From Plateways to Wooden Ties, Rails and Spikes

As you'll see, the best rail design to use in North American conditions was not always obvious.

This post follows two earlier pieces looking at the earliest development of plateways and railways.

The Advent of Guided Ground Transport

1832 American Rail-Road Journal, Vol 1, No 1

Most of the images in this post are from: 

The Science of Railways, Volume III, Financing, Constructing and Maintaining; Marshall M Kirkman; 1900; World Railway Publishing Company. 

There is at least one set of these available at archive.org if you are interested. 

For many years I have wanted to 'do something' with all the interesting illustrations of rail and track systems depicted along the margins of this volume. In the text, most of these historic images are not discussed in any meaningful way because these were not intended to be history books. They were intended to be an encyclopedia of current technologies and practices that a railway professional would use and display with pride.

I think all the marginal images are there to provide some relief from the less popular (i.e. 'dull') aspects of railroading. 

*  *  *

They Skipped the Boring Stuff.

... Other volumes ... on locomotives, air brakes, firing, other rolling stock, express business, rules and other railway systems ... drew the professional attention of many readers and some of this interest was probably shared by members of the general public. 

However, in the early 1900s, the details of simple track systems did not stir the imaginations of most people. 

The most common maintenance of way activities involved the use of simple tools and physical strength to perform routine functions so the track would remain reliable. Most people (in Canada and the US) grew up on farms in this era. Unless it led to a more steady income or professional advancement in the railway company ... there was little about maintaining track which would seem attractive to anyone.

*  *  *

1900: The Same Old Piece of Railway

In the coming decades, the mainline track might command some level of steam- or gasoline-powered technology for its maintenance. 

However, before the rural road network was developed for use by automobiles ... the extensive system of light-rail secondary and tertiary lines was the essential transportation system in North America. It was maintained by 'sectionmen' - who always worked on the same few miles of track under the leadership of their section foreman. 

Generally, a section was about 5 to 6 miles. More challenging areas having steep grades or troublesome rock cuts could be divided into 4 or 5 mile sections. Gently rolling areas of the Prairies might have sections up to 8 miles in length. 

... The sectionmen wielded shovels, lining and tamping bars, spike mauls, wrenches and track jacks. Transportation for inspection or work along a section was accomplished either on foot, with a velocipede, or using a handcar loaded down with enough heavy steel tools to solve most track problems encountered during an inspection. Therefore, the sectionman had to have the endurance to perform the heavy work and to help transport himself and the gang's tools to and from the job site.

In addition to having considerable experience with track repairs, the foreman was also responsible for the gang's compliance with the rulebook. Changing a few rails without regard for the times of scheduled passenger trains, or failing to protect against lowly extra trains ... could result in career-altering outcomes.

I once had the opportunity to do a little trackwork as a volunteer and an old hand cautioned me that the sectionmen were 'kind of slow moving people'. After an hour or two, I understood that he was right ... and was reminded of this throughout the following week. 

On a railroad which is now part of the CNR system - YouTube link.

Vicksburg section crew: calling and lining track (1978)

*  *  *

Uphill, both ways, always in knee-deep snow, winter and summer.

By way of adding to the social picture of people with farm backgrounds taking up work on 'the section' ... 

Rural kids walked to their schools which were often miles away. They attended school when they were not needed for farm work during the peak periods of activity in the spring and fall. The school teacher might be someone who had basic literacy and numeracy to pass on to their 10-15 students of various ages in the one-room schoolhouse.

*  *  *

As you can conclude, sectionmen circa 1900 would not be buying this expensive encyclopedia so their wives and kids could better understand track systems or their development through history.

*  *  *

In recent posts, we have looked at systems which improved on having a horse dragging a wagon over a dirt road. This included primitive Canadian wood-paved roads, and it progressed to the development of plateways and tramways - providing 'metals' or rails on which special wagons could be drawn by horses. 

This invention of smooth metal 'ways' was of particular importance in the transportation of coal from mine to staith in northern England - particularly around Newcastle-on-Tyne. The technology below would be typical of that level of development.

As you've probably already concluded, the convex shape along the top of the cast iron plateway rail is designed to strengthen it between the stone blocks which anchor it in the ground.

Chairs were added to provide a more durable structure where the rails met each other and the stone blocks.

While this rail seems to suggest a step back in technology, the metallurgy behind rolling iron rail makes it less brittle. Chaldrons of coal did not hammer the track as they were drawn by horses. However, steam locomotives would produce these forces causing the more brittle cast iron rails to break.

This was a design used by Stephenson as he applied his ideas to many aspects of railway technology development. You can see the convex design of the first image is reversed to provide additional support at the underside of the rail. 

Depending on the reference, there may be some contention about who did what. As best I can determine ...

Robert L Stevens (1787-1856) was an American inventor and designer with a family heritage of steamboat design. He became president of the Camden & Amboy Railroad and he invented a 'flat bottom' rail circa 1831. The use of a 'strap iron' rail on a wood stringer had been the primary system used in the US up to that point. 

With historical hindsight, this innovation is obvious to us today. 

Apparently, the US mills did not have the capacity to roll rails so they were rolled in England.

Meanwhile, Charles B Vignoles (1793-1875) was an Irish engineer who had a family heritage of military service. After ending his military career, he did civil engineering work in the US. Vignoles returned to Britain to perform some of the survey work on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and then continued with many other civil engineering jobs there.

Vignoles recommended the use of Stevens' flat-bottomed rail (with his modifications to its design) on the London & Croydon Railway circa 1836. As he introduced the use of this type of rail in Britain - which could only be rolled in Britain - it is often referred to as Vignoles rail. 

Stevens worked to rid an American railroad of strap rail on wood stringers.

Vignoles worked to address the wear between cast iron rail, cast iron chairs and the stone blocks to which they were attached.

*  *  *

The images which follow, document the existing technology used in the US. 

Methods of laying flat-bottomed rail are using some sophisticated casting and shaping designs.

With historical hindsight, we could have saved them a lot of 'inventing' !

Wedges, which were hammered into place, were a common method of providing a solid fixture to hold the rail. If you have seen the great 1964 railroading movie The Train, you will remember having seen wedges in use.

Many different track designs were invented and subsequently discarded.

*  *  *

I think they had tremendous difficulty with broken rails on the Great Western of Canada.

Even when rolled, iron rails were not compatible with the effects of extreme cold in Canada.

*  *  *

Frogs

As soon as you have more than one train-set of cars, or more than one locomotive, you need switches.

Frogless stub switches were fine for low speed operations in pioneer North America.

*  *  *

Looking at Practices in Canada

With great persistence, I looked through every book on Canadian operations I could, to find examples of early track systems ... before their conversion to the North American 'standard'. 

from: Canada's Five Centuries; W Kaye Lamb; 1971; McGraw-Hill.

Built about 25 miles south of Newcastle-on-Tyne by Timothy Hackworth in 1838, the Samson worked for about 30 years on a six-mile railroad serving coal mines near New Glasgow. 

Chairs and fish-belly rail suggest that this photograph documents the 'original equipment' shipped from Britain for use with the railway's first engines.

*  *  *

from: Iron Roads, Railways of Nova Scotia; David E Stephens; 1972; Lancelot Press, Windsor NS.

Built circa 1868. This book states the engine operated between Low Point colliery to the shipping pier at South Bar, North Sydney. Here we can see another isolated colliery railway using what is apparently British motive power on a British-style track - employing chairs and wedges.

*  *  *

Other Early Canadian Track Systems

In the examples I could find, it seems railways which were originally built using British track systems did not hesitate to change their track hardware. In fact, the British railways, themselves, had begun their own transition to wooden sleepers in the 1830s. 

The use of rigid stone blocks and chairs resulted in damage to rail metal from the pounding of locomotives and train loads. Track was easily hammered out of alignment when using such a rigid system.

Rolled steel rails were not as brittle as those made of iron. As we have seen, the Canadian temperature extremes quickly made the iron rails unusable.

Many lightly-built Canadian railways often took full advantage of the strong, flexible and forgiving characteristics of light steel rails and wooden ties. Pioneer railways were often built through the Canadian Shield's inconveniently-placed granite outcroppings. 

... And the ability to lay tight curves or grade-defying construction shoo-fly tracks over rock obstacles requiring prolonged blasting or tunneling (and even temporarily over snow in some cases) was beneficial. This flexibility to temporarily lay sub-standard track often made a critical financial difference as new pioneer lines struggled to survive in areas where traffic was likely to be sparse during a line's first years of operation.

from: Canada, A History in Photographs; Hall & Dodds; 1981; Hurtig.

The Great Western Railway opened its line through Woodstock (in today's Ontario) in 1853. It was built to Provincial Gauge, 5 feet 6 inches. Photographed here circa 1865, the original rolled iron rails (shown in the rail examples illustrated farther above) have been replaced by flat-bottomed rails, spiked to ties with bolted splice bars.

from: Canada Railways in Pictures; Robert F Legget; 1977; Douglas & McIntyre. 

Here is the Great Western Railway at Paris Junction where it is crossed by the Buffalo & Lake Huron Railway. Both railways use the Provincial Gauge of 5 feet 6 inches. The date is before the general conversion to Standard Gauge circa 1870. Both railways are apparently using the standard track system.

In the photo, you can see an older design of stock cars, a turntable, some fairly tight curves, a telegraph-equipped shanty for the employee protecting the railway crossing at grade and the absolute signals they used ... and probably a stub switch in the centre-left distance. Wood seems to be the fuel used in this locomotive with its deep narrow firebox.

from: Van Horne's Road; Omer Lavallee; 1974; Railfare.

Finally: 

This wonderful diagram illustrates the standard to be used by contractors building the Canadian Pacific Railway.

The Advent of Guided Ground Transport

Congratulations, you've just invented the wheel! 

For best results, roll it on something flat which can bear a lot of weight.

*  *  *

Using very large wheels - like those seen on Red River carts - was one way to use wheel technology in the Canadian wilderness.

Historically, bodies of water were the favoured 'flat medium' for travel in Canada. Canoes made reliable progress until a portage was reached. A lake which had frozen with few pressure ridges of buckled-up ice provided a good low friction surface for sleighs in winter. 

However, the freezing and thawing seasons interfered with the dependability of water.

Early roads were often maintained by compulsory free civic labour, performed by an individual resident, on a particular short section of the road. This maintenance was often indifferently performed with inconsistent enforcement of standards by authorities. Early main roads in eastern Canada were often muddy or flooded - deeply-rutted traps for vehicles. Paying passengers were often enjoined to exit a vehicle to help free it from the mud or to push it up a hill ... if they wanted to continue on their journey. 

As an element of military defence and preparedness, or to encourage settlement and commerce, some order was brought to road travel. Roads were surfaced with locally-sourced tree trunks to form a corduroy road. 

from: The Story of Canadian Roads; Edwin C Guillet; 1966, University of Toronto Press.

Above: A sketch from 1844 of corduroy road near Orillia.

The irregular surface of the road was often levelled with earth. However, corduroy bridges were noted for their ability to cause serious injury to horses trying to cross their log decks. 

*  *  *

With water and steam powered sawmills in operation, a new technology was briefly used to smooth roads.

from: The Story of Canadian Roads; Edwin C Guillet; 1966, University of Toronto Press.

The first plank roads were installed east of Toronto on the Kingston Road in 1835-36. Overall, about 192 miles of plank roads were built by the government. Private enterprises built about 250 miles of their own. This method of road surfacing was only used for about 20 years. Wooden planks had become too valuable.

The image above is an undated photo taken at an unknown location. Usually only half (8 feet) of the road's width was planked, with the rest being planked if the traffic warranted it.

Between 1837 and 1839, about 20 miles of macadamized road (large stones overlaid with progressively smaller stones, then topped with stone dust and water to create a cement-like layer) were built between Napanee and Kingston at the cost of $132,000 (I have no idea how to correct that figure for inflation!). 

Macadamized roads demanded greater care in their construction. 

In Canada ... What we really need is an all-weather system with a smooth surface which can bear a great amount of weight!

*  *  *

Meanwhile ...

In Britain, the nursery of plateways, railways and steam locomotion ...

from: British Railways; Arthur Elton; 1945; Collins.

Bath Stone (a type of limestone) is being transported here. Its attraction for building is that a given block of stone can be shaped along any axis - this rock has no significant layers. From the quarry it is being taken to erect many of the city buildings in Bath. It was also reaching the Avon River for waterborne transportation to major cities.

The technology used in this operation was particularly ingenious. It was well-suited to transporting heavy loads a short distance - dependably and safely.

With a gauge of 3 feet 11 inches, the wagonway used axles, bearings and flanged wheels made of iron, running on wooden rails. The rails were spaced using wooden ties on a ballasted roadbed. The downhill route was operated by gravity, with horses returning the empties. Iron brakes pressed down on the wheel treads to regulate speed. A ratcheting brake system allowed for finer adjustments on individual wheels. The wagons could transport loads weighing 5-6 tons.

Below, in this image of Bath from Google Maps, today's Ralph Allen Drive is the road in the lower right corner. 

*  *  *

However, Bath Stone was a specialty item, compared to an essential commodity ...

from: British Railways; Arthur Elton; 1945; Collins.

The bulk commodity of increasing industrial significance was coal. The 'number key' for the illustration is not provided. The guidance system seems to be wooden rails laid inside the standardized gauge of the wheels.

You will notice that the brake handle and brake shoe (items G and H) use a second-class lever to apply pressure to the wheel tread.

*  *  *

from: Early Railways; JB Snell; 1964; Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

This view is from Gateshead in 1783 looking across to Newcastle-on-Tyne. The load of coal is descending the Parkmoor Wagonway. The driver is literally riding the brake. Coal can be found in rock formations at all altitudes ... in strata which may exist in horizontal planes ... or in an infinite variety of curved and folded shapes. 

This is a nice image as it suggests the horse is only taxed during the empty backhaul to the mine. However, we can assume that being a horse in this kind of operation was pretty demanding work. 

For modellers ... the wagons had wooden wheels, which ran over wooden rails and ties, with ballast beneath. Plates of wrought iron were attached to the rails on sharp curves and other areas of high friction.

Looking down to tidewater, we can imagine we see coal barges, working to 'lighter' coal to waiting ships ... or preparing to barge in to nearby towns and industrial sites with the coal, where it will be consumed. 

*  *  *

Periodically, I check on this date and each time it's more sobering.  

In 2026, the year 2008 was the point in human history when we had burned HALF of all the coal ever burned. 

*  *  *

from: Encyclopedia of Railways; OS Nock; 1977; Octopus Books.

The wagonway (tramway, plateway) above was built at the head of the Derby Canal and it was in operation until 1908. Here, you get a clear view of the stones which supported the rail joints and kept the track within gauge tolerances. 

from: Early Trains; Bryan Morgan; 1974; Golden Press.

From another book this is probably the same operation but a different view. It is described as the Derby colliery and canal tramroad, built in 1794. The tramway uses plate rails and the wheels are unflanged.

In these views, you can see one of the drawbacks of using plateways or tramway rails ... when compared to T-shaped or I-shaped rails resting on ties, with the roadbed below ... Here, small pieces of stone and other objects are always finding their way onto the travelling surface. 

*  *  *

from: Early Trains; Bryan Morgan; 1974; Golden Press.

This museum exhibit came from the area of Blist's Hill, which is north-west of Birmingham. At Blist's Hill, they mined coal, iron and fire clay ... supporting the operation of local blast furnaces, and brick and tile works.

Here you can see another variation of a plateway to support and guide heavy loads.

I think that bolt inserted into the switch 'frog' may have been a 'switch keeper' (working like a switch lock). 

*  *  *

from: Early Railways; JB Snell; 1964; Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Sometimes, people take great pride in designing systems which are too elaborate for the task which needs to be done! 

In fact, I think my eyes were confused by a complex system of stub switches. Each switch has its own switch stand. Given the amount of energy it would take ... to move this kind of weight over a period of decades ... the system they developed must be pretty efficient.

This was a double-flange system used at the Oakeley quarries at Blaenau Festiniog, Wales. Those may be blocks of slate which you see in the cars - which will be processed to produce slate shingles.

Historically, a Slater (craftsman) would use experience and a variety of tools to separate the layers and size them into standard dimensions. This process included using a slate punch to prepare nail holes. 

*  *  *

Applying Steam Power

In Britain, they developed 'inclined planes' or 'cable inclines' to extract vast quantities of coal from mines located in hilly regions ... if the mines were beyond the reach of the canal system. The cable incline at Brusselton on the Stockton & Darlington railway is shown below. 

from: Early Trains; Bryan Morgan; 1974; Golden Press.

Initially, horses were used to move loads in areas of low gradients - the smooth metal rails made each horse more productive. Steam-powered winding engines would be installed at the top of inclined stretches of track to move loads up and down large hills with cables. 

You could build a very heavy and powerful steam engine on solid ground and not worry about it spreading the rails of an early, frail track system. 

And given their limited power and low tractive effort, it was better to limit the early steam locomotives to fairly level stretches of track. 

*  *  *

One of several applications of inclined planes to move coal in the United States was the Delaware & Hudson gravity railroad, which operated between 1829 and 1899.

On the D&H gravity, in some places, they used a fun and fascinating combination of steep ascending lines, and more gently-descending return lines on which they ran ... engineless hand-braked trains of empties. These lines also provided passenger service - that's the fun part.

This duplication of some trackage was actually efficient as it optimized traffic flow on the limited capacity lines - the inclined planes.

from: Delaware & Hudson; Jim Shaughnessy; 1982; Howell North.

The image above is undated. This is the Racket Brook Coal Breaker and Plane 4. The image suggests they had wires for telegraphs and/or to deliver electricity - so probably after 1880 is my guess.

You can see the switcher crew is on duty. Notice that the stub switch has no switch stand, but it may use a 'keeper' of some sort, so that a lined switch stays lined. 

I think the winding engine is beyond that shed at the top of the hill. On the left track, a low-slung, narrow gauge weighted 'barney car' has been pulled out of its 'barney pit' [insert your dinosaur/coal joke here] to 'push' that car up the hill. 

Among the advantages of a barney system was the fact that it was not necessary to couple the winding cable to each car. Those look like spring derails. They allow the standard gauge car to ascend ... but if a cable breaks ... the descent will end in a relatively harmless derailment.

Generally, the industrial activity here was to take anthracite coal from mine to canal. As you know, anthracite is a hard almost smokeless coal which was in great demand in the nearby cities of the US northeast ... to produce space heat in buildings, or the steam (i.e. for stationary steam engines) used to power municipal waterworks or early urban applications of electrical generation. 

The D&H was a favourite railroad of LC Gagnon and I have outlined aspects of its operations, including the fascinating gravity operations, elsewhere on this blog. (There's a search box in the top banner.)

*  *  *

To illustrate the point about early motive power and early track structures, here is the Stourbridge Lion.

 

from: Early American Locomotives; John H White Jr; 1972; Dover Publications.

This engine was imported from England by the Delaware & Hudson in 1829. On a test run of 3 miles, it did extensive damage to the light track. It, and another imported engine, were ultimately repurposed to power machinery. 

One account stated that the combination of the engine's weight and the rigidity of the track system led to this track damage. In the North American operating environment - with its temperature extremes, minimal ballasting, and 'less formal' maintenance regimens - not having a hyper-engineered track structure ultimately proved to be a good adaptation.

*  *  *

Returning to Britain ...

from: The Science of Railways, Vol III; Marshall M Kirkman; 1900; World Railway Publishing Co.

Actually, all the identified pieces are not shown in the book from which the illustration comes.

from: The Science of Railways, Vol III; Marshall M Kirkman; 1900; World Railway Publishing Co.

You can see that a wide variety of design ideas were tried.

I have chosen a few representative designs which have some historical significance. 

from: The Science of Railways, Vol III; Marshall M Kirkman; 1900; World Railway Publishing Co.

However, these are all rigid track structures which call for a large number of imported pieces. This will add to the cost and complexity of building a railway in North America ... especially a long one. 

*  *  *

Brunel's Baulk Railway

The baulks are the longitudinal wooden supports on which the rails are laid.

screencap from: Brunel's Broad Gauge Railway; Christopher Awdry; 1992; Awdry & Haynes.
https://archive.org/details/brunelsbroadgaug0000awdr/mode/1up

I was made aware of this track structure from a simplified painted illustration in one of my books. 

I was happy to find a scale drawing showing the actual dimensions and specifications. With a gauge of 7 feet, you will recognize this as the standard track design for Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway. This railway had an extensive network in southern Britain and its broad gauge operations were conducted from 1838 until 1892.

If you look closely, you may be able to see that Brunel's rails are in the shape of an inverted 'U' with a very broad base. 

*  *  *

Ultimately, railways provided a level, firm surface on which to roll wheels. As a function of their design development, long trains of 'wagons' became self-steering.

Their track structures evolved to distribute the weight of increasingly heavy consists, without being deformed by them.  As tracks, wheels and their metallurgy evolved they became almost frictionless.