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The importance of a firm and durable arfd at the same time moderately elastic track, having long been appreciated by railroad men, have led to various experiments in the form and material of both the tie and the rail, which has resulted in the decision that the stone tie or sleeper is too rigid ; and the T-rail and wooden ties, although an improvement over the former, is too readily thrown out of adjustment, and costs too much for repairs. The engraving illustrates the invention of S. A. Beers, 289 Broadway, New York. It consists in employing a sub-foundation of rubble stone, a block of oak plank, a shoe of cast iron, an arch or foundation rail and ties also of cast-iron, surmounted by a rolled iron coping rail, with an elastic material introduced between the two kinds of rail. A, Fig. 1 is a hard wood plank, 3 by 12 inches, two feet long, green or kyanized. B is a cast iron shoe, with a small projecting flanch in which the feet of two arches, C, are placed, the arch or foundation rail being about five feet long. D is the comb of the foundation rail, and E, the tie, with a shoulder on the inside and a mortise and wooden key F, on the outside. H, Fig. 2 shows the compound, or lock joint, of the coping rail, with an oblique cut across the top surface, and this rail should be three and a half or four times the length of the foundation rail. Fig. 3. is a transverse view of the comb of the foundation rail, D, and the coping rail, H, although the flanch at the bottom is not to rest on a shoulder of the foundation rail but entirely upon the elastic material on the top of the foundation rail, indicated by d ; and I, the lugs through which a key wedge is driven binding and drawing the hook, j, upon the flanch of the coping rail, while the lug extends above the flanch : the top of the hook is placed on the flanch of H; d, may be a strip of India rubber, felt, leather or pine lath, a quarter of an inch thick. Fig. 4 shows the top of the coping rail, H, illustrating the oblique cut across it. The method of laying the railroad will be by opening ditches two feet below the grade line for each rail, in which separate rubble stone foundations of Ih feet by 2 feet, and 5J feet from center to center, will be laid by placing the stones on end, and driven down with a heavy rammer to an even bearing, and leveled up -with cement and small stone to 20 inches below the grade line to receive the oak block on which the cast'iron shoe rests at ease. When the superstructure is keyed together, the whole will be filled into the bottom of the coping rail, tamped down and sodded between the rails. The advantages which the inventor states belong to this improvement are, first, a more perfect track than any plan now in use ; no liability to be disturbed by frost or rain ; but a small amount of expansion in the coping rail by reason of lying in contact with the foundation rail which is principally embedded and consequently serves as a conductor of caloric, use, may be built lighter, and consequently cheaper, with less abrasion to the rail, and requiring much less motive power ; and lastly, although the first cost of construction will somewhat exceed that of the railroads now in so that a longer rail can be used with closer joints, and by their peculiar form, the end of one rail cannot by any possibility be forced below the other at the joints, 'the ties being upright in position and below the grade line. use, the expense of repairs will be so far diminished as not only to speedily reimburse the construction account, but also to ensure a largely increased dividend upon the total investment. The whole surface between and adjoining the rails, may be sodded, preventing any dust from the movement of the cars. The rolling stock, running on a perfect and elastic track, wil last much longer, require less repairs while in Further information may be had by addressing the inventor at Brooklyn N.Y., or by calling at his office, 289 Broadway, this city, where a section of the track may be seen. It was patented on the 27th October, 1857.
