OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS
ON
CAST-IRON SLEEPERS:
BY THE
PERMANENT WAY COMPANY.
JULY 185 7.
OFFICE S :
26 Great George Street, Westminster.
STCIEMAIX,- WILLIAM BOWDEN, Esq.
(t The Sleepers, of which there are not less than 26,000,000 on our Lines of Railway, perishstill more rapidly [than the rails]. What with decay from wet and other causes, the Sleepersdisappear at the rate of 2,000,000 per annum at the least, and require to be wholly replacedevery twelve or fourteen years. It is curious to consider the effect of this annual demand forSleepers. To provide 2,000,000 of new Sleepers, 300,000 trees must every year be felled,supposing that each tree will yield as many as six good Sleepers. Now 300,000 trees canscarcely attain growth and maturity on less than 5,000 acres of forest. Consequently 5,000acres of forest must be annually cleared of timber to provide Sleepers for our Lines of Railway.”
Extract from Address of Bolert Stephenson , Esq., M.P ., F.R.S.