From 1820 to 1850 the flat strap rail, spiked to longitudinal timbers, in turn supported by cross-ties, was largely used in this country, as it was the only shape that could be rolled here. In 1834 Mr. Strickland designed the Bridge, or "U"-shaped section, which was used on some of our earlier roads and was the first style of edge rail rolled in this country, in 1844.
The present "T" section was invented in 1830 by Colonel Stevens, Chief Engineer of the Camden & Amboy Railway, and until 1845, when it was first rolled in this country, had to be imported from England. The poor quality of the iron at this time required such a broad support, in the design of the rail, for the head, that no satisfactory plate fastening could be secured. Iron shoes, into which the rail ends fitted, were the means of connection.
The greatest improvement dates from 1855, when the first steel rails were rolled in England. Ten years later they were experimentally rolled here. In 1867, through the introduction of the Bessemer process, which made possible their manufacture at a greatly reduced cost, began a revolution in track construction.
While the decade from 1880 to 1890 witnessed the greatest rate of railroad building in this country, it also witnessed the substantial substitution of steel rails on our lines. The earlier rails weighed from 50 to 70 pounds per yard. The increasing weight of equipment brought out a heavier section, and fifteen years ago there was a large percentage of mileage on which weights of 90 pounds and over—and even 100 pounds—per yard had been introduced. Under special conditions rails weighing as high as 140 pounds per yard are used.
With the increasing weights of rails, and the development of steel manufacture, greater attention has been paid to details of analysis, process of manufacture, shape and laying, and it may be briefly stated that all these matters are uniformly prescribed at the present time.
Our rail fastenings, ties and ballast have kept pace with the development of the rail and equipment. An orthodox part of the rules governing the maintenance of railway property places in the hands of the maintenance force standard plans and specifications, not only for the elements, such as rail and ties, but for the complete make-up of the finished track structure and roadbed, and these plans are the result of current experience and study of the several railroads, and of the various associations of engineers, maintenance officers and manufacturers, and it is safe to say that these plans, specifications and standard practices represent the best known state of the art.
GRADE-CROSSING ELIMINATION.
In the early days both the railroads and public ways used the natural surface of the ground, as a matter of economy. The public question then was how they were to get the railroads, and not how they were to restrict them in the manner of their construction. The districts traversed were sparsely settled and trains were few and slow in their movement; the highways were little used; all of which made for freedom from accident where the two crossed.
The conditions in England were vastly different. There the country was thickly settled and an assured traffic was evident from the inception of the enterprise, which would warrant expenditures on original construction that could not be entertained by the promoters of our first companies. So it was not through any blindness that made grade crossings grow up in this country, but it was purely the result of economic conditions which precluded their elimination.