On a Peculiar Form of Rail, and the Construction of Railways in America and Germany.

Abstract

The pattern, which the Author describes, is by American engineers Railways. called the inverted T rail (l) , a n d was introduced, in order to avoid the trouble and expense, which railways are liable to, where the rails are placed in chairs and fastened with keys. The material used for this form of rail need not be of first quality; but in cases where it is expedient to support n general confidence in the quality of the iron, good and sound rails can be made of two-fifths of No. 2, Welsh iron, and three-fifths of No. 3 ; employing the better quality for the head and the bottom, and No. 2 for the stem of the rail; rolling the rails