OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS

CAST-IRON SLEEPERS:

BY THE

PERMANENT WAY COMPANY,

26 GREAT GEORGE STREET, WESTMINSTER.

The object of the following observations and record of experi-ments, is to point out more prominently than has yet been done,the advantages to be obtained by the use of Cast Iron Sleepersfor the substructure of Permanent Way , in lieu of the woodenones generally employed.

The following extract from the address of Mr. R. Stephenson,M.P., as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers , willshow the great importance of the subject.

“ The sleepers, of which there are not less than 26,000,000on our lines of railway, perish still more rapidly [than therails]. 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 replaced every 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 treesmust every year be felled, supposing that each tree will yield asmany as six good sleepers.

“ Now 300,000 trees can scarcely attain growth and maturity

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