3SS
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOB-URBANA 
 
 3 0112 062003709
 
 REPORT 
 
 
 
 DIRECTORS OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT 
 
 ON THE SUBJECT OF 
 
 RAIL ROADS. 
 
 TRANSMITTED TO THE LEGISLATURE 
 
 ^ JANUARY SESSION, 1830. 
 
 tfostou : 
 
 DUTTON AND WENTWORTH, FIUNTERS TO THE STATE. 
 
 N«* 1 and 4 Exchange ir ■ 
 
 "lSSO.
 
 eouuuoutoeaitfj of J&assatfjuaetts, 
 
 In Senate, Jan. 14th, 1830. 
 Ordered — 
 
 That fourteen hundred copies of the Report of th 
 Directors of Internal Improvement, be printed for th 
 use of the General Court. 
 
 Attest, PAUL WILLARD, Clerk.
 
 N\^£u~ 
 
 eomwoutoeaUtj of iaaaaadjusctts. 
 
 i 
 
 &> 
 
 To the Honorable the Senate, and the 
 
 Honorable the House of Representatives. 
 
 The Directors of Internal Improvement havo the 
 honor, herewith, respectfully to submit such further in- 
 formation upon the construction and utility of Rail Roads 
 as they have been enabled to obtain, in compliance with 
 a concurrent order of the two Houses of the Legisla- 
 ture, at the last session. Considering the duty assigned 
 " them, by the terms of their Commission, as merely min- 
 terial, in collecting and presenting facts applicable to 
 ^the "practicability and expediency" of adopting this 
 particular species of improvement, they feel constrained 
 to confine themselves to a communication of the result 
 of such examinations as they have directed, and of the 
 ^practical operations which have fallen within the scope 
 of their inquiry, as evidence to others, rather than to 
 oiler observations, which arc the effect of the additional 
 information thus acquired, upon their own minds. 
 They will not forbear, however, to add an expression of 
 satisfaction, that all their previous anticipations of the
 
 value of such Improvements are abundantly confirmed, 
 and that they feel an assured confidence in the correct- 
 ness of the calculations and estimates of the expense of 
 their construction, as well as the inducements to, and 
 promise of advantage from their enjoyment, which in a 
 former Report, they so fully ana unequivocally expressed. 
 It was deemed expedient to ascertain, in the first place, 
 how far the face of the country, and the manner of exe- 
 cuting the work of constructing Rail Roads, in other 
 places, would, upon comparison, afford encouragement 
 to similar undertakings in Massachusetts. The Directors, 
 therefore, sought to avail themselves of the experience 
 which other States had already acquired on this subject. 
 It was known that Pennsylvania had engaged extensively 
 in similar enterprizes, after the best means had been re- 
 sorted to, for direction in her plans of public improve- 
 ment. The People and State of Maryland, also, had 
 undertaken one of the greatest enterprizes of the age, 
 in the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road, upon the most 
 careful investigation of the principles and character of 
 this mode of intercommunication, and upon critical in- 
 quiries into its practical operation upon the business and 
 interests of Society. Scientific men had been sent to 
 Europe, expressly charged to obtain all the information, 
 which the introduction and use of Rail Roads there, 
 could afford, and the result had been, a decision, in both 
 of the aforementioned States, in favor of their equal 
 applicability to the circumstances and occasions of 
 Transportation, in our own Country. With a view to 
 the knowledge, which might be obtained, by an exami- 
 nation of the works which were thus in progress, and 
 from a direct communication with those who had their 
 superintendence, a Committee, composed of one of the
 
 Members of the Board, and the Engineer, who had been 
 employed in the Survey of the Providence Route, and 
 whose intelligence and accuracy were fully approved, 
 were authorized to visit the scenes of those improve- 
 ments, and to make the inquiries, and procure all the 
 information which could be found useful, in the proceed- 
 ings which were to be had here. In the course of the 
 season, this Committee accordingly examined the prin- 
 cipal public works in the States of Pennsylvania and 
 Maryland, and have made a Report of the result of their 
 4 observations, which the Directors herewith transmit, 
 and request may be received, as part of the execution 
 of their Commission. 
 
 It will be seen, that the State of Pennsylvania is deeply 
 committed to the objects of Internal Improvement. The 
 extent to which she is at this time engaged, in Canals 
 and Railways, either on the public account or in joint 
 stock associations of her Citizens, exceeds Twelve hun- 
 dred miles, at an estimated cost of Fifteen Millions of 
 Dollars. The Committee found no degree of discour- 
 agement entertained, on account of the magnitude of 
 these undertakings, or from any obstacles which had 
 been presented to their accomplishment. On the other 
 hand, they met every where, on the routes of their loca- 
 tion, the strongest manifestation of the improvement of 
 country, by the progress of the works, and received as- 
 surances of the entire dependence of the interests of 
 trade, manufactures and agriculture, upon their success- 
 ful completion. 
 
 In the description of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail 
 Road, an explanation is afforded of the great expense 
 of its construction. The most extraordinary difficulties 
 arc there overcome, and excessive sacrifices made, to
 
 conform to a preferred location of the Road, in reference 
 to its approach to the City of Baltimore. High em- 
 bankments, deep cuttings, magnificent Bridges and Via- 
 ducts of solid masonry, faced and ornamented with 
 hammered granite brought from great distances, are the 
 occasions of cost, which are not usually within the esti- 
 mates of such improvements, and exclude all comparison 
 between that work and others, which, anywhere else, 
 have been projected. Yet is the enterprize still prose- 
 cuted with a zeal and confidence of success, which 
 admits no distrust, on this account, of the attainment of 
 the ultimate object. The considerations of encourage- 
 ment, which the promised advantages from its use have 
 presented, are strikingly applicable to the circumstances 
 of our own State, in relation to an improved communi- 
 cation, between the Capital and the trade of the North 
 River. 
 
 On the route of this Road, the Rails have been laid 
 for nearly two miles from the City, upon which experi- 
 ments of the most satisfactory character have been 
 recently made, in the rapid passage of Carriages, moved 
 by Horse power. The Way is graded, and prepared 
 to receive the Rails for nearly twenty three miles fur- 
 ther, and great progress has been made upon other 
 sections of the route. The estimated cost of the whole 
 work exceeds, more than tivofold, that of all the improve- 
 ments taken together, which have been proposed in 
 Massachusetts. The State is, at the same time, engag- 
 ed in another Rail Road from Baltimore to the River 
 Susquehanna, the first stone of which was laid in 
 August last, and upon which much labour has already 
 been done. Besides all this, the mighty project of the 
 Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is in a state of vigorous 
 prosecution.
 
 Through the instrumentality of an application, by the 
 ['resident of this Board to His Excellency Governor 
 Martin of Maryland, the Directors were put in posses- 
 sion of much more minute information, on the subject 
 of the public works in that State. Among the Docu- 
 ments herewith transmitted to the Legislature will be 
 found an original communication from Colonel Long 
 of the United States Topographical Engineers, and 
 President of the Board of Engineers employed on the 
 Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road, containing precise an- 
 swers to definite inquiries, which were proposed in rela- 
 tion to the progress of that principal work, and also on 
 the general subject of this kind of construction, the best 
 application of moving power in its improvement, and 
 the preference to be given to it, over other modes of 
 conveyance. This valuable Document was expressly 
 prepared for the instruction of this Government, and 
 entitles the distinguished Officer, who promptly and 
 gratuitously furnished it, to very grateful acknowledg- 
 ments. In the authentic character of the information 
 which it contains, where we have the known results of 
 the application of scientific principles to the laws of 
 matter, and of practical experience in the operations of 
 labour, the Directors are spared the occasion of repeat- 
 ing their own observations upon the same subjects of 
 inquiry, which were presented to their attention. It 
 will well supply the place of opinions and suggestions, 
 which less particular information obtained elsewhere, 
 would otherwise have required them to make, and must 
 be received as an acceptable substitute for any detail by 
 themselves, in regard to whatever it embraces. 
 
 From a comparison of the description which is given 
 of all the works, both in Pennsylvania and Maryland,
 
 8 
 
 with the Surveys which have been had here, it cannot 
 fail to be seen, that we have few of the difficulties to 
 overcome, which are found in those States. The 
 Country here is less broken into deep and precipitous 
 inequalities of surface, the elevation is no where so 
 great for a like distance of way, upon any proposed 
 route for a Road, the earth is oi a kind more easy of 
 removal and graduation, and materials are both more 
 abundant and better suited to the construction of the 
 tracks. The courses of location, also, are in the gen- 
 eral, more direct. It would seem too, from the infor- 
 mation furnished us, that the work, even there, may be 
 constructed at a rate, having regard to the character of 
 the ground, as low as the estimates which have been 
 made with us. ' Iron for the Rails has actually been ob- 
 tained, at less cost, and some contracts for excavating 
 and removing earth and preparing the way for the Rails, 
 have recently been entered into, at a price below the 
 allowance in the estimates of our own Engineers. 
 These latter circumstances are particularly deserving of 
 note, as fortifying the reliance which may be placed upon 
 the sufficiency of former calculations for similar works, 
 in this Commonwealth. 
 
 In the prosecution of the inquiries to which our atten- 
 tion has been directed, we have been called to receive, 
 in astonishment, the accounts which are given, of recent 
 experiments in England, upon the capacity and adapta- 
 tion of Steam Carriages, as a self-moving power over 
 Rail Roads. This invention promises to produce a new 
 era in the business and arrangements of Society. The 
 effects which are to result from it can hardly be com- 
 passed by the anticipations of the most sanguine. Dis- 
 tance is lost in the application of this power to the pur-
 
 poses of conveyance. A rate of travelling, with a 
 velocity of from 20 to ;]() miles the hour, is fully demon- 
 strated to be within the capacity of these Engines, and 
 the ease, safety, and economy of this mode of dispatch 
 are made equally apparent. Thus will Intercourse of 
 every description be facilitated. Places of market, here- 
 tofore considered too remote from each other for inter- 
 communication, will be rendered easily accessible. The 
 labour bestowed upon transportation, will be spared to 
 the purposes of production ; and that diffusion of wealth 
 which is the fruit of trade, extended through City and 
 country, from the mart of commerce to the field of the 
 Husbandman's culture, and through the Workshops of 
 the Mechanic and Manufacturer, will be richly experi- 
 enced. Whenever the time shall arrive for the intro- 
 duction of these machines into the United States, the 
 inexhaustible beds of coal which have been discovered, 
 will supply abundant fuel for Engines, while the ways 
 over which these move, will render the facility and 
 cheapness of that supply, the strongest inducement to 
 their use. Yielding entire confidence to the accounts 
 of the experiments to which we have referred, we deem 
 it proper to offer to the Legislature, as part of the in- 
 formation which may be expected from this Report, 
 various extracts from periodical publications in Europe, 
 to show how greatly the advantages, heretofore propos- 
 ed from Railways, arc increased in prospect, by recent 
 discoveries. 
 
 The Directors are not aware, in conclusion, that there 
 is any thing more for them to add to the Report of their 
 Committee, which, in connexion with the communica- 
 tion of Colonel Long, the extracts before referred to, 
 together with the foregoing remarks, will present all the 
 2
 
 10 
 
 information of which they are possessed, upon the sub- 
 jects of inquiry proposed by the order of the Legisla- 
 ture, and in compliance with which the same is humbly 
 submitted. 
 
 LEVI LINCOLN, 
 NATHAN HALE, 
 DAVID HENSHAW, 
 GEORGE BOND, 
 THOMAS W. WARD, 
 WILLIAM FOSTER, 
 ROYAL MAKEPEACE. 
 
 Boston, January 12th, 1S30.
 
 I! 
 
 REPORT 
 
 Of Edward II. Kobbins, and James Hayward, Esqrs., 
 who were appointed to visit the Works of Internal Im- 
 provement in the States of Pennsylvania and Maryland. 
 
 To the Board of Directors of Interoal Improvement. 
 
 Boston, December 15, 1829. 
 
 Gentlemen, — 
 
 Having, in pursuance of your request, visited 
 the States of Pennsylvania and Maryland, for the pur- 
 pose of examining the public works and other internal 
 improvements in these States, to collect facts which 
 should throw light upon the question of adopting a sys- 
 tem of inter-communication by rail- roads, now before 
 the Legislature of this state, — we Report the following 
 facts : — 
 
 "We^firstjvisited the Delaware and Hudson Canal and 
 Rail-road, constructed for the purpose of conveying coal 
 from the^Lackawannock valley, near the North branch 
 of the Susquehanna River, to the Hudson River. This 
 Canal commences near Kingston on Hudson river, 90 
 miles from the city of New York, and runs in a south- 
 westerly direction to Delaware river, near the northern 
 extremity of New-Jersey ; up the Delaware to the 
 mouth of the Lackawaxen river, and thence along the 
 Lackawaxen to its head waters in Honesdale in Wayne 
 county, Pennsylvania
 
 12 
 
 The whole length of this canal from the Hudson to 
 Honesdale, is 108 miles. The average cost per mile is 
 about #18,000. The Delaware division cost $20,000 
 per mile. This great expense of construction was oc- 
 casioned by the exceeding roughness of the country 
 through which it is carried, the large amount of rock 
 excavation, and the great extent of river wall and other 
 stone work along the banks of the Delaware, Lacka- 
 waxen, and Neversink rivers, as well as the great amount 
 of lockage in proportion to the length of the canal ; 
 there being 1088 feet in the 108 miles. 
 
 Another circumstance which enhanced very much the 
 expense of construction, is, that a considerable portion 
 of this work was undertaken in an entire wilderness, 
 where provisions and other accommodations for the 
 laborers were obtained at great inconvenience and cost; 
 and whore all transportation of materials for the various 
 structures, was done under the greatest disadvantages. 
 From the terminus of this canal in Honesdale, a rail- 
 road 16 miles in length connects it. with a coal bed in 
 Carbondale on Lackawannock creek, a tributary to 
 the Susquehanna River, in the county of Luzerne. 
 The general level of the coal bed is nearly the same with 
 that of the canal basin in Honesdale ; but the interme- 
 diate country (Lackawannock Mountain) rises 800 feet 
 above this level. This rise of 800 feet from the coal 
 bed is surmounted in the first 3J miles, upon the rail- 
 road, by five inclined planes of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet 
 each, with short intermediate levels. The loaded cars 
 are drawn up these planes by stationary steam engines, 
 by an endless chain passing round pullies at the head 
 and foot of the plane, while the empty cars being at- 
 tached to the opposite part of the chain* descend by a side
 
 13 
 
 track parallel to the main way. The inclination of these 
 planes is from 1 in 20 to 1 in 12. 
 
 From the summit towards Honcsdalc, there is a descent 
 of 6 feet in the first lj miles. From this place the cars 
 descend, by stationary conducting apparatus, three 
 planes, (of 4260 feet, 1560 feet, and 910 feet,) inclined 
 to the horizon in an angle of 1 to 12, with intermediate 
 planes of such inclinations as will admit of the cars des- 
 cending by gravity, with no other regulation of their 
 speed than what may be given by the application by 
 their conductors, of a break to the circumference of 
 the wheel. 
 
 Up these easy inclinations the empty cars are drawn 
 by horses ; there being a side-track about mid-way, in 
 each of them, where the trains of waggons moving in 
 opposite directions, pass each other. One of these 
 planes is nearly 6 miles in length ; they have an incli- 
 nation of from 27 to 44 feet in a mile. We passed up 
 one of these planes of between 3 and 4 miles in length, 
 in a train of 4 waggons and 12 men, with some other 
 luggage, drawn by a small horse of very ordinary ap- 
 pearance, which did not break his trot for the whole 
 distance. The waggons weigh a net ton each; and the 
 other part of the load drawn by this animal, may be 
 fairly estimated at another ton ; making in all five tons. 
 The inclinations in these long planes arc greater than 
 it is proposed to admit in the projected rail-way from 
 Boston to Providence ; and even as great as will be 
 necessary, except in a few instances and those for short 
 distances, in the route surveyed by Mr. Baldwin to Con- 
 necticut river. This, however, was considered no trial 
 of the animal's power ; the train being one, which, in 
 the ordinary course of their business, happened to be
 
 14 
 
 passing at the time at which we wished to pass up the 
 road. 
 
 This rail-road consists of a single pair of tracks of 
 wooden rails, six inches by ten, with an iron plate rail, 2J 
 inches by h an inch, screwed upon them, and supported 
 by cross sleepers at intervals of about ten feet. 
 
 This structure, it will be perceived, is very similar to 
 the rail -road at Quincy, except that the iron rails, in- 
 stead of being supported by an oak scantling, are fas- 
 tened directly to the main rail which is of hemlock, a 
 wood perhaps less suitable for this purpose than the 
 hard pine of this part of the country. Where the road 
 crosses ravines or hollows, the track is supported by up- 
 right timbers from the ground, to which the sleepers are 
 framed. 
 
 It may be proper here to remark that the place 
 above-mentioned, which we ascended in a train weigh- 
 ing 5 tons, is designed for the use of a small locomotive 
 engine : but, the road not being entirely ready for the 
 locomotive, a temporary horse path has been con- 
 structed of the neighbouring earth, (except where the 
 road is raised some distance above the surface,) in which 
 case, the horse path is of plank. This earth is of a 
 clayey character; and, owing to the recent rains, was 
 at the time we visited it, extremely muddy. It is mani- 
 fest, that with a good gravelled or macadamized path, 
 the horse would carry a far greater load with the same 
 ease. It is also a well-ascertained fact, that a horse 
 will draw a much greater load upon a rail-way of gra- 
 nite than upon one of wood. 
 
 The stationary conductors upon the three planes de- 
 scending towards Honesdale, are what are called pneu- 
 matic convoys, an apparatus by which the inertia of the
 
 15 
 
 atmosphere is made use of to prevent a too great veloc- 
 ity of the descending car. 
 
 At first, such a system of inclined planes with station- 
 ary apparatus, seemed formidable : But the dexterity 
 with which they arc managed, notwithstanding the 
 short time in which they have been in operation ; the 
 facility and dispatch which they give in surmounting 
 great elevations ; and their simplicity and cheapness, 
 are strong arguments in favour of adopting them where 
 abrupt acclivities are to be passed. It has been ascer- 
 tained that more than 400 tons per day can be passed 
 through this system of planes. 
 
 The stationary engines of thirty-horse power cost 
 #8000, each, and require but one man to each to man- 
 age them. One of these engines consumes about a ton 
 of coal per day, which costs, delivered at the engine, 
 not more than 40 cents. The rail-way, independent of 
 the apparatus for passing the inclined planes, cost 
 #6,500 per mile. 
 
 This canal and Rail-road were constructed solely for 
 the purpose of transporting the anthracite coal found in 
 the vicinity of Carbondalc, to the Hudson River ; yet 
 a great deal of incidental trade has already sprung up 
 along the line, although the canal has been but a short 
 time in operation ; unforeseen advantages are begin- 
 ning to be realized, by the agricultural interest, for many 
 miles on each side. It has given the farmers a ready 
 cash market and high prices for every kind of produce 
 which they have to sell, while it has diminished, one 
 half, the cost of such heavy articles as they are obliged 
 to transport from mercantile towns. Industry and en- 
 terprize are thus promoted and rewarded ; the value of 
 real estate is greatly enhanced ; and towns and villages
 
 16 
 
 are already springing up, where, were it not for this ca- 
 nal, the comforts of life could hardly be obtained by the 
 most untiring industry. And we have been elsewhere 
 struck with the evident operation of the same principle, 
 which we have no doubt will be found to be general. 
 Throughout those parts of the country along which we 
 travelled, the evidences of enterprize, comfort, thrift, 
 and intelligence seemed nearly in proportion to the 
 facilities oi inter-communication. 
 
 The coal of Carbondale is somewhat lighter than the 
 Mauch Chunk or Lehigh coal ; it ignites more readily, 
 and burns with greater freedom. Coal of the same 
 character shows itself at intervals along the Lacka- 
 wannock creek and through the Wyoming valley to Wap- 
 wallopen creek, an extent of 60 or 70 miles. It is 
 probably but one formation ; and, where it has been ex- 
 amined, has been found to be from 20 to 25 feet thick. 
 It is probably several miles in width. 
 
 From Carbondale we passed down the Lackawan- 
 nock, and thence down the [Susquehanna River to 
 York-Haven. At Pittston, at the mouth of the Lac- 
 kawannock, we came upon the route of what is called 
 the Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Canal. 
 
 It may be proper to state that the Pennsylvania Ca- 
 nal consists of five divisions, viz : The Transverse Divis- 
 ion commences at Columbia in Lancaster county, on 
 the east bank of the Susquehanna River, extends along 
 this river to the mouth of the Juniata, and thence up 
 the Juniata, and down the Kiskiminitas and Allegany 
 rivers to Pittsburg. The whole length of this line of 
 communication from Columbia to Pittsburg is 322 miles; 
 the general direction is west-northwest ; the Allegany 
 mountain between the Juniata and Kiskiminitas, is to 
 be passed by a rail-road about 40 miles in length.
 
 17 
 
 The Middle Division extends from the mouth of the 
 Juniata up the Susquehanna to the junction of the 
 North and West branches of this river at Northumber- 
 land, and thence up the North Branch of the Susque- 
 hanna to the boundary line between Pennsylvania and 
 New-York. The length of this division is 204 miles. 
 
 The West Branch Division commences at Northum- 
 berland, about 40 miles above the mouth of the Juniata, 
 and extends up the west branch of the Susquehanna 70 
 miles to Dunnstown. Beyond this place the canal has 
 not yet been located. 
 
 The Eastern Division is in the valley of the Delaware 
 River, commencing at Bristol, 18 miles above Philadel- 
 phia, and terminating at Easton, where it unites with 
 the Lehigh Canal, which is owned by the proprietors of 
 the coal mine at Mauch Chunk. From Bristol to Eas- 
 ton is 60 miles. 
 
 The Western Division is to extend from the mouth of 
 the Kiskiminitas up the Allegany River and French 
 Creek, and thence to the town of Erie, on Lake Erie. 
 Only twenty miles of this division are yet completed. 
 Great progress has been made, however, towards the 
 entire completion of the other divisions of this important 
 work. 
 
 As a part of the great system of internal improvement 
 undertaken by this enterprising State, is the Columbia 
 Rail-Road, which passes from Philadelphia, through the 
 counties of Chester and Lancaster, to Columbia, the 
 commencement of the First Division of the State Canal. 
 The length of this rail-road is 80 miles. 
 
 Besides these Public Works, there are, within the 
 state of Pennsylvania, belonging to joint stock compa- 
 nies, canals and rail-roads, whose aggregate length 
 3
 
 18 
 
 amounts to 475 miles ; which, added to the state works 
 above described, gives 1231 miles of canals and rail- 
 roads within the state of Pennsylvania. 
 
 The entire cost of these state works will probably 
 amount to 15 millions of dollars. This expense, how- 
 ever, is readily incurred by those who represent the agri- 
 cultural interests of the Commonwealth, with the feeling 
 of certainty that these will be amply remunerated in the 
 various sources of gain which this system of inter-com- 
 munication will open into the interior of the state ; in 
 the facilities which it will give for the exchange of their 
 domestic products for necessary and useful articles of 
 the growth and manufacture of other states; in the en- 
 couragement which will be given to domestic enter- 
 prize and domestic industry ; and in the comfort, im- 
 provement, and happiness, which will thus be promoted 
 throughout the Commonwealth. 
 
 The inhabitants of the great valley of the Susque- 
 hanna, which is in fact a large portion of the state,- would 
 find a natural outlet for their produce through the mouth 
 of the Susquehanna River, to Baltimore; but knowing 
 the advantages of having a choice in the markets, and 
 the means of dispatch in transportation, they are now 
 constructing, for the purpose of securing these advanta- 
 ges, the « Pennsylvania Rail-Road," to connect the mam 
 trunk of their State Canal with the city of Philadelphia ; 
 notwithstanding that there is, between these places, a 
 communication somewhat less direct, by the Union 
 Canal, through the Swatara and Schuylkill rivers. 
 
 We travelled for about a week in those parts of the 
 country where these works are just going into operation; 
 we conversed with the people, and had an opportunity of 
 witnessing the incipient influence of these improvements
 
 19 
 
 upon their feelings, and the prospects of the country. 
 They spoke of the advantages which had already been 
 realized from having so much money expended in the 
 interior of the country ; of the incidental business about 
 to grow out of this system of improvement, independent 
 of the increased value it gives to the general products 
 of the country, and the corresponding diminution of the 
 cost of those articles which are brought from the sea- 
 board. J3ut the most striking illustration of the ad- 
 vantages to be derived from these increased facilities of 
 intcr-communication, is its effect upon the value of real 
 estate. Capitalists from Baltimore, New York, and 
 Philadelphia, have come into the country and bought 
 large tracts of land for twice and even three times the 
 price which the owners would have been glad to receive 
 for it were it not for the canals and rail-roads. 
 
 Leaving the Susquehanna river at York-Haven, we 
 next visited Baltimore for the purpose of witnessing the 
 progress of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-Road, and col- 
 lecting facts respecting the facilities which the country 
 affords for such a work, and the manner and cost of its 
 construction. 
 
 Of this road we found but two or three miles actually 
 completed ; though it is nearly ready to receive the 
 rails for a distance of 25 miles : And it is expected that 
 the road will be completed for this distance, early in the 
 ensuing summer. 
 
 The bad weather, and the great depth of the mud, 
 occasioned by excessive rains, and the clayey nature of 
 the formations through which the road is constructing, 
 prevented us from following the line of the road, and 
 extending, as far as we had intended, our examination 
 of the facilities which the face of the country, together
 
 20 
 
 with its geological features, affords for a work of this 
 kind. This circumstance, however, was of less impor- 
 tance, as the politeness of the Gentlemen having charge 
 of the work, furnished us with plans and profiles of the 
 ground, and communicated every kind of information 
 with so much particularity as to leave us nothing to de- 
 sire in this respect. 
 
 This rail-road, which is to open a communication be- 
 tween the city of Baltimore and the Ohio River, will be 
 about 350 miles in length. From Baltimore it passes 
 in a southerly direction, seven miles, into the valley of 
 the Patapsco river ; then along the valley of the west 
 branch of this river to Parr Spring Ridge, which sepa- 
 rates the waters of the Patapsco from those of the Mo- 
 nocacy river. Thence its general direction is south- 
 westerly across the Monocacy valley, crossing the Mo- 
 nocacy river in the vicinity of Pinkneytown, and meet- 
 ing the Potomack river at a place called the Point of 
 Rocks, at the foot of the Catoctin Mountain. The rec- 
 tilinear distance from Baltimore to the Point of Rocks 
 is 50 miles ; the distance by the rail-road is 70 miles. 
 
 The course of this road, it will be perceived, is some- 
 what more circuitous than those of the Massachusetts 
 rail-roads. The distance in a straight line from Boston 
 to Springfield is 82 miles: the length of the proposed 
 rail-road between these two places is only 95 miles. 
 The rectilinear distance between the proposed termini 
 for the Boston and Providence rail-road, is 39 miles 72 
 chains ; the distance by the proposed road is 43 miles 
 48 chains. 
 
 The route of the Baltimore and Ohio road, at the 
 Parr Spring Ridge, at the distance of 23 miles from 
 Baltimore, attains an elevation of 836 feet, a height
 
 21 
 
 more than 300 feet greater than that of the Worcester 
 summit on the Boston and Hudson rail-road, and nearly 
 equal to the highest summit between Boston and Con- 
 necticut river. From the Parr Spring Ridge eastward, 
 there is a fall of 500 feet in the first fifteen miles ; a 
 greater difference of level than is to be found in the same 
 distance on the proposed rail-roads in Massachusetts, 
 east of Connecticut river. From the Parr Spring Ridge 
 westward, the descent is 600 feet in the first 15 miles. 
 
 The route of the rail-road between Baltimore and the 
 Patapsco river, lies across deep ravines, and elevations 
 of such extent, as to require great expense in excavation 
 and embankment. We observed, in a short distance 
 from the commencement of the road, one embankment of 
 one-fourth of a mile in length, and 57 feet greatest depth ; 
 and another of half a mile in length, and varying from 
 12 to 17 feet in height. At the distance of about three 
 miles from the city, there is a cut of three-fourths of a 
 mile in length, and 70 feet greatest depth. There are 
 other extensive embankments between this point and the 
 Patapsco river ; and along the valley of that river, in 
 that part of the road now nearly prepared for the recep- 
 tion of the rails, it has been necessary to cut through 
 extensive beds of limestone and hard granite. In one 
 instance, the road is carried through a solid rock, the 
 top of jvhich is 58 feet higher than the surface of the 
 road. 
 
 We mention these facts to show the difficulties which 
 the conductors of this work have had to encounter, and 
 the enterprize required to overcome them ; and also to 
 justify what seemed to us, before we knew these facts, 
 an extravagant estimate of the expense of constructing 
 these divisions of the road. But a comparison of the 
 
 :#
 
 22 
 
 work actually done on this portion of the road, with that 
 which would be required in preparing the surface of the 
 rail-roads which have been proposed in Massachusetts, 
 will show that the published estimates of expense for the 
 first 25 miles of the Baltimore and Ohio road, are low in 
 comparison with the estimates made for the Boston and 
 Providence, and the Boston and Hudson Rail-Roads. 
 The excavation and embankment in the first seven miles 
 of the road from Baltimore to the Patapsco valley, 
 amounted to 1,284,197 cubic yards. The excavation 
 and embankment required in the first forty miles of the 
 proposed road from Boston towards the Hudson, as 
 given in Mr. Baldwin's estimates, amounts to 1,279,544 
 cubic yards. The whole amount of excavation and em- 
 bankment required in forming the ground for a double 
 rail-road from Boston to Providence, is 984,856 cubic 
 
 yards. 
 
 These considerations afford a full explanation of the 
 great expense of the Baltimore road, in comparison with 
 the estimates which have been given of the probable cost 
 of the rail-roads proposed in Massachusetts. 
 
 Another circumstance, which goes to show that these 
 estimates forjthe Massachusetts Rail roads are sufficiently 
 high, is, that the cost of those portions of the Delaware 
 and Hudson Canal and Rail-Way, and of the Pennsyl- 
 vania Canal, which may be fairly compared with analo- 
 gous work proposed to be undertaken in Massachusetts, 
 has not, so far as we could learn, exceeded these esti- 
 mates. Excavation of earth and stone of various kinds, 
 embankment and stone work, where the facilities in the 
 two cases seemed to be equal, have been actually ac- 
 complished, and the iron for the rails obtained, within 
 the prices estimated for the same work in Massachu- 

 
 23 
 
 setts. And now, after so fair a trial of the actual cost of 
 this kind of work, the conductors of the Pennsylvania 
 Rail-Road have recently placed \0 miles of that work 
 under contract, at prices less than those which were 
 allowed for the same kind of work, in the estimates 
 made for the Boston and Providence Road. 
 
 The actual expense of constructing the Baltimore and 
 Ohio Road, thus far, has greatly exceeded the first esti- 
 mates for this part of the work. The explanation of 
 this excess of the actual cost, over the estimated ex- 
 pense, is that the original estimates were for wooden 
 bridges over the several streams which are intersected 
 by this part of the road, for which the board of direction 
 subsequently determined to substitute permanent stone 
 masonry. 
 
 The bridges are built in a manner which for dura- 
 bility and elegance is probably unequalled in the United 
 States. The bridge over Gwynn's Falls is 300 feet in 
 length and 50 feet in height from the bed of the stream 
 to the road-way. It consists of two arches, one of 80 
 feet chord and one of 20 feet. The smaller arch is 
 over a road upon the bank of the river. The structure 
 is of hewn granite; it contains over eleven thousand 
 perches of stone masonry, which cost, on an average, 
 six dollars per perch. 
 
 Ten miles from Baltimore the road crosses the Pa- 
 tapsco river by a stone bridge of four arches ; the two 
 interior arches are each 55 feet chord, and the two ex- 
 terior ones are each 20 feet chord. The length of this 
 bridge is 375 feet, the height is 45 feet. There are in 
 the first two divisions of the road, that is in the first 25 
 miles, many smaller bridges, of stone arches of from 10 
 to 25 feet chord. We did not see the bridge over the 

 
 24 
 
 Patapsco, nor any of the bridges in the Patapsco valley ; 
 but we understand that they are all executed in the 
 same workmanlike manner. We are informed that in 
 these 26 miles there are fifty-six thousand perches of 
 stone masonry, all of this permanent kind. 
 
 Another circumstance which added to the cost of this 
 part of the road, was the sudden and uncommon ad- 
 vance in the price of labour which took place about the 
 time this work was commenced. The neighbouring 
 state of Pennsylvania had, at this time, large portions of 
 her canal under contract ; which not only gave full em- 
 ployment to her own labourers, but called to her aid 
 such as could be conveniently spared from the ordinary 
 operations of husbandry in the neighbouring states. 
 The Chesapeake and Ohio canal was commenced sim- 
 ultaneously with this rail-road, in its immediate vicinity, 
 and in part upon its very site. These works, from being 
 rivals in their general object, became rivals in their pro- 
 gress. The call for laborers was beyond the immediate 
 supply ; and contracts were made, and work done, at 
 prices much above the ordinary standard of wages. 
 And the same call for dispatch continued the operations 
 during the winter and rainy seasons, in which the same 
 amount of labour is much less effective than during the 
 other seasons of the year. 
 
 Although the expense of constructing this division 
 of the road, has, in the aggregate, so far exceeded the 
 original estimate, there are portions of this work which 
 have fallen short of the estimated cost. The conduc- 
 tors of the work are, from these experiments, able to 
 speak with greater confidence respecting the remainder 
 of the line ; and they express their entire belief that, 
 notwithstanding the change of plan from that of wooden 

 
 25 
 
 bridges to permanent stone work, and the great ex- 
 pense incurred in this part of the road, the work may 
 still be completed from Baltimore to the Ohio, at an ex- 
 pense certainly not greater than the original estimate of 
 #20,000 per mile. 
 
 The stockholders have the most entire confidence in 
 the success of the enterprize ; and the public in general 
 seem fully aware of the immense advantages which this 
 system of transportation for the interiour is about to 
 open to the various sections of our country. The citi- 
 zens of Baltimore exhibit such a fixed conviction of the 
 success and importance of the enterprize in which they 
 have embarked, and such a determined spirit in its pro- 
 secution, that, notwithstanding the magnitude of their 
 undertaking, depending chiefly on individual enterprize 
 and capital, no reasonable doubt exists of their accom- 
 plishing the grand end, of establishing an easy, econom- 
 ical, and rapid inter-communication with the Ohio river. 
 The practical use of their rail-road, and its advantages 
 to the trade of that city and to the country into which it 
 is to open a communication, are so little the subject of 
 doubt, that the installments amounting to twenty-five 
 per cent of the whole capital, have been promptly paid, 
 and in many instances the assessments have been antic- 
 ipated. The effect on property is already perceptible ; 
 sales of estate are oftener effected without diminished 
 prices ; and both in the city and country new accom- 
 modations and facilities for business are in preparation, 
 which have reference entirely to the accomplishment of 
 this important work. 
 
 We had much conversation with one of the engineers 
 employed by the Baltimore and Ohio Company to visit 
 the rail-roads in Europe. The accounts which these 
 4
 
 26 
 
 gentlemen give of the operations which they witnessed. 
 are of the most satisfactory nature. And we confess 
 that the experiments which are now making in those 
 states which we have just visited, both as it respects the 
 works themselves and the effects which they are pro- 
 ducing in those parts of the country through which they 
 pass, have very much strengthened our own confidence 
 in the ultimate success, and in the great importance to 
 the people of our own state, of that system of transpor- 
 tation for the interior, which has been proposed for 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 The recent experiments which have been made in 
 England upon rail-roads and rail-road carriages, have 
 put beyond question the vast superiority of this method 
 of transportation over that by canals, independent of 
 the climate and the face of the country : And we are 
 fully persuaded that no part of the United States, and 
 perhaps no part of the world, possesses greater facili- 
 ties, on the whole, for this species of inter-communica- 
 tion than the state of Massachusetts. And we feel a 
 confident hope that, while other states are enlarging 
 their resources and increasing their wealth and their 
 means of general improvement, our own state may not 
 be left to tall into premature decay, but enabled to par- 
 ticipate in the growing prosperity of our country. 
 
 Respectfully your obedient servants, 
 
 E. H.ROBBINS, Jr. 
 JAMES HAYWARD.
 
 27 
 
 COMMUNICATION 
 
 Of Ccl. Long, President of the Board of Engineers of 
 the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company, made at 
 the request of the President of that Company, in reply 
 to certain inquiries addressed to the latter by the Presi- 
 dent of the Board of Directors. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 The letter of his Excellency Levi Lincoln, Governor 
 of the State of Massachusetts, which you have done me 
 the honor to put into my hands, and to request an expo- 
 sition of my views in reference to the several topics 
 therein proposed, claims my most respectful considera- 
 tion not only on account of the importance of its sub- 
 ject but of the source whence it emanates, and the chan- 
 nel through which it comes. 
 
 Any information in my power to communicate, shall 
 be cheerfully given, with the hope on my part, that its 
 deficiencies, will be compensated for, by details far more 
 interesting and useful, from your own pen. 
 
 The subjects in relation to which his Excellency has 
 requested information, are the following, viz : — 
 
 1st. The progress already made in the Baltimore and 
 Ohio Rail Road. 
 
 2nd. The manner in which the work is constructing. 
 
 3rd. Cost of grading the Way. 
 
 4th. Materials for the side tracks. 
 
 5th. Difference in expense between double and Single 
 tracks.
 
 28 
 
 6th. Relative advantages and convenient use of the 
 one and the other. 
 
 7th. Best and cheapest application of powers whether 
 Stationary, Locomotive or Animal. 
 
 A brief discussion of these topics will be attempted in 
 the order just given. 
 
 1st. Of the Progress already made in the Baltimore and 
 Ohio Rail Road. 
 
 A definitive location of the Rail Road has been made 
 through a distance of nearly 70 miles, commencing with- 
 in the city of Baltimore and terminating at a place on 
 the margin of the Potomac river denominated the Up- 
 per Point of Rocks. The principles that govern in the 
 location with respect to the horizontal position of the 
 road, are, that its direction shall be as straight as the 
 nature of the surface will admit, consistently with the 
 greatest economy ; and that where curvatures are una- 
 voidable the minimum radius of curvature allowable upon 
 the main line, is 400 feet. To this general rule, three 
 exceptions only have as yet been deemed advisable, 
 viz. two in the valley of the Patapsco, in reference to 
 one of which a radius of about 318 feet, and to the 
 other, a radius of 210 feet has been admitted. The 
 third exception has taken place in the valley of Bush 
 Creek, in reference to which a radius of about 280 feet, 
 has been admitted. 
 
 With respect to ascents and descents, the system that 
 has been adapted is predicated on the probable relative 
 amounts of tonnage or freights in opposite directions 
 upon the road, which have been assumed in the propor-
 
 29 
 
 tion of 1 ton Westward, or from Baltimore, to 5 tons 
 Eastward, or to Baltimore. The graduation corres- 
 ponding to such a state of trade is a declivity of about 
 13 feet per mile in the direction of the greater tonnage. 
 Accordingly, in the location of the road, an ascent of 
 13 feet per mile westward, has been regarded as pre- 
 ferable to a level. Moreover, it has been pretty satis- 
 factorily ascertained, that a horse travelling at the rate 
 of 4 miles per hour, can draw but half as much as when 
 his speed is 2 miles per hour, which is equally true also 
 with respect to other rates of speed. The ordinary 
 working gaits of a horse being a walk, and a trot, and 
 the speed of the latter being about double that of the 
 former, a computation was made in order to determine 
 the acclivity, up which a horse moving at a walk, could 
 draw the same load with which he could move in a trot, 
 upon a level road. On comparing the result thus found 
 with the inclination before mentioned as equivalent to a 
 level, the conclusion was drawn, that the appropriate 
 load for a trotting horse on an acclivity of 13 feet per 
 mile, could be drawn with equal facility by the same 
 horse walking, up an acclivity of about 30 feet per mile : 
 — and by a parity of reasoning, the appropriate load for 
 a trotting horse on a declivity of 13 feet per mile, could 
 be drawn with equal facility by a walking horse on a 
 dead level. 
 
 In conformity to these views, and for the purpose of 
 accommodating the surface of the road to the natural 
 surface of the ground, in order to save expense in its 
 construction, it was determined that any rate of ascent, 
 proceeding westward from a level to 30 feet per mile, 
 should be regarded as a level in contradistinction to In- 
 clined Planes — that wherever the ascent westward should
 
 30 
 
 exceed the rate just mentioned, the acclivity should be 
 regarded as an Inclined Plane ; and that any ascent 
 eastward should be regarded as an Inclined Plane, — 
 upon which an increased power in some due proportion 
 must be provided for. The rate at which provision 
 should be made for transportation upward on Inclined 
 Planes, so far as I am able to judge from the various 
 experiments bearing upon this subject, is exhibited in 
 the following arithmetical proportion, viz : 26.4, 52.8, 
 79.2, 105.6, 132, 158.4, 184.8, 211.2, 237.6, 264,— 
 these several expressions indicating the acclivity in feet 
 per mile, at which 2, 3, 4, &c. horses can ascend with 
 the load of one horse on a level. 
 
 The inclination indicated by the last expression, viz. 
 264 feet, is nearly three degrees, which is regarded as 
 the maximum declivity advisable in the construction of 
 a Rail Road ; — the reason of which is, that in the worst 
 state of the road, and weather, frost and snow excepted, 
 that is, when the rails are covered with dust saturated 
 with moisture, the adhesion of the wheels to the rails is 
 so much impaired, as to endanger their slipping on a 
 greater declivity. In consequence, the trouble and ex- 
 pense of stationary brakes must be encountered, in order 
 to regulate the descent of carriages, whereas on a decli- 
 vity less than three degrees, their descent may be regu- 
 lated by brakes or convoys attached to the carriages. 
 
 The work of construction has been hitherto confined 
 to that portion of the road situated between the city of 
 Baltimore, and the Forks of the Patapsco, embracing 
 a distance of about 25 miles. Commencing at Balti- 
 more, the first seven miles of this distance extend across 
 numerous spurs, ridges and ravines, which have given 
 occasion to a corresponding number of deep excavations,
 
 31 
 
 high embankments, and expensive stone bridges. The 
 magnitude and cost of the work on this part of the road 
 may be inferred from the following facts, viz : that the 
 amount of excavation has exceeded 66,000 cubic yards, 
 that of Embankment 630,000 cubic yards, and that of 
 Masonry 25,000 Perches. The cuttings, for the most 
 part, have been made in an adhesive indurated clay, — 
 and the stone required for the masonry has been procu- 
 red at the distance of many miles from the work. The 
 cost of preparing the bed of the road on this distance 
 only, has already amounted to more than $400,000, or 
 about #58,000 per mile. The amount of excavation at 
 the Deep Cut, three miles from Baltimore, is no less 
 than 312,000 cubic yards, and its cost about $112,000. 
 The high embankment nearly 7 miles from Baltimore, 
 contains about 276,000 cubic yards, and its cost inclusive 
 of two stone Bridges will have been not less than that of 
 the Deep Cut. The residue of the first Division of the 
 Road extending to Ellicott's Mills about 6h miles farther, 
 is benched for the most part upon the abrupt river hills, 
 cliffs and precipices of the Patapsco ; yet notwithstand- 
 ing the rugged nature of its locality, is far less difficult 
 and expensive, than the portion just before considered. 
 Stone suitable for the construction of bridges was here 
 far more convenient, — and it has been found that the 
 trouble and expense of grading even upon the rocky 
 sides of hills and precipices were far less than those 
 attendant upon cutting through ridges, and embanking 
 across valleys. The aggregate cost of grading and 
 bridging on this part of the toad, has been about #250,- 
 000, or #38,500 per mile. 
 
 On the second Division of the Kail Road which ex- 
 tends from Ellicott's Mills along the immediate valley
 
 32 
 
 of the Patapsco, to the confluence of the North and 
 South Forks of that stream, a distance of about 11| 
 miles, the facilities for construction become obviously 
 greater, and the actual cost of grading and bridging has 
 been proportionally less. The bridges and culverts on 
 this Division are completed, and about three fifths of 
 the grading has already been accomplished. The ag- 
 gregate cost of these items, on the second Division will 
 have been about $118,450, or $10,300 per mile. 
 
 It is expected that the formation of the Road-bed on 
 a distance of about 10 miles next above the second Di- 
 vision will prove equally as expensive as that of the Di- 
 vision just mentioned, but that the grading and bridging 
 on the residue of the distance (33 miles) to the Potomac 
 river at the Point of Rocks, will not cost more than 
 $231,000, or $7000 per mile. 
 
 The passage of Parr Spring Ridge, dividing between 
 the waters of the Patapsco, and those that fall into the 
 Monocacy, is proposed to be effected by means of sta- 
 tionary machinery at the summit of the Ridge, and an 
 inclined plane on each side of the summit. The incli- 
 nation of these planes will probably be about 2\ degrees, 
 and their length respectively about one mile. These 
 are the only planes on which it is contemplated, at pre- 
 sent, to employ stationary power. The residue of the 
 distance from the summit just mentioned to the Mono- 
 cacy, (12 miles) is nevertheless to be regarded as one 
 continued plane, upon which carriages will descend 
 spontaneously, but will require in their ascent about 
 three times the power ordinarily required on other parts 
 of the road for return transportation ; a similar declivity 
 of about two miles in extent, occurs on entering the im- 
 mediate valley of the Potomac, in reference to which a
 
 33 
 
 similar arrangement is contemplated, viz. an application 
 of increased power for the return transportation. 
 
 2d. Of the manner in which the work is constructing. 
 
 The width to be occupied on account of the road, 
 agreeably to charter, is 66 feet, of which 26 feet is occu- 
 pied by the graded surface of the rail-road, together 
 with such additional width as may be necessary to the 
 requisite side slopes in cuttings and fillings. The entire 
 surface of the ground upon which the road bed, inclu- 
 sive of its embankments, rests, is cleared and divested 
 of all perishable materials, such as logs, stumps, brush, 
 &c. In valleys and depressions, embankments with side 
 slopes of 1 J to 1, or about 33°, are raised to the grade 
 line of the road ; while the ridges and other prominen- 
 ces, occurring upon the route, are cut through to the 
 same level, or grade line, leaving a surface width of 
 26 feet, and slopes upon the sides in the proportion of 
 1 to 1, or 45?. Wherever the line of the road is inter- 
 sected by water courses, a free passage is provided for 
 the water by means of stone bridges, culverts, or trans- 
 verse drains, the minimum size of the last of which, is 
 such as to admit the entrance of a man for the purpose 
 of clearing them when choked with sand or otherwise. 
 The masonry hitherto done, has been executed not only 
 in a substantial, but in an ornamental manner. Almost 
 the whole of it has been embellished with dressings and 
 facings, which have contributed to render it much more 
 costly than it otherwise would have been. It is propos- 
 ed in future to substitute rubble work, instead of that of 
 a higher finish, which it is believed will prove equally
 
 34 
 
 as durable and efficient, at a cost far less than that hith- 
 erto encountered. 
 
 Of the surface width of the road above mentioned,(viz. 
 26 feet) 20 feet are to be occupied by a stone covering 
 thereon 4 inches thick, composed of fragments reduced 
 to such size as will admit of their being passed re- 
 spectively through a ring 2 or 2& inches in diameter. 
 The residue of the width, viz. 3 feet on each side of 
 the stone pavement, is to be occupied by side drains, 
 which are deemed necessary to the effectual drainage 
 of the road. 
 
 The railing proposed for the road is of two kinds, 
 viz. of wood and of stone, surmounted by bars of wrought 
 iron about 15 feet long, 2 J inches wide, and § inch thick, 
 appropriately rounded on their upper sides and per- 
 forated with elliptical holes about 15 inches asunder. 
 The wooden railing has hitherto been adopted, with a 
 view, 1st, to its cheapness, 2nd, to the facilities it will 
 afford for the transportation of the more heavy mate- 
 rials required for a more permanent road, and 3d, to the 
 state of the embankments which cannot be regarded as 
 sufficiently stable for the permanent support of stone 
 rails, till they shall have been allowed four or five years 
 for their settling and consolidation. The method of 
 applying the wooden rails is as follows.— Sleepers of 
 locusts or cedar about 8 feet long and 7 inches in di- 
 ameter at the smaller end, have been procured at an 
 expense of about 35 cents each, delivered upon the 
 road. These sleepers are notched for the reception of 
 the wooden rails or string pieces, and appropriately 
 dressed, at an additional expense of about 8 cents each. 
 They are then laid in trenches dug transversely of the 
 rail track at the distance of 4 feet from centre to centre,
 
 35 
 
 and supported at each end upon a bed of rubble stone 
 18 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches deep. 
 The rails which are of Southern-heart pine six inches 
 square, and in lengths from 15 to 40 feet (cost, delivered 
 at Baltimore, 6 cent3 per foot, running measure) are 
 then laid in the notches of the sleepers, adjusted with 
 precision, both to the grade, and centre lines of the 
 road, (which lines are carefully designated by bench 
 marks, and stakes, indicating the true flexures of the 
 road) and confined in the notches by means of keys (12 
 inches long, 2 inches wide, 1 J inches thick at the but, 
 and J inch thick at the point) driven upon the inner 
 side of the wooden rails. The distance from out to out 
 of the notches, and consequently of the wooden rails, is 
 precisely 5 feet. The iron rails are next applied to the 
 string pieces, and are confined to their upper surfaces, 
 by means of pressed or wrought iron nails, four inches 
 long and g inch square (cost 9 cents per pound.) The 
 iron rails are scarfed at their extremities at an angle of 
 about 60 degrees with the side of the rail, and at their 
 junction rest on an iron plate about 4 inches long, and 
 J inch thick, perforated in coincidence with the nail 
 holes in the ends of the rails. The nail holes are fur- 
 nished with an ellipsaidal countersink, in the upper side 
 of the rail, into which the head of the nail, which is of 
 a corresponding form, is driven, entirely below the up- 
 per surface of the rail. The elliptical form of the coun- 
 tersinks, and nail holes, has been adopted with the 
 view of accommodating the expansion and construction 
 of the iron rails, and thereby obviating the inconvenience 
 that must otherwise result from the drawing or breaking 
 of the nails. The aggregate expansion of an iron bar, 
 computed for the extremes of atmospheric tempera-
 
 
 36 
 
 ture in this climate, is estimated at about J of an inch 
 in a bar 15 feet long. Hence at a mean temperature, 
 viz. about 45 degrees, as at present we are in the habit 
 of allowing, a space of about J of an inch between the 
 ends of the rails. The rails, &c. being thus adjusted, 
 the next step is the placing of broken stone, reduced to 
 fragments of a size to pass through a six inch ring, on 
 the inside of both string pieces, and in contact with 
 them, 9 inches in width, and about 4 inches in depth, 
 leaving a space for the horse tread 2J feet wide between 
 the two ranges of stone just adverted to. This space 
 is then filled with earth to a level with the upper sur- 
 faces of the sleepers, and broken stone reduced to 
 fragments that will pass through a 2 inch ring, is laid to 
 the depth of about 3 inches upon the surface thus pre- 
 pared, forming a substantial pavement for the horse- 
 tread. The coarse rubble stone at the sides of the 
 horse path afford the means of draining the latter, the 
 water passing off through the interstices between the 
 stones, and beneath the rails. 
 
 The iron rails have been imported from England. 
 Their cost, inclusive of freight, difference of exchange, 
 drayage, &x. is $58 per ton. 
 
 The contemplated method of laying stone rails, is 
 similar to that adopted on the Quincy Kail-way, except 
 in so far as relates to their foundations, and the manner 
 of their insertion into the pavement, which are as fol- 
 lows. — A trench will be sunk through the stone covering 
 first mentioned below the reach of frost, for the recep- 
 tion of the stone rail which is to rest upon coarse rubble 
 stone placed in the bottom of the trench, and embracing 
 the rail-stone on both sides, within the trench. — An ad- 
 ditional quantity of finely broken stone will then be laid to
 
 37 
 
 the depth of about 3 inches between the rails in a manner 
 to form the horse paths, and to fill the space interven- 
 ing between the two tracks. — The drainage of the road 
 will be effected by means of water courses slightly de- 
 pressed in the pavement and leading transversely across 
 both tracks, at suitable intervals from each other. 
 These water-courses may be rendered continuous entire- 
 ly across the Rail-way, by means of spaces sufficiently 
 large for that purpose, left occasionally between the 
 ends of the rail-stones. 
 
 3rd. Of the Cost of Grading the Way. 
 
 Several of the items in reference to this subject have 
 already been anticipated under our first head. It may 
 here be added that the cost per cubic yard for excava- 
 tion and embankment (that which is in excess on any 
 section of the road being alone estimated) has varied 
 from 12 J to nearly 50 cents, according to the hardness 
 and tenacity of the earth, and the distance to which it 
 must be transported. Excavations in granite rock, 
 where blasting has been required, have cost from 50 to 
 87£ cents per cubic yard. In many instances, the exca- 
 vated materials have been transported to the distance 
 of half a mile. In ordinary cases it is believed that the 
 cost of grading has been doubled, when the distance to 
 which the materials must be conveyed, was J of a mile, 
 and tripled when the distance was J a mile. 
 
 Ath. Of materials for the Side Tracks. 
 
 The materials of which the sidelines or Bolting tracks 
 are constructed are similar to those employed for the
 
 38 
 
 main tracks, except that the Branch Rails connecting 
 the sidelings with the main tracks ought always to be 
 of cast iron. No doubt exists however, of the propriety 
 of constructing wooden sidelings, plated with iron, in 
 connection even with stone, railing, inasmuch as neither 
 the failure of a sideling nor its consequent repairs need 
 occasion any serious obstruction to the business done 
 on the main way. The divergence of a sideling should 
 always be equal to the distance between the main tracks 
 of a double Rail-way. The angle of divergence adopt- 
 ed on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road, is about 6 de- 
 grees. The line of divergence, is not a right line, but 
 two segments of a circle constituting a reversed curve. 
 
 5th. Of the difference in expense between a Double and 
 Single track. 
 
 The difference in the cost of a Double and Single 
 Rail-way, is much less than is generally supposed. The 
 graded surface required for the latter, can only be re- 
 duced in width, a distance equal to that intervening be- 
 tween the centres of the tracks of the former. For 
 example, the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road is to be 
 furnished with two tracks, and has a graded surface 26 
 feet wide. The distance from centre to centre of the 
 tracks is 8J feet, this distance deducted from 26 feet 
 leaves 17£ feet for the graded surface adapted to a sin- 
 gle Rail-way, more than § the width required for a 
 double one. The cost of grading and bridging may be 
 fairly estimated nearly in the same proportion. More- 
 over, the rails of one track having been laid, the facili- 
 ties for laying those of the other are greatly augmented. 
 The rails, stone, and other materials required for its
 
 39 
 
 construction can be conveyed at so much less expense, 
 to the sites where they are wanted, that at a fair esti- 
 mate, the saving in expense will be nearly or quite equal 
 to 5 the cost of the 1st track. Another consideration of 
 much moment, is also to be had in reference to this sub- 
 ject. The sidelings or bolting tracks upon a single 
 Rail-way, must be much more numerous, and extensive 
 than on a Double, inasmuch as in connexion with the 
 latter they serve merely as resting or stopping places, 
 whereas in connexion with the former they must serve 
 as receptacles for all the cars travelling in either direc- 
 tion. 
 
 It should nevertheless be regarded as a safe conclu- 
 sion, that wherever a single track is sufficient to sub- 
 serve the purposes of travel and transportation, between 
 any two points, it is unquestionably preferable to a dou- 
 ble one, and that in all cases, a single track should first 
 be constructed, and subsequently a double one, when- 
 ever the exigencies of the business done upon the road 
 should require the addition. In accordance with these 
 views, it would be advisable to prepare a road bed for a 
 single railway, wide enough for the admission of two 
 tracks, inasmuch as the cost of grading would not be 
 greatly enhanced thereby, while at the same time a firm 
 and substantial foundation would be prepared for the 
 future reception of a second track. 
 
 6th. Of the relative Advantages and Convenient Use of a 
 Single and Double Railway. 
 
 Among the advantages of a double railway, are the 
 facilities for an uninterrupted progress in both directions, 
 for the accommodation of travel and transportation, at
 
 40 
 
 different rates of speed, and for an almost incalculable 
 amount of business that may be done upon the road. 
 The facilities afforded by a single railway are far less in 
 all these respects. The sidelings upon the former are 
 not only to be regarded as resting places, but as afford- 
 ing opportunities for rapid cars, laden with passengers, 
 to pass and run before the more sluggish vehicles laden 
 with merchandize, both maintaining an unremitted pro- 
 gress. The sidelings of the single railway serve merely 
 as meeting places, upon which a train of carriages may 
 be delayed for a considerable time, waiting the arrival 
 of another train, bound in the opposite direction ; nor 
 do they afford any opportunity for carriages, bound in 
 the same direction, to pass each other, except when they 
 chance to be unoccupied by waiting carriages. On a 
 double railway, the times of departure, as well as the 
 rates of speed, are at the option of the traveller. On a 
 single railway, he must conform to stated periods and 
 movements, not only at the commencement, but through 
 the entire progress of his journey. On a double railway, 
 the travel may be incessantly in both directions, and in 
 case a rapid or despatch car overtakes a train moving 
 at a more moderate pace, the latter should be required 
 to turn out at the next sideling, and leave the main way 
 clear for the former to take the lead. 
 
 The foregoing remarks are applicable more particu- 
 larly to railways intended for reciprocal trade and inter- 
 course between distant points. The colourings by which 
 these two species of roads are to be distinguished be- 
 come fainter, as their extent diminishes, till at length 
 the more favourable colouring must be given to the sin- 
 gle railway. A single railway has subserved the pur- 
 poses of commerce between Stockton and Darlington,
 
 41 
 
 8 miles asunder, whereas the Liverpool and Manchester 
 railway, 36 miles long, has hcen furnished with two 
 track.-. 
 
 It has been thought that the business likely to be done 
 on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-Road, embracing r,n 
 extent of 350 miles, would require two tracks, while the 
 Boston and Providence Rail-Road, extending through a 
 distance of a little more than 40 miles, might not require 
 more than a single track, with frequent sidclings. 
 
 7th. Of the Best and Cheapest application of Powers, 
 whether Stationary, Locomotive or Animal. 
 
 The means hitherto employed for locomotion, as con- 
 nected with a reciprocal commerce upon rail-roads, are 
 of two descriptions only, viz. Steam power and Animal 
 power, that of gravitation having been found applicable 
 only in a descending trade, connected exclusively with 
 mining operations. Other agents, such as water, in 
 overcoming ascents, and gas, produced from spirits of 
 turpentine and water, may hereafter be employed to ad- 
 vantage, but as yet no conclusive demonstrations of 
 their utility or efficiency have been given. We shall 
 accordingly confine our remarks to the agents first men- 
 tioned, viz. steam power and horse power. 
 
 The preference to be given to either of these, so far 
 as they are connected with the subject before us, must 
 depend in a great measure upon the speed with which 
 it is proposed to move upon a rail-road, and upon the 
 facilities of procuring fuel suitable for the generation of 
 steam, and convenient for use in a locomotive engine. 
 
 With a speed not exceeding two and a half miles per 
 hour, there is little doubt that horse power in most parts 
 6
 
 42 
 
 of the United States, even within the regions of bitu- 
 minous coal, would prove quite as economical, as Steam 
 power for the purpose of locomotion upon a horizontal 
 Rail Road. And could this description of power be 
 applied, through the intervention of Stationary Machine- 
 ry, or by any other means to the production of a greater 
 speed, without increasing that of the moving power it- 
 self, its efficiency might still be regarded as equivalent to- 
 that of steam power. 
 
 Animal power might be employed to advantage in the 
 conveyance of burdens upward on inclined planes of 
 almost any acclivity, by means of stationary gins or oth- 
 
 Machinery, especially in cases where there is not a 
 sufficient amount of business done upon the road to jus- 
 tify the expense of a Stationary Steam Power, and 
 where the difficulties of supplying a Steam Engine with 
 fuel and water would render doubtful the economy of 
 its construction and use. 
 
 The relative advantages of Animal and Steam power, 
 may be inferred from the following considerations, viz : 
 the efficiency of the latter is inversely as the distance 
 through which it operates, whereas that of the former is 
 inversely, in the compound ratio of the velocity and dis- 
 tance, or, in other words, the intensity of Steam Power 
 is inversely as the velocity and the intensity of Animal 
 power is inversely as the squares of the velocity. Hence 
 the conclusion already advanced that the advantages 
 resulting from the application of these two descriptions 
 of power, may be regarded as equal, when a moderate 
 speed only is required, and when a rapid speed is pro- 
 duced by means of Stationary Machinery, but in cases 
 where greater speed is required and the power must 
 participate in the locomotion of its load, Steam power
 
 is entitled to a decided preference, its relative efficiency 
 increasing at every acceleration of speed. 
 
 In regard to the employment of Stationary Steam 
 Power, it is not deemed essential, that coal should al- 
 ways be at hand, or that supplies of this article should 
 be procured at a cheap rate. If wood ean be procured 
 at the rate of #1,50 or $2 per cord, it may be advanta- 
 geously substituted for coal, in almost any situation 
 where the latter must be procured at the expense of 
 transportation from a distance of 15 or 20 miles. Coal 
 however, seems to be the only fuel hitherto employed in 
 connexion with Locomotive Engines, and is undoubtedly 
 better adapted to the purposes of locomotive power, 
 than any other fuel, on account^of its compactness, and 
 the convenience with which it may be transported. 
 
 With respect to the locomotive power contemplated 
 for the B. &; O. R. R., Animal power alone is intended 
 to be used, except at the Inclined planes at Parr Spring 
 Ridge, until the completion of that portion of the road 
 situated between Baltimore and the Valley of the Po- 
 tomac ; subsequently to which steam power will proba- 
 bly be introduced should the exigencies of the business 
 upon the road require it. Even at the Inclined Planes 
 just mentioned, it will not be advisable to erect a Steam 
 Engine till the amount of travel and transportation upou 
 the road, shall be sufficient to keep it in operation. 
 
 In conclusion I bejj leave to observe that the forego- 
 ing remarks have been hastily thrown together, and to 
 offer as an apology for the numerous incoherences and 
 defects that have been committed therein, my want of 
 sufficient leisure to revise and amend them. 
 
 Various other details might have been given, bearing 
 directly upon the subjects proposed by his Excellency,
 
 
 44 
 
 but for the reason just mentioned they have been un- 
 avoidably withheld. In order to supply in some small 
 measure these deficiencies, I take the liberty to refer to 
 the letter I had the honour to address to you, under date 
 of March 1827. To the several Reports made by the 
 Board of Engineers to the President and Directors of 
 the B. & O. R. R. Co. and to the Rail Road Manual, 
 which I had the honour to inscribe to the Board of Di- 
 rectors of the same Company. 
 
 I have the honour to be, Sir, very 
 
 respectfully your most obt. servt. 
 
 S. H. LONG, 
 Bt. Lt. Col. Prest. Bd. of Engineers. 
 
 Bolt. Dec. \st. 1829. 
 
 P. E. Thomas, Esq. Prest. B. & 0. R. R. Co.
 
 45 
 
 DESCRIPTION 
 
 Of the Performance of three Locomotive Engines on the 
 Liverpool and Manchester Rail Road. 
 
 From the London Mechanics' Magazine. 
 
 The great Rail Road between Liverpool and Man- 
 chester being now nearly completed, the directors of the 
 undertaking sometime ago announced that they would 
 give a premium of £500 for the Locomotive Engine 
 which should at a public trial, to be made on the first 
 of the present month of October, (afterwards postponed 
 to the 6th,) draw on the rail-way a given weight, with 
 the greatest speed, at the least expense. 
 
 The principal conditions on which the prize was offer- 
 ed, were these, — first, that each Engine offered for the 
 competition should weigh not more than six tons, and be 
 capable of drawing after it, day by day on a level plain, 
 a train of carriages of a gross weight equal to three times 
 the weight of the engine itself, at a rate of not less than 
 ten miles per hour, with a pressure of steam in the boiler 
 not exceeding 50 lbs. on the square inch. Second, that 
 the Engine and boiler should be supported on springs, 
 and rest on six wheels, and the height from the ground 
 to the top of the chimney should not exceed 15 feet. 
 Third, that the Engine should " effectually consume its 
 own smoke ;" and fourth, that there should be two 
 safety valves, one of which should be completely out of 
 the reach of the engine-man's interference. 
 
 The gentlemen appointed by the Directors to act as
 
 46 
 
 Judges on the occasion, were J. U. Rastrick, Esq. of 
 Stonebridge, Civil Engineer, Nicholas Wood, Esq. of 
 Killingsworth, Civil Engineer, (author of the excellent 
 work on Railways,) and John Kennedy, Esq. of Man- 
 chester. The portion of the rail-way chosen for the 
 " running ground" was on the Manchester side of Rain- 
 hill Bridge, (about nine miles from Liverpool.) where 
 the rail-way runs for two or three miles on a dead level. 
 
 Early on Tuesday, the day of competition, great 
 crowds of people were assembled from all parts to wit- 
 ness the sight. There were many individuals who had 
 come hundreds of miles for no other purpose, and as 
 may readily be supposed, these were not idle spectacle 
 hunters, but chiefly engineers and men of science, ca- 
 pable of appreciating in its full extent the great impor- 
 tance of the exhibition. 
 
 The Engine which made the first trial was the 
 "Rocket" of Mr. Robert Stephenson, (the son, we 
 believe, of Mr. George Stephenson, the engineer of the 
 railways.) It is a large and strongly built engine, and 
 went with a velocity, which as long as the Spectators 
 had nothing to contrast it with, they thought it surpri- 
 sing enough. It drew a weight of twelve tons, nine cwt. 
 at the rate of ten miles four chains in an hour, (just ex- 
 ceeding the stipulated maximum,) and when the weight 
 was detached from it, went at a speed of about Eighteen 
 miles an hour. The faults most perceptible in this en- 
 gine, were a great inequality in its velocity, and a very 
 partial fulfilment of the condition that it should " effec- 
 tually consume its own smoke." 
 
 The next engine that exhibited its powers, was the 
 "Novelty" of Messrs. Braithwaite and Erickson. The 
 great lightness of this Engine, (it is about one half lighter
 
 47 
 
 than Mr. Stephenson's) its compactness, and its beauti- 
 ful workmanship excited universal admiration ; a senti- 
 ment speedily changed into perfect wonder by its truly 
 marvellous performances. It was resolved to try first 
 its speed merely ; that is at what rate it would go car- 
 rying only its compliment of coke and water with Messrs. 
 Braithwaite andErickson to manage it. Almost at once 
 it darted off at the amazing velocity of twenty-eight 
 miles an hour, and it actually did one mile in the incre- 
 dibly short space of one minute and fifty-three seconds 
 Neither did we observe any appreciable falling off in the 
 rate of speed ; it was uniform, steady and continuous. 
 Had the rail-way been completed, the engine would at 
 this rate have gone nearly the whole way from Liverpool 
 to Manchester within the hour ; and Mr. Braithwaite 
 has indeed publicly offered to stake a thousand pounds, 
 that as soon as the road is opened, he will perform the 
 entire distance in that time. 
 
 It was now proposed to make a trial of the " Novel- 
 ty," with three times its weight attached to it, but 
 through some inattention as to the supply of water and 
 coke, a great delay took place in preparing it for its 
 second trip, and by the time all was ready, the day was 
 drawing so near to a close, that the directors thought it 
 proper to defer the prosecution of the competition till 
 the following day. 
 
 Second Day, 1th October. — The " Novelty" engine of 
 Messrs. Braithwaite & Erickson was this day tried with 
 a load of three times its weight attached to it, or eleven 
 tons, five cwt., and it drew this with ease at the rate of 
 20J miles per hour, thus proving itself to be equally 
 good for speed as for power. We took particular no- 
 tice to-day of its power of consuming its own smoke,
 
 48 
 
 and did not any time observe the emission of the small- 
 est particle from the chimney. The weather now be- 
 came wet, and the railways clogged with mud, which 
 made it necessary to suspend the prosecution of the ex- 
 periments before the day had half elapsed. The attend- 
 ance of spectators this morning was by no means so nu- 
 merous as on the preceding day ; but there were but few 
 of those absent, the engineers, men of science, &c. whose 
 presence was most desirable. 
 
 Third Day, &th October. — Before the commencement 
 of the experiments to-day, it was announced that the 
 Judges, on reconsidering the card of " Stipulations and 
 Conditions," originally issued, and of which we gave 
 the substance last week, had considered them so defec- 
 tive as to make it necessary to substitute the following : 
 
 TRIAL OF THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 
 
 Liverpool and Manchester Railway. 
 
 " The following is the ordeal which we have decided 
 each locomotive engine shall undergo in contending for 
 the premium for £500 at Rainhill : 
 
 " The weight of the locomotive engine, with its full 
 complement of water in the boiler, shall be ascertained 
 at the weighing machine by eight o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, and the load assigned to it shall be three times the 
 weight thereof. 
 
 " The water in the boiler shall be cold, and there 
 shall be no fuel in the fire-place. As much fuel shall be 
 weighed, and as much water shall be measured and de- 
 livered into the tender carriage, as the owner of the 
 engine may consider sufficient for the supply of the en- 
 gine for a journey of thirty-five miles ; the fire in the
 
 49 
 
 boiler shall then be lighted, and the quantity of fuel con- 
 sumed for getting up the steam shall be determined, and 
 the time noted. 
 
 " The tender carriage, with the fuel and water, shall 
 be considered to be, and taken as a part of the load as- 
 signed to the engine. 
 
 " Those engines that carry their own fuel and water, 
 shall be allowed a proportionate deduction from their 
 load, according to the weight of the engine. 
 
 " The engine, with the carriages attached to it, shall 
 be run by hand up to the starting post, and as soon as 
 the steam is got up to fifty pounds per square inch, the 
 engine shall set out upon its journey. 
 
 " The distance the engine shall perform each trip, 
 shall be one mile and three quarters each way, including 
 one eighth of a mile at each end, for getting up the 
 speed, and for stopping the train ; by this means the 
 engine with its load will travel one and a half mile each 
 way at full speed. 
 
 " The engine shall make ten trips, which will be equal 
 to a journey of thirty-five miles, thirty miles whereof 
 shall be performed at full speed, and the average rate of 
 travelling shall not be less than ten miles per hour. 
 
 " As soon as the engine has performed this task, 
 (which will be equal to the travelling from Liverpool to 
 Manchester,) there shall be a fresh supply of fuel and 
 water delivered to her, and as soon as she can be got 
 ready to set out again, she shall go up to the starting 
 post and make ten trips more, which will be equal to 
 the journey from Manchester back again to Liverpool. 
 " The time of performing every trip shall be accurate- 
 ly noted, as well as the time occupied in getting ready 
 to set out on the second journey. 
 7
 
 50 
 
 M Should the engine not be enabled to take along with 
 it sufficient fuel and water for the journey of ten trips, 
 the time occupied in taking in a fresh supply of fuel and 
 water shall be considered and taken as a part of the 
 time in performing the journey. 
 
 (Signed) J. U. RASTRICK, 
 
 Stonebridge, C. E. 
 NICHOLAS WOOD, Esq. 
 
 Killingsworth, C. E. 
 JOHN KENNEDY, Esq. 
 Manchester, 
 
 Judges. 
 
 Liverpool, October 6, 1829. 
 
 The Engine which exhibited on this the third day 
 was, " The Rocket" of Mr. Stephenson. The trial was 
 conducted in the manner laid down in the " Ordeal " we 
 have just quoted ; and it was understood on all hands 
 that this trial should be considered decisive of its 
 merits. 
 
 The engine with its complement of water in the boiler, 
 weighed 4 tons 5 cwt. and the load attached to it was 12 
 tons 15 cwt. or, including a few persons who rode, about 
 13 tons. The journey was about 1£ mile each way 
 with an additional length of 220 yards at each end to 
 stop the engine in, making in one journey 3| miles — 
 the first experiment was for 35 miles, which is exactly 
 10 journeys, and including all the stoppages at the end 
 was performed in 3 hours and 10 minutes, being up- 
 wards of 1 1 miles an hour. After this a fresh supply of 
 water was taken in, which occupied 16 minutes, when
 
 51 
 
 the engine again started and ran 35 miles in 2 hours and 
 52 minutes, which is upwards of 12 miles an hour in- 
 cluding all stoppages. The speed of the engine with 
 its load, when in full motion, was at different times 13, 
 134, 14 and 16 miles an hour, and had the whole dis- 
 tance been in one continued direction, there is little 
 doubt but the result would have been 15 miles an hour. 
 The consumption of coke was on an average about half 
 a ton in the 70 miles. 
 
 Fourth day 9th October. — To day a public notice ap- 
 peared from Messrs. Braithwaite and Erickson, stating 
 that in consequence of the alterations made in the condi- 
 tions of the competition, the trial of their engine in 
 the manner prescribed by the new " Ordeal " had with 
 the approbation of the judges been deferred till the fol- 
 lowing day. The 9th became thus a dies non in the 
 competition. 
 
 Fifth day 10th October. — At the appointed hour this 
 morning the "Novelty" was weighed, and three times 
 its weight assigned to it by the Judges. The steam wa3 
 got up in 54 minutes from the time of lighting the fire. 
 The engine then went one trip by way of rehearsal, when 
 a small pipe accidentally gave way, and it was found 
 necessary to send to Prescott a distance of two miles to 
 have it repaired. In the interval Mr. Stephenson's 
 locomotive engine was run twice down the course and 
 back making in all 7 miles, but with the whole load 
 taken off from behind, including even the tender-car- 
 riage with the water- tank and fuel. Thus stripped for 
 the race the " Rocket " performed the 7 miles in the 
 space of 14 minutes 14 seconds, being at the rate of 30 
 miles an hour. This was a rate of speed nearly equal to 
 the utmost which the " Novelty " had achieved, but as
 
 52 
 
 it carried with it neither fuel nor water, it is not a speed 
 which it could have long sustained. 
 
 The " Novelty " having now had its broken pipe re- 
 paired, made several trips, but solely for the gratifica- 
 tion of the spectators, who were to day extremely nu- 
 merous, and not with any view to a decisive exhibition 
 of its powers. 
 
 Mr. Vignoles the engineer who rode on the engine and 
 timed it, during two of these trips, has favoured us with 
 the following statement of its performances. 
 
 The total weight of the engine and load was 
 10 tons 6 cwt. 1 qr. The engine was brought up near 
 the starting post a few minutes before three o'clock, and 
 the rate of its speed, loaded as above detailed is record- 
 ed in the following tables, in which the time indicates 
 the moment of her passing each post. 
 
 The distance between posts 1 and 2, and between 
 posts 8 and 9, is only one furlong (220 yards) being the 
 space allowed to acquire and check the engine's veloci- 
 ty, after and previous to turning ; the distance between 
 all the other posts is precisely a quarter of a mile 
 (440 yards.) 
 
 Eastward Trip. 
 
 H. 
 
 M. 
 
 s. 
 
 
 Strokes per min 
 
 2 
 
 59 
 
 10 
 
 starting post . . 
 
 1 
 
 
 2 
 
 59 
 
 51 
 
 judges tent . . 
 
 2 
 
 120 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 bridge mark . . 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 36 
 
 grand-stand post . 
 
 4 
 
 140 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 22 
 
 quarter post . . 
 
 5 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 quarter post . . 
 
 6 
 
 140 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 47 
 
 10 mile post ► . 
 
 7 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 30 
 
 judges post . . 
 
 8 
 
 142 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 57 
 
 turning post . . 
 
 9 
 
 
 Pressure always under 50 lbs. per square inch.
 
 53 
 
 The engine went off from the starting post at the rate 
 of 12 miles an hour and her velocity rapidly increased 
 during the whole trip. 
 
 By the above tables it will be seen that the distance 
 between the 9 and 10 mile marks was performed in 3 
 minutes and 7 seconds, and the mile between the quarter 
 post near the grand stand and the judges' tent at the 
 eastern end of the course, was run in 2 minutes and 54 
 seconds, while the last half mile was performed in 85 
 seconds, being at the rate of 21^ miles per hour. The 
 whole time between the tents of the Judges at each end, 
 being exactly 1 J mile, was performed in 4 minutes and 
 39 seconds, being at the rate of 17J miles per hour. 
 
 The gentleman at the brake of the wheel not being 
 sufficiently experienced, the engine was not checked so 
 soon as it ought to have been on the return, and went 
 beyond the level part of the road, not being stopped 
 until it had got some yards down the eastern inclined 
 plane ; upwards of 2J minutes were lost in consequence. 
 
 On returning, the following was the record of the 
 
 
 
 
 Westward Trip. 
 
 
 
 H. 
 
 M. 
 
 s. 
 
 
 Strokes per min 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 starting post . . 
 
 9 
 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 49 
 
 judges tent . . 
 
 8 
 
 110 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 50 
 
 10 mile post . . 
 
 7 
 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 49 
 
 quarter post . . 
 
 6 
 
 110 
 
 3 
 
 11 
 
 49 
 
 quarter post . . 
 
 5 
 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 49 
 
 grand-stand post . 
 
 4 
 
 110 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 47 
 
 bridge mark . . 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 14 
 
 43 
 
 judges tent . . 
 
 2 
 
 110 
 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 28 
 
 starting post . . 
 
 1 
 
 
 Pressure always under 50 lbs. per square inch.
 
 54 
 
 The following calculation, founded on the preceding 
 results, was made by Mr. Vignoles and Mr. Price of Neath 
 Abbey : — 
 
 The maximum number of strokes was 142 per minute, 
 while 440 yards were traversed in 43 seconds. Diame- 
 ter of wheels 50.1 inches — circumference 157.4 inches 
 157.4 X 142. equal to 621 yards, being the velocity 
 per minute of the circumference of wheel, or 21 
 miles and 300 yards per hour. Then as 60 seconds 
 : 621 yards : : 43 seconds : 445 yards. 
 
 Thus the calculated distance of the run (considering 
 the wheel as a perambulator) agrees within 5 yards with 
 the space actually passed over ; and this difference 
 might arise from the most trifling inaccuracy of noting 
 the time — a quarter of a second at each end being suf- 
 ficient to produce this decrepancy ; so that it may fairly 
 be concluded, that there was no slipping of the wheels 
 at a velocity of nearly 22 miles an hour with a load. 
 
 Another carriage, with seats for the accommodation 
 of passengers, was now substituted for the loaded wag- 
 gons attached to the " Novelty," and about forty-five 
 ladies and gentlemen ascended to enjoy the great nov- 
 elty of a ride by steam. We can say for ourselves that 
 we never enjoyed any thing in the way of travelling 
 more. We flew along at the rate of a mile and a half 
 in three minutes ; and though the velocity was such, 
 that we could scarcely distinguish objects as we passed 
 by them, the motion was so steady and equable, that 
 we could manage not only to read, but write. 
 
 Sixth day, \3th October. Mr. Ac worth's engine. 
 The " Sans Pareil" was pronounced to be this day ready 
 to exhibit its powers. We were informed that, on 
 weighing it, the judges found it to exceed by two or
 
 55 
 
 three hundred weight the maximum of six tons ; it was 
 nevertheless allowed to start to do 70 miles in the same 
 manner as " the Rocket" with three times its great 
 weight attached to it, that is, upwards of 18 tons. It 
 was soon manifest that a very powerful competitor had 
 entered the field. 
 
 For two hours " the Sans Pared" kept going with 
 great regularity and during that time completed upwards 
 of 25 miles. It went occasionally when at its utmost 
 speed, a mile in 4' 10" and 4' 17" being at the rate of 
 nearly 15 miles an hour. While thus bidding fair, if 
 not to win the prize, at least to come in second best, a 
 similar accident happened to it as befel " the Novelty," 
 one of the feed pipes burst, and it was rendered for the 
 time incapable of proceeding. 
 
 We understand the judges subsequently resolved that 
 " the Sans Pared" should have another trial on Friday, 
 the 16th. 
 
 Seventh day, \bth October. It being generally under- 
 stood that this was to be the day of a more decisive trial 
 of Messrs. Braithwaite and Erickson's engine — that is, 
 according to the new conditions named by the judges — 
 there was almost as numerous an assemblage of specta- 
 tors as on the first day of the competition. 
 
 A fresh pipe had, it appeared, been substituted for the 
 one which failed on the preceding trial ; one or two 
 other parts of the machinery that were in a faulty state, 
 had also been renovated ; but the engine with the ex- 
 ception of some of the flanges of the boiler being, as Mr. 
 Erickson expressed it, rather green, was pronounced in a 
 working state. The load assigned to it by the judges 
 was 6 tons 2 cwt. 
 
 The steam was on this occasion got up to a pressure
 
 56 
 
 of 50 lbs. in somewhat less than 40 minutes, and at an 
 expenditure of about 15 lbs. of Coke. The engine now 
 started to do the 70 miles for a continuance ; but just 
 as it had completed its second trip of three miles, when 
 it was working at the rate of 15 miles an hour, the new 
 cement of some of the flanges of the boiler, yielded to 
 the high temperature to which it was exposed, and the 
 spectators had again the mortification to hear it an- 
 nounced that it was under these circumstances impossi- 
 ble the trial could go on. 
 
 We were informed that early on Wednesday morning 
 before we reached the course, an experiment had been 
 made with Mr. Stephenson's engine on a part of the 
 Rail-way which runs with an inclination of 1 in 96, [55 
 feet per mile] and that it drew up this plane a carriage 
 containing 25 passengers, with great ease. 
 
 [The Novelty was subsequently withdrawn from fur- 
 ther competition, and the Sans Pared was excluded by 
 being heavier than the prescribed weight. The pre- 
 mium was awarded to the Rocket.] 
 
 We now proceed to compare the rate of speed accom- 
 plished by the different engines. " The Novelty" went 
 on the second day of the competition with three times 
 its weight attached to it 20J miles in one hour. The 
 total weight moved, including the carriage, was about 
 15 tons. 
 
 In calculating the weight in this instance no deduction 
 was made on account of the engine's carrying its own 
 water and fuel, but when prepared for its intended trials 
 on the subsequent days of the competition, due allow- 
 ance was made for this circumstance. The load then 
 assigned to it by the judges was 6 tons, 2 cwt. When
 
 it accomplished the trips recorded by iMr. Vignolet, 
 (p. 138) the total weight moved, including that of a 
 number of persons on the engine and waggons, was only 
 10 tons 6 cwt. 1 qr. ; and the speed which it then real- 
 ized was nearly equal to 22 miles an hour. It will be 
 observed, that though some increase of velocity was 
 thus acquired, it was by no means proportional to the 
 reduction of the weight ; a circumstance which is doubt- 
 less to be ascribed to the very imperfect working order 
 in which the engine was at the time of this second trial. 
 When the weight drawn was reduced to merely that of 
 a waggon containing 45 persons, equal to about 3i tons, 
 and the total weight moved to about 9 tons, the velocity 
 was increased to 30 and 32 miles per hour; a rate 
 though unprecedently great, is still less than what the 
 previous performances of this engine with double that 
 weight might have warranted us to expect from it. 
 
 The total weight moved by " the Rocket" when it 
 went the 70 miles continuously was 17 tons; and the 
 greatest number of miles which it traversed in any one 
 hour was I2h miles. Stripped of all weight and carry- 
 ing just as much material as would suffice for a couple 
 of trips of a mile and a half each, it went at the rate of 
 30 miles an hour. 
 
 Drawing a carriage loaded with passengers it went 
 at a velocity which sometimes reached 24 miles an hour. 
 The weight drawn by " The Sans Pareil" if calculat- 
 ed in the same way as that assigned to " the Rocket," 
 must have been 13 tons 6 cwt. (and not 18 tons, as 
 stated in our account of the sixth days proceedings) the 
 total weight moved, 17 tons 14 cwt. The greatest 
 
 8
 
 58 
 
 speed which it accomplished in one hour was 12£ 
 miles.* 
 
 The comparative speed of the three engines as veri- 
 fied by the recent experiments, stands therefore as 
 follows : 
 
 MILES PER HOUR. 
 With a load equivalent to three times With a Carriage and 
 
 the weight of the engine. Passengers. 
 
 "The SansPareil" ... 12^ 
 "The Rocket" . . . . 12£ 24 
 
 » The Novelty" . . . . 20f 32 
 
 Experiments on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road. 
 
 From the Baltimore American, of Dec. 29, 1829. 
 
 Quite a lively and animated scene was exhibited yes- 
 terday along the line of the rail-road which is laid down 
 between the Company's lot on Pratt-street, and the 
 Carrolton Viaduct, [one and a half miles.] Although 
 no public notice had been given, a large number o r ci- 
 tizens and strangers assembled on the ground for the 
 purpose of witnessing the trial of passenger carriages, 
 which it was understood would take place at 1 1 o'clock. 
 Accordingly, about that, hour a single horse was attach- 
 ed to two of the Win an 's carriages, containing forty-one 
 persons, among whom we noticed Judge Smith, member 
 of the U. S. Senate from South Carolina, and the fol- 
 lowing members of the House of Representatives : 
 Messrs. Creighton and Irwint of Ohio, Ford of Penn- 
 sylvania, Sprigg and Howard of Maryland, Kendall of 
 
 * The cost of fuel consumed in the experiments is estimated as follows, 
 viz. by the Sans Pared 2d. per mile, the Rocket 3 halfpence, and the 
 Novelty ] farthing — the fuel used being coke reckoned at 20s. per ton.
 
 .VJ 
 
 Massachusetts, White of N. York, and young of Connec- 
 ticut ; and Messrs. Reese and Dennis of the Maryland 
 Senate. With this load the horse moved forward with 
 great ease and rapidity to the Viaduct and hack again, 
 .the rate of speed being from ten to eleven miles an 
 hour. 
 
 An entirely new carriage, on the same principle, but 
 more elegantly finished, was now brought forward; it 
 was filled by twenty-five persons, two-thirds of whom 
 were ladies. The road wheels of this carriage were of 
 greater diameter than the others, and its movements ap- 
 peared to us to be more easy and efficacious on that 
 account. A single horse drew this carriage and its load 
 to the end of the road and back, in a brisk trot, with 
 very slight exertion. A second trip was afterwards 
 made by the same carriage and horse, with another load 
 of twenty-five persons, at the rapid rate of twelve miles 
 an hour. The coupled carriages were also started a 
 second time, with a load of fifty-five persons, and a sin- 
 gle horse attached, and performed the distance at the 
 rat ; of about nine miles an hour. The last experiment, 
 which took place after we left the ground, was made by 
 attaching the three carriages to each other, and a single 
 horse to the whole. The aggregate number of persons 
 in these carriages was eighty-four, and yet with this ex- 
 traordinary number, wo learn that the animal performed 
 the trip with the same case and velocity. We omitted 
 to state, that early in the day, a carriage of light con- 
 struction, on the Winan's principle, was tried, ft was 
 fitted with a winch, for the purpose of being propelled 
 by persons seated in front of it. In this way, the vehi- 
 cle, with seven persons in it, was rapidly propelled by 
 two; but owing to the breaking of the crank, the trial
 
 GO 
 
 was suspended. We are informed, that later in the dav, 
 two dogs were attached to this car, and easily drew the 
 six persons who were seated in it. Although the Mac- 
 adamized horse-path was quite new, and in an unfavour- 
 able state for use, the experiments were nevertheless of 
 a highly gratifying character, and afforded to all who 
 were present the most conclusive evidences of the supe- 
 rior advantages which a rail-road offers for the trans- 
 portation of passengers and merchandize. 
 
 From the Baltimore American, of Jan. 2d. 
 
 We have, on several late occasions, taken notice of 
 the novel and highly satisfactory experiments which 
 have been made on that part of the Baltimore and Ohio 
 Rail-Road laid down between Pratt Street and Carrolton 
 Viaduct. Notwithstanding the limited extent of this ex- 
 perimental line, the road appears to attract fresh crowds 
 of visiters every day the weather will permit, all of whom, 
 whether citizens or strangers, come away highly grati- 
 fied. The weather yesterday being remarkably mild and 
 pleasant, vast, numbers availed themselves of the oppor- 
 tunity to examine the road and viaduct, and to enjoy 
 the gratification of a ride in the Winan's carriages. The 
 Hon. the Postmaster General having reached this city 
 the evening before, and bei"g desirous of visiting the 
 road, he was accordingly accompanied thither yesterday 
 by the gentlemen attached to the board of direction. A 
 carriage having been brought out, the party, consisting 
 of twenty-four ladies and gentlemen, including the Post- 
 master General, were drawn to the viaduct by one horse, 
 in actually a little less than six minutes. After alighting 
 to view the magnificent granite structure, of which a 
 minute description was published in last week's Ameri-
 
 61 
 
 can, the party again seated themselves, and were con- 
 veyed back lo Pratt Street in the same brief period, or at 
 the extraordinary rate of fifteen miles an hour. In order 
 to show the perfect ease and rapidity with which heavy 
 loads can be transported on a well constructed rail-road, 
 three carriages were attached to each other, and being 
 filled with more than eighty persons, were readily drawn 
 by one horse, at the rate of upwards of eight miles an 
 hour. Averaging each passenger at one hundred and 
 fifty pounds weight, and estimating the three carriages 
 to weigh together two and a half tons, it follows that a 
 single horse has actually drawn a load of at least eight 
 and a half tons, at the speed of upwards of eight miles 
 an hour ; and this extraordinary result was accomplish- 
 ed without any apparent distress to the animal, or indeed 
 uncommon exertion on his part. 
 
 From the Baltimore Patriot of January 7, 1830. 
 
 Yesterday by invitation of the President and Direc 
 tors, at 12 o'clock the Mayor of the City, and the mem- 
 bers of both Branches of the City Council, with other 
 gentlemen, assembled upon the ground. The compa- 
 ny, forty-two in number, were placed in two cars con- 
 nected together, and a swift trotting horse took them 
 easily to the Carrolton Viaduct in eight minutes, and 
 returned in less than 7J_ minutes, being at the rate of 
 about thirteen miles an hour.
 
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