally got in the cuttings or near the line, but is often brought a considerable distance. The term ballast originated in the practice of using the gravel-ballast emptied from the ships in the Tyne, for the tram and railways in the neighborhood of Newcastle. Rails.-Rails are generally of wrought iron, but steel rails have been extensively adopted where there is a continuous heavy traffic, and are found to reduce greatly the cost of maintenance, and promise to supersede wrought iron. Rails differ in shape and weight. The most common form is the "double-headed" rail, which is reversible. Another form, which was once used on the Great Western for the broad-gauge line, is known as the "bridge-rail;" and a form frequently used on the continent, and generally on narrow-gauge lines, has a flat base formed by a flange on each side of the vertical web. The last two descriptions do not require chairs, but are fastened directly to the sleepers by spikes. Rails are generally 21 or 24 ft. long, and for light railways vary in weight from 20 to 45 lbs., and for heavy lines from 60 to 80 lbs. per lineal yard. Cross-sleepers are laid at 2 ft. 6 to 3 ft. 6 in. apart, usually about 3 ft., and on these sleepers the chairs of cast-iron are fixed and held firmly down by iron spikes driven into the sleepers. The ends of the rails are now almost always joined together by a plate of malleable iron placed on each side, called a fish-plate; two of these are used at each joint, and are bolted together by strong bolts passing through the rails. In the joining of the rails end to end, to make a smooth surface, great care is bestowed; perfect steadiness in the required line of direction is secured by means of wooden wedges acting on the rails and the chairs. Hitherto, the sleepers have been of seasoned native larch, as the most durable; but latterly, from the growing scarcity and cost of this article, sleepers have been made of imported timber from ports in the Baltic. They are sometimes creosoted to render them durable, but generally they are found to require renewal on account of splitting before they rot. Many patents have been taken out for methods of dispensing with wood Railways. sleepers, and substituting some more lasting material. Some of them are extensively used abroad, but they are scarcely to be found in this country. Tunnels and Viaducts.-Tunnels are avoided as far as possible on account of their costliness. They are made only when the excavations would be more than 60 ft. in depth, or when land-proprietors force their adoption, in order to spare the amenity of grounds near a mansion. For this latter reason, some short tunnels are known to have cost railway companies as much as £50,000. Latterly, the execution of underground railways in the inetropolis has offered examples of tunneling more extensive than were previously known in England, and at the same time popularized a method of subterranean transit almost as marvelous as anything in the way of viaducts. The Woodhead tunnel is probably the longest in Britain, being 3 m. 60 feet. All these tunnels have, however, been cast into the shade by that through the Alps near Mont Cenis. The highest summit of the section immediately over this tunnel is 9,527 ft., and the summit-level of the tunnel, 4,246 ft.—about the height of Ben Nevis-above the level of the sea. It was completed in 13 years, cost about £200 per linear yard, the total length being 7.6 m., and was opened Dec. 26, 1870. The time occupied in passing through the tunnel by train is 25 minutes. A still greater undertaking, the St. Gothard tunnel, was begun in 1872, and the borings from opposite sides met in 1880. Its length is 9.2 English m. The Arlberg tunnel in Austria (sce TUNNEL) was made in 1880-83. Viaducts are frequently of stone, and of handsome architecture, but now commonly of malleable iron girders, of various forms, set in stone or iron piers. In the construction of viaducts, there is a growing boldness of conception. Remarkable works of this kind are the great suspension East river bridge connecting New York and Brooklyn, more than a mile long, the central opening having a span of nearly 1600 ft.; and the St. Louis bridge, crossing the Mississippi by 3 arches, the center span being 520 feet. But the longest bridge in the world was that constructed across the Firth of Tay, Dundee, opened May 31, 1878. It was designed by sir T. Bouch, and cost £350,000. Length, 16,612 ft., in 85 spans, 11 of them being 245 ft. each. It was partially destroyed by a storm, 1879, and was replaced at a lower level. A magnificent suspension railway viaduct crossing the Forth at Queensferry is now in progress. The contracts for its erection amount to £1,116,000. Cost of Permanent Way.-Owing to the obstruction offered by land-owners, and their excessive claims for amenity damages, also the opposition of rival companies, the cost of railways was at one time very much greater than it is at present. The expenditure incurred in securing legislative authority to construct railways was likewise enormous. The parliamentary costs of the Brighton railway average £4,806 per m.; of the Manchester and Birmingham, £5,190 per m.; and of the Blackwall, £14,414 per mile! The cost of carrying the Liverpool and Manchester line was £27,000. It has been shown that the solicitor's bill for the South-eastern railway contained 10,000 folios, and amounted to £240,000. These few facts, however, afford but a feeble idea of the reckless wastefulness of capital on railway undertakings; it is universally allowed that, under a better policy, not only a much better railway-system might have been provided, but a saving effected of at least fifty millions. At the end of 1871, the total average cost of all the railways in the kingdom was £35,943 per m. open, or about double that of any other country. The cost of construction varies so much, that it is impossible to say definitely what would be the average cost nowadays; but in England a double line, including stationhouses, signals, and all other fixed plant, would probably cost, under ordinary circumstances, from £15,000 to £20,000 per mile. Single lines are made at perhaps a fourth less, but nowhere in the United Kingdom have they been executed so economically as in Scotland. There, some single lines have cost for land and everything not more than about £5,000 per m.-such economy, however, being greatly due to the fact, that the undertakings were promoted and watched over by bodies of land proprietors deeply interested in restraining expenditure. Of these cheap Scotch lines a good example is offered by the Peebles railway (practically a branch of the North British), extending to 184 m., the entire cost of which, and land station-houses included, was about £95,000. The cost of rolling stock was additional. Maintenance of Way.-Every railway, great or small, is at a considerable expense in keeping the line in proper working order, for which purpose a staff of officials is required. Besides a general superintendent there is an effective staff of "plate-layers," whose duty It is to watch over and repair the permanent way. ROLLING STOCK.-Under this head are comprehended locomotives, carriages, and trucks for goods and minerals, the whole forming an important part of railway undertakings. Locomotives.-Locomotives are of several kinds, varied in construction to suit the traffic for which they are designed. They may be classed as express, ordinary, passenger, goods, and tank engines. In the latter class the tender for fuel and water forms an extension of the locomotive; but for the most part the tender is detached, and only connected by couplings. Locomotives for ordinary traffic have generally six wheels. In the first two classes, where speed is the principal object, only two, or at most four of the six wheels are driven, and these are made of large diameter. There has been a continual tendency to increase the speed, and this has led to an increase in the size of the drivingwheels, which are in some cases 8 ft. in diameter. All the wheels of locomotives for Railways. The heavy traffic are coupled together, so as to utilize the entire weight for adhesion. smaller class of locomotives have only four wheels. The present price of first-class locomotives of the largest size in general use-including the tender, varies from £3,000 to £4,000. Locomotives of this class weigh in trim from 30 to 40 tous; but there are, of course, much lighter locomotives; while sometimes they are as much as 55 or 56 tons. Carriages.-There are three distinct kinds of carriages to suit the several classes of passengers. Each first-class carriage consists of three or four distinct compartments;, but in the other classes the backs of the seats are in many cases not carried to the roof, leaving the upper part of the carriage open fore and aft. At night the carriages are lighted with lamps; on the metropolitan lines gas is sometimes used. Special salooncarriages are reserved for royalty. The first-class compartments are handsomely fitted up, and in winter are heated by hot-water tins. Recently, one of the leading companies abolished its second-class carriages; and some companies now run third-class carriages with all trains. Passenger carriages made of iron have been used in America. Sleepingcarriages and the American Pullman cars have also been introduced into Gt. Britain. Many efforts have been made to devise some simple and efficient contrivance by which passengers might, in cases of emergency, summon the guard, but no plan has as yet been adopted to any extent. The continuous brake" is an improvement and novelty which has already been successfully tried, and is likely to be soon generally applied. By its use trains can be stopped in a much shorter time and distance than under the present system, and thus the risk of accident is reduced; brakes are fitted to each carriage, and all are simultaneously applied. The guard's van contains space for luggage, and is provided with a look-out box, from which the guard can see along the roofs of all the carriages in the train. 66 Wagons and Luggage Vans.-To accommodate its traffic, every railway must be provided with a large stock of trucks or wagons for carrying goods, minerals, cattle, timber, and other articles. Except for the heaviest traffic, wagons are now very generally fitted with elastic buffers. TRAFFIC.-The traffic on railways is of two distinct kinds-passengers and goods; with the goods we include minerals, also timber and other bulky articles. The passenger and goods traffics are placed under separate managements. Usually, there are passenger-trains and goods-trains, but mixed trains are very common on branch lines. In almost every railway in the United Kingdom, passengers are of three classesfirst, second, and third. Though from the fares charged, first-class carriages possess an air of exclusiveness, no more objection is popularly taken to them than to the use of boxes in theaters; and, indeed, they are universally recognized as an advantage, for the reason that by the comparatively high fares exacted for them, the companies are enabled to lower the charges for second and third-class passengers. On some lines, compartments are set apart for ladies if they choose to use them. Special compartments of each class are now also allotted to smokers, a custom one may contrast with the special non-smoking carriages common on the continent. The first-class passengers have distinct waiting-rooms at the termini and stations, with generally a waiting-room in addition for ladies; for the second and third class, there is a waiting-room in common. The several waiting-rooms are neatly fitted up, and provided with suitable conveniences, including basins and water for washing the hands-accommodations which contrast favorably with what were furnished to travelers in the old coaching establishments. The waiting-rooms are open all day to the public, and there is seldom any restriction as to going on the platforms. Tickets are sold at a wicket not earlier than a quarter of an hour before the starting of the train. The tickets, marked in consecutive numbers, are stamped with the date on delivery, and excepting "return-tickets," will not answer for any other day. Return-tickets at a fare and a half are issued on most lines for the date of issue, or from Friday till Monday. On most lines first and second-class untransferable season tickets are issued for various periods at a considerable reduction on ordinary fares. To encourage the building of villas at a distance of 10 to 20 m. from termini, by which means a traffic may be developed, some companies give a personal ticket free for a number of years corresponding to the valued rental of the villa. The second-class has been abolished by the Midland railway. The number of trains run daily depends on the pleasure of the directors. There are ordinary, mail, and express trains; of this last kind, two usually go each way daily, the fares on which are sometimes higher than by the others. Ordinary fares are about 24d. per mile first class, 14d. second class, and 1d. to 14d. third class; but on some lines the fares are considerably lower. According to one of the provisions of a general act, all companies must run one train daily each way, stopping at all stations, and at a rate of speed not less than 12 m. per hour, at a fare of a penny a mile. Some of the express trains are run at very high speeds, and with wonderful punctuality. On June 1, 1873, London was brought, for the first time, within 94 hours of Edinburgh, by a train running on the East coast route, which, deducting stoppages, travels at an average speed of nearly 47 m, an hour. An act of 1842 secured to government a duty of 5 per cent on the fares, which a later act abolished on all fares not exceeding 1d. per mile. An act of 1863 reduced restrictions on this limitation. By the Cheap Trains act, 1883, fares are |