Universal Exhibition at Philadelphia, 1876; Notices on the Models, Charts & Drawings Relating to the Works of the "Ponts & Chaussees" & the Mines (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1876 Excerpt: ... XIV STEEL RAILS MPtOYED BY THE PRINCIPAL FRENCH RAILWAY COMPANIES. Various patterns and a portfolio ol drawings. NORTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY. Profile adopted.--For all the lines of the Northern Company, a steel rail of the Vignoles type has been adopted. This rail weighs 3olg,3oo per metre, and is supplied by all the French iron works indiscriminately. At the present time it is rolled in the establishments of Terre-Noire, and the Society of the Creusot iron works. Length of rail.--The normal length is 8 metres, but to facilitate the execution of large orders, it is customary to allow reduced lengths of 7, 6, and 5 metres. Sleepers and fish-plates.--This rail is laid with sleepers at the joints, and is supported on nine points, according to the following distances apart: om,6o next to the joints. om,9o for the first space, and i metre for all the others. The rails are fastened to each other by means of fishplates, pierced with four holes ooi9 in diameter4 to receive the bolts. They rest directly on the sleepers, in notches cut for that purpose, and are fixed to the latter by means of two galvanized iron screws for the intermediate sleepers, and four screws for the joints. The screws bind against the rail foot, which is neither pierced nor notched in its entire length. The reasons dictating the choice of this type of rail may be summed up as follows: Advantages of steel.--The first advantage possessed by steel rails, over those of wrought iron, arises from the fact that they wear slowly and in a parallel direction, while the best wrought iron rails rapidly deteriorate by the traffic, and are mostly past service without having lost an appreciable weight by regular wear. The experiments made by the Northern Company upon iron rails from all the different works, ha...