were of immense service for the transportation of heavy materials, and without their adventitious aid many valuable collieries and quarries must long have remained idle and undeveloped. In thus providing a level, smooth, and comparatively durable wheel-track for the waggons, these tramways became the fitting pioneers of the great railway system which was to follow.

Notwithstanding the great superiority of the cast-iron plates as compared with the former timber beams, much inconvenience was still caused by gravel and dirt falling on to the wheel-track and seriously impeding the haulage of the waggons. To overcome this difficulty the next step taken was to remove the guiding flange from the tram-plate and transfer it to the wheel, thus developing and introducing the original flanged wheel. This was a most important step, and paved the way for other improvements. The rails, or edge rails, as they were at first called, were made sufficiently high to allow ample space for the wheel-flanges to clear the ground, and were secured to cast-iron chairs placed on wooden cross-sleepers, or in some cases to stone blocks, as shown in Figs. 233, 234, and 235. The narrow top of rail, and its height above the horse-path, effectually prevented the lodgment of gravel or dirt, and the flanges on the wheels ensured a more even course. From the irregular and easily choked-up tram-plate, the system changed to the clean rail and properly defined track. Waggons could be hauled with greater freedom, and with less wear and tear to themselves and to the roadway.

At this time the use of the steam-engine was becoming more general, and a fine field was opened out for its application as a motive-power on the tramways. Stationary engines, or winding engines, as they were called, were first employed to haul the trucks by means of long ropes passed round revolving drums, and supported at intervals by grooved pulleys placed between the rails at suitable distances. In this way fair loads could be conveyed, and at moderate cost; but the system was found to be only suitable for short distances, and it had the great drawback that horses or other motive-power were still necessary for sorting or distributing the trucks before and after their transit by rope haulage.

The next great advance was to place the steam-engine on wheels, to enable it to haul and accompany the trucks. Crude

and imperfect as the primitive locomotives must have been, a very short trial of them served to show that the rails of cast-iron then in use were totally unfitted to form a trackway for the newly invented machines. The short fish-bellied cast-iron rails were made in lengths merely to extend from chair to chair; they possessed little or no continuity, and from the inherent brittleness of the material they were constantly breaking and giving way under the increased weights imposed upon them. It became necessary to adopt a more reliable material, and attention was naturally turned to forged or wrought iron. The suggestion once made was promptly responded to by the iron makers. Special machinery was designed and constructed, and very soon wrought-iron rails were manufactured in large quantities. At first they were made very similar in section to the fish-belly cast-iron rails, but in lengths to extend over three or four sleepers. The increased length gave greater stability to the road, and permitted an increase of speed. The manifest superiority of the wrought-iron rails led to their universal adoption, and a great impetus was thus given to their manufacture. Improvements were made in the machinery for rolling, and more care was bestowed in the working of the iron. Changes were made in the section of the rails; the fish-belly form was discarded, and a double-head type was introduced to give more lateral stiffness. At this period in its history the capabilities of the iron road began to be more fully recognized, and the supporters of the system foresaw a great future success, both for the conveyance of passengers as well as goods. Hitherto the tramroads or railroads had been used for minerals and merchandize only, but it was now claimed that on a carefully constructed line, and with improved locomotives and rolling-stock, it would be possible to convey passengers more conveniently and rapidly than by any other method.

Inventive minds were at work to accomplish so desirable an object, and public enterprise was forthcoming to provide funds for the purpose. The successful working of the first passenger line formed the dawn of a new era in travelling, and similar lines were soon projected for other places. The wrought-iron rails in use at this time were generally of a double head form, and rarely exceeded 12 or 15 feet in length. They were held by wooden pegs in cast-iron chairs, which were secured to

timber cross-sleepers or stone blocks, as shown in Figs. 234 and 235.

They were light in section, and it is stated that the first rails on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway weighed only 33 lbs. per yard.

The railway system spread rapidly, and the constantly increasing traffic of all kinds soon necessitated heavier rails. Various sections were devised and tried on different lines, one of the main objects in view being to obtain a steady road for the increasing speeds, as well as one of durability. Some of these sections are shown in Figs. 236 to 258.

Sections 236 to 248 all required chairs to attach them to the sleepers. The flange rails, 249 to 253, and bridge rails, 254 to 256, also rail 257, were designed to rest direct upon the sleepers without the necessity of chairs; and the Barlow rail, 258, with its great width of 11 or 12 inches, was intended to be used without sleepers of any kind, the gauge being secured by means of angle iron tie-bars.

Rails were rolled heavier and longer, and more care was bestowed on the fastenings; but, notwithstanding these improvements, the rail-joints still continued to be the weak point in the road. Even with an extra large joint-chair and stout wooden key, there was much vertical play at the ends of the rails, producing objectionable noise and vibration in the running, and acting detrimentally on all the fastenings. The introduction of fish-plates at the rail-joints, as shown in Fig. 259, effected an improvement which cannot be overrated, as by their adoption such security, speed, and smoothness became attainable as were not before possible. With a pair of simple rolled wrought-iron fish-plates, or splices, and four bolts—two through the end of each rail-a better, smoother, and more effectual joint was obtained than had ever been produced by the heavy cast-iron joint-chairs. The system of fishing, or splicing, was at once admitted to be the simplest and most direct method of joining the rails; and, although minor detailed improvements have since been made, the arrangement, as a principle, has never been superseded. Many miles of fished rails were laid down with a chair, or support, placed immediately under the joint, forming the method termed the supported fish-joint; but experience proved that this mode of application did not give such a good result as the suspended fish-joint, and the latter plan has now been adopted on almost all railways.