1858.11美国的铁路工程

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Railway-Engineering in the United States
NOVEMBER 1858 ISSUE
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THE

ATLANTIC MONTHLY.

A MAGAZINE OF LITERATURE, ART, AND POLITICS.

VOL. II.— NOVEMBER, 1858.—NO. XIII.

THOUGH our country can boast of no Watt, Brindley, Smeaton, Rennie, Telford, Brunel, Stephenson, or Fairbairn, and lacks such experimenters as Tredgold, Barlow, Hodgkinson, and Clark, yet we have our Evans and Fulton, our Whistler, Latrobe, Roebling, Haupt, Ellet, Adams, and Morris,—engineers who yield to none in professional skill, and whose work will bear comparison with the best of that of Great Britain or the Continent; and if America does not show a Thames Tunnel, a Conway or Menai Tubular Bridge, or a monster steamer, yet she has a railroad-bridge of eight hundred feet clear span, hung two hundred and fifty feet above one of the widest rivers in the world,—locomotive-engines climbing the Alleglianies at an ascent of live hundred feet per mile,—and twentyfive thousand miles of railroad, employing upwards of five thousand locomotives and eighty thousand cars, costing over a thousand millions of dollars, and transporting annually one hundred and thirty millions of passengers and thirty million tons of freight,—and all this in a manner peculiarly adapted to our country, both financially and mechanically.


In England the amount of money bears a high proportion to the amount of territory; in America the reverse is the ease; and the engineers of the two countries quickly recognized the fact: for we find our railroads costing from thirty thousand to forty thousand dollars per mile,—while in England, to surmount much easier natural obstacles, the cost varies from seventy-five to one hundred thousand dollars per mile.

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The cost of railroad transport will probably never be so low as carriage by water,— that is, natural water-communication ; because the river or ocean is given to man complete and ready for use, needing no repairs, and with no interest to pay upon construction capital. Indeed, it is just beginning to be seen all over the country that the public have both expected and received too much accommodation from the companies. Men are perfectly willing to pay five dollars for riding a hundred miles in a stage-coach; but give them a nicely warmed, ventilated, cushioned, and furnished ear, and carry them four or live times faster, with double the comfort, and they expect to pay only half-price,—as a friend of the writer once remarked, “ Why, of course we ought not to pay so much when we a’n’t half so long going,”—as if, when they paid their fare, they not only bargained for transport from one place to another, but for the luxury of sitting in a crowded coach a certain number of hours. It would be hard to show a satisfactory basis for such an establishment of tolls. We need not wonder at the unprofitableness of many of our roads when we consider that the relative cost of transport is,—

By Stage, one cent,
By Railroad, two and seven-twelfths;

and the relative charge,—

By Stage, five cents,
By Railroad, three cents;

and the comparative profit, as five less one to three less two and seven-twelfths, or as four to five-twelfths, or as nine and six-tenths to one.

America has, it is true, a grander system of natural water-communication than any other land except Brazil; but, for all that, there is really but a small part of the area, either of the Alleghany coal and iron fields, or of the granaries of the Mississippi valley, reached even by our matchless rivers. A certain strip or band ot country, bordering the watercourses, is served by them both as regards export and import; just as much is served wherever we build a railroad. In fact, whenever we lay a road across a State, whether it connects the West directly with the East, or only with some central commercial point in the West, just so often do we open to market a band of country as long as the road, and thirty, forty, or fifty miles wide,—the width depending very much upon the cost of transport over such road; and as the charge is much less upon a railroad than upon a common road, the distance from the road from which produce may be brought is much greater with the former than with the latter. The actual determination of the width of the band is a simple problem, when the commercial nature of the country is known.

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The people of the great valley have not been slow, where Nature has denied them the natural, to make for themselves artificial rivers of iron. These railroads arc more completely adapted to the physical character of the Western States than would be any other mode of communication. The work of construction is oftentimes very light, little more being necessary for a railway across the prairies of the West (generally) than a couple of ditches twenty or thirty feet apart, the material taken therefrom being thrown into the intermediate space, thus forming the surface which supports the crossties, the sills or sleepers, and the rails. Indeed, the double operation of ditching and embanking is in some eases performed by a single machine, (a nondescript affair, in appearance half-way between a threshing-machine and a hundred-andtwenty-pound field-piece,) drawn by six, eight, or ten pairs of oxen.

It is even probable that in a great many eases the common road would cost more than the railway in the great central basin of America ; as the rich alluvial soil, when wet in spring or fall, is almost impassable, and lack of stone and timber prevents the construction of artificial roads.

The influence of the railroad upon the Western farm-lands is quickly seen by the following figures, extracted from a lately published work on railroad construction.

Table showing the Effect of Railroad Transport upon the Value of Grain in the Market of Chicago, Illinois.

At market Carried.        WHEAT.        CORN.
Carried by railroad.        Carried by wagon.        Carried by railroad.        Carried by wagon.
$49.50        49.50        25.60        25.60
10 m.        49.25        48.00        24.25        23.26
"        50 m.        48.75        42.00        24.00        17.25
"        100 m.        48.00        34.50        23.25        9.75
"        150 m.        47.25        27.00        22.50        2.25
"        200 m.        46.50        19.50        21.75        0.00
"        300 m.        45.00        4.50        20.25        0.00
"        330 m.        44.55        0.00        19.80        0.00
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Thus a ton of corn carried two hundred miles costs by wagon-transport more than it brings at market,—while, moved by railroad, it is worth $21.75. Also wheat will not bear wagon-transport of 330 miles,—while, moved that distance by railroad it is worth $44.55 per ton.

The social effect of railroads is seen and felt by those who live in the neighborhood of large cities. The unhealthy density of population is prevented, by enabling men to live five, ten, or fifteen miles away from the city and yet do business therein. The extent of this diffusion is as the square of the speed of transport. To illustrate. If a person walks four miles an hour, and is allowed one hour for passing from his home to his place of business, he can live four miles from his work ; the area, therefore, which may be lived in is the circle of which the radius is four miles, the diameter eight* miles, and the area 50¼ square miles. If by horse he can go eight miles an hour, the diameter of the circle becomes sixteen miles, and the area 201 square miles. Finally, if by railroad he goes thirty miles an hour, the diameter becomes sixty miles, and the area 2,827 square miles.

In the ease of railroads, as of other labor-saving (and labor-producing) contrivances, tlio innovation has been loudly decried; but though it does render some classes of labor useless, and throw out of employment some persons, it creates new labor for more than the old, and gives much more than it takes away.

Twenty years of experience show that the diminished cost of transport by railroad invariably augments the amount of commerce transacted, and in a much larger ratio than the reduction of cost. It is estimated by Dr. Lardner that three hundred thousand horses, working daily in stages, would be required to perform the passenger-traffic alone which took place in England during the year 1848.

Regarding the safety of railroad-travelling, though the papers teem with awful calamities from collisions and other causes, yet so great is the number of persons who use the new mode of transport, that travelling by railroad is really about one hundred times safer than by stage. The mortality upon English roads was for one year observed :—one person killed for each sixty-five million transported; in America, for the same time, one in forty-one million.

If we should try to reason from the rate of past railway-growth as to what the future is to be, we should soon be lost in figures. Thus, in the United States,—

In 1829 there were 3 miles.

In 1830 41 miles.

In 1840 2167 miles.

In 1850 7355 miles.

In 1856 23.242 miles.

Thus from 1830 to 1840, the rate is as 2167/41 or 53 nearly ; from 1840 to 1850, 7355/2167, or 3 nearly; and from 1850 to 1856, 23242/7355, or 3 nearly ; and from 1850

to I860 we may suppose the rate will be about 4. The rate is probably now at its permanent maximum, taking the whole country together,—the increase in Now England having nearly ceased, while west of the Mississippi it has not reached its average.

Among the larger and more important roads and connected systems in our country may be named the New York and Erie Railroad, — connecting the city of New York with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, (and, by the road’s diverging from its western terminus, with “ all places West and South,” as the bills say,)—crossing the Shawangunk Mountains through the valley of the Neversink, up the Delaware, down the Susquehanna, and through the rich West of the Empire State.

The Pennsylvania Central Road: from Philadelphia through Lancaster to Harrisburg, on the Susquehanna, up the Juniata and down the western slope of the Alleghanies, through rock-cut galleries and over numberless bridges, reaching at last the bluffs where smoky Pittsburg sees the Ohio start on its noble course.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad: from Baltimore, in Maryland, to Wheeling and Parkersburg, on the Ohio;-— crossing the lowlands to the Washington Junction, thence up the Patapsco, down the Monoeacy, to the Potomac; up to Harper’s Ferry, where the Potomac and the Shenandoah chafe the rocky base of the romantic little town perched high above ; winding up the North Branch to Cumberland,—the terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and of the great national turnpike to the West, for which Wills’ Creek opened so grand a gate at the narrows,—to Piedmont the foot and Altamont the summit, through Savage Valley and Crabtree Gorge, across the glades, from which the water flows east to the Chesapeake Bay and west to the Gulf of Mexico; down Saltlick Creek, and up the slopes of Cheat River and Laurel Hill, till rivers dwindle to creeks, creeks to rills, and rills lose themselves on the flanks of mountains which bar the passage of everything except the railroad; thence, through tunnels of rock and tunnels of iron, descending Tygart's Valley to the Monongahela, and thence through a varied but less rugged country to Moundsville, twelve miles below Wheeling, on the Ohio River.

These are our three great roads where engineering skill has triumphed over natural obstacles. We have another class of great lines to which the obstacles were not so much mechanical as financial,— the physical difficulties being quite secondary. Such are the trunk lines from the East to the West,—through Buffalo, Erie, and Cleveland, to Toledo and Detroit, and from Detroit to Chicago, Rock Island, Burlington, Quincy, and St. Louis ; from Pittsburg, Wheeling, and Parkersburg, on the Ohio, to Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, and St. Louis; and from Cleveland, through Columbus, to Cincinnati, and from Cincinnati to the Northwest.

In progress also may be noticed roads running west from St. Louis, Hannibal, and Burlington, on the Mississippi, all tending towards some point in Kansas, from which the great Pacific Road, the crowning effort of American railwayengineering, may be supposed to take its departure for California and Oregon.

The chief point of difference between the English and the American engineer is, that the former defies all opposition from river and mountain, maintains his line straight and level, fights Nature at every point, cares neither for height nor depth, rock nor torrent, builds his matchless roads through the snowy woods of Canada or over the sandy plains of Egypt with as much unconcern as among the pleasant fields of Hertford or Surrey, and spans with equal case the Thames, the Severn, the St. Lawrence, and the Nile. The words “fail,” “impossible,” “can't be done,” he knows not; and when all other means of finding a firm base whereon to build his bridges and viaducts fail, he puts in a foundation of golden guineas and silver dollars, which always gives success.

On the other hand, the American engineer, always respectful (though none the less determined) in the presence of natural obstacles to his progress, bows politely to the opposing mountain-range, and, bowing, passes around the base, saying, as he looks back, “ You see, friend, we need have no hard feelings, — the world is large enough for thee and me.” To the broad-sweeping river he gently hints, “ Nearer your source you are not so big, and, as I turned out for the mountain, why should I not for the river?” till mountain and river, alike aghast at the bold pigmy, look in silent wonder at the thundering train which shoulders aside granite hills and tramples rivers beneath its feet. But if Nature corners him between rocks heavenward piled on the one hand and roaring torrents on the other, whether to pass is required a bridge or a tunnel, we find either or both designed and built in a manner which cannot be bettered. He is well aware that the directors like rather to see short columns of figures on their treasurer’s books than to read records of great mechanical triumphs in tlieir engineer’s reports.

Of the whole expense of building a railroad, where the country is to any considerable degree broken, the reduction of the natural surface to the required form for the road, that is, the earthwork, or, otherwise, the excavation and embankment, amounts to from thirty to seventy per cent. of the whole cost. Here, then, is certainly an important element on which the engineer is to show his ability ; let us look a little at it, even at the risk of being dry.

It is by no means necessary to reduce the natural surface of the country to a level or horizontal line ; if it were so, there would be an end to all railroads, except on some of the Western prairies. This was not, however, at first known ; indeed, those who were second to understand the matter denied the possibility of moving a locomotive even on a level by applying power to the wheels, because, it was said, the wheels would slip round on the smooth iron rail and the engine remain at rest. But lo ! when the experiment was tried, it was found that the wheel not only had sufficient bite or adhesion upon the rail to prevent slipping and give a forward motion to the engine, but that a number of ears might be attached and also moved.

This point gained, the objectors advanced a step, but again came to a stand, and said, “ If you can move a train on a level, that is all,—you can’t go up hill.” But trial proved that easy inclines (called grades) could he surmounted, — say, rising ten feet for each mile in length.

The objectors take another step, but again put down their heavy square-toed foot, and say, “ There ! ar’n’t you satisfied? you can go over grades of twenty feet per mile, but no more,—so don’t try.” And here English engineers stop,—twenty feet being considered a pretty stiff grade. Meanwhile, the American engineers Whistler and Latrobe, the one dealing with the Berkshire mountains in Massachusetts, the other with the Alleghanies in Virginia, find that not only are grades of ten and of twenty feet admissible, but, where Nature requires it, inclines of forty, sixty, eighty, and even one hundred feet per mile,—it being only remembered, the while, that just as the steepness of the grade is augmented, the power must be increased. This discovery, when properly used, is of immense advantage ; but in the hands of those who do not understand the nice relation which exists between the mechanical and the financial elements of the question, as governed by the speed and weight of trains, and by the funds at the company’s disposal, is very liable to be a great injury to the prospects of a road, or even its ruin.

It was urged at one time, that the best road would have the grades undulating from one end to the other,—so that the momentum acquired in one descent would carry the train almost over the succeeding ascent, and that very little steam-power would be needed. This idea would have place, at least to a certain extent, if the whole momentum was allowed to accumulate during the descent; but even supposing there would be no danger from acquiring so great a speed, a mechanical difficulty was brought to light at once, namely, that the resistance of the atmosphere to the motion of the train increased nearly, if not quite, as the square of the speed; so that after the train on the descent acquired a certain speed, a regular motion was obtained by the balance of momentum and resistance,—whence a fall great enough to produce this regular speed would be advantageous, but no more. On the other hand, the extra power required to draw the train up the grades much overbalances the gain by gravity in going down.

Here, then, we have the two extremes : first, spending more money than the expected traffic will warrant, to cut down hills and fill up valleys; and second, introducing grades so steep that the amount of traffic does not authorize the use of engines heavy enough to work them.

The direction of the traffic, to a, certain extent, determines the rate and direction of the inclines. Thus, the Reading Railroad, from Philadelphia up the Schuylkill to Reading, and thence to Pottsville, is employed entirely in the transport of coal from the Lehigh coal-fields to tide-water in Philadelphia; and it is a very economically operated road, considering the large amount of ascent encountered, because the load goes down hill, and the weight of the train is limited only by the number of empty cars that the engine can take back.

This adoption of steep inclines may be considered as an American idea entirely, and to it many of our large roads owe their success. The Western Railroad of Massachusetts ascends from Springfield to Pittsfield, for a part of the way, at 83 feet per mile. The New York and Erie Railroad has grades of 60 feet per mile. The Baltimore and Ohio climbs the Alleghanies on inclines of 116 feet per mile. The Virginia Central Road crosses the Blue Ridge by grades of 250 and 295 feet per mile; and the ridge through which the Kingwood Tunnel is bored, upon the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, was surmounted temporarily by grades of 500 feet per mile, up which each single car was drawn by a powerful locomotive.

Another element, of which American engineers have freely availed themselves, is curvature. More power is required to draw a train of cars around a curved track than upon a straight line. In England the radius of curvature is limited to half a mile, or thereabouts. The English railway-carriage is placed on three axles, all of which are fixed to the body of the vehicle ; the passage of curves, of even a large diameter, is thus attended by considerable wear and strain ; but in America, the cars, which are much longer than those upon English roads, are placed upon a pintle or pin at each end, which pin is borne upon the centre of a four-wheeled truck,—by which arrangement the wheels may conform to the line of the rails, while the body of the ear is unaffected. This simple contrivance permits the use of curves which would otherwise be entirely impracticable. Thus we find curves of one thousand feet radius upon our roads, over which the trains are run at very considerable speed ; while in one remarkable instance (on the Virginia Central Railroad, before named) we find the extreme minimum of 234 feet. Such a track does not admit of high speeds, and its very use implies the existence of natural obstacles which prevent the acquirement of great velocities.

In fine, the use which the engineer makes of grades and curves, when the physical nature of the country and the nature and amount of the traffic expected are known, may be taken as a pretty sure index of his real professional standing, and sometimes as an index of the moral man ; as when, for example, he steepens his grades to suit the contractor's ideas of mechanics,—in other words, to save work.

Not less in the construction of bridges and viaducts, than in the preparation of the road-bed proper, does the American engineering faculty display itself. Timber, of the best quality, may be found in almost every part of the country, and nowhere in the world has the design and building of wooden bridges been carried to such perfection and such extent as in the United States. We speak here of structures built by such engineers as Haupt, Adams, and Latrobe,—and not of those works, wretched alike in design and execution, which so often become the cause of what are called terrible catastrophes and lamentable accidents, but which are, in reality, the just criticisms of natural mechanical laws upon the ignorance of pretended engineers.

Among the finest specimens of timberwork in America are the Cascade Bridge upon the New York and Erie Railroad, designed and built by Mr. Adams, consisting of one immense timber-arch, having natural abutments in the rocky shores of the creek;—the second edition of the bridges generally upon the same road, by Mr. McCallnm, which replaced those originally built during the construction of the road,—these hardly needing to be taken down by other exertion than their own;—the bridges from one end to the other of the Pennsylvania Central Road, by Mr. Haupt;—the Baltimore and Ohio “ arch-brace ” bridges, by Mr. Latrobe; — and the Genessee “ high bridge,” (not a bridge, by the way, but a trestle,) near Portageville, by Mr. Seymour, which is eight hundred feet long, and carries the road two hundred and thirty feet above the river, having wooden trestles (post and bracework) one hundred and ninety feet high, seventy-five feet wide at base, and twenty-five feet at top, and carrying above all a bridge fourteen feet high; containing the timber of two hundred and fifty acres of land, and sixty tons of iron bolts, costing only $140,000, and built in the short time of eighteen months. This structure, if replaced by an earth embankment, would cost half a million of dollars, and could not be built in less than five years by the ordinary mode of proceeding.2 Further, the interest, for so long a time, on the large amount of money required to build the embankment, at the high rate of railroad interest, would nearly, if not quite, suffice to build the wooden structure.

Again, our wooden bridges of the average span cost about thirty-five dollars per lineal foot. Let us compare this with the cost of iron bridges, on the English tubular plan, the spans being the same, and the piers, therefore, left out of the comparison.

Suppose that a road has in all one mile in length of bridges. Making due allowance for the difference in value of labor in England and America, the cost per lineal foot of the iron tubular bridges could not be less (for the average span of 150 feet) than three hundred dollars.

5280 feet by $35 is $184,800.00

5280 feet by 300 is 1,584,000.00

The six per Cent, interest on

the first is . . . 11,088.00

The six per cent, interest on

the second is . . 95,040.00

And the difference is . . 83,952.00

or nearly enough to rebuild the wooden bridges once in two years; and ten years is the shortest time that a good wooden bridge should last.

The reader may wonder why such structures as the bridge over the Susquehanna at Columbia, which consists of twenty-nine arches, each two hundred feet span, the whole water-way being a mile long, and many other bridges span-

ning large rivers, and having an imposing appearance, are not referred to in this place. The reason is this: large bridges are by no means always great bridges; nor do they require, as some seem to think, skill proportioned to their length. There are many structures of this kind in America, of twenty, twenty-five, or thirty spans, where the same mechanical blunders are repeated over and over again in each span; so that the longer they are and the more they cost, the worse they are. It does not follow, because newspapers say, “ magnificent bridge,” “ two million feet of timber,” “ eighty or one hundred tons of iron,” “cost half a million,” that there is any merit about either the bridge or its builder; as one span is, so is the whole ; and a bridge fifty feet long, and costing only a few hundreds, may show more engineering skill than the largest and most costly viaducts in America. Pew bridges require more knowledge of mechanics and of materials than Mr. Haupt’s little “trussed girders” on the Pennsylvania Central Road,—consisting of a single piece of timber, trussed with a single rod, under each rail of the track.

Again, as regards American iron bridges, the same result is found to a great extent. Thus, Mr. Roebling’s Niagara Railroad Suspension-Bridge cost four hundred thousand dollars, while a boiler-plate iron bridge upon the tubular system would cost for the same span about four million dollars, even if it were practicable to raise a tubular bridge in one piece over Niagara River at the site of the Suspension Bridge. Strength and durability, with the utmost economy, seem to have been attained by Mr. Wendel Bollman, superintendent of the roaddepartment of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,—the minute details of construction being so skilfully arranged, that changes of temperature, oftentimes so fatal to bridges of metal, have no hurtful effect whatever. And here, again, is seen the distinctive American feature of adaptation or accommodation, even in the smallest detail. Mr. Bollman does not get savage and say, “Messieurs Heat and Cold, I can get iron enough out of the Alleghenies to resist all the power you can bring against me ! ”—but only observes, “ Go on, Heat and Cold ! I am not going to deal directly with you, but indirectly, by means of an agent which will render harmless your most violent efforts! ”—or, in other words, he interposes a short link of iron between the principal members of his bridge, which absorbs entirely all undue strains.

It is not to be supposed from what has preceded, that the American engineer does not know how to spend money, because he gets along with so little, and accomplishes so much; when occasion requires, he is lavish of his dollars, and sees no longer expense, but only the object to be accomplished. Witness, for example, the Kingwood Tunnel, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, where for a great distance the lining or protecting arching inside is of heavy ribs of castiron,—making the cost of that mile of road embracing the tunnel about a million of dollars. Nor will the traveller who observes the construction of the New York and Erie Railroad up the Delaware Valley, of the Pennsylvania Central down the west slopes of the Alleghanies, or of the Baltimore and Ohio down the slopes of Cheat River, think for a moment that the American engineer grudges money where it is really needed.

Stone bridges so rarely occur upon the roads of America, that they hardly need remark. The Starucca Viaduct, by Mr. Adams, upon the New York and Erie Railroad, and the viaduct over the Patapseo, near the junction of the Washington branch with the main stem of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, show that our engineers are not at all behind those of Europe in this branch of engineering.

From the civil let us pass to the mechanical department of railroad engineering. This latter embraces all the machinery, both fixed and rolling; locomotives and cars coming under the latter,—and the shop-machines, lathes, planers, and boring-machines, forging, cutting, punching, rolling, and shearing engines, pumps and pumping-engines for the water-stations, turn-tables, and the like, under the former. Of this branch, little, except the design and working of the locomotive power, needs to be mentioned as affecting the prosperity of the road. Machine-shops, engine-houses, and such apparatus, differ but slightly upon different roads; but the form and dimensions of the locomotive engines should depend upon the nature of the traffic, and upon the physical character of the road, and that most intimately,—so much, indeed, that the adjustment of the grades and curvatures must determine the power, form, and whole construction of the engine. This is a fact but little appreciated by the managers of our roads; when the engineer has completed the road-bed proper, including the bridging and masonry, he is considered as done with; and as the succeeding superintendent of machinery is not at that time generally appointed, the duty of obtaining the necessary locomotive power devolves upon the president or contractor, or some other person who knows nothing whatever of the requirements of the road; and as he generally goes to some particular friend, perhaps even an associate, he of course takes such a pattern of engine as the latter builds,—and the consequence is that not one out of fifty of our roads has steam-power in any way adapted to the duty it is called upon to perform.

There is no nicer problem connected with the establishment of a railroad, than, having given the grades, the nature of the traffic, and the fuel to be used, to obtain therefrom by pure mechanical and chemical laws the dimensions complete for the locomotives which shall effect the transport of trains in the most economical manner; and there is no problem that, until quite lately, has been more totally neglected.3

Of the whole cost of working a railroad about one third is chargeable to the locomotive department; from which it is plain that the most proper adaptation is well worth the careful attention of the engineer. Though it is generally considered that the proper person to select the locomotive power can be none other than a practical machinist, and though he would doubtless select the best workmanship, yet, if not acquainted with the general principles of locomotion, and aware of the character of the road and of the expected traffic, and able to judge, (not by so-called experience, but by real knowledge,) he may get machinery totally unfit for the work required of it. Indeed, American civil engineers ought to qualify themselves to equip the roads they build ; for none others are so well acquainted with the road as those who from a thorough knowledge of the matter have established the grades and the curvatures.

The difference between adaptation and non-adaptation will plainly be seen by the comparison below. The railway from Boston to Albany may be divided into four sections, of which the several lengths and corresponding maximum grades are as tabulated.

Length in miles.        Steepest grade.
Boston to Worcester,        44        30
Worcester to Springfield,        54 1/2        50
Springfield to Pittsfield,        52        83
Pittsfield to Albany,        49 1/2        45
A load of five hundred tons upon a grade of thirty feet per mile requires of the locomotive a drawing-power of 11,500 lbs.

Upon a 50 feet grade 15,500 lbs. Upon an 83 feet grade 22,500 lbs. Upon a 45 feet grade 14,500 lbs.

Now, if the engines are all alike, (as they are very nearly,) and each is able to exert a drawing-power of five thousand

B. to AY. 44 miles AY. to S. 54 A miles S. to P. 52 miles P. to A. 49J miles

pounds to move a load of five hundred tons from Boston to Albany, we need as follows :—

B. to W. 11500/5000 or 2 engines. AY. to S. 15500/5000 or 3 engines. S. to P. 22500/5000 or 5 engines. P. to A. 14500/5000 or 3 engines.

From which the whole number of miles run by engines for one whole trip would be —

by 2 engines, or 88

by 3 engines, or 163½

by 5 engines, or 260

by 3 engines, or 148½

And the sum, 660

Now suppose, that, by making the engines for the several divisions strong in proportion to the resistance encountered upon these divisions, one engine only is employed upon each: ora mileage becomes,

B. to W. 44 by 1 or 44

AY. to S. 54 ½ by 1 or 54½

S. to P. 52 by 1 or 52

P. to A. 49½ by 1 or 49½

And the sum, 200 miles.

And the saving of miles run is therefore 660 less 200, or 460 ; and if 500 tons pass over the road daily, the annual saving of mileage becomes 460 by 313, or 143,980, or 70 per cent, of the whole. The actual cost for freight-locomotives per ton, per mile run, during the year ending Sept. 30, 1855, was 384/1000 of a cent; and the above 143,080 miles saved, multiplied by this fraction, amounts to $55,288 per annum. The actual expense of working the power will not of course show the whole 70 per cent. of saving, as heavy and strong engines cost more at first, and cost more to operate, than lighter ones; but the figures show the effect of correct adaptation. If we call the saving 50 per cent, only of the mileage, we have then (as the locomotive power consumes 30/100 of the whole cost of operating) 50/100 of 30/100 or 15/100, of the whole cost of working the road, and this by simply knowing how to adapt the machinery to the requirement.

So very slight are the points of difference between a good and a bad engine, that they often escape the eye of those whose business it is to deal with such works. It is not the brass and steel and bright metal and elaborate painting that make the really good and serviceable engine,—but the length, breadth, and depth of its furnace, the knowledge of proportion shown in its design, and the mechanical skill exhibited in the fitting of its parts. The apparently complex portions are really very simple in action, while the apparently simple parts are those where the greatest knowledge is required. Any man of ordinary mechanical acquirements can design and arrange the general form,—the whole mass of cranks, pistons, connecting-rods, pumps, and the various levers for working the engine ; but to find the correct dimensions of the inner parts of the boiler, and of the valve-gearing, by which the movements of the steam are governed, requires a very considerable knowledge of the chemistry of combustion, of practical geometry, and of the physical properties of steam. So nice, indeed, is the valve-adjustment of the locomotive, as depending upon the work it has to do, whether fast or slow, light or heavy, that a single eighth of an inch too much or too little will so affect its power as to entirely unfit it for doing its duty with any degree of economy.

When a single man takes the general charge of five hundred miles of railroad, upon which the annual pay-roll is a million of dollars, and which employs over two hundred locomotives and three thousand ears, earning five million dollars a year,—a road which cost thirty-three million, has five miles in length of bridges, and over four hundred buildings,—it is plain that the system of operation must be somewhat elaborate. And so it is. Indeed, so complete is the organization and management of employées upon the New York and Erie Railroad, that the General Superintendent at his office can at any moment tell within a mile where each car or engine is, what it is doing, the contents of the car, the consignor and consgnee, the time at which it arrives and leaves each station, (the actual time, not the time when it should arrive,) and is thus able to correct all errors almost at the moment of commission, and in reality to completely control the road.

The great regulator upon long lines of railroad is the electric telegraph, which connects all parts of the road, and enables one person to keep, as it were, his eye on the whole road at once.

A single-track railroad, says Mr. McCallum, may be rendered more safe and efficient by a proper use of the telegraph than a double-track railroad without,-—as the double-tracks commonly obviate collisions which occur between trains moving in opposite directions, whilst the telegraph may be used effectually in preventing them between trains moving either in opposite directions or in the same direction; and it is a well-established fact, deduced from the history of railroads both in Europe and in this country, that collisions from trains moving in the same direction have proved by far the most fatal and disastrous, and should be the most carefully guarded against.

From the admirable report of Mr. Mc Callum, above referred to, we take the following :—“ Collisions between fast and slow trains moving in the same direction are prevented by the following rule: ' The conductor of a slow train will report himself to the Superintendent of Division immediately on arrival at a station where, by the time-table, lie should be overtaken by a faster train ; and he shall not leave that station until the fast train passes, without special orders from the Superintendent of Division.' A slow train, under such circumstances, may, at the discretion of the Division Superintendent, be directed to proceed; he, being fully apprised of the position of the delayed train, can readily form an opinion as to the propriety of doing so; and thus, while the delayed train is permitted to run without regard to the slow one, the latter can be kept entirely out of its way.

“ The passing-place for trains is fixed and determined, with orders positive and defined that neither shall proceed beyond that point until after the arrival of the other; whereas, in the absence of the telegraph, conductors are governed by general rules, and their individual understanding of the same,—which rules are generally to the effect, that, in case of detention, the train arriving first at the regular passing-place shall, after waiting a few moments, proceed cautiously (expecting to meet the other train, which is generally running as much faster, to make up lost time, as the cautious train is slower) until they have met and passed ; the one failing to reach the half-way point between stations being required to back, — a dangerous expedient always, — an example of which operation was furnished at the disaster on the Camden and Amboy Railroad near Burlington ; the delayed train further being subjected to the same rule in regard to all other trains of the same class it may meet, thus pursuing its hazardous and uncertain progress during the entire trip.”

The following table shows the rate and direction of subordination for a first-class railroad :—

General Superintendent.
Superintendent of road.        Roadmaster.        Section men.
Roadmaster.        Section men.
Roadmaster.        Section men.
Superintendent of machinery.        Foreman of machine-shop.        Machinists.
Foreman of blacksmith's shop.        Blacksmiths
Foreman of carpenter's shop.        Carpenters.
Foreman of paint-shop.        Painters.
Engineers (not on trains).        Firemen.
Car-masters.        Oilers and cleaners.
Superintendent of road.        Conductors.        Brakemen.
Engineers (on trains).
Ticket-collectors.
Mail agents.
Station agents.        Hackmen.
Switchmen
Express agents.
Police.
Superintendent of road.
Conductors        Brakemen.
Engineers (on trains).
Station agents.
Weighers and gangers.
Yard-masters.
Supply agent. Fuel agent.        Clerks and teamsters furnishing supplies.
All men employed about wood-sheds.
All subordinates should be accountable to and directed by their immediate superiors only. Each officer must have authority, with the approval of the general superintendent, to appoint all employées for whose acts he is responsible, and to dismiss any one, when, in his judgment, the interests of the company demand it.

Fast travelling is one of the most dangerous as well as one of the most expensive. luxuries connected with the railroad system. Few companies in America have any idea what their express-trains cost them. Indeed, the proper means of obtaining quick transport are not at all understood. It is not by forcing the train at an excessively high speed, but by reducing the number of stops. A train running four hundred miles, and stopping once in fifty minutes,—each stop, including coming to rest and starting, being five minutes,—to pass over the whole distance in eight hours, must run fifty-five miles per hour ; stopping once in twenty minutes, sixty-three miles per hour ; and stopping once in ten minutes, eighty-six miles per hour.

The proportions in which the workingexpenses are distributed under the several heads are nearly as follows :—

Management        7
Road-repairs        10
Locomotives        35
Cars        38
Sundries        4
In all        100
And the percentage of increase due to fast travelling, to be applied to the several items of expense, with the resulting increase in total expense, this:—

Management        7
Head-repairs        16
Locomotives        35
Cars        38
Sundries        4
100
increased by        0        per cent, is        0.0
"        27        "        4.3
"        30        "        10.5
"        10        "        3.8
"        0        "        0.0
And the whole increase        18.6
The causes of accident beyond the control of passengers are,—

Collision by opposition,

Collision by overtaking,

Derailment by switches misplaced,

Derailment by obstacles on the track,

Breakage of machinery,

Failure of bridges,

Fire,

Explosion.

Those causes which are aggravated by fast travelling are the first, second, fifth, and sixth. The effects of all are worse at high than at low velocities.

The proportion of accidents due to each of these causes, taken at random from one hundred cases on English roads, (American reports do not detail such information with accuracy,) were,—

Collision        56        56
Breakage of machinery        18        18
Failure of road        14        14
Misplaced switches                5
Obstacles on rails                6
Boiler explosions                1
88        100
Eighty-eight per cent, being from those causes which are aggravated by increase of speed ; and if wo suppose the amount of aggravation to augment as the speed, the danger of travelling is eighty-eight per cent, greater by a fast than by a slow train.

These are the direct evils of high speeds; there are also indirect evils, which are full as bad.

All trains in motion at the same time, within a certain distance of the express, must be kept waiting, with steam up, or driven at extra velocities to keep out of the way.

Where the time-table is so arranged as to call for speed nearly equal to the full capacity of the engine, it is very obvious that the risks of failure in “making time” must be much greater than at reduced rates; and when they do occur, the efforts made to gain the time must be correspondingly greater and uncertain. A single example will be sufficient to show this.

A train, whose prescribed rate of speed is thirty miles per hour, having lost five minutes of time, and being required to gain it in order to meet and pass an opposing train at a station ten miles distant, must necessarily increase its speed to forty miles per hour; and a train, whose prescribed rate of speed is forty miles per hour, under similar circumstances, must increase its speed to sixty miles per hour. In the former case it would probably be accomplished, whilst in the latter it would more probably result in failure, —or, if successful, it would be so at fearful risk of accident.

However true it may be that many of our large roads are well, some of them admirably, managed, it is none the less a fact that the greater portion are directed in a manner far from satisfactory,— many, indeed, being subjected to the combined influence of ignorance and recklessness.


Many people wonder at the bad financial state of the American railroads ; the wonder is, to those who understand the way in which they are managed, that they should be worth anything at all. It is useless to disguise the fact, says a writer in one of our railroad-papers, that the great body of our railroad-directors are entirely unfit for their position. They are, personally, a very respectable class of men, (Sehuylerisms and Tuckermanisms excepted,)—men who, after having passed through their active business-lives successfully, and after retirement, are, in the minds of some, eminently fitted to adorn a director’s chair. Never was there a greater mistake. What is wanted for a railway-director is an active, clearbeaded man, who lias not outlived his term of activity. We want railway-directors who know how to reduce the operating-expenses per mile, and not men who oppose their bigoted ignorance to everything like change or improvement, who can see no difference between science and abstract ideas. It would seem that the only question to be asked with regard to the fitness of a man for being a director is—Is he rich and respectable ? If he has these qualities, and is pretty stupid withal, he is in a fair line for election. We tell our railway-readers, that, if they desire to make their property valuable, and rescue it from becoming a byword and a reproach, they have got to elect men of an entirely different stamp,—men of practical experience, in the best sense of the term, who have intelligence enough to know and apply all those vital reforms upon which depends the future success of their undertakings,—the men of the workshop, the track, and the locomotive. And we shall yet see the more intelligent of them taking the place, at the directors’ board, of the retired merchants, physicians, and other respectable gentlemen, who now lend only the names of their respectability to perpetuate a system of folly that has reduced our railroad-management below contempt. As at present constituted, our boards are a very showy, but very useless piece of mechanism. The members attend at meetings when they feel just like it, and sign their names to documents and statements which have been prepared for them by others, without much knowledge of what the contents are; their other duties consisting chiefly in riding over their own and connecting roads, free of charge.


Why should railway-directors work for nothing for the stockholders ? Ah, Messrs. Stockholders, you little know in reality how fat a salary your directors make to themselves, by nice little commissions, by patronizing their favorite builders of locomotives and cars, and by buying the. thousand and one patents that are so urgently recommended ! Do you carry your broken watch to a blacksmith or to a stone-mason to be mended ? Neither, we think. Why, then, do you leave the management of a work which engineers, machinists, carpenters, masons, and men of almost every trade, have spent time and care upon to build, to the respectable merchant, lawyer, or banker, who thinks the best road that which has the softest cushions and the most comfortable seats on which to ride ?

Railroad-building, remarks a late writer, (Mr. Whiton,) may be divided into three periods,—the first, the introductory, in which roads were a sort of experimental enterprise, where the men who labored expected to be paid for their time or money, and were willing to wait a reasonable time for the expected profit. Second, the speculative period, when men were possessed with an unhealthy desire for fortune-making, and, not content to wait the natural harvest of the seed sown, departed from the sound and honest principles of construction and management; trying, at first, by all sorts of pretence and misrepresentation, to conceal, and last by legislation to counterbalance, the results of their ignorance and of their insane desires. Railroads were compared, as an investment, to banks; and it was even supposed that the more they cost the more they would divide; and tunnels, rock-cuts, and viaducts were then as much sought after as they are now avoided. Shrewd and intelligent business-men, who had made for themselves fortunes, embraced these ridiculous opinions, and seemed at once, upon taking hold of railroad-enterprises, to lose whatever of common sense they before might have possessed ; and even at the present day these same men have not the manly honesty to acknowledge their errors, but endeavor to cover them up with greater,— The third period is that of reaction, which embraces the present time. To a person unacquainted with the management of railroads, to see a body of men, no one of whom has ever before had anything to do with mechanical operations, assembled to decide upon the relative merits of the different plans of bridges or of locomotives or cars, upon the best means of reducing the working-expenses of a machine of whose component parts they have not the slightest idea, of the most complicated and elaborate piece of mechanism that men have ever designed, might at first seem absurd ; but custom has made it right. It is generally supposed that the moment a man, be he lawyer, doctor, or merchant, is chosen director in a railroad enterprise, immediately he becomes possessed of all knowledge of mechanics, finance, and commerce; but, judging from past experience, it. appears in reality that he leaves behind at such time whatever common sense he perchance possessed before ; otherwise why does he not follow the same correct business-rules, when managing the property of others, as when he accumulated his own ? A man who should show as much carelessness and ignorance, when operating for himself, as railway-directors do when operating for others, would be considered as a fit subject for an insane asylum.

When railroads are built where they are needed, at the time they are wanted, in a country able to support them, by permanent investors, and not by speculators, and are well made by good engineers, and well managed by competent men, whose interest is really connected with the success of the enterprise, then they will pay, and be railroads indeed. But so long as money is obtained on false pretences, to be played for by State and Wall Street gamblers on the one hand, and ravenous contractors on the other hand, they will be what they are,—worthless monuments of extravagance and folly.

“ Experience keeps a dear school,” says poor Richard, “ but fools will learn in no other.”

Let not the reader think for a single moment that we have no appreciation of the labors of a De Witt Clinton, or of a Livingston,—that we at all underrate the services of the Eastern capitalists who render available the public-land grants of the West, whether to build ship-canals or railroads. Wo have the highest respect for that talent without which our Western lands would still be left to the buffalo and the deer, and the gold and silver of Europe would remain on the other side of the Atlantic. These capitalists are the mainsprings of the system; but we should no more apply their energy and skill to the detailed operation of so mechanical a structure as a railroad, than we should attach the mainspring of a watch to the hands directly, without the intermediate connecting chains and wheels.

Not less incompetent for the construction oi railways, than are the directors for the management of the completed roads, are at least one half of the so-called engineers in America. Obliged to complete no course of education, to pass no examination, they are at once let loose upon the country whenever they feel like it, to build what go by the names of railroads and bridges, but are in reality traps in which to lose both life and money. Indeed, any man (in the United States) who has carried a rod or chain is called an engineer; while the correct definition is, a man who has, first, a thorough knowledge of mechanics, mathematics, and chemistry,-—second, the knowledge necessary for applying these sciences to the arts,— and last, the knowledge requisite to the correct adaptation of such arts to the wants of man, but, more than all, that experience which is got only from continual practice. We have such a class of engineers, and to them we owe what of fame we have in the engineering world. Second, comes another grade, men who, commencing as subordinates, without any preparatory knowledge, but with natural genius, and an intuitive knowledge of mechanics, need only to have their ideas generalized to see the hearing of their special knowledge upon the whole, in order to rank high in the profession. Third, a class who lack both natural and acquired knowledge, and whose only recommendation is that they are always for sale to the highest bidder, whether he be president, director, or contractor; sometimes working nominally for the company, but really for the contractor,—or in some cases, so debased is this class of persons, for both contractor and company openly. Of late years this prostitution of mongrel engineers has had place to an alarming extent. Let us hope that the old professional pride, and, better still, a love of truth and honesty for their own sake, may


yet triumph, and place real engineers high above the dead level to which ignorance and pretence and venality have degraded the profession.

* Handbook of Railroad Construction, for the Use of American Engineers. By GEORGE L. Vos Li, Civil Engineer. Boston and Cambridge: James Munroe & Company. 1857.↩
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Reports, from 1S30 to 1850. BENJAMIN H. LATROBE, Chief Engineer.↩
Railways and their Management, being a Pamphlet written by JAMES M. WHITON, ESQ., late of the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad. 1856.↩
Report of the President, Treasurer, and General Superintendent of the New York and Erie Railroad Company to the Stockholders. March, 1856.↩
Final Report of JOHN A. ROEBLING,Civil Engineer on the Niagara Railway SuspensionBridge. May, 1855.↩
Lest these statements should sound extravagant, the reader will please reckon up the amounts for himself. A bank twenty-five feet wide on top, eight hundred feet long, and two hundred and thirty feet high, would contain two million cubic yards of earth; which, at twenty-five cents per yard, would cost half a million of dollars, exclusive of a culvert to pass the river, of sixty, eighty, or one hundred feet span and seven hundred feet long. Twenty trains per day, of thirty cars each, one car holding two yards, would be twelve hundred yards per day; two million, divided by twelve hundred, gives 1,666 days.↩
The most careless observer has doubtless noticed that the front part of a locomotive rests upon the centre of a truck, having four small wheels; the back and middle part, he will also remember, is borne upon large spokewheels, which are connected with the machinery; upon the size of these last depend the power and speed of the engine. The larger the wheels, the less the power, and the higher the velocity which may be got; again, the wheel remaining of the same size, by enlarging the dimensions of the cylinders the power is increased: and the wheels and cylinders remaining the same, by enlarging the boiler we can make stronger steam and thus increase the power. There may be seen upon the road from Boston to Springfield engines with wheels nearly seven feet in diameter, used for drawing light express-trains: while upon the roads ascending the Alleghenies may be seen wheels of only three and a half feet diameter, which are employed in drawing trains up the steep grades. Increase of steepness of grades acts upon the locomotive in the same manner as increase of actual load; as upon a level the natural tendency of the engine is to stand still, while on an incline tho tendency is to roll backwards down-hill.↩



美国的铁路工程
1858年11月号
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大西洋月刊。

一本关于文学、艺术和政治的杂志。

第二卷 II.-1858年11月-No. XIII.

虽然我国没有瓦特、布林德利、斯米顿、雷尼、特尔福德、布鲁内尔、史蒂芬森或费尔贝恩，也缺乏像特雷戈尔德、巴洛、霍奇金森和克拉克这样的实验者，但我们有埃文斯和富尔顿。我们的惠斯勒、拉特罗布、罗布林、霍普特、埃利特、亚当斯和莫里斯，这些工程师的专业技能无人能及，他们的作品可以与英国或欧洲大陆最好的作品相比。如果美国没有展示泰晤士河隧道、康威或梅奈管状大桥，或巨型蒸汽船，但她有一座净跨度为800英尺的铁路桥，悬挂在世界最宽的河流之一的上方，火车头发动机以每英里100英尺的速度爬上阿莱格利亚山脉。 两万五千英里的铁路，使用五千多辆机车和八万辆汽车，耗资超过一亿美元，每年运送一亿三千万名乘客和三千万吨货物，--所有这些都是以一种特别适合我国的方式，在财政上和机械上。


在英国，金钱的数量与领土的数量成正比；而在美国，情况恰恰相反；这两个国家的工程师们很快就认识到了这一事实：因为我们发现我们的铁路每英里的成本从三万到四万美元不等，而在英国，为了克服更容易的自然障碍，每英里的成本从七万五千美元到十万美元不等。

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铁路运输的成本可能永远不会像水路运输那样低，也就是自然的水路交通；因为河流或海洋是完整地交给人类使用的，不需要修理，也不需要支付建筑资本的利息。事实上，人们刚刚开始在全国范围内看到，公众对公司的期望和接受程度都过高。人们完全愿意为乘坐100英里的驿站马车支付5美元。但如果给他们一个温暖、通风、有垫子、有家具的耳朵，让他们以四倍或更快的速度，以双倍的舒适度，他们却希望只付半价，正如作者的一个朋友曾经说过："为什么，当我们没有走一半的时间时，我们当然不应该付这么多钱。"就好像当他们支付车费时，他们不仅为从一个地方到另一个地方的交通讨价还价，而且为在拥挤的车厢中坐上若干小时的奢侈。很难为这种收费制度提供令人满意的依据。当我们考虑到运输的相对成本时，我们不必对我们许多道路的无利可图感到惊奇，因为我们的运输成本是

驿站，1美分。
通过铁路，十二分之二。

而相对的收费则是

舞台，五分钱。
铁路，三分钱。

而相对的利润，则是五减一，三减十二分之二，或十二分之四，或十分之九比一。

诚然，除巴西外，美国拥有比任何其他国家都要大的自然水运系统；但是，尽管如此，无论是阿勒格尼的煤田和铁田，还是密西西比河谷的粮仓，实际上只有一小部分地区可以通过我们无以伦比的河流到达。在水道边上的某一地带，无论在出口还是进口方面，都是由它们提供服务的；就像我们在任何地方修建铁路一样。事实上，每当我们铺设一条横跨一个州的公路时，无论它是直接连接西部和东部，还是只连接西部的某个中心商业点，我们往往都会向市场开放一条与公路一样长、30、40或50英里宽的地带，其宽度在很大程度上取决于通过这种公路的运输成本；由于铁路的收费比普通公路要少得多，所以前者可能带来的产品离公路的距离要比后者大得多。当知道国家的商业性质时，实际确定带的宽度是一个简单的问题。

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大峡谷的人们在大自然剥夺了他们的自然条件的情况下，不失时机地为自己制造了人工的铁水河。这些铁路比任何其他交通方式都更能完全适应西部各州的自然特征。建设工作有时非常简单，对于一条横跨西部大草原的铁路来说，所需要的东西不多，只是相隔20或30英尺的几条沟渠，从那里取来的材料被扔到中间的空间，从而形成支撑桁架、枕木或钢轨的表面。事实上，在某些情况下，开沟和筑堤的双重操作是由一台机器完成的，（这是一种不伦不类的东西，外观介于打谷机和120磅的农具之间），由六、八或十对牛牵引。

甚至可以说，在许多地方，普通公路的成本比美国中部大盆地的铁路还要高；因为丰富的冲积土壤在春季或秋季潮湿时几乎无法通行，而且缺乏石头和木材，无法建造人工道路。

从最近出版的一本关于铁路建设的著作中摘录的以下数字，可以很快看出铁路对西部农田的影响。

表中显示了铁路运输对伊利诺伊州芝加哥市场上谷物价值的影响。

在市场上运输的。        小麦。        玉米。
通过铁路运输。        用马车运载。        由铁路运载。        用马车运载。
$49.50 49.50 25.60 25.60
10 m. 49.25 48.00 24.25 23.26
" 50 m. 48.75 42.00 24.00 17.25
" 100 m. 48.00 34.50 23.25 9.75
" 150 m. 47.25 27.00 22.50 2.25
" 200 m. 46.50 19.50 21.75 0.00
" 300 m. 45.00 4.50 20.25 0.00
" 330 m. 44.55 0.00 19.80 0.00
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因此，一吨玉米用马车运输200英里的成本高于它在市场上的价格，而用铁路运输，它的价值是21.75美元。同样，小麦也经不起马车运输330英里，而通过铁路运输这一距离，每吨价值44.55美元。

住在大城市附近的人都能看到和感受到铁路的社会效应。通过使人们能够住在离城市5、10或15英里以外的地方，却能在那里做生意，防止了人口的不健康密度。这种扩散的范围是运输速度的平方。举例来说。如果一个人每小时走四英里，并允许他从家到工作地点走一小时，他就可以住在离工作地点四英里的地方；因此，可以居住的区域是一个半径为四英里、直径为八*英里、面积为50¼平方英里的圆。如果他骑马每小时能走8英里，圆的直径就变成16英里，面积为201平方英里。最后，如果通过铁路，他每小时能走30英里，直径就变成60英里，面积为2827平方英里。

在铁路和其他节省劳动力（和生产劳动力）的发明中，这种创新被大声斥责；但尽管它确实使某些类别的劳动力失去了作用，并使一些人失去了工作，但它创造的新劳动力比旧劳动力更多，而且给予的比拿走的多得多。

20年的经验表明，铁路运输成本的降低无一例外地增加了商业交易量，而且其比例远远大于成本的降低。据拉德纳博士估计，在1848年期间，仅英国的客运量就需要30万匹马，每天分批工作。

关于铁路旅行的安全性，尽管报纸上充斥着因碰撞和其他原因造成的可怕灾难，但使用这种新的运输方式的人数如此之多，因此乘坐铁路旅行确实比乘坐驿站安全一百倍左右。据观察，英国公路上一年的死亡率是：每运输6,500万人次就有一人死亡；在美国，在同一时期，每4,100万人次就有一人死亡。

如果我们试图从过去的铁路增长速度来推断未来的情况，我们很快就会被数字所迷惑。因此，在美国，-

1829年，有3英里。

1830年，41英里。

1840年，2167英里。

1850年，7355英里。

1856年，23.242英里。

因此，从1830年到1840年，这个比率是2167/41，即接近53；从1840年到1850年，7355/2167，即接近3；从1850年到1856年，23242/7355，即接近3；而从1850

从1850年到1860年，我们可以推测这个比率大约为4。现在这个比率可能已经达到了它的永久最大值，把整个国家计算在内--新英格兰的增长几乎停止了，而密西西比河以西的增长还没有达到它的平均水平。

在我国较大和较重要的公路和连接系统中，可以列举纽约和伊利铁路，--连接纽约市和敦刻尔克的伊利湖，（而且，由于该路从其西部终点站分流，如账单所说，与 "西部和南部的所有地方 "相连）--穿过沙旺克山，穿过内韦辛克河谷，沿着特拉华河，沿着萨斯奎汉那河，穿过帝国州西部的富裕地区。

宾夕法尼亚中央路：从费城经兰开斯特到哈里斯堡，在萨斯克哈纳河上，沿着朱尼亚塔河，沿着阿勒格尼希山脉的西坡，穿过岩石切割的长廊，跨过无数的桥梁，最后到达悬崖，在烟雾缭绕的匹兹堡看到俄亥俄河开始其高贵的历程。

巴尔的摩和俄亥俄铁路。从马里兰州的巴尔的摩到俄亥俄州的惠灵和帕克斯堡；穿过低地到华盛顿交界处，然后沿着帕塔普斯科河，沿着莫诺亚西河，到波托马克河；再到哈珀渡口，波托马克河和谢南多亚河在高处的浪漫小镇的岩石基地上摩擦。沿着北支蜿蜒到坎伯兰，这是切萨皮克和俄亥俄运河的终点，也是通往西部的伟大国家公路的终点，威尔斯河在狭窄处为它打开了一道宏伟的大门，到皮德蒙特山脚和阿尔塔蒙特山顶，穿过萨维奇谷和克拉布特里峡谷，穿过峡谷，水从那里向东流向切萨皮克湾，向西流向墨西哥湾。沿着Saltlick溪流而下，沿着Cheat河和Laurel山的山坡而上，直到河流渐渐变成小溪，小溪变成小山，而小山则消失在山脉的侧翼，这些山脉除了铁路之外，一切都无法通行；然后，通过岩石的隧道和铁的隧道，沿着Tygart山谷下到莫农加希拉河，然后穿过一个变化多端但不那么崎岖的国家，到达俄亥俄河上的Moundsville，距离惠灵12英里。

这是我们的三条伟大的道路，工程技能战胜了自然障碍。我们还有另一类伟大的线路，它们的障碍与其说是机械性的，不如说是财务性的，物理性的困难是相当次要的。这些是由东向西的干线--穿过布法罗、伊利和克利夫兰，到托莱多和底特律，从底特律到芝加哥、岩岛、伯灵顿、昆西和圣路易斯；从俄亥俄州的匹兹堡、惠灵和帕克斯堡到克利夫兰、哥伦布、辛辛那提、印第安纳波利斯、路易斯维尔和圣路易斯；以及从克利夫兰经哥伦布到辛辛那提，从辛辛那提到西北地区。

还可以注意到从密西西比河上的圣路易斯、汉尼拔和伯灵顿向西行驶的道路，所有这些道路都趋向于堪萨斯州的某个地点，可以认为美国铁路工程的最高成就--伟大的太平洋路将从这里出发，前往加利福尼亚和俄勒冈州。

英国工程师和美国工程师之间的主要区别在于，前者无视来自河流和山脉的所有阻力，保持他的线路笔直平坦，在每一个点上与自然抗争，既不关心高度和深度，也不关心岩石和激流，在加拿大的雪林中或埃及的沙地平原上建造他无与伦比的道路，就像在赫特福德或萨里的愉快田野上一样毫不关心，并以同样的情况横跨泰晤士河、塞汶河、圣劳伦斯河和尼罗河。他不知道 "失败"、"不可能"、"做不到 "这些词；当所有其他寻找建造桥梁和高架桥的坚实基础的方法都失败时，他把金币和银元作为基础，这总是能获得成功。

另一方面，美国工程师在遇到阻碍他前进的自然障碍时，总是毕恭毕敬（尽管他的决心并不小），他向对面的山脉礼貌地鞠躬，鞠躬后绕过基地，边走边说："你看，朋友，我们不需要难过，世界对你和我都足够大。" 他对宽阔的河流轻轻地暗示："在你的源头附近，你没有那么大，而且，我为山而转身，为什么不为河而转身呢？"直到山和河都对这个大胆的小猪感到惊奇，默默地看着这列雷鸣般的火车，它把花岗岩的山头放在一边，把河水踩在脚下。但是，如果大自然把他逼到一边是堆积如山的岩石，另一边是咆哮的山洪，不管是要通过桥梁还是隧道，我们都会发现这两者的设计和建造方式是无可比拟的。他很清楚，董事们宁可在他们的财务账簿上看到简短的数字栏，也不愿意在他们的工程师报告中看到伟大的机械胜利的记录。

在修建铁路的全部费用中，如果国家在相当程度上是破碎的，那么将自然地表减少到道路所需的形式，也就是土方工程，或者说，挖掘和筑堤，就占到了全部费用的30%到70%。那么，这里肯定是工程师要显示其能力的一个重要因素；让我们稍微看看它，甚至冒着干巴巴的风险。

绝不需要将国家的自然表面降为水平线；如果是这样的话，除了西部的一些大草原之外，所有的铁路都会被终止。然而，这一点起初并不为人所知；事实上，那些了解此事的人甚至否认通过向车轮施加动力而使机车在水平线上移动的可能性，因为据说，车轮会在光滑的铁轨上滑行，而发动机则保持静止状态。但是，当实验被试行时，人们发现，车轮不仅在铁轨上有足够的咬合力或附着力，以防止滑动并使发动机向前运动，而且还可以连接一些耳朵，也可以移动。

得到这一点后，反对者又前进了一步，但又站住了，并说："如果你能在平地上移动火车，那就够了，你不能上坡。" 但试验证明，简单的坡度（称为等级）是可以超越的，比如说，每英里的长度上升10英尺。

反对者又走了一步，但又放下他们沉重的方脚，说："好了！你还不满意吗？ 你可以越过每英里20英尺的坡度，但不能超过，所以不要尝试。" 英国工程师在这里停了下来，--20英尺被认为是一个相当硬的坡度。同时，美国工程师惠斯勒和拉特罗布，一个负责马萨诸塞州的伯克希尔山脉，另一个负责弗吉尼亚州的阿利哈尼山脉，他们发现，不仅10英尺和20英尺的坡度是可以接受的，而且在大自然需要的地方，每英里的坡度为40、60、80，甚至100英尺，只要记住，随着坡度的增加，功率也必须增加。这一发现，如果使用得当，是有巨大好处的；但如果落入那些不了解问题的机械和财务要素之间存在的良好关系的人手中，因为它们受列车速度和重量以及公司可支配资金的制约，就很容易对公路的前景造成巨大伤害，甚至毁掉它。

曾经有人主张，最好的道路是在一端到另一端的坡度上有起伏，这样，在一次下坡中获得的动力几乎可以带着火车完成下一次的上坡，因此，只需要很少的蒸汽动力即可。这个想法至少在某种程度上是可行的，如果让整个动力在下降过程中积累起来的话；但即使假设获得如此大的速度不会有任何危险，一个机械上的困难也会立即显现出来，即大气对火车运动的阻力几乎与速度的平方一样增加，如果不是完全一样的话。因此，当列车在下降过程中获得一定的速度后，通过动量和阻力的平衡，就可以获得一个有规律的运动，因此，一个足以产生这个有规律的速度的下降是有利的，但不会有更大的好处。另一方面，将火车拉上坡度所需的额外动力远远超过了下坡时的重力增益。

在这里，我们有两个极端：第一，花费比预期的交通量更多的钱，以减少山丘和填满山谷；第二，引入如此陡峭的坡度，以至于交通量不允许使用足够重的发动机来运行它们。

交通的方向，在一定程度上决定了坡度的速度和方向。因此，雷丁铁路从费城沿着舒尔基尔河到雷丁，然后再到波茨维尔，完全用于从利哈伊煤田运输煤炭到费城的潮水；考虑到遇到的大量上坡，这是一条非常经济的道路，因为负载下坡，列车的重量只受发动机可以带回的空车数量限制。

这种采用陡峭坡度的做法可以说完全是美国人的想法，我们的许多大型公路的成功都得益于此。马萨诸塞州的西部铁路从斯普林菲尔德到皮茨菲尔德的部分路段，每英里的坡度为83英尺。纽约和伊利铁路的坡度为每英里60英尺。巴尔的摩和俄亥俄铁路在阿勒格尼亚山脉上的坡度为每英里116英尺。弗吉尼亚中央路以每英里250和295英尺的坡度穿越蓝岭；巴尔的摩和俄亥俄铁路上的金木隧道所穿过的山脊，暂时被每英里500英尺的坡度所超越，每节车厢都是由一个强大的机车牵引上去。

美国工程师自由利用的另一个因素是曲率。牵引一列火车在弯曲的轨道上行驶比在直线上行驶需要更多的动力。在英国，曲率半径被限制在半英里或左右。英国的火车车厢放在三根轴上，所有的轴都固定在车身上；因此，即使是大直径的弯道，也会有相当大的磨损和压力；但在美国，比英国公路上的车厢要长得多，两端都放在一个小齿轮或销子上，销子被放在四轮卡车的中心，通过这种安排，车轮可以符合铁轨的线路，而耳朵的身体却不受影响。这个简单的装置允许使用曲线，否则就完全不可行了。因此，我们发现在我们的道路上有半径为1000英尺的弯道，火车在上面运行时速度非常快；而在一个显著的例子中（在前面提到的弗吉尼亚中央铁路上），我们发现最小的弯道为234英尺。这样的轨道不允许高速行驶，其使用本身就意味着存在着阻碍获得巨大速度的自然障碍。

总之，当知道国家的物理性质和预期交通的性质和数量时，工程师对坡度和曲线的使用可以作为他真正的专业地位的一个相当肯定的指数，有时也可以作为一个道德人的指数；例如，当他把坡度变陡以适应承包商的机械观念时，换句话说，就是为了节省工作。

在桥梁和高架桥的建设中，美国的工程能力并不亚于路基的准备。几乎在全国各地都能找到质量最好的木材，世界上没有任何地方能像美国这样把木桥的设计和建造做到如此完美和如此程度。我们在这里说的是由Haupt、Adams和Latrobe等工程师建造的结构，而不是那些在设计和执行方面都很糟糕的工程，这些工程经常成为所谓的可怕灾难和可悲事故的原因，但实际上是自然机械规律对自称的工程师的无知的公正批评。

在美国最优秀的木制工程标本中，有亚当斯先生设计和建造的纽约和伊利铁路上的卡斯卡特桥，它由一个巨大的木拱组成，在小河的岩岸上有天然的桥墩；同一公路上的第二版桥梁，由麦卡伦先生设计。麦考恩先生的第二版桥梁，取代了最初在公路建设过程中建造的那些桥梁，这些桥梁除了他们自己的努力之外，几乎不需要被拆掉；霍普特先生的宾夕法尼亚中央路从一端到另一端的桥梁；巴尔的摩和俄亥俄州的 "拱形支架 "桥梁，霍普特先生。拉特罗布的 "高桥"（顺便说一句，这不是一座桥，而是一条栈道），在波塔格维尔附近，由哈普特先生设计。西摩尔（Seymour），它长八百英尺，在河面以上两百三十英尺处架设道路，有木制栈桥（柱子和支架），高一百九十英尺，底部宽七十五英尺，顶部宽二十五英尺，上面有一座高十四英尺的桥；包含二百五十英亩土地的木材和六十吨铁栓，只花了十四万美元，在短短十八个月内建成。这种结构如果用土堤代替，将花费50万美元，按照普通的施工方式，不可能在五年内建成。2此外，在这么长的时间内，建造堤坝所需的大量资金的利息，按照铁路的高利率，几乎甚至完全足够建造木质结构。

同样，我们的平均跨度的木桥的成本约为每线英尺三十五美元。让我们把这个数字与英国管状结构的铁桥的成本进行比较，跨度相同，因此桥墩不在比较范围内。

假设一条道路的桥梁总长度为一英里。考虑到英美两国的劳动力价值差异，铁管桥的每线英尺成本不可能低于300美元（平均跨度为150英尺）。

5280英尺乘以35美元是184,800.00美元

5280英尺乘以300美元是1,584,000.00美元。

6美分的利息，在

第一笔是......。11,088.00

6％的利息

第二项的6%利息是......95,040.00

差额是......83,952.00美元

或几乎足够在两年内重建一次木桥；而十年是一座好的木桥应该持续的最短时期。

读者可能会问，为什么像哥伦比亚的萨斯奎汉纳河桥这样的结构，由29个拱门组成，每个拱门的跨度为200英尺，整个水路有一英里长，还有许多其他的桥横跨

还有许多其他横跨大河、外观宏伟的桥梁，在这里都没有提及。原因是这样的：大桥并不总是伟大的桥；也不像有些人认为的那样，需要与长度相称的技巧。在美国有许多这样的建筑，有二十、二十五或三十个跨度，每一个跨度都重复着同样的机械错误；因此，它们越长，成本越高，就越糟糕。不能因为报纸上说 "宏伟的桥梁"、"两百万英尺的木材"、"八十或一百吨的铁"、"耗资五十万"，就认为该桥或其建造者有任何优点；一跨如此，整体也如此；一座50英尺长、仅耗资几百美元的桥，可能比美国最大、最昂贵的高架桥显示更多的工程技能。比起霍普特先生在宾夕法尼亚中央公路上的小 "桁架梁"，这些桥需要更多的机械和材料知识--由一块木头组成，用一根杆桁架在铁轨的每根轨道下。

同样，在美国的铁桥方面，在很大程度上也发现了同样的结果。因此，罗布林先生的尼亚加拉铁路悬索桥花费了40万美元，而在管状系统上的锅炉板铁桥，即使在悬索桥所在地的尼亚加拉河上建造一座完整的管状桥是可行的，同样的跨度也要花费约400万美元。巴尔的摩和俄亥俄铁路公司公路部主管Wendel Bollman先生似乎已经达到了强度和耐用性，而且是最经济的，施工的细节安排得非常巧妙，温度的变化，往往对金属桥来说是致命的，却没有任何伤害性。在这里，我们又看到了美国人独特的适应性或适应性的特点，甚至在最小的细节上。Bollman先生并没有野蛮地说："热和冷先生，我可以从阿勒格尼山脉中获得足够的铁，以抵御你们对我的所有力量！"而只是说："继续吧，热和冷！我不打算直接和你打交道。我不打算直接与你们打交道，而是间接地，通过一种能使你们最猛烈的努力变得无害的药剂来对付你们！"--或者说，换句话说，我不打算直接与你们打交道。"换句话说，他在他的桥的主要成员之间插入了一个短的铁链，它完全吸收了所有不适当的压力。

从前面的内容来看，我们不能认为美国工程师不知道如何花钱，因为他用的钱太少，而完成的事却很多；当需要的时候，他就会挥霍他的钱，而不再考虑费用，只考虑要完成的目标。例如，巴尔的摩和俄亥俄铁路上的金伍德隧道，里面的衬里或保护性拱门是由沉重的铸铁肋骨构成的，这使得包括隧道在内的一英里的道路成本约为一百万美元。观察纽约和伊利铁路在特拉华河谷的建设、宾夕法尼亚中央铁路在阿勒格尼西坡的建设、巴尔的摩和俄亥俄州在切特河坡的建设的旅行者，也不会认为美国的工程师在真正需要钱的地方吝啬。

美国的公路上很少出现石桥，因此几乎不需要评论。亚当斯先生在纽约和伊利铁路上建造的斯塔鲁卡高架桥，以及在华盛顿支线与巴尔的摩和俄亥俄铁路主干线交汇处附近建造的跨越帕塔普索河的高架桥，表明我们的工程师在这个工程分支上一点也不落后于欧洲的工程师。

让我们从土木工程转到铁路工程的机械部门。后者包括所有的机械，包括固定的和滚动的；机车和车厢属于后者，而车间机械、车床、刨床和镗床、锻造、切割、冲床、轧制和剪切机、水站的泵和抽水机、转台等等，属于前者。在这个分支中，除了机车动力的设计和工作之外，几乎没有什么需要提及的，因为它影响到公路的繁荣。在不同的道路上，机房、发动机室和此类设备仅有细微差别；但机车发动机的形式和尺寸应取决于交通的性质和道路的物理特性，而且是最密切的，事实上，坡度和弯曲度的调整必须决定发动机的动力、形式和整个结构。当工程师完成了路基，包括桥梁和砖石，他就被认为是完成了；由于当时一般没有任命继任的机械主管，获得必要的机车动力的责任就落在了总裁或承包商身上，或其他一些对道路要求一无所知的人身上。由于他通常会去找一些特定的朋友，也许甚至是同事，他当然会选择后者制造的发动机模式，结果是我们的50条公路中没有一条是以任何方式适应它被要求执行的任务的蒸汽动力。

与建立铁路有关的最好的问题，莫过于在给定了等级、交通性质和使用的燃料之后，通过纯粹的机械和化学规律，从中获得完整的机车尺寸，从而以最经济的方式实现火车的运输；直到最近，还没有任何问题被完全忽视的。

在铁路运营的全部成本中，约有三分之一是由机车部门承担的；由此可见，最适当的调整是非常值得工程师仔细关注的。尽管人们普遍认为选择机车动力的合适人选不是别人，而是一个实用的机械师，尽管他无疑会选择最好的工艺，但是，如果不熟悉机车运动的一般原理，不了解道路的特点和预期的交通，不能够判断，（不是靠所谓的经验，而是靠真正的知识），他可能得到完全不适合其工作要求的机器。事实上，美国的土木工程师应该使自己有资格为他们建造的道路提供设备；因为没有其他人能像那些对此事有透彻了解的人那样，对道路的等级和弯曲度有如此熟悉的认识。

通过下面的比较，可以清楚地看到适应与不适应的区别。从波士顿到奥尔巴尼的铁路可以分为四段，其中的几段长度和相应的最高等级如表所示。

长度（英里）。        最陡峭的坡度。
波士顿至伍斯特，44 30
伍斯特到斯普林菲尔德，54 1/2 50
斯普林菲尔德至皮茨菲尔德，52 83
皮茨菲尔德至奥尔巴尼，49 1/2 45
在每英里30英尺的坡度上装载500吨的货物，需要机车的牵引力为11,500磅。

在50英尺的坡度上需要15,500磅。在83英尺的坡度上，需要22,500磅。在45英尺的坡度上，需要14,500磅。

现在，如果这些发动机都是一样的，（因为它们几乎都是一样的），而且每个发动机都能发挥出五千磅的牵引力。

B. 到AY. 44英里 AY.到S.54 A英里 S.到P.52英里 P.到A.49J英里

将五百吨的货物从波士顿运到奥尔巴尼，我们需要如下的磅数：------。

B. 到W. 11500/5000或2台发动机。AY至S. 15500/5000或3台发动机。S. 到 P. 22500/5000 或 5 台发动机。P. 到A. 14500/5000或3台发动机。

由此可见，整个行程的发动机运行里程数为------。

2台发动机，或88

3台发动机，或163½

5台发动机，或260

3台发动机，或148½。

总数为660

现在假设，通过使几个分区的发动机与这些分区遇到的阻力成比例地强大，每个分区只使用一台发动机：或者里程数变成。

B.至W.44乘以1或44

AY到S. 54 ½乘以1或54½。

S.到P.的52公里，1或52公里

P. 到A. 49½，1或49½。

总共是200英里。

因此，节省的里程数是660减去200，即460；如果每天有500吨通过公路，则每年节省的里程数为460乘以313，即143,980，或占总数的70%。在截至1855年9月30日的一年中，货运火车每吨、每英里的实际成本为384/1000美分；上述节省的143,080英里，乘以这个分数，每年为55,288美元。工作动力的实际费用当然不会显示出整个70%的节省，因为重型和强壮的发动机一开始就比轻型发动机的费用高，而且操作费用也高；但这些数字显示了正确适应的效果。如果我们把节省的里程数称为50%，那么我们就有了（由于机车动力消耗了整个运营成本的30/100）50/100的30/100或15/100的整个道路运营成本，而这仅仅是通过了解如何使机器适应要求。

一台好的和一台坏的发动机之间的差别是如此之小，以至于那些以处理这类工程为己任的人常常忽略了它们。真正好的、可用的发动机不是靠黄铜、钢铁、明亮的金属和精致的油漆，而是靠其炉子的长度、宽度和深度，靠其设计中显示的比例知识，靠其零件装配中显示的机械技能。表面上复杂的部分实际上在操作上非常简单，而表面上简单的部分是那些需要最多知识的部分。任何具有普通机械知识的人都可以设计和安排一般的形式--整个曲柄、活塞、连杆、泵和用于发动机工作的各种杠杆；但是要找到锅炉内部零件的正确尺寸，以及控制蒸汽运动的阀门齿轮，需要对燃烧化学、实用几何学和蒸汽的物理特性有非常丰富的了解。事实上，机车的阀门调整是如此之好，它取决于它所要做的工作，无论是快还是慢，轻还是重，只要多了或少了八分之一英寸，就会影响它的动力，使它完全不能以任何程度的经济方式完成任务。

当一个人全面负责五百英里的铁路，年薪百万美元，雇用两百多辆机车和三千名工人，每年赚取五百万美元时，这条公路的成本为三千三百万美元，有五英里长的桥梁和四百多座建筑物，很明显，运作系统必须有点复杂。而事实也是如此。事实上，纽约和伊利铁路公司对员工的组织和管理是如此完整，以至于总监在他的办公室里可以在任何时候告诉一英里内每辆车或引擎在哪里，它在做什么，车上的东西，发货人和被发货人，它到达和离开每个车站的时间，（实际时间，而不是它应该到达的时间），因此能够纠正所有错误，几乎在委托的时刻，实际上是完全控制道路。

长线铁路的最大调节器是电报机，它连接着道路的所有部分，使一个人能够同时盯着整条路。

麦卡勒姆先生说，一条单轨铁路 麦卡勒姆说，通过适当使用电报，可能会比没有电报的双轨铁路更安全、更有效，因为双轨铁路通常可以避免相反方向行驶的列车之间发生碰撞，而电报则可以有效地防止相反方向或相同方向行驶的列车之间发生碰撞。从欧洲和美国的铁路历史中推断出的一个公认的事实是，到目前为止，同向行驶的列车发生的碰撞是最致命和最灾难性的，因此应该最谨慎地加以防范。

从上面提到的麦卡伦先生令人钦佩的报告中，我们得出以下结论："在同一方向行驶的快车和慢车之间的碰撞是通过以下规则来防止的：'慢车的列车长在到达某个车站时要立即向司务长报告，根据时间表，他应该被快车超过；如果没有司务长的特别命令，他不得离开该站，直到快车通过。在这种情况下，司务长可以酌情指示慢车继续行驶；司务长在充分了解延误列车的位置后，很容易形成这样做是否合适的意见；因此，在允许延误列车行驶而不考虑慢车的情况下，后者可以完全不受其影响。

" 列车的通过地点是固定的和确定的，并有明确的命令，即在另一列车到达之前，任何列车都不得超越该点行驶。而在没有电报的情况下，列车长受一般规则和他们各自对规则的理解所支配，这些规则的大意是，在发生滞留的情况下，首先到达固定通过地点的列车在等待片刻后，应小心翼翼地前进（期待与另一列车相遇，该列车通常运行得更快，以弥补失去的时间，因为小心翼翼的列车更慢），直到他们相遇并通过。未能到达两站之间的中途点的列车必须后退，这始终是一个危险的权宜之计，在伯灵顿附近的卡姆登和安博伊铁路的灾难中就有这样的操作实例；被延误的列车在可能遇到的所有其他同级列车方面也要遵守同样的规则，从而在整个行程中追求其危险和不确定的进展。 "

下表显示了一级铁路的服从率和方向。

总监。
路长。        路长。        部门人员。
路长。        路政人员。
路长。        科室人员。
机械主管。        机械车间领班。        机械师
铁匠铺的领班。        铁匠
木工车间的领班。        木匠
油漆车间领班        油漆工。
工程师（不在火车上）。        消防员。
车长。        加油员和清洁工。
路面监督员。        指挥员。        刹车员。
工程师（在火车上）。
收票员。
邮件代理。
车站代理。        搬运工人。
开关员
快递员。
警察。
公路总监。
列车长 刹车员
工程师（火车上）。
车站工作人员。
称重员和测量员。
车场管理员。
供应员。燃料代理。        提供物资的办事员和搬运工。
所有受雇于木棚的人。
所有的下属都应该只对他们的直接上级负责并受其指挥。每位官员必须有权在总监督的批准下，任命他所负责的所有雇员，并在他认为公司的利益需要时，解雇任何雇员。

快速旅行是与铁路系统有关的最危险和最昂贵的奢侈品之一。在美国，很少有公司知道他们的特快列车花费了多少。事实上，人们根本不了解获得快速运输的适当手段。这不是通过强迫火车以过高的速度行驶，而是通过减少停车次数。一列火车行驶400英里，50分钟停一次，每次停靠，包括休息和启动，都是5分钟，要在8小时内走完整个路程，必须每小时行驶55英里；20分钟停一次，每小时63英里；10分钟停一次，每小时86英里。

工作费用在几个项目下的分配比例几乎如下：----。

管理 7
道路维修 10
机车 35
汽车 38
杂项 4
总共100
由于快速旅行而增加的百分比，将适用于几个费用项目，以及由此产生的总费用的增加：------。

管理 7
修理费 16
机车 35
汽车 38
杂项 4
100
增加了0%，为0.0
" 27 " 4.3
" 30 " 10.5
" 10 " 3.8
" 0 " 0.0
而整个增幅为18.6
乘客无法控制的事故原因有

因反对而碰撞。

超车造成的碰撞。

因开关错位而脱轨。

轨道上的障碍物造成的脱轨。

机器的损坏。

桥梁的故障。

火灾。

爆炸。

那些因快速行驶而加剧的原因是第一、第二、第五和第六种。所有这些原因的影响在高速度下比低速度下更严重。

从英国公路上的一百个案例中随机抽取的由于这些原因造成的事故比例（美国的报告没有准确地描述这些信息）是

碰撞 56 56
机器损坏 18 18
道路故障 14 14
错位的开关 5
铁轨上的障碍物 6
锅炉爆炸 1
88 100
百分之八十八是由那些因速度增加而加剧的原因造成的；如果我们假设加剧的程度随着速度的增加而增加，那么乘坐快车的危险就比乘坐慢车的危险大百分之八十八。

这些都是高速行驶的直接危害；还有一些间接危害，也是同样糟糕的。

所有在同一时间行驶的列车，在快车的一定距离内，都必须保持等待，开动蒸汽，或以额外的速度行驶，以避免挡路。

当时间表被安排成要求几乎等于发动机的全部能力的速度时，非常明显的是，"赶时间 "失败的风险必须比降低速度时大得多；而当它们真的发生时，为争取时间所做的努力必须相应地更大和不确定。一个例子就足以说明这一点。

一列规定速度为每小时30英里的火车，在损失了5分钟的时间后，为了在10英里外的车站与对方的火车相遇并通过，必须把速度提高到每小时40英里；而一列规定速度为每小时40英里的火车，在类似情况下，必须把速度提高到每小时60英里。在前一种情况下，它可能会完成，而在后一种情况下，它更可能导致失败，或者，如果成功，它将在可怕的事故风险下完成。

无论我们的许多大型公路管理得多么好，其中一些管理得令人钦佩，但更重要的事实是，大部分公路的管理方式远远不能令人满意，事实上，许多公路是在无知和鲁莽的共同影响下进行的。


许多人对美国铁路的糟糕财务状况感到惊奇；对于那些了解其管理方式的人来说，惊奇的是它们竟然有任何价值。我们的一份铁路报纸上的一位作者说，掩盖这一事实是没有用的，我们的大部分铁路主管都完全不适合他们的职位。就个人而言，他们是非常值得尊敬的一类人，（Sehuylerisms和Tuckermanisms除外）--这些人在成功度过他们积极的商业生活后，在退休后，在一些人的心目中，非常适于装饰董事的职位。从来没有过这样的错误。我们所需要的铁路董事是一个积极的、思路清晰的人，他还没有过了他的活动期。我们需要的是那些知道如何降低每英里运营成本的铁路局长，而不是那些将自己的偏执无知与一切变革或改进相对立的人，他们看不到科学和抽象概念之间的区别。看来，关于一个人是否适合担任董事，唯一要问的问题是：他是否富有和受人尊敬？如果他有这些品质，而且相当愚蠢，那么他就有机会当选。我们告诉我们的铁路从业者，如果他们想让自己的财产变得有价值，并使其不至于成为一个恶名和耻辱，他们就必须选出完全不同的人，即具有最佳意义上的实际经验的人，他们有足够的智慧来了解和应用所有那些关系到其事业未来成功的重要改革，即车间、轨道和机车的人。我们还将看到他们中更聪明的人在董事会中取代退休的商人、医生和其他受人尊敬的先生，这些人现在只是借着他们受人尊敬的名义来延续一种愚蠢的制度，这种制度已经使我们的铁路管理沦为轻蔑。按照目前的构成，我们的董事会是一个非常炫耀，但非常无用的机制。成员们喜欢时就出席会议，在别人为他们准备的文件和声明上签上自己的名字，而对内容却不甚了解；他们的其他职责主要是免费在自己的和连接的道路上行驶。


为什么铁路董事要为股东白白工作？啊，股民先生们，你们不知道你们的董事在现实中为自己赚取了多么丰厚的薪水，通过漂亮的小佣金，通过赞助他们最喜欢的机车和汽车制造商，以及通过购买急需推荐的一千零一项专利！你们把坏掉的手表送到医院去吗？你会带着你的破表去找铁匠或石匠修理吗？我们认为都不是。那么，你为什么要把工程师、机械师、木匠、石匠和几乎所有行业的人都花时间和精力来建造的工作交给那些可敬的商人、律师或银行家来管理，他们认为有最柔软的垫子和最舒适的座位的道路才是最好的？

一位已故作家（惠顿先生）说，铁路建设可分为三个时期：第一，入门期，在这一时期，道路是一种实验性的企业，劳动者期望为他们的时间或金钱得到报酬，并愿意为预期的利润等待一个合理的时间。第二，投机时期，人们拥有不健康的发财欲望，不满足于等待播种的自然收获，背离了健全和诚实的建设和管理原则；起初，试图通过各种假装和虚假陈述来掩盖，最后通过立法来抵消他们无知和疯狂欲望的结果。作为一项投资，铁路被比作银行；人们甚至认为，铁路的成本越高，它们的收益就越大；隧道、凿岩和高架桥在当时就像现在一样受到追捧。精明睿智的商人为自己赚取了财富，却接受了这些荒谬的观点，在掌握了铁路企业之后，似乎立刻就失去了他们之前可能拥有的任何常识；甚至到了今天，这些人还没有勇气承认自己的错误，而是努力用更大的错误来掩盖它们。对于一个不了解铁路管理的人来说，看到一群以前从未接触过机械操作的人聚集在一起，决定不同的桥梁或机车或汽车计划的相对优点，决定减少机器工作费用的最佳方法，而他们对机器的组成部分没有丝毫概念，对人类所设计的最复杂和最精细的机械装置没有丝毫概念，这在一开始可能显得很荒谬；但习惯使然。人们普遍认为，一个人，无论是律师、医生还是商人，一旦被选为铁路企业的董事，他就立即拥有了所有的机械、金融和商业知识；但是，从过去的经验来看，实际上，他在这种时候就把他以前可能拥有的常识抛在了脑后；否则，为什么他在管理别人的财产时，不遵循与积累自己的财产一样的正确商业规则？一个人如果在为自己经营时表现出像铁路主管在为他人经营时一样的粗心和无知，就会被认为是精神病院的合适对象。

当铁路建在需要的地方，在需要的时候，在一个能够支持它们的国家，由永久投资者而不是投机者建造，由优秀的工程师精心制造，由有能力的人精心管理，他们的利益与企业的成功真正相关，那么它们就会有回报，而且确实是铁路。但是，只要钱是以虚假的借口获得的，一方面被国家和华尔街的赌徒玩弄，另一方面被贪婪的承包商玩弄，它们就会成为它们的样子，即毫无价值的奢侈和愚蠢的纪念碑。

" 经验是一所可爱的学校，"可怜的理查德说，"但傻瓜不会在其他地方学习。"

读者千万不要以为我们不欣赏德维特-克林顿或利文斯顿的劳动，也不要以为我们低估了东方资本家的服务，他们为西部提供了公共土地，无论是建造船坞还是铁路。我们对这些人才怀有最崇高的敬意，如果没有他们，我们西部的土地将仍然留给水牛和鹿，欧洲的黄金和白银将留在大西洋的另一边。这些资本家是这个系统的主力；但我们不应该把他们的精力和技能用于铁路这样的机械结构的详细操作，就像我们不需要中间的连接链和轮子，而直接把手表的主发条连接到指针上一样。

在美国，至少有一半的所谓工程师对铁路建设的无能，并不亚于对已建成公路进行管理的主管。他们没有义务完成任何教育课程，也没有通过任何考试，只要他们愿意，就可以立即在全国范围内放任自流，建造名为铁路和桥梁的东西，但实际上是失去生命和金钱的圈套。事实上，（在美国）任何一个扛过杆子或链条的人都被称为工程师；而正确的定义是，一个人首先要有机械、数学和化学的全面知识，其次要有将这些科学应用于艺术的必要知识，最后要有将这些艺术正确地适应人类需求的必要知识，但更重要的是要有只有通过不断实践才能获得的经验。我们有这样一类工程师，我们在工程界所拥有的名声都归功于他们。第二，是另一个等级的人，他们从下级开始，没有任何预备知识，但有自然的天才和对机械的直觉知识，只需要让他们的想法得到普及，看到他们的特殊知识对整体的影响，就可以在这个行业中名列前茅。第三，一个既缺乏自然知识又缺乏后天知识的阶层，他们唯一的建议是，他们总是被卖给出价最高的人，不管他是总裁、董事还是承包商；有时名义上是为公司工作，但实际上是为承包商工作，或者在某些情况下，这类人如此堕落，公开为承包商和公司工作。近年来，这种杂种工程师的卖淫行为已经达到了惊人的程度。让我们希望，古老的职业自豪感，以及更好的是，对真理和诚实的热爱，可能会取得胜利，并将真正的工程师安置于此。


胜利，并使真正的工程师高于无知、装腔作势和卑鄙无耻使这个行业堕落的死水平。

* 铁路建设手册》，供美国工程师使用。作者：GEORGE L. 沃斯利，土木工程师。波士顿和剑桥。James Munroe & Company. 1857.
巴尔的摩和俄亥俄铁路报告，从1S30到1850。BENJAMIN H. LATROBE，总工程师。
铁路及其管理，由已故波士顿、康科德和蒙特利尔铁路的JAMES M. WHITON, ESQ.撰写的小册子。1856.
纽约和伊利铁路公司的总裁、司库和总监督向股东提交的报告。1856年3月。
JOHN A. ROEBLING的最终报告，尼亚加拉铁路吊桥的土木工程师。1855年5月。
为了避免这些陈述听起来太过奢侈，请读者自己计算一下金额。一个顶部宽二十五英尺、长八百英尺、高二百三十英尺的堤岸，将包含两百万立方码的泥土；按每码二十五美分计算，将花费五十万美元，其中不包括一个跨度为六十、八十或一百英尺、长七百英尺的涵洞来通过河流。每天20列火车，每列30节车厢，一节车厢容纳两码，每天将有一千二百码；两百万除以一千二百，就是1666天。
最粗心的观察者无疑已经注意到，火车头的前部依靠一辆卡车的中心，有四个小轮子；他还会记得，后部和中部是由大的辐条轮承担的，这些辐条轮与机器相连；这些最后的大小取决于发动机的功率和速度。车轮越大，功率越小，速度越高；同样，车轮的尺寸不变，通过扩大汽缸的尺寸，功率就会增加：车轮和汽缸的尺寸不变，通过扩大锅炉，我们可以产生更强的蒸汽，从而增加功率。在从波士顿到斯普林菲尔德的公路上，可以看到车轮直径接近7英尺的发动机，用于牵引轻型快车：而在登上阿勒格尼山脉的公路上，可以看到直径只有3.5英尺的车轮，用于牵引列车爬上陡坡。坡度的增加对机车的作用与实际负荷的增加相同；在平地，发动机的自然趋势是静止不动，而在斜坡上，其趋势是向后滚下山。