3
These may appear like self-evident truths, and they are, in fact, soglaring that they scarcely appear to have been looked on at all. Thecustom now is to regard the expense of cars as proportional to thedistance the engine runs. It is here made proportional to the dis-tance the cars run. It is customary also to consider the repairs ofthe road as proportional to the distance traveled by tire engine—whereas it is only proportional to the length of the road.
These are simple principles, and such as cannot well be doubted, ordenied. It remains to state the values of the constants.
Repairs of Roads.
The repairs of a railroad, I have stated, must be divided into twoclasses—those which are dependent on, and those which are indepen-dent of, the amount of the tonnage. Of the first division, the wear ofiron depends entirely on the use, and the wear of the wood, but par-tially on the use. The rotting of timber, the cleaning out of ditches,the repairs of culverts, embankments, &c., are independent of thetrade. But these items are not independent of time; the expenses of re-pairs increase but little until the wood in the sills,ties and rails, beginsto decay, and require removal, when they usually soon attain theirmaximum, and afterward diminish, until they reach a second mini-mum.
The following table exhibits the cost of repairs on six of the mostsuccessful roads in this country, which I have purposely selected fromdifferent sections. The table embraces three roads of each of the twogreat classes—three wooden superstructures with plate rails, and threeiron roads with T or H patterns.
By casting the eye down the columns, the progressive increase ofexpenses will be easily recognized. It must be borne in mind, how-ever, that these numbers do not include the renewal of the iron—anitem always charged to “extraordinary repairs,” or “permanentimprovements”—as though iron rails were ever permanent, or theirde-struction extraordinary. Eventually, the cost of the new iron passesinto capital stock, or funded debt.
TJiBLE showing the Increase of the Cost of Repairs of Railroads.
Permanent Roads-
—T Rail.
i
Wooden Roads—Flat Bars.
Year.
Boston &
Boston &
Boston Sc '!
Petersburg
S. Caro-
Lowell.
Province.
Worcesier
Schenec’y.
Road.
lina Road.
1838
251
870*
1837
546
285
206
354
664
880
1838
611
411
281
330
542
1040
1839
731
209
405
450
539
982
1840
816
334
830
618
794
592
1841
1200
697
784
837
857
547
1842
1350
514
903
935
503
1843
375
I may add the following notes of the cost of motive power permite traveled by the engines, which are extracted from documentsthat were not in my possession when I first stated the cost per milefor passenger engines at 25 cents, and of freight engines at 30 cents.
* Finished in 1838, when the expenses were very low.